The Arcades Project - Operi

am convinced that, if the syllables that go to fonn verses of this kind were to be
translated by the geometric forms and subtle colors which belong to them by
analogy, they would possess the agreeable texture and beautiful tints of a Persian
carpet or Indian shawl. / My idea will strike you as ridiculous; but I have often
felt like drawing and coloring your verse!' Cited in Crepet, p. 415. [J30a,5]
Viguy to Baudelaire, January 27, 1862: 'How . .. unjust you are, it seems to me,
toward this lovely bouquet, so variously scented with odors of spring, for having
given it a title it does not deserve, and how much I deplore that poisonous air
which you sometimes pipe in from the murky bourne of Hamlet's graveyard."
Cited in Crepet, p. 441. [J30a,6]
From the letter that Baudelaire scnt to Empress Eug€mie, November 6, 1857: '"But
the fine, increased by costs that are unintelligible to me, exceeds the resources of
the proverbial poverty of poets, and . .. , cOllvinced that the heart of the Empress
is open to pity for all tribulations, spiritual as well as material, I have conceived
the idea, after a period of'indecision and timidity that lasted ten days, of appealing
to the gracious goodness of your Majesty and of entreating your intercession with
the minister of justice. "l47 H. Patry, "L'Epilogue du proces des Fleurs du mal: Vne
Lettre inedite de Baudelaire a l'Imperatrice," Revue d'histoire litteraire de la
France, 29th year (1922), p. 71. [J31,1]
From Schaunard, Souvenirs (Paris, 1887): '''I detest the countryside,' says
Baudelaire in explanation of his hasty departure from Honfleur, 'particularly in
good weather. The persistent sunshine oppresses me .... Ah! speak to me of those
everchanging Parisian skies that laugh or cry according to the wind, and that
never, in their variable heat and humidity, have any effect on the stupid crops . ...
I am perhaps affronting your convictions as a landscape painter, but I must tell
you further that an open body of water is a monstrous thing to me; I want it
incarcerated, contained within the geometric walls of a quay. My favorite walking
pla{e is the emhankment along the Canal de l'Ourcq'" (cited in Crepet, p. 160).
[J31,2]
Crepet juxtaposes Schaunard's report with the letter to Desnoyers, and then remarks
in closing: "'What can we conclude from all this? Perhaps simply that
Baudelaire belonged to that family of unfortunates who desire only what they do
not have and love only the place where they are not" (Crepet, p. 161). [J31,3]
Baudelaire's shtcerite was formerly much discussed. Traces of this debate are still
to be found in Crepet (see p. 172). [J31,4]
i . "The laughter of children is like the blossoming of a flower. . It is a plant-like
joy. And so, in general, it is more like a smile-something analogous to the wagging
of a dog's tail, or the purring of a cat. And if there still remains some distinction
hetween the laughter of children and such expressions of animal contentment, . ..
this is hecause their laughter is not entirely free of ambition, as is only proper to