Alcala 1958

of Ba udela ire 'sfac ulty for sei zin gupo n the imper cep tib le an d gi vi ng a pic tur esq ue reality to the mo st sub tle an d fle eti ngsen­ sat ion s. Th e po et is sea ted be sid e hi s col­ ore d mis tre sson e warm even ingin aut umn. As hi s head rep ose s on Jeanne 's gen tly he av ingbre ast , her odo r ent ers the poe t's nos tril s.He is int ox ica tedby it and immedi­ ate ly he se es far -of f lands, "d es riv age s heu reu xet une ile pa res seu se. " He is gu ide d by the odor "v er s de charma nts clim ats ." He tran spor tsus with him by hi s ma rve lou s assoc iat ion s to "un port rempli de voi les et de mats ." We too can smell "le par fum des ver ts tam ari niers"and can hea r "l e chant des ma rin ier s." Ba udelaire is , above all, the ma n of sen­ sa tio n. Some of hi s mos t fam ou slin es are wri tten on the sub ject of per fum es. In Cor- res pond an ces we are show nNa tur e a sa vast temple in wh ich the col umnsare liv ingand ha ve the power of commu nic ati ngwith us. Th e who le un ive rse is ful l of hid den mean­ ing s, of sig ns to be inte rpre ted, of elements of though ts,of sym bol sof the spi ritu al lif e. In thi s imme nsecat hed ral , " lespar fum s,les cou leu rset les sons se rep ond ent ." Th epoem is int ere sti ngals o from anothe r po int of vie w. We have Baude lair e'sdiv i­ sio n of pe rfume sint o dif fer ent cat ego rie s, ac co rdin gto the dif fer en tide as, sen sat ion s or memo rie s tha t the y evo ke. Some per­ fum es are "f ra is comme de s chair s d'en- fan ts, "as gen tle as the smell of fre sh fie lds in sp rin g: these are per fum es wh ich are pure and inn oce nt. Oth ers, "l'amb re, le mu se, le ben joinet l'en cen s . . . son t cor- rum pus , ric he set triomphan ts,"pro vok ing , sed uc ingto all sor ts of exc ess es. Wh ere col ors are con cer ned , our poe t use s gold to de pic t inn oce nce , sim pli cit y and pu rit y; anyt hi ng con nec ted with the ill ici tple asu resis dep icte din pur ple . A beau tifu lpo em on per fum esand their ass oc iat ion s is Le Fl acon . Th e whole arch i­ tectur e of thi s po em is de sig nedto por tray Ba udela ire 'spre occ upa tionwith the fut ure . el ire's lt g u ceptible es ue t tl ing - i s. e - es o i g n. s s 's tl ing t, 's ils. i ted - l - f , s e x esseuse." He d s nts t ." s ts lous iations li l f riniers" i iers." el ire , - i n. e o s j f es. dances s o n e as l i ns g nicating l i rse l - , s ted, t ts, ls al . nse ral, "Jes f s, rs ent." sting r . l ire's i- f es i t ries, rdi g e t tions ries . - es I is s ts," a tl ll I s i g: f es i nt. s, re, c, join s . s, s hants," ing, ing es. ned, s i t nce, licity rity; hing ted t res i t d i l . tif l f es iations on. l i- e ed y el ire's pation e.

wo rds :"J e su is un cimeti ereabh orr e de la lu ne !" An d wha t angu ish , wh at hop ele ss des pai r, in the lin es : De sor ma is tu n e s plus, 6 ma tie re vi va nt e! Qu 'un gra nit en tou re d'u ne va gue ep ou vante As sou pi dan s le fond d'un Sahar a brumeu x: Un vie ux sph inx ign ore du mo nd e ins ouc ieu x Ou bli esur la ca rt e,et do ntVh um eu r faro uche Ne chan te quaux ray on s du soleil qu i se couche! From hi s Cat holi cup br ing ing , hi s know l­ edge of my stic the olo gyand the tea ch ing s of St . Bern ard on the cor rup tion of the fle sh, Baudel air ehad der ived a bel ief in the fun dam ent alcor rup tion of huma n nat ure , vitiated by or igi na lsin . Th is led Baudela ire to bel ief in a pers onal dev il wh o is at onc e abh orr edas the sou rce of all ev il and pit ied as the vic timof Go d. Baude lair e'sdist ort ed vie ws on rel igi on can be see n in hi s mix tur e of pag an sen­ sua lity and Chr istia n my sti cism,in wh ich a per ver ted rel igi osi tyis ma de to enhance the acu ten essof mo rbi dsen sat ion s(th e an­ ticipa tio nof remors e sha rpen ingthe ed ge of pl ea sure ),and hi s compla cen t desc rip tion of the mo st rep ulsive de tai ls of ph ysi cal act ua lity lea din g up to the rap turous ex­ pre ssio n of a lof ty sp iri tua lityas in Un e Ch ar og ne ,Le Re nie me nt de Sa int Pi er re and Les Li tan ies de Satan . Be for e we ex am ine the ma nn erin wh ich Baudela ireexp res sedhi s hatre d, let us see som e of the eff ec ts that pe rfumes had on hi s poetr y. He himself de cla re s:"Mon ame voltig e sur les pa rfums comme l'ame des aut res homm es vo lti ge sur la mu siq ue ." Po em s in wh ich the inf lue nc eof perfum e is app are nt are ,am on goth ers , La Ch eve - lu re, La Pa rfu m an d Le Fl acon , besid es Pa rfu mEx oti qu e. Th is last poem is remarkabl e ev ide nc e ere e e !" ish, el s r, es: ais ' s o ti re nte! ' it t re vague vante pi s a x: nw e qie x lie rte, t f eur / c e te ' s i lic ringing, l- i theology t e ings . tion I , aire i ental tio n , i l . i el ire • l il is ed il i i tim . l ire's te s i io e - lit i i n tici m, i te i io ity nce t e o id tions ( t - tion e ening ure), s co placent descript on lsi ils cal lity incr t r - i n t ality e ogne, i ent i t re t ies . e ine er i ire ssed d, ts es y. res: e f s e es ige si ue." s nce e nt are, g , - re, /um , es / m otique. is r a le nce s: i

98