Classic and Contemporary Poetry
L'AMOUR DU MENSONGE, by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When I behold thee, o my indolent love Last Line: Hail, lovely mask, thy beauty I adore! | ||||||||
WHEN I behold thee, O my indolent love, To the sound of ringing brazen melodies, Through garish halls harmoniously move, Scattering a scornful light from languid eyes; When I see, smitten by the blazing lights, Thy pale front, beauteous in its bloodless glow As the faint fires that deck the Northern nights, And eyes that draw me wheresoe'er I go; I say, She is fair, too coldly strange for speech; A crown of memories, her calm brow above, Shines; and her heart is like a bruised red peach, Ripe as her body for intelligent love. Art thou late fruit of spicy savor and scent? A funeral vase awaiting tearful showers? An Eastern odor, waste and oasis blent? A silken cushion or a bank of flowers? I know there are eyes of melancholy sheen To which no passionate secrets e'er were given; Shrines where no god or saint has ever been, As deep and empty as the vault of Heaven. But what care I if this be all pretense? 'T will serve a heart that seeks for truth no more. All one thy folly or indifference, -- Hail, lovely mask, thy beauty I adore! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DON JUAN IN HELL by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE A VOYAGE TO CYTHERA by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE AFFINITIES by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE ANYWHERE OUT OF THE WORLD by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE ANYWHERE OUT OF THE WORLD by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE AT ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE BE DRUNK by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE BEATRICE by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE |
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