Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE GULF by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: PASCAL HAD HIS GULF, WANDERING WITH HIM
Last Line: -AH! TO LEAVE NUMBERS AND ENTITIES NEVER!
Subject(s): PASCAL, BLAISE (1623-1662); REALITY;

Pascal had his gulf, wandering with him.
-Alas! 'Tis all abyss-action, dream, desire,
Word! And oftentimes I sense across my hair,
Arisen all on end, the breath of Fear.

Above, below, on every side: the fathomless, the verge,
Silence, enthralling insidious space . . .
In the pith of my nights God with His knowing finger
Truceless a manifold nightmare shapes.

Sleep gapes appalling as a cave no one knows,
Suffused with impalpable horror, leading endlessly;
Through all the windows I see merely infinity,

And my being, reeling vertiginous ever,
Covets insensible nullity.
-Ah! to leave Numbers and Entities never!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net