Analysis of The Balcony
Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)
Mother of memories, mistress of mistresses,
O you, all my pleasures! O you, all my learning!
You will remember the joy of caresses,
the sweetness of home and the beauty of evening,
Mother of memories, mistress of mistresses!
On evenings lit by the glow of the ashes
and on the balcony, veiled, rose-coloured, misted,
how gentle your breast was, how good your heart to me!
We have said things meant for eternity,
on evenings lit by the glow of the ashes.
How lovely the light is on sultry evenings!
How deep the void grows! How powerful the heart is!
As I leaned towards you, queen of adored ones
I thought I breathed perfume from your blood’s kiss.
How lovely the light is on sultry evenings!
The night it was thickening and closing around us,
and my eyes in the dark were divining your glance,
and I drank your nectar. Oh sweetness! Oh poison!
your feet held, here, in these fraternal hands.
The night it was thickening and closing around us.
I know how to summon up happiest moments,
and relive my past, there, curled, touching your knees.
What good to search for your languorous beauties
but in your dear body, and your heart so sweet?
I know how to summon up happiest moments!
Those vows, those perfumes, those infinite kisses,
will they be reborn, from gulfs beyond soundings,
as the suns that are young again climb in the sky,
after they’ve passed through the deepest of drownings?
-O vows! O perfumes! O infinite kisses
Scheme | AbcbA AdxdA EcxxE FxxxF GhhdG aexea |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101100101100 111110111110 11010011010 010110010110 101100101100 11011011010 01010011101 110111111111 1111110100 11011011010 11001111010 110111100011 11101111011 1111011111 11001111010 0111100010011 011001001011 011110110110 1111010101 0111100010011 111110110010 00111111011 111111110 10111001111 111110110010 11101110010 11111110110 101111011001 10111010110 11101110010 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,414 |
Words | 256 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 187 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 12, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 149 Views
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"The Balcony" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5010/the-balcony>.
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