Baudelaire, "Spleen" - from Les Fleurs du Mal

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) wrote "Flowers of Evil" back in the day when it wasn't okay to be downbeat:

"When skies are low and heavy as a lid
over the mind tormented by disgust,
and hidden in the gloom the sun pours down
on us a daylight dingier than the dark;

"when earth becomes a trickling dungeon where
Trust like a bat keeps lunging through the air,
beating tentative wings along the walls
and bumping its head against the rotten beams;

"when rain falls straight from unrelenting clouds,
forging the bars of some enormous jail,
and silent hordes of obscene spiders spin
their webs across the basements of our brains;

"then all at once the raging bells break loose,
hurling to heaven their awful caterwaul,
like homeless hosts with no one left to haunt
whimpering their endless grievances.

"- And giant hearses, without dirge or drums,
parade at half-step in my soul, where Hope,
defeated, weeps, and the oppressor Dread
plants his black flag on my assenting skull."

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Baudelaire
• Spleen
• Les
• Fleurs
• du
• Mal
• Flowers
• of
• Evil
• French
• Poetry
• Despair
• Depression
• dadasopher

[ArtNatureMusic]

Beautiful performed narration. Thank you for the poetry reading. "Did you know that while you read so scholarly, a naughty boy was playing in such a hilarious way with the University's supply of Anatomy and Physiology artifacts?!"

Very proper visuals to this poetry: 5* (Sad sad getting older and dying, and sad sad reflections about it, but... in the background... a resurrection of childhood silliness...the best antitode for any gloomy outlook.)

[barbh1]

Good bones are so important!