Analysis of Elevation
Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)
Above the ponds, beyond the valleys,
The woods, the mountains, the clouds, the seas,
Farther than the sun, the distant breeze,
The spheres that wilt to infinity
My spirit, you move with agility
And, like a good swimmer who swoons in the wave
You groove the depths immensity gave,
The inexpressible and male ecstasy.
>From this miasma of waste,
You will be purified in superior air
And drink a pure and divine liqueur,
A clear fire to replace the limpid space
Behind this boredom and fatigue, this vast chagrin
Whose weight moves the mists of existence,
Happy is he who vigorously fans the senses
Toward serene and luminous fields—wincing!
The one whose thoughts are like skylarks taken wing
Across the heavens mornings in full flight
—Who hovers over life, understanding without effort
The language of flowers and mute things.
Translated by William A. Sigler
Submitted by Ryan McGuire
Scheme | AAAB BCCB XXDX XXXE EXXX D X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010101010 010100101 101010101 011110100 1101110100 01011011001 110111 0101100 1101011 11110001001 010100101 011011011 011100011101 111011010 1011110001010 01010100110 0111111101 0101010011 1101010100110 010110011 0101100100 01011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 875 |
Words | 150 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 102 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 26, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 206 Views
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"Elevation" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4916/elevation>.
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