Charles Baudelaire a french poet born on April 9th, 1821 and died August 31,1867.
He became reputable in 1857 for his famous poetry collection called " The evil flowers". Baudlaires father introduced him to art , when his father passed away Baudelaire lived outside of Paris with his mother. During this time he wrote to his mother concerning the love he felt for her. He wrote his first poems at a college in France . His masters noticed he was a bright student , but cultivated moods of witty immorality , he became disconsolate and gloomy often introverted. In 1842 he received his family inheritance which lead him to engage in a lifestyle of extravaganza that led to his collapse. Baudelaire wrote most of his poems after he returned from the south seas between 1842 and 1846. I found his poem " The Ghost" to be very mysterious with many symbolic actions.
Symbols Dennotations Connotation
Eyes Vigilance gate way to the soul
Night Chaos Death, destruction , captivity.
Moon Time,immortality Realm of conscious and unconscious
Shadows Dark entity Unconscious layers of personality
Kiss Intimate contact Friendship, love, fellowship
Snake Temptation Destruction, evil
Cold Impact Uncomfortable, sensation
Tenderness loving Caring ,understanding
.
He symbolizes fear and sensuality throughout the poem. silent shadow, feeling cold temperature over your skin, and also with darkness. In the poem I found three symbolic stanza. The first stanza states “Softly as brown eyed angels rove I will return to thy alcove, and glide upon the night to thee, treading the shadows silently” (Charles Baudelaire). The author uses eyes of an angel softly overlooking at you while your alone in the dark. The denotative meaning of a profound vigilance from a silent shadow. the dennotative meaning of night is of chaos creating lots of fear . The denotative meaning of a shadow is a dark entity that is unexpected. The unconscious layers of our personality reflected in shadows are the only shadows we expect and are familiar with as part of our daily life, people barely acknowledge shadows as they go along their daily life. When an unfamiliar shade or figure are seen we are often startled. The dennotive meaning of moon reflects the immortality of the ghost and feeling cold temperature over your skin causes fear in a sensual way. Fear is symbolized with the icy kiss , a cold intimate touch from an invisible being can make a person feel anxiety.
The second stanza in the poem states “and I will give to thee, my own , kisses as icy as the moon, and the caresses of a snake cold gliding in the thorny brake (Charles Baudelaire). The denotative meaning of the symbolic action of a “kisses as icy as the moon” (Charles Baudelaire). Feeling an invisible someone or something that is very cold swiftly over your lips in the middle of the night is mysterious and unexpected. Fear is symbolized with the icy kiss , a cold intimate touch from an invisible being can make a person feel anxiety. The dennotative meaning of snake are the caress that represent destruction or evil in a tempting way.
The unknown and invisible cold feeling is a symbolic action in the poem. He also reflects the feeling of a slimy cold snake slithering over the person’s body; this feeling symbolizes the connotative meaning associating the cold with something slimy and unexpected over your skin.
The third and fourth stanza of the poem states “and when returns the livid morn thou shalt find my place forlorn and chilly, till the falling night .Others would rule by tenderness over thy life and youthfulness, but I would conquer thee by fright!”(Charles Baudelaire). The denotative meaning of tenderness is of a loving fearful sensation that reflects the obsession of the ghost coming back every night and in which the poem states the ghost will keep the room cold throughout the night so that his presences isn't forgotten, this is a frightening feeling .Especially if you are completely alone it becomes a total feeling of fright , feeling defenseless and spooked .
Works Cited
He became reputable in 1857 for his famous poetry collection called " The evil flowers". Baudlaires father introduced him to art , when his father passed away Baudelaire lived outside of Paris with his mother. During this time he wrote to his mother concerning the love he felt for her. He wrote his first poems at a college in France . His masters noticed he was a bright student , but cultivated moods of witty immorality , he became disconsolate and gloomy often introverted. In 1842 he received his family inheritance which lead him to engage in a lifestyle of extravaganza that led to his collapse. Baudelaire wrote most of his poems after he returned from the south seas between 1842 and 1846. I found his poem " The Ghost" to be very mysterious with many symbolic actions.
Symbols Dennotations Connotation
Eyes Vigilance gate way to the soul
Night Chaos Death, destruction , captivity.
Moon Time,immortality Realm of conscious and unconscious
Shadows Dark entity Unconscious layers of personality
Kiss Intimate contact Friendship, love, fellowship
Snake Temptation Destruction, evil
Cold Impact Uncomfortable, sensation
Tenderness loving Caring ,understanding
.
He symbolizes fear and sensuality throughout the poem. silent shadow, feeling cold temperature over your skin, and also with darkness. In the poem I found three symbolic stanza. The first stanza states “Softly as brown eyed angels rove I will return to thy alcove, and glide upon the night to thee, treading the shadows silently” (Charles Baudelaire). The author uses eyes of an angel softly overlooking at you while your alone in the dark. The denotative meaning of a profound vigilance from a silent shadow. the dennotative meaning of night is of chaos creating lots of fear . The denotative meaning of a shadow is a dark entity that is unexpected. The unconscious layers of our personality reflected in shadows are the only shadows we expect and are familiar with as part of our daily life, people barely acknowledge shadows as they go along their daily life. When an unfamiliar shade or figure are seen we are often startled. The dennotive meaning of moon reflects the immortality of the ghost and feeling cold temperature over your skin causes fear in a sensual way. Fear is symbolized with the icy kiss , a cold intimate touch from an invisible being can make a person feel anxiety.
The second stanza in the poem states “and I will give to thee, my own , kisses as icy as the moon, and the caresses of a snake cold gliding in the thorny brake (Charles Baudelaire). The denotative meaning of the symbolic action of a “kisses as icy as the moon” (Charles Baudelaire). Feeling an invisible someone or something that is very cold swiftly over your lips in the middle of the night is mysterious and unexpected. Fear is symbolized with the icy kiss , a cold intimate touch from an invisible being can make a person feel anxiety. The dennotative meaning of snake are the caress that represent destruction or evil in a tempting way.
The unknown and invisible cold feeling is a symbolic action in the poem. He also reflects the feeling of a slimy cold snake slithering over the person’s body; this feeling symbolizes the connotative meaning associating the cold with something slimy and unexpected over your skin.
The third and fourth stanza of the poem states “and when returns the livid morn thou shalt find my place forlorn and chilly, till the falling night .Others would rule by tenderness over thy life and youthfulness, but I would conquer thee by fright!”(Charles Baudelaire). The denotative meaning of tenderness is of a loving fearful sensation that reflects the obsession of the ghost coming back every night and in which the poem states the ghost will keep the room cold throughout the night so that his presences isn't forgotten, this is a frightening feeling .Especially if you are completely alone it becomes a total feeling of fright , feeling defenseless and spooked .
Works Cited
Charles Baudelaire" The Ghost" is reprinted from" The Poems and Prose Poems of Charles"
Baudelaire. “Poetry archive” Poetry Archive.com. Ed. James Huneker. New York: Brentano's, 1919.
