The Bad Monk

Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)



On the great walls of ancient cloisters were nailed
Murals displaying Truth the saint,
Whose effect, reheating the pious entrails
Brought to an austere chill a warming paint.

In the times when Christ was seeded around,
More than one illustrious monk, today unknown
Took for a studio the funeral grounds
And glorified Death as the one way shown.

—My soul is a tomb, an empty confine
Since eternity I scour and I reside;
Nothing hangs on the walls of this hideous sty.

O lazy monk! When will I see
The living spectacle of my misery,
The work of my hands and the love of my eyes?

Translated by William A. Sigler

Submitted by Ryan McGuire

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

35 sec read
126

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XXX CCX X X
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 629
Words 117
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1

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…

All Charles Baudelaire poems | Charles Baudelaire Books

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