Charles Baudelaire
THE GHOST
SOFTLY as brown-eyed Angels rove I will return to thy alcove, And glide upon the night to thee, Treading the shadows silently. And I will give to thee, my own, Kisses as icy as
THE TEMPTATION
THE Demon, in my chamber high, This morning came to visit me, And, thinking he would find some fault, He whispered: “I would know of thee Among the many lovely things That make the
The Sick Muse
My impoverished muse, alas! What have you for me this morning? Your empty eyes are stocked with nocturnal visions, In your cheek’s cold and taciturn reflection, I see insanity and horror forming. The green
BEAUTY
I AM as lovely as a dream in stone, And this my heart where each finds death in turn, Inspires the poet with a love as lone As clay eternal and as taciturn. Swan-white
Travelling Bohemians
The prophetic tribe of the ardent eyes Yesterday they took the road, holding their babies On their backs, delivering to fierce appetites The always ready treasure of pendulous breasts. The men stick their feet
The Albatross
Often, to amuse themselves, the crew of the ship Would fell an albatross, the largest of sea birds, Indolent companions of their trip As they slide across the deep sea’s bitters. Scarcely had they
SPLEEN
I’M like some king in whose corrupted veins Flows agиd blood; who rules a land of rains; Who, young in years, is old in all distress; Who flees good counsel to find weariness Among
REVERSIBILITY
ANGEL of gaiety, have you tasted grief? Shame and remorse and sobs and weary spite, And the vague terrors of the fearful night That crush the heart up like a crumpled leaf? Angel of
BALCONY
MOTHER of memories, mistress of mistresses, O thou, my pleasure, thou, all my desire, Thou shalt recall the beauty of caresses, The charm of evenings by the gentle fire, Mother of memories, mistress of
The Enemy
My youth was nothing but a black storm Crossed now and then by brilliant suns. The thunder and the rain so ravage the shores Nothing’s left of the fruit my garden held once. I
A FORMER LIFE
LONG since, I lived beneath vast porticoes, By many ocean-sunsets tinged and fired, Where mighty pillars, in majestic rows, Seemed like basaltic caves when day expired. The rolling surge that mirrored all the skies
CONTEMPLATION
THOU, O my Grief, be wise and tranquil still, The eve is thine which even now drops down, To carry peace or care to human will, And in a misty veil enfolds the town.
Benediction
When, by decree of the supreme power, The Poet appears in this annoyed world, His mother, blasphemous out of horror At God’s pity, cries out with fists curled: “Ah! I’d rather You’d will me
L'Invitation au Voyage
Mon enfant, ma soeur, Songe à la douceur, D’aller là-bas, vivre ensemble! Aimer à loisir, Aimer et mourir, Au pays qui te ressemble! Les soleils mouillés, De ces ciels brouillés, Pour mon esprit ont
I Love The Naked Ages Long Ago
I love the naked ages long ago When statues were gilded by Apollo, When men and women of agility Could play without lies and anxiety, And the sky lovingly caressed their spines, As it