Analysis of Parisian Dream
Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)
Á Constantine Guys
I
The vague and distant image
of this landscape, so terrifying,
on which no mortal’s gazed
thrilled me again this morning.
Sleep is full of miracles!
By a singular caprice
from that unfolding spectacle
I’d banned all shapeless leaf,
a painter proud of my artistry
I savoured in my picture
the enchanting monotony
of metal, marble, water.
Babel of stairs and arcades,
it was an infinite palace
full of pools and cascades,
falling gold, burnt, or lustreless:
and heavy cataracts there
like curtains of crystal,
dazzling, hung in air
from walls of metal.
Not trees, but colonnades
circled the sleeping pools
where colossal naiads gazed
at themselves, as women do.
Between banks of rose and green,
the blue water stretched,
for millions of leagues
to the universe’s edge:
there were un-heard of stones,
and magic waves: there were,
dazzled by everything shown,
enormous quivering mirrors!
Impassive and taciturn,
Ganges, in the firmament,
poured treasures from the urn
into abysses of diamond.
Architect of this spell,
I made a tame ocean swell
entirely at my will,
through a jewelled tunnel:
and all, seemed glossy, clear
iridescent: even the shades
of black, liquid glory there
in light’s crystallised rays.
Not a single star, no trace
of a sun even, low in the sky,
to illuminate this wondrous place
that shone with intrinsic fire!
And over these shifting wonders
hovered (oh dreadful novelty!
All for the eye, none for the ear!)
the silence of eternity.
II
Opening eyes filled with flame
I saw the horrors of my hovel,
and felt the barbs of shameful
care, re-entering my soul:
brutally with gloomy blows
the clock struck mid-day,
and the sky poured shadows
on a world, benumbed and grey.
Scheme | ABCDEDFGHIJKJKLMLANHNHAOEPQRSTUKVWXEXYZZ1 H2 LN3 4 B4 KWJ5 JB6 HH7 8 9 8 9 |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101 1 0101010 1111100 111101 1101110 1111100 1010001 11010100 111101 010111100 110110 00100100 1101010 1011001 11110010 111001 101111 010101 110110 100101 11110 1111 100101 101011 1011101 0111101 01101 11011 101001 101111 010110 101101 01010010 010010 10001 110101 011110 10111 1101101 0100111 10110 011101 0101001 1110101 0111 1010111 101101001 101001101 11101010 01011010 10110100 11011101 01010100 1 1001111 110101110 0101110 1110011 1001101 01111 00111 101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,664 |
Words | 290 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 63 |
Lines Amount | 63 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,357 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 287 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:27 min read
- 193 Views
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"Parisian Dream" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4995/parisian-dream>.
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