Alcala 1958

wh ich prid e, cruelty, per ver sity ,ins atia bil­ ity and sham eles snes s a repo rtr aye d: Tu mettr aisVu niv ersen tie r dan s ta rue lle, Femm e im pu r! (Pri de and Ambi­ tio n) II te faut cha que jour un coe ur au rat eli er. (Cr uel ty) Per ver se disp osit ion of mind: Te s yeu x, illumin es ain si que de s bouti qu es Us en t ins olemment d'un pouvoi r empr un te San s con nai tre jamais la loi de leu r be au te. He art less nes s: Ma chi neave ug leet sour de , en cruau tes feco nde , Sa lut air e ins trume nt,bu veu r du sang du mo nd e. De pr av ity : Comm en tna s- tupas ho nt e? . . . L a grandeur d e c e mal oil t u t e cr ois sav ant e Ne i a don e jama is fait rec uler d'epou- vant e Qu an d la nat ure . . . de toi se se rt, o femme , — De to i, vil an imal,— pour pe trir un ge ni e? Th e aim Bau dela irepur sue s is notme rel y to expres side as but als o to cal l for th emo ­ tio ns in the hear t ofhi s read er,to put mo od, my ste ryand mu sic into hi s poems. Wh eth er he exp ress ed sa pen see , son co eu r, sa re­ lig ion(tr av es tie ) or sa ha ine , we cann ot but admi re hisexq uisite art . It is Ba udela ire 's gre at dist inc tion that he wa s abl e to com­ bin e the pas sion , the imagi na tionand the form al bea uty that live on ly in ma gn ifice nt ver se, with the aw ful , dev ast ati ngcon cep ­ tions of complet e pess imism . We fin d eve ry­ where in hi s work a pas sionat eimag ina tio n tha t clo the s the though tswith spl end oran d lif ts the stra nge wor ds of thi s un ha pp y mor tal into the dea thl ess re gio ns of the subli me . sity, bil- el ssnes are ayed: ais f nivers r l , e r! de i- ) fl J lier. lty) se p ion : x, i es i t q es t t ' r te itre i te. le ne : ine le de, en cruautes nde, l taire t ent, r de. avity: ent ' lli te? . . . randeur al u i te t' e i oL£· e .. t, , - i, i al, - t ie? ire p i not ly l - t f e er, , ry i oe . er ed see, r, - i n t estie) o i , e can ot b re hi e i . l ir ' Li i - , ation a l t ificent , , l, L tino- - e e imi m. e - te i i tion t , py l t le s i ,

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Wha t wi ll bec om e of h is wo rk? He com ­ par es him sel f to "u n vie ux fla con," for­ got ten, cov ered wi th dus t at the bottom of som e cup board ina des erte d house . We no tic ehow Ba udelaire con vey sthe ide a of be ing forgo tte n. Fi rst of all, the flacon is old , an d the cup boa rd"e st ple ine de l'acr e ode ur de s temps,poud reu se et noir e." Then, this cup boa rd is in a dese rted house, and the flacon is at the bot tom of the cup boa rd. How aptly thi s expr esseswha t usu ally hap­ pen s to th ing swe no lon ger req uir e! Wh en the cup boa rd is open ed , how eve r, fai nt waft s of perfum ecom e ou t: sce nts rec alli ng lov e, pe rfumes reca llin g dre sses worn by fa ir lad ies , perfum ed lac e, powder, mi lle pens ers . . . De ga ge ntleu r ai le et prenne nt leu r es so r, Te in te sd' az ur ,gla ces de ros e, lam es d' or . The use of the col ors is sugge sti ve. Az ur , ros e, or are use d purpo sel y to dep ict the dif fer en t kin ds of tho ugh ts or memo ries evo ked . Some wi ll be ver y plea sant to reca ll, oth ers wil l caus e su ffe rin g, oth ers will be mi xed. Now the pictur e chan ge s. If the vie ux flacon be opened, qu ite a dif fer entodo r will be for thc om ing . It wi ll be bitt er, pungent —be caus e the poe t's lif eha s beenmis era ble . In sp ite of it all, "II est de for ts par fum s pour qu i tou te ma tie re est por euse." Baude lair e'satt itu de towards women is dif fic ultto under stand .He was acq ua int ed with women of all cla sse s, from the stree t­ walk er to the so cie ty dame . He seemed to be for eve rin sea rch of the ide al woman but was doomed to dis app oin tment . Jea nne Duval wa s a sym bo l:that is the onl y wa y to expla in the att rac tionshe hel d for him. Baudelaire 'sha tred for cer tain typ es of wom en, col d, ha ug ht y, per ver se, wicked , corr upt, ins ati abl e an d inc apa ble of rea l lov e, is admi rab lyexpr ess edin Sp leen , 4 in « XXVI. e f - , r in . ti e el ire s i g t en. // e board te ps, reuse et noire." rd // e rd. e e l - i s i e! rd e , r, e c t: ll g , f es l i g s i s, ed , , l . ent t r, i tes ur, , r. tive. r, , ely i t s ts rie . l ll, e ri g, . e ge . /lacon be opened, quite a different odo il t o ing. L , -because e ble. l f s i c ti re l ire's i de lt land. i ted , - t . r l oi tment. bol: in lion . el i e's h , , hty, e, , r t, tiable ble l , i rably e ed ,

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