Charles Baudelaire, 19th century French poet, led the vanguard of the symbolist movement. He learned English and became fascinated with the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. He earned acclaim for his translations of Poe’s works. I was obsessed with Baudelaire’s poetry as a young student of French years ago. Searching through his poems this week offered me a curious walk down memory lane, reminding me of the yearning I once had for the bohemian life. I lived such a life briefly in Paris in the seventies. I have no regrets! How about you? Did you ever have a bohemian period? Maybe you are still in it, or are rediscovering that period again.
Music
Music, like an ocean, often carries me away!
Through the ether far,
or under a canopy of mist, I set sail
for my pale star.
Breasting the waves, my lungs swollen
like a ship’s canvas,
night veils from me the long rollers,
I ride their backs:
I sense all a suffering vessel’s passions
vibrating within me:
while fair winds or the storm’s convulsions
on the immense deep
cradle me. Or else flat calm, vast mirror there
of my despair!
Charles Baudelaire