Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


BEAUTY by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE

Poet Analysis

First Line: BEAUTIFUL AM I, OH, MORTALS, LIKE A DREAM OF STONE
Last Line: HAVE MY EYES, MY WIDE EYES, TRANSPARENT FOREVER.
Subject(s): LOVE;

Beautiful am I, oh, mortals, like a dream of stone!
And my breast, where each in his turn has been broken,
Is made to inspire a love in the poet
Eternal and mute as matter is lasting and still.

In the azure enthroned, an inscrutable sphinx,
I join a heart of snow and the whiteness of swans;
Movement I hate when it tampers with line,
And never do I weep and never do I laugh.

The poets, before my insolent poses,
Borrowed it seems from the proudest of statues,
Will consume all their days in rigorous trials;

For I, to fascinate these docile lovers-
Pure mirrors in which all things shine-
Have my eyes, my wide eyes, transparent forever.



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