Elevation
Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)
Above the ponds, beyond the valleys,
The woods, the mountains, the clouds, the seas,
Farther than the sun, the distant breeze,
The spheres that wilt to infinity
My spirit, you move with agility
And, like a good swimmer who swoons in the wave
You groove the depths immensity gave,
The inexpressible and male ecstasy.
>From this miasma of waste,
You will be purified in superior air
And drink a pure and divine liqueur,
A clear fire to replace the limpid space
Behind this boredom and fatigue, this vast chagrin
Whose weight moves the mists of existence,
Happy is he who vigorously fans the senses
Toward serene and luminous fields—wincing!
The one whose thoughts are like skylarks taken wing
Across the heavens mornings in full flight
—Who hovers over life, understanding without effort
The language of flowers and mute things.
Translated by William A. Sigler
Submitted by Ryan McGuire
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 26, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 206 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AAAB BCCB XXDX XXXE EXXX D X |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 875 |
Words | 150 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 1 |
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"Elevation" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4916/elevation>.
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