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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CRACKED BELL, by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: It is bitter and sweet, during the winter nights Last Line: And who dies, without moving, in immense throes of dread! | |||
It is bitter and sweet, during the Winter nights, To listen, by the quivering and smoking hearth-log, To the memories withdrawn that ascend in slow flights On the carillons whose music sings out through the fog. Thrice fortunate the bell with a vigorous throat That, in spite of old age, alert and still robust, Flings faithfully the challenge of its religious note, Like a veteran campaigner keeping watch at his post. As for me, my soul's cracked, and when in gloom it longs To people the chill air of the night with its songs, It often befalls me that its enfeebled call Seems a wounded man's rattle, forgotten by all By a lake of blood under a vast heap of dead, And who dies, without moving, in immense throes of dread! | 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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