Analysis of A Voyage To Cythera
Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)
My heart was like a bird that fluttered joyously
And glided free among the tackle and the lines!
The vessel rolled along under a cloudless sky
An angel, tipsy, gay, full of the radiant sun.
What is that sad black isle? I asked as we approached
They call it Cythera, land to write songs about,
Banal Utopia of veterans of love;
But look, it seems to be a poor land after all.
Island of sweet intrigues, and feastings of the heart!
The ghost of ancient Venus the magnificent
Glides like a haunting scent above your swelling seas,
Enrapturing the soul in languishing and love.
Sweet isle of greenery, myrtle and blooming flowers,
Perpetual delight of those in every land,
Where sighs of adoration from the hearts of lovers
Roll as incense does over a rosy bower,
Or like the constant crooning of a turtle-dove!
Cythera was an island barren in terrain,
A mere deserted rock, disturbed by piercing cries.
But on it I could glimpse a curious device!
No temple was this thing, among the woodland shades,
Where the young worshipper, the flowers' devotee,
Would tarry, body burning, hot with secret lusts,
Her robe half-open to the fleeting wisps of breeze;
But as we skimmed the shore, fairly near enough
To agitate the birds with swelling of our sails,
What we saw was a gibbet, made of three great stakes.
It reared against the sky, black, as a cypress stands.
Ferocious birds were gathered, snatching at their food,
Raging around a hanging shape already ripe;
Each creature worked his tool, his dripping filthy beak,
Into the bleeding corners of this rottenness.
The eyes were two blank gaps, and from the hollow paunch
Its tangled guts let loose, spilling over the thighs,
And those tormentors, gorged with hideous delights,
Had castrated the corpse with snapping of their beaks.
Under the feet, a troupe of jealous quadrupeds,
The muzzle lifted high, eddied and prowled about;
One larger, bolder beast was restless all the more,
The leader of the pack, surrounded by his aides.
Dweller in Cythera, child of a sky so clear,
In silence you endure these desecrations
In expiation for your infamous beliefs
And crimes which have denied you proper burial.
Hanged man, ridiculous, your sorrows are my own!
I feel, in blinding view of your loose-hanging limbs,
A rising to the teeth, a building in my throat
Of a choking spew of gall, and all my ancient griefs;
Along with you, poor devil, dear to memory,
I suffered all the stabs of all the killer crows
And felt the grinding jaws of panthers, cruel and black,
Who once took such delight in feasting on my flesh.
The sky was ravishing, the sea a very glass;
For me the world was black, and bloody would it be.
Alas! And as within a heavy shroud, I have
Entombed my heart in this perverse allegory!
Venus, in your black isle not one thing was erect
But the symbolic tree whereon my image hung.
Ah, Lord! I beg of you the courage and the strength
To take without disgust my body and my heart!
Scheme | ABXX XCDA EXFD GXGX DXHX IJBF XXXX XXXB KHXB BCXI XXXA XXXB JXXK XJXJ XXXE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (20%) |
Metre | 1111011101 010101010001 010101100101 1101011101001 111111111101 1111111101 010100110011 111111011101 10110101101 011101000100 110101011101 101010001 1111001001010 0100011101001 111010101110 110111001010 110101010101 1111010001 010101011101 111111010001 11011101011 101101001 110101011101 011101010111 11110110101 110011101101 11110111111 110101110101 010101010111 100101010101 110111110101 0101010111 010111010101 110111101001 01101110001 11001110111 1001011101 01010110101 110101110101 010101010111 1001110111 01010110010 011110001 011101110100 110100110111 110101111101 010101010011 1010111011101 011111011100 110101110101 0101011101001 111101010111 011100010101 110111010111 010101010111 01110101100 100111111101 10010111101 111111010001 110101110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,916 |
Words | 534 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 15 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
Font size:
Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:40 min read
- 11 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Voyage To Cythera" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54865/a-voyage-to-cythera>.
Discuss this Charles Baudelaire poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In