[PHOTO Source and Credit: Courtesy of J.M. Hire]
(10 JUN 2011 – A special THANK YOU to my kindred spirit "CAMV" for sharing this poem with me and for her sister "JMH" for the two beautiful photos to partner with the words of the poem. ENJOY!! Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011)
SOURCE LINKS
I was new to the poetry and writings of this French poet before my kindred spirit shared the poem ELEVATION. I want to explore more of his writings. Here is some info from wikipedia about him.
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire ]
Charles Baudelaire (April 9, 1821 – August 31, 1867) was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil) expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century. Baudelaire's highly original style of prose-poetry influenced a whole generation of poets including Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé among many others. He is credited with coining the term "modernity" (modernité) to designate the fleeting, ephemeral experience of life in an urban metropolis, and the responsibility art has to capture that experience.
Philosophy -- Many of Baudelaire's philosophical proclamations were considered scandalous and intentionally provocative in his time. He wrote on a wide range of subjects, drawing criticism and outrage from many quarters.
It is interesting to me, to note that Charles Baudelaire knew the painter Édouard Manet.
Manet and Baudelaire became constant companions from around 1855. In the early 1860s, Baudelaire accompanied Manet on daily sketching trips and often met him socially. Manet also lent Baudelaire money and looked after his affairs, particularly when Baudelaire went to Belgium. Baudelaire encouraged Manet to strike his own path and not succumb to criticism. "Manet has great talent, a talent which will stand the test of time. But he has a weak character. He seems to me crushed and stunned by shock". In his painting Music in the Tuileries, Manet includes portraits of his friends Théophile Gautier, Jacques Offenbach, and Baudelaire. While it's difficult to differentiate who influenced whom, both Manet and Baudelaire discussed and expressed some common themes through their respective arts. Baudelaire praised the modernity of Manet's subject matter: "almost all our originality comes from the stamp that 'time' imprints upon our feelings". When Manet's famous Olympia (1865), a portrait of a nude prostitute, provoked a scandal for its blatant realism mixed with an imitation of Renaissance motifs, Baudelaire worked privately to support his friend, though he offered no public defense (he was, however, ill at the time). When Baudelaire returned from Belgium after his stroke, Manet and his wife were frequent visitors at the nursing home and she would play passages from Wagner for Baudelaire on the piano.
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ELEVATION
(NOTE: This poem was originally written in FRENCH, and there are may translations on the Internet. Below is one translation. dht-2011)
[~A Poem by Charles Baudelaire, translated by William A. Sigler]
[ http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/elevation/ ]
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.
SOURCES OF some interesting YOUTUBE LINKS —
Printed in french with instrumental video:
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDXd2wFIZK8&feature=related ]
Read in French with instrumental music:
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVpJoDOxxDw&feature=related ]
Sung in French by Patricia Guede with instrumental music by Regis Flecheau and photos:
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYzHVLnt2NE ]
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[PHOTO Source and Credit: Courtesy of J.M. Hire]
