Mackintire 1

Kaelin Mackintire
3/7/14
Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary, stated Khalil
Gibran. In poetry, writers use certain techniques to show what they want the reader to interpret
through their word choice and other poetry devices. Charles Baudelaire, a French poet and
writer, uses many different devices and techniques to convey the meaning of love and beauty
in his poems, "Invitation to the Voyage" and "Hymn to Beauty".
The rhythm, meter, rhyme, and ambiguity of Charles Baudelaires poem Invitation to
the Voyage allow for multiple different interpretations of the meaning behind the techniques.
According to Skeen, Baudelaire uses love as a topic in his poems and is able to build up the
whole world of his poem from love. It is also interesting, from this viewpoint, that the object of
the poet's love is unclear and the reader cannot tell whether it is his sister, his daughter, his lover,
or his own self. Baudelaires mysterious, yet structured word choice and rhyme, before the
poem is translated from French, is able to convey his love. However, there is still the mysterious
factor of who the love of the poem is directed towards. Also, the ambiguity of the word beauty in
his poems shows that there is no longer mournful meditation in picturesque settingsthe
infinite is no longer the divine perceived in stars; it is found in the expansiveness of scents, in the
imagination, (Charles Baudelaire). His use of the word beauty throughout the poem could
mean his beauty from within, what someone looks like, or just the beauty that he finds in other
people. Baudelaire uses this ambiguity to represent his uncertainness with himself or his lack of
self-confidence because he could be afraid of what critiques he would receive for his poetry.
Lastly, "Baudelaire's ambiguous relationship with the material world and his desire for another
world could also be a factor in his usage of ambiguity. This could also show a lack of self-
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confidence because he wants another world in which he would be able to show who he really is
(Charles Baudelaire). The meaning of Invitation to the Voyage is conveyed through the
ambiguity of the word beauty along with the rhyme and Baudelaires word choice.
Hymn to Beauty is another poem in which the meaning can be interpreted through the
structure of the poem as well as the ambiguity of the word beauty. This poem is iambic
pentameter which allows the reader to better understand the meaning because it follows the
natural rhythm of the way that English is spoken even though the poem was originally written
in French (Hymn). The natural flow gives the reader a chance to better comprehend what they
are reading. Also, the power of this in human beauty is terrible and shows that this poem too
uses beauty as an ambiguous term. Beauty is normally something that everyone wants and strives
for, yet in this poem he uses inhuman beauty which allows for further interpretation from the
reader. Whether Baudelaire uses the beauty as a good characteristic or one that is just trying to be
attained gives the poem another depth of meaning interpreted by the reader. Lastly, redemption
versus beauty is a dichotomy that Baudelaire uses. In the twenty-seventh line of Hymn to
Beauty, he states, rhythm, perfume, glimmer; my one and only queen which refers to beauty
and that he believes she is as beautiful as a queen (line 27). However, in the very next line he
says the world less hideous, the minutes less leaden (28). This quotation can refer to the topic
of redemption because he is saying that she rescued the world from hideousness and made it
more beautiful. Overall, this poem allows the reader to interpret the meaning through the
structure, ambiguity, and dichotomy presented by Baudelaire.
In addition, tropes and romanticism add to the meaning of Charles Baudelaires poems.
In the poem Invitation to the Voyage Baudelaire uses symbolism help represent the meaning
without just stating it. According to Skeen, it would be a difficult task to discover every
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possible meaning that is contained in the poems symbols, and not necessarily useful, since there
is a reason to read in its own allusive form rather than an essay explaining the poem. This
quotation shows how much symbolism is used throughout Baudelaires poem. One of the
symbols that he uses in this poem is using flowers to represent how his girlfriend or wife smells
good. Lastly, Baudelaire uses imagery to allow the reader to be part of the poem through vivid
language. From traditional forms to traditional themes, Baudelaire brought imagery and
situations that had never before existed in French poetry which shows how Baudelaire uses his
own style and his own method of imagery to elaborate on the meaning of the poems. In
Invitation to the Voyage he uses imagery when he says the world falls asleep/in a warm glow
of light, which allows the reader to picture this event. Throughout his poems Baudelaire is able
to use tropes to take the reader on a journey while still adding meaning to the work.
However, there are some instances in which the poets add tropes and use certain
techniques just to fit a pattern, not to add meaning. For example, Kelly states that Baudelaire
was neither a romantic poet nor a symbolist. This proves that Baudelaire would sometimes use
symbolism just a way to express what he is feeling but not adding meaning to the overall
message of his poems. However, most of the time Baudelaires symbolism, romanticism, and
imagery added meaning to the poems he wrote.
Charles Baudelaires usage of literary devices and techniques conveys his meaning of
beauty and the dichotomy of beauty versus redemption. Also, the ambiguity of the word beauty
can be shown in Baudelaires poems. Although imagery and symbolism are the ways that most
of the meaning can be conveyed in the poems Hymn to Beauty and Invitation to the Voyage
by Charles Baudelaire.

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Works Cited
"Charles Baudelaire." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Kelly, David. "Hymn to Beauty." Poetry for Students. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. Vol. 21. Detroit:
Gale, 2005. 102-125. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
"Hymn to Beauty." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
"Hymn to Beauty." Poetry for Students. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. Vol. 21. Detroit: Gale, 2005.
102-125. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
Skeen, Bradley. "Invitation to the Voyage." Poetry for Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 38.
Detroit: Gale, 2011. 94-112. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

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L'invitation au voyage
Mon enfant, ma soeur,
Songe la douceur
D'aller l-bas vivre ensemble!
Aimer loisir,
Aimer et mourir
Au pays qui te ressemble!
Les soleils mouills
De ces ciels brouills
Pour mon esprit ont les charmes
Si mystrieux
De tes tratres yeux,
Brillant travers leurs larmes.
L, tout n'est qu'ordre et beaut,
Luxe, calme et volupt.
Des meubles luisants,
Polis par les ans,
Dcoreraient notre chambre;
Les plus rares fleurs
Mlant leurs odeurs
Aux vagues senteurs de l'ambre,
Les riches plafonds,
Les miroirs profonds,
La splendeur orientale,
Tout y parlerait
l'me en secret
Sa douce langue natale.
L, tout n'est qu'ordre et beaut,
Luxe, calme et volupt.
Vois sur ces canaux
Dormir ces vaisseaux
Dont l'humeur est vagabonde;
C'est pour assouvir
Ton moindre dsir
Qu'ils viennent du bout du monde.
Les soleils couchants
Revtent les champs,
Les canaux, la ville entire,
D'hyacinthe et d'or;
Le monde s'endort
Dans une chaude lumire.
L, tout n'est qu'ordre et beaut,
Luxe, calme et volupt.
Charles Baudelaire

Mackintire 6

Invitation to the Voyage
My child, my sister,
Think of the rapture
Of living together there!
Of loving at will,
Of loving till death,
In the land that is like you!
The misty sunlight
Of those cloudy skies
Has for my spirit the charms,
So mysterious,
Of your treacherous eyes,
Shining brightly through their tears.
There all is order and beauty,
Luxury, peace, and pleasure.
Gleaming furniture,
Polished by the years,
Will ornament our bedroom;
The rarest flowers
Mingling their fragrance
With the faint scent of amber,
The ornate ceilings,
The limpid mirrors,
The oriental splendor,
All would whisper there
Secretly to the soul
In its soft, native language.
There all is order and beauty,
Luxury, peace, and pleasure.
See on the canals
Those vessels sleeping.
Their mood is adventurous;
It's to satisfy
Your slightest desire
That they come from the ends of the earth.
The setting suns
Adorn the fields,
The canals, the whole city,
With hyacinth and gold;
The world falls asleep
In a warm glow of light.
There all is order and beauty,
Luxury, peace, and pleasure.

Mackintire 7

Hymne la Beaut
Viens-tu du ciel profond ou sors-tu de l'abme,
O Beaut? ton regard, infernal et divin,
Verse confusment le bienfait et le crime,
Et l'on peut pour cela te comparer au vin.
Tu contiens dans ton oeil le couchant et
l'aurore;
Tu rpands des parfums comme un soir
orageux;
Tes baisers sont un philtre et ta bouche une
amphore
Qui font le hros lche et l'enfant courageux.
Sors-tu du gouffre noir ou descends-tu des
astres?
Le Destin charm suit tes jupons comme un
chien;
Tu smes au hasard la joie et les dsastres,
Et tu gouvernes tout et ne rponds de rien.
Tu marches sur des morts, Beaut, dont tu te
moques;
De tes bijoux l'Horreur n'est pas le moins
charmant,
Et le Meurtre, parmi tes plus chres breloques,
Sur ton ventre orgueilleux danse
amoureusement.
L'phmre bloui vole vers toi, chandelle,
Crpite, flambe et dit: Bnissons ce flambeau!
L'amoureux pantelant inclin sur sa belle
A l'air d'un moribond caressant son tombeau.
Que tu viennes du ciel ou de l'enfer,
qu'importe,
Beaut! monstre norme, effrayant, ingnu!
Si ton il, ton souris, ton pied, m'ouvrent la
porte
D'un Infini que j'aime et n'ai jamais connu?
De Satan ou de Dieu, qu'importe? Ange ou
Sirne,
Qu'importe, si tu rends, fe aux yeux de
velours,
Rythme, parfum, lueur, mon unique reine!
L'univers moins hideux et les instants moins
lourds?


Mackintire 8

Hymn to Beauty
Do you come from Heaven or rise from the
abyss,
Beauty? Your gaze, divine and infernal,
Pours out confusedly benevolence and crime,
And one may for that, compare you to wine.
You contain in your eyes the sunset and the
dawn;
You scatter perfumes like a stormy night;
Your kisses are a philtre, your mouth an
amphora,
Which make the hero weak and the child
courageous.
Do you come from the stars or rise from the
black pit?
Destiny, bewitched, follows your skirts like a
dog;
You sow at random joy and disaster,
And you govern all things but answer for
nothing.
You walk upon corpses which you mock, O
Beauty!
Of your jewels Horror is not the least
charming,
And Murder, among your dearest trinkets,
Dances amorously upon your proud belly.
The dazzled moth flies toward you, O candle!
Crepitates, flames and says: "Blessed be this
flambeau!"
The panting lover bending o'er his fair one
Looks like a dying man caressing his own
tomb,
Whether you come from heaven or from hell,
who cares,
O Beauty! Huge, fearful, ingenuous monster!
If your regard, your smile, your foot, open for
me
An Infinite I love but have not ever known?
From God or Satan, who cares? Angel or
Siren,
Who cares, if you make, fay with the velvet
eyes,
Rhythm, perfume, glimmer; my one and only
queen!
The world less hideous, the minutes less
leaden?