Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

The poem "Charles Baudelaire's Tomb" by Stephane Mallarme delves into the complex emotions that surround the legacy of Charles Baudelaire, a figure seminal in the French literary landscape. Mallarmé, who was himself a key player in the Symbolist movement, uses vivid imagery to depict not just the tomb but the lasting influence-both alluring and pernicious-of Baudelaire's work and life.

The opening stanza evokes the imagery of filth and ruby, perhaps signaling the intermingling of the beautiful and the sordid that often characterizes Baudelaire's own poetic universe. The reference to "Anubian idol" might be seen as an exotic nod to themes of death and afterlife, which are themselves prominent in Baudelaire's work. There's also a notion of fierce rebellion, indicated by "the whole snout aflame as a fierce barking," underscoring Baudelaire's challenge to societal norms and established aesthetics.

Mallarmé then shifts to an image of "gas-light" that twists "the dubious wick," providing a nuanced comparison that harkens back to the flickering morality and darkness often portrayed in Baudelaire's works. The "immortal pubis" here might be an audacious symbol for the sexual and sensual themes that Baudelaire never shied away from, and its "flight, after its reflection, stays out all night" could be read as the lasting impact of Baudelaire's audacity on the world and perhaps on Mallarmé himself.

The last stanza speaks to the futile attempts to grasp Baudelaire's legacy, captured in the imagery of "dry leaves in cities without evening." Mallarmé seems to suggest that the veil that encircles Baudelaire's legacy is both protective and poisonous-a "tutelary poison" that's to be breathed "though we perish by it." This duality may reflect the inner conflicts that Baudelaire's works often elicit, demanding from us a reckoning with both the beautiful and the abject, the spiritual and the sensual, the life-affirming and the life-destroying.

As Mallarmé himself was an intellectual and poetic heir to Baudelaire, this poem can be read not just as an homage but as a complex reckoning with an inescapable influence. The poem also situates Baudelaire within a larger cultural discourse, acknowledging how the poet's reach extends beyond the marble of his tomb to continuously unsettle and intoxicate the living. Therefore, Mallarmé's poem serves as an epitaph that refuses simplicity, encapsulating the intricate, enduring enigma that is Charles Baudelaire.

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