Blog Entry 1.3: Music (Beethoven) by Baudelaire

MUSIC

(Beethoven)

by: Charles Baudelaire

MUSIC doth uplift me like a sea

Towards my planet pale,

Then through dark fogs or heaven's infinity

I lift my wandering sail.

 

With breast advanced, drinking the winds that flee,

And through the cordage wail,

I mount the hurrying waves night hides from me

Beneath her sombre veil.

 

I feel the tremblings of all passions known

To ships before the breeze;

Cradled by gentle winds, or tempest-blown

 

I pass the abysmal seas

That are, when calm, the mirror level and fair

Of my despair!

One of the greatest French poets of the XIX century, Charles Baudelaire is often called "the father of modern criticism," who shocked his contemporaries with his visions of lust and decay. Baudelaire had a deep influence on a generation of poets in the late XIXth century, coming into vogue at a time when "art for art's sake" was a dogma [2]. Baudelaire lived a stereotypical life of a bohemian, decadent artist. I imagine him with a glass of absinthe, smoking his pipe full of opium, in the company of doubtful women, enjoying refined sensual and aesthetical pleasures. His poetry received much criticism for his satanistic moods, his controversial and sinful nature, for promoting drug-induced states of mind and his attitude to women.  I chose his poem Music (Beethoven), one of his more innocent verses, for an incredible parallel between the power of music and the force of nature. 

Baudelaire’s Music is highly symbolic: he uses multiple allegories to describe the feelings, produced by Beethoven’s music, comparing it with sea at different weather. The poet uses symbols as images which take on an expanded function within the poem [4]. The symbols I managed to find in the poem are listed below:

Symbols	Denotation	Connotation
Sea	The body of water	Unlimited, absolute, unconscious, emotional, overwhelming; new perspective and positive outlook [1]
Uplift	Lift up from the surface	Elate: fill with high spirits; fill with optimism; take smb’s breath away, carry away
Planet pale	Moon	Author’s dream, super ego (moon regulates sea’s ebb and flow)
Dark fogs	Fog, mist	Mysterious, unknown, hard to see, heavy
Heaven’s infinity	Transparent skies	Clear, precise, crisp, safe
Sail	The sails of a ship or boat	To be in control, free; overcome life difficulties [1]
Sailor	Who leads the ship	Adventure, freedom, exploration, readiness to venture off into deeper waters
With breast advanced	Arched, curved, bent; resembling the sail	Proud; author’s heart is emphasized – he’s at the peak of his emotions
Drinking the winds	Breathing through mouth	Taking a mouthful, almost choke, overwhelming sensation
Cordage	The ropes in the rigging of a ship [3]	Trapped, tied up, cannot get out
Wail	A cry of pain, grief or anger	Squeaking of the cordage warns: danger
To mount the wave	Climb, get on top	Mount waves refers to their enormous size; peak of excitement
Sombre veil	Dark cloth	Cover, hide in the shadow, darkness, gloom, fear of the unknown
Trembling	Shake from cold, fear or excitement	Resonating with the nature, overwhelmed by emotions
Cradled	Put in the baby cradle	At peace, at home, calm and safe, protected
Abysmal seas	Immeasurably deep or great	Hopelessly bad, severe
Mirror level	Firm straight reflective surface	Beginning, source, ambiguous nature

From the first lines of the poem we find out that the music of Beethoven sets the poet on a spiritual journey, fills him up with emotion, lifts him up and carries him away, makes him forgive himself and find himself in his imaginary world, reaching out for his dream. Comparing the music to the sea, he touches upon the deep, sensual, subconscious nature of personal experience of sounds of music.

In the second stanza the author describes his overwhelming excitement – fast, rapid, strong feeling - comparing it to the sailing at full wind. “Cordage wail”, “waves night hides from me”, “her somber veil” warn us of the upcoming dangers. The unknown, the mysterious are so attractive for the poet, that he feels trapped in the emotion, magnetized by the dark of the depths.

The third stanza sums up the duality of the emotion – fear combines with peace, “gentle winds” vs “tempest blown” are equally exciting and dangerous (the contrast is paired up with one from the first stanza – “through dark fogs or heaven's infinity”). “All passions known to ships before the breeze” reminds me of the dreadful danger of the dead calm, and this emotion is fortified by the following stanza, where the poet recalls “the mirror level … of my despair”. The sea, quiet and friendly, flat, like a mirror, is even more dangerous than during the storm: it’s much easier to drown when the sail cannot catch wind, and the poet is left in desperate anticipation of the unavoidability of the end.

I really enjoy the descriptive power of this poem. I love classical music, Beethoven and Brahms being ones of my favorite composers, and very often a listen to a classical record leaves me overwhelmed and speechless, just like the author. Highly dramatic, high-pitched, intense rhythms morph into quiet and peaceful interludes, the feelings overlap and transform, become one solid clot of exclaimed emotion. Pleasure and pain combine and make me feel alive.

Works Sited:

1.      http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary/s.htm
2.      http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/baudelai.htm
3.      http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
4.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire