Analysis of Le Gout du Néant

Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)



Morne esprit, autrefois amoureux de la lutte,
L'Espoir, dont l'éperon attisait ton ardeur,
Ne veut plus t'enfourcher! Couche-toi sans pudeur,
Vieux cheval dont le pied à chaque obstacle bute.
Résigne-toi, mon coeur; dors ton sommeil de brute.

Esprit vaincu, fourbu! Pour toi, vieux maraudeur,
L'amour n'a plus de gout, non plus que la dispute;
Adieu donc, chants du cuivre et soupirs de la flûte!
Plaisirs, ne tentez plus un coeur sombre et boudeur!
Le Printemps adorable a perdu son odeur!

Et le Temps m'engloutit minute par minute,
Comme la neige immense un corps pris de roideur;
Je contemple d'en haut le globe en sa rondeur,
Et je n'y cherche plus l'abri d'une cahute.
Avalanche, veux-tu m'emporter dans ta chute?


Scheme ABBAA BAABB ABBAA
Poetic Form
Metre 10111111 11101111 11111111 1110111001 1111111111 01111111 1010111111101 011111111111 111111111 01001000111 101110110 1110111111 1111101111 111111111 10111111
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 730
Words 121
Sentences 10
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 185
Words per stanza (avg) 40
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 08, 2023

39 sec read
85

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. more…

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