Analysis of The Vampire

Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)



You that, like a dagger’s thrust,
Have entered my complaining heart,
You that, stronger than a host
Of demons, came, wild yet prepared;

Within my mind’s humility
You made your bed and your domain;
- Infamous one who’s bound to me
Like any felon by his chain,

Like a gambler by his games,
Like the bottle and the sot,
Like the worms in one’s remains,
- Damm you! Damnation be your lot!

I’ve begged the merciful, swift sword
To overcome my liberty -
To poison I have said the word:
Save me from poltroonery.

Alas the sword! Alas the poison!
Contemptuous, they spoke to m:
"You never can deserve remission
Of your accursed slavery,

"Imbecile! - If our deadly empire
Freed you from your present fate,
Your kiss would soon resuscitate
The cold cadaver of your vampire!"


Scheme XXXX ABAB XXXX XAXC DXDA CEEC
Poetic Form
Metre 1110101 11010101 1110101 11011101 01110100 11110101 10011111 11010111 1010111 1010001 1010101 11010111 11010011 1101100 11011101 1111 010101010 01001111 110101010 111100 10011010100 1111101 1111010 010101110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 759
Words 140
Sentences 8
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 99
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 21, 2023

41 sec read
79

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. more…

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