Charles Baudelaire was a French poet in the late eighteen hundreds. He composed many short poems that didn’t necessarily rhyme. Most of his texts allow for several interpretations. The poems were concentrated around feelings of melancholy, ideas of beauty, happiness, and the desire to escape reality. Baudelaire uses these notions to express himself, others, and his art.
Baudelaire fuses his poetry with metaphors or words that indirectly explain the poems to force the reader to analyze the true meaning of his works. The first instance of this action begins with the title, Paris Spleen. Since the original writing was in French it would be harmless to say that he lived in Paris and named the book after the city. According to Webster’s, a Spleen is an “…organ that is located… near the stomach or intestine…and is concerned with final destruction of red blood cells, filtration and storage of blood…” (Spleen, Entry 1). By this definition the reader obtains the understanding that Baudelaire is connecting Paris with a function of the body that controls or care’s for the blood. In other words, Paris could represent the blood that flows through him, wherein, ‘storage of blood’ could mean Paris is forever in his heart or ‘destruction of red blood cells’ could resemble how the city destroyed him. It could also be interpreted in a negative way by another definition, “feelings of anger or ill will often suppressed” (Spleen, Entry 2). The majority of his writings are melancholy based so the Spleen could signify his feelings towards Paris or himself during his time there. When a person thinks of the word Spleen they conclude it’s a seemingly grotesque organ in the body not worth caring for. So, in yet another instance, the title’s wor...
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...sness. The Stranger that passes through the city, just as the clouds do, resemble the way a person’s mind can drift away where they ‘have their head in the clouds’. The stranger and his love represent the desire Baudelaire has to escape reality around him. The isolated happiness and solitary calmness the stranger has when he watches the clouds directly relates to Baudelaire’s emotions, making the stranger and Baudelaire seem as if they are the same person. If so, the real stranger would be the one questioning the cloud loving man, or Baudelaire and the stranger can very well be the same person, where he is just internalizing his questions as he did with his soul in Anywhere Out of the World.
Works Cited
Baudelaire, Charles. "The Firing Range and the Graveyard." Paris Spleen. By Charles Baudelaire. Trans. Louise Varese. New
York: New Directions, 1970.
Albert Camus is a skillful writer noted for showing aspects of culture and society through the depiction of his characters. In The Stranger, Camus illustrates the existentialism culture and how that comes into play in the life of the protagonist Meursault. The Stranger, as suggested by the title, is a novel revolving around the protagonist, Meursault, who is a stranger to the French-Algerian society as he challenges its values. Camus vividly portrays Meursault’s journey through the use of imagery, irony, and symbolism. In The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the minor character, Raymond Sintes, to illustrate the contrasting nature of Meursault and how his friendship with Raymond leads to his downfall.
Each literary work portrays something different, leaving a unique impression on all who read that piece of writing. Some poems or stories make one feel happy, while others are more solemn. This has very much to do with what the author is talking about in his or her writing, leaving a bit of their heart and soul in the work. F. Scott Fitzgerald, when writing The Great Gatsby, wrote about the real world, yet he didn’t paint a rosy picture for the reader. The same can be said about T.S. Eliot, whose poem “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,” presents his interpretation of hell. Both pieces of writing have many similarities, but the most similar of them all is the tone of each one.
Dubus, Andre. "Killings." Meyer, Michael. In The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 107 - 120.
Wing,N. (1986). The Limits of Narrative: Essays on Baudelaire, Flaubert, Rimbaudand Mallarme . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press . p57.
He explains that “I could respond, escape, indulge; embrace or reject earth or the cosmos” (Baca 55). Baca was exploring on an endless journey without any boundaries, in which he could see his past floating around him. He saw his future and what language was doing to him. Baca expresses that “each word steamed with the hot lava juices of my primordial making, and I crawled out of stanzas dripping with birth-blood, reborn and freed from the chaos of my life” (55). Baca was no longer a captive of his own emotions never feeling like a victim of other people’s mockery and intimidation. He was physically in prison but in his poems, he was anywhere that he wanted to be. With the power of words Baca realized he could do anything and soon overcame his fears of
Edgar Allan Poe once said, “I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of Beauty”("BrainyQuote"). Poe has been known for his fantastic and eerie short stories, but he also wrote poetry. In fact, it was poetry that started his career. Throughout Poe’s life, poetry was a big part of him, and with his passion he created great works like “The Raven”. With Poe’s life story, poetic vision, and great poems, he has changed the literary world forever.
In this essay I will compare and contrast a collection of different poems by Carol Anne Duffy, Robert Browning, Ben Johnson and Simon Armitage.
Gustave Flaubert incorporates and composes a realistic piece of literature using realistic literature techniques in his short story, “A Simple Heart.” Flaubert accomplishes this through telling a story that mimics the real life of Félicité, and writing fiction that deliberately cuts across different class hierarchies; through this method, Flaubert
The Stranger, by Albert Camus, depicts a man who is going through life with an existential viewpoint on things that he does. The protagonist, Meursault, insists on going through life as if nothing in his life matters at all, and the point of his existence continues to escape him on many different levels. Through the death of his mother; the relationship with Maria, and the killing of an Arab; Meursault still finds that the meaning of his life escapes him. While many people believe that Camus uses symbolism with the weather and various other devices, I believe he uses a different approach. In The Stranger, Camus shows through symbolism that the true meaning of life is found when facing one’s own death.
Poetry is a creative art form that allows a critical thinking connection between the creator and the audience of each poem. The reader must think critically and in depth about the subject matter and meaning of what each poet is presenting with their body of work. On the other hand, the poet must be able to present their body of work with a unique writing style that encodes a deeper message than what appears on the surface. Most would say that poetry is read for its witty internal messages, but the reader must be able to accurately decipher the message the poet is presenting to fully understand the poet’s allusions. I believe that all poetry is inspired by memorable life events that have been experienced by an individual whether good or bad. If this is true, then much of the subject matter and meaning of poetry can be deciphered by identifying the key elements in each poem such as tones, moods, similes, metaphors, writing styles, and most importantly knowing the facts of the creator’s personal life experiences. In this essay, I will use the identifying techniques listed above to decipher the poem, “Out, Out-” by Robert Frost, to determine if Mr. Frost’s personal experiences with
On the way to the funeral Meursault is greatly affected by the sounds and smells of the bus and sleeps the whole way to escape his physical discomfort. When he arrives at the home the caretaker asks him if he would like to see his mother one last time before the casket is closed and he declines. Sitting down near the casket, his attention is focused not on his mother, but rather on his own physical discomfort and the “two hornets buzzing against the glass roof.” After listening listlessly to the caretaker’s endless stream of chatter, Meursault drinks a cup of coffee and smokes a cigarette. Meursault, never shedding a single tear, keeps an all-night vigil at the casket, surrounded by his mother’s sobbing friends. He seems to regard the whole night as somewhat pointless, and comes away feeling very tired.
Gustave Flaubert incorporates and composes a realistic piece of literature using realistic literaryature techniques in his short story, “A Simple Heart.” Flaubert accomplishes this through telling a story that mimics the real life of Félicité, and writing fiction that deliberately cuts across different class hierarchies; through this method, Flaubert is able to give the reader a clear understanding of the whole society. Flaubert makes the unvarnished truth about simple hearts clear by exposing a clear replica of a realistic story, therefore, allowing the reader to clearly understand the society and the different classes of characters.
There are many different themes that can be used to make a poem both successful and memorable. Such is that of the universal theme of love. This theme can be developed throughout a poem through an authors use of form and content. “She Walks in Beauty,” by George Gordon, Lord Byron, is a poem that contains an intriguing form with captivating content. Lord Byron, a nineteenth-century poet, writes this poem through the use of similes and metaphors to describe a beautiful woman. His patterns and rhyme scheme enthrall the reader into the poem. Another poem with the theme of love is John Keats' “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” meaning “the beautiful lady without mercy.” Keats, another nineteenth-century writer, uses progression and compelling language throughout this poem to engage the reader. While both of these poems revolve around the theme of love, they are incongruous to each other in many ways.
Emotions are evoked with the aim to free persons from disturbing emotions. In instances of pity and fear persons tend to accumulate these feelings, which is harmful to the soul. In tragedy, however, whatever sufferings witnessed are not in our control and these emotions are easily released thereby relieve the excess in our souls. Tragedy transforms these distressing emotions into “calm of mind”, thus, the emotional appeal of poetry leads to pleasure. In addition, esthetic emotion in poetry translates to pleasure. The reader and the listener of the poem are prompted through figurative language to visualize what is in the real world. The vividness of the imaginary world that is experienced by the reader, poet and listener generates to a new spiritual knowledge or understanding which gives pleasure (Berlant, p.189). To add on, melancholy as an aesthetic emotion is a source of pleasure. Melancholy involves a variety of emotions; a yearning, sadness, feeling uplifted and even an elusive excitement. It has both pleasure and displeasure aspects. The displeasure aspect lies in the feeling of grief, fear of the unknown, loneliness and emptiness. The pleasurable aspect is entirely about reflecting on elaborate illusion and happy memories. Melancholy is therefore deliberately pursued by finding seclusion. In seclusion reflection is deepened which in turn prolongs the pleasure. Dylan in his poem reveals instances of melancholy Gale, Cengage Learning,
Lewis Carroll may have created a whole new world for his Alice to explore, but Flaubert had the harder job. He had to replicate the world that everyone knows, taking time to explore the very details that make this world real and tangible. Whether it be dust accumulating on furniture, everyday people plodding through mud to get to work, or nagging mothers, Flaubert details images and impressions that most overlook, but which truly constitute reality. Emma tries her best to ignore this reality, but it confronts her insistently, reminding her daily of all the things she dee...