A Carcass By Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire was a notably French poet during the mid-1800s. He is the son of Joseph-Francois Baudelaire and Caroline Archimbaut Dufays. His father died when he was six and his mother remarried, which deeply distressed him because he was so close to her. Baudelaire also lived had an interesting life growing up and his mother and stepfather didn’t support his dream of writing. With the distressed caused by the newly distant relationship with his mom and the lack of support from his family, this could be the reason why some of his works were bizarre, peculiar, and indecent (Poets.org). For instance, in his poem “A Carcass”, Baudelaire’s choice of words and imagery are brutal. When reading “A Carcass”, one might think Baudelaire seems …show more content…
This poem was a unique way of him reminiscing on a time he spent with a woman he loved. The choice of words and the way he describes the scene of the carcass decaying doesn’t prove or show that he is unstable. In fact, this poem just displays how talented and unique Baudelaire was. Gustave Flaubert, a notable writer, wrote to Baudelaire claiming, “You have found a way to inject new life into Romanticism. You are unlike anyone else [which is the most important quality]” and I agree (Poetry Foundation). Baudelaire wanted to go into detail and provide more excitement and imagery to the poem while remembering how lovely a walk down a path was until he and his lover came across the decaying carcass. He uses horrifying imagery as a device to really bring forth a grasp in the reader’s mind of the harshness of the dead animal’s presence. It is an eye-opening experience meant to be felt by the reader and or audience right …show more content…
For instance, throughout the poem, Baudelaire contrasts images of beauty with the grotesque, as shown in the opening stanza: Remember, my love, the object we saw That beautiful morning in June: By a bend in the path a carcass reclined On a bed sown with pebbles and stones; (1-4, Puchner) Then in stanza two, the poem takes on a tone of sexual arousal as if there is a sort of awkward lust directed towards the carcass: Her legs were spread out like a lecherous whore, Sweating out poisonous fumes, Who opened in slick invitational

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