Monday, April 9, 2018

Born today...Charles Pierre Baudelaire, poet, April 9, 1821, Paris, France


The Spiritual Dawn

When upon revellers the stained dawn breaks 
The fierce ideal comes with it; at that hour, 
Stirred by some terrible avenging power, 
An angel in the sated brute awakes. 
Above the stricken, suffering man there glow 
Far azure plains of unimagined bliss 
Which draw his dreaming spirit like the abyss. 
O pure, beloved Goddess, even so 
O'er the smoked wrecks of stupid scenes of shame 
Brighter and rosier thy sweet memory 
Hovers before my wide eyes hauntingly...
The Sun has dimmed and charred the candles' flame, 
And thus, my glorious all-conquering one, 
Thy shade is peer to the immortal Sun

~ Fleurs du mal / Flowers of Evil

image: Carlo Farneti (1892-1961) illustration for Les Fleurs du Mal 1935






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