Spleen (IV)
July 5, 2023Beauty
July 5, 2023My Earlier Life
I’ve been home a long time among the vast porticos,
Which the mariner sun has tinged with a million fires,
Whose grandest pillars, upright, majestic and cold
Render them the same, this evening, as caves with basalt spires.
The swells’ overwhelming accords of rich music,
Heaving images of heaven to the skies,
Mingle in a way solemn and mystic
With the colors of the horizon reflected by my eyes.
It was here I was true to the voluptuous calm,
The milieu of azure, the waves, the splendors,
And the nude slaves, all impregnated with odors,
Who refreshed my brow with waving palms
My only care to bring to meaning from anguish
The sad secret in which I languish.
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) was a French poet and essayist known for his pioneering work in the Symbolist movement. His most famous work, "Les Fleurs du Mal," explored themes of beauty, mortality, and decadence, and he also wrote several volumes of critical essays and literary criticism. Baudelaire's work has had a profound influence on modern literature and art.