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The Measurable Influence of Charles Baudelaires Poetry.!

Baudelaires poetry has had a profound impact on both future poetic works of fellow creative
contemporaries and indeed the minds of generations to come. The imprints of his ground-breaking
work can be felt throughout the globe even today. In this dissertation, I will analyse his influence on
the subject of symbolism, how he imparted his philosophy onto the minds of other poets, the impact
he had on the arts of music and painting, and how this influence spread throughout not only Europe,
but other continents too, specifically Asia.

The branch of poetry associated with symbolism, modernism, only truly emerged in the 19th
century and, of course, I believe Baudelaire played a significant role in the revelation of symbolism.
He was a pivotal feature in orchestrating the the revolt of French poets against rigid conventions
governing both themes and techniques of traditional poetry, wishing to free poetry from its
elucidative purposes and strict formality. He felt that the theme belonging to a poem could be
developed and dictated by a sensitive manipulation of harmonies, tones and colours inherent in
selectively chosen expressions. He evoked powerful, lucid imagery to convey his messages, starkly
contrasting with the now dated Parnassian poetry.

This is evident in his collection of poems in Les Fleurs du Mal 1, particularly the poem
Correspondances 2. In this poem, I find that Baudelaire reveals a special connection between
nature and the metaphysical world to us. He employs the technique of synathesia, in which sounds,
scents and colours are combined to assist us in conjuring up mental images. This is especially
evident in the stanza:
II est des parfums frais comme des chairs d'enfants,
Doux comme les hautbois, verts comme les prairies,
Et d'autres, corrompus, riches et triomphants
Baudelaire, here, successfully transfers a dramatic French Symbolist impression of Art and Nature
onto me, with the aid of techniques that still resonate with modern poetry today.

Forerunners of the Symbolist movement of the 19th century, specifically Verlaine and Rimbaud,
were markedly influenced by the philosophy of Charles Baudelaire. They adopted Baudelaires
concept of correspondences between the human senses and combined this with the Wagnerian
(German composer: 1813 -1883) ideal of a synthesis of the arts to produce an original conception of
the musical qualities of poetry. The Symbolists firmly believed that of all possible means of
expression, art would always reign supreme. They thought, Baudelaire especially, that despite the
materiality and individuality of the physical world, there did exist an alternate reality whose essence
could be seen through a more natural, artistic scope. This is apparent in the poem Paysage from
Tableaux Parisiens 3 in which Baudelaire views the rapidly urbanising Paris as a sort of urban
idyll, a place of beauty:
Car je serai plong dans cette volupt
Dvoquer le Printemps avec ma volont,
De tirer un soleil de mon cur, et de faire

Baudelaire Charles. Les Fleurs du Mal. Paris, Poulet-Malassis, 1855.

Correspondances, Spleen et idal, Les Fleurs du Mal.

Paysage, Tableaux Parisiens, Les Fleurs du Mal.

De mes pensers brlants une tide atmosphre.

This revolutionary Symbolist movement, stemmed by Baudelaire, stretched as far as Russia. The
leader of this Russian movement, Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov 4, was inspired by Baudelaire,
with his poetry similarly expressing the belief that the world surrounding him was a system of
symbols expressing metaphysical realities. Arguably the greatest writer from this Russian
movement, Alexander Blok, derived many of his astute poetic techniques from Baudelaire. His
usage of colour in portrayal of certain scenarios was exquisite. In his finest work, Twelve 5, he
juxtaposes black, white and red to great effect. Certainly, without Baudelaires poetic input,
these extraordinary feats by Alexander and his comrades would never have been possible.

However, it was in France where, unsurprisingly, the ripples of Baudelaires poetic endeavour were
felt the most. It was through the inspired Verlaine, Rimbaud and Mallarm that the foundations of
Baudelaires groundwork were truly expanded upon. In fact, from inspection of their poetry, I have
found imprints of Baudelaires pioneering work to permeate throughout all of their poetry:

Paul Verlaine credited Baudelaire greatly, saying It is to Baudelaire that I owe the awakening of
poetic feeling, and what is deep in me 6. Verlaines youthful discovery of Baudelaire, specifically
the Les Fleurs du Mal collection, awoke the sensual craving and relentless artistic ambition
within him. Pomes saturniens (1866), his first collection of poems, had its title inspired by the
beginning verses of Les Fleurs du Mal 7. Similar to Les fleurs du mal, a certain woman
dominated this collection of poetry, being his cousin Elisa Monocomble, whom he secretly loved.
Unlike classical, Parnassian poetry, that would solely adopt the romantic outlook toward women,
Verlaine and Baudelaire have generated a modern approach to this subject, in which they grahically
describe the hidden dark sides to female relationships. Both poets consistently allude to the pangs of
prostitution in their work.

Ironically, the next poet whose Baudelairean influence I will examine engaged in a passionate yet
wretched affair with Verlaine, going by the name of Arthur Rimbaud. Rimbaud, much like Verlaine,
discovered Les Fleurs du Mal at an early age which instilled great inspiration in him to become a
famous poet, a feat he impressively achieved by the age of 20. Upon reading his poems such as
Voyelles 8 I immediately recognised similarities with Baudelaires poetic techniques and
Rimbauds. The opening line A black, E white, I red, U green, O blue: vowels, highlights the fact
that Rimbaud was a major enthusiast of using vivid colours for dramatic effect, that was used so
successfully by Baudelaire.

Moreover, I believe Stphane Mallarm played an intrinsic role in illuminating Baudelaires

preoccupation with macabre imagery, morbid themes, musical verse and aesthetic pleasure in the
19th century. Mallarm was an instrumental figure in the evolvement of the symbolist aesthetic, an
4

Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Solovyov_(philosopher), Consulted 10-04-2014

Blok Alexander, The Twelve, Russia, Banner of Labor, 1918, pages 2,4 and 9.

Valiunas Algis, The Cursed Poets and their Gods, http://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/01/thecursed-poets-and-their-gods, Consulted 10-04-2014
7

Poetry Foundation, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/paul-verlaine, Consulted on 11-04-2014

Rimbaud Arthur, Voyelles, Paris, Lutce, 1883.

idea initially proposed by Baudelaire (upon his discovery of Edgar Allen Poes poetry). His sense of
rhythm offered a musical quality to his poetry, a feat also achieved by Baudelaire in poems such as
LAlbatros 9. Mallarm's Posies, if analysed in chronological order, contain identical themes to
Baudelaires Les Fleurs du Mal, specifically a longing to escape reality and seek refuge in an
ideal world, which he conjures up with evocative imagery. Baudelaire, in his May 13, 1856 journal,
claimed a poet must inspire disgust, and universal horror which I personally find Mallarm to
allude to when I pictured an almost suffocating sky in LAzur - Le Ciel est mort. Vers toi,
jaccours! donne, matire 10. Thus, it is clear the great Stphane Mallarm was heavily
influenced by one of his poetic idols, Charles Baudelaire.

Indeed, the renowned TS Eliot drew inspiration from Baudelaire. Baudelaire firmly believed
Lennui was the worst sin of all, as it led to the committing of others, and it is this sin that lays the
the foundation for Eliots moral decay in The Waste Land 11. I was taken aback when I noticed the
line Hypocrit lecteurmon semblablemon frre! written in this poem, as it instantly reminded
me of how Baudelaire implicated me in his poem Au Lecteur 12. Eliot claimed Baudelaire was a
great genius whose technical mastery which can hardly be overpraised... has made his verse an
inexhaustible study for later poets, not only in his own language. 13 The fact that TS Eliot holds
Baudelaire in such high regard for me is compelling evidence of how influential Baudelaires poetry
was, and still is today.

However, the influence of Charles Baudelaires poetry was not merely confined to a select amount
of poets, it had in fact extended much further than that. In Spain, despite an initial halt in the spread
of the poets work due to harsh criticisms, the acclaimed poet Manuel Reina was chiefly inspired by
Baudelaire. A post-romantic poet, his finest work La Vida Inquieta is enlightened with
Baudelairean input; it is flowered with colourful imagery and employs an acute usage of aesthetics.
In analysing his poem A Antonio Aguilar y Cano, a striking resemblance is found with
Baudelaires Au Lecteur with each containing zoological imagery. The line de viboras, de tigres
y panteras, bears resemblance with Mais parmi les chacals, les panthres, les lices, \ Les singes,
les scorpions, les vautours, les serpents, in Au Lecteur 14. Indeed, if it wasnt for Baudelaires
exemplary work, Reina would never have been so successful in driving forward Spanish
Modernismo at the turn of the century.

Baudelaire's work entered China in the twentieth century amidst their own literary revolution, in
which they embraced Western influence. Baudelaires work lies at the intersection between classical
and modern literature in China. A poet/translator by the name of Dai Wangshu was instrumental in
spreading Baudelairean influence to the Far East, translating Les Fleurs du Mal.

LAlbatros, Spleen et idal, Les Fleurs du Mal.

10

Stphane Mallarm, LAzur, http://wildedecadents.wordpress.com/2012/09/21/stephanemallarme-the-azure-lazur-1864/ , Consulted 11-04-2014

11

Eliot T.S. , Collected Poems, New York, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963, page 51

12

Au Lecteur (2nd poem), Les Fleurs du Mal.

13

Eliot T.S., Selected Essays, Unidentified location, Faber & Faber, 1932, page 422

14

The influence of Charles Baudelaire in Spanish modernismo, http://etheses.nottingham.ac.uk/

3072/ , Consulted 12-04-2014

Lu Xun, Chinas most coveted 20th century writer, bore many resemblances to Baudelaires style of
writing, such was the impact of Baudelaires poetry on Chinese literature. Xun, much like
Baudelaire in Tableaux Parisiens, often detached himself from the world. He adopted
Baudelaires idea of prose poetry. His essays frequently involved societal commentary and were
concerned with developments in his country (he wrote during the May 4th Movement). Just like
Baudelaire, his poetry was defined by lyric prose, synesthesia, and symbolic ambiguity. Such was
the popularity of Baudelaires poetic insights, the critic Xu Xiacun showered praise upon him; he
even claimed what ordinary people call beautiful, he considered ugly; what ordinary people
consider ugly, he contrarily considered beautiful. 15

On an alternative note, I have found that the Symbolist Movement, orchestrated by Baudelaire, had
a significant influence on 19th century music composition, particularly that of Richard Wagner but
more so Claude Debussy. Baudelaire (a lauded art/music critic) often claimed that Wagners music
by its very nature suggests synaesthetic analogies, a key element to Symbolism. The symbolist
aesthetic also heavily influenced Claude Debussys work. His choices of libretti, texts, and themes
come almost exclusively from the symbolist canon. He is famous for setting many symbolist
writings to music, such as Cinq Pomes de Baudelaire. Amusingly, when he requested Mallarm (a
protg of Baudelaire) to set L'aprs-midi d'un faune to music, Mallarm responded: "But I
thought I had already done that! 16 This was due to Mallarms acute use of symbolist aesthetics
(e.g. widening blanks between words to indicate pauses/breaks) to give the poem a musical quality.

Furthermore, I believe the rise of Impressionism in painting in 19th century France can be largely
attributed to the Impressionist literature, which is closely related to Symbolism, contained in
Baudelaires pioneering work. The precursor of Modernist painting, Edouard Manet, was in fact a
relatively close friend of Baudelaire up until his death in 1867. Baudelaire is regularly cited as
Manet's inspiration to depict the actuality of the immediate life. It is commonplace for Manets
painting Olympia (the first modernist painting of its time) to be credited with Baudelaire. Manet
embraced what Baudelaire coined the "heroism of modern life 17, and established the foundations
of a style of painting set to dominate the artistic world. The fact that the world-renowned Henri
Matisse constructed 33 paintings of Baudelaires Les Fleurs du Mal reinforces the proposition
that Baudelaire influenced the artists of his time.

Finally, I consider the fact that Bauderlaire is referred to through multifarious mediums to this day
decisive evidence of his lasting influence. To my pleasant surprise, the protagonists in my collection
of books entitled A Series of Unfortunate Events (Lemony Snicket) share the surname
Baudelaire. Also, the Italian rock band Baustelle named one of their tracks Baudelaire on their
album Amen in his honour. In fact, in 2009 a new Japanese Manga series entitled Aku no
Hana (The Flowers of Evil) was released, with its protagonist, Takao Kasuga, being bookworm
obsessed with Baudelaires Les Fleurs du Mal. An anime adaptation of this series began airing on
April 5, 2013.

15

Bien Gloria, Baudelaire in China: A Study in Literary Reception, Delaware, University of

Delaware, 2012, page 66
16
17

Meister Barbara, Music Musique, Indiana, Indiana University Press, 2006, Chapter 2 page 5

Charles Baudelaire, To the Bourgeois and The Heroism of Modern Life, http://www.csus.edu/
indiv/o/obriene/art109/readings/10%20baudelaire%20hero%20%20bourgeois%204.htm, Consulted
on 13-04-2014

In conclusion, from my extensive research of Charles Baudelaire, it has become clear to me that he
has stood as the critical link in the translation from Parnassianism/Romanticism to Symbolism/
Modernism during the 19th century. His catalytic influence was recognised in the 19th century by
Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine and Stphane Mallarm, likewise by T.S. Eliot in the 20th century.
Baudelaire pursued an evocative magic of imagery, scents and sound. He moved decisively away
from traditional Romantic poetry of statement and emotion toward his ideal of modern poetry
enriched with symbols and suggestion. Verlaine wrote he represent(ed) powerfully and essentially
modern man 18in all his physical, psychological and moral complexity. Arthur Rimbaud hailed him
as a gnie, un voyant (genius, a visionary) 19. Stphane Mallarm dedicated to him a sonnet in his
memory, 'Le Tombeau de Charles Baudelaire. Baudelaire is a pivotal figure in French, perhaps
worldwide, literature and thought. His influence on modern poetry, and to a lesser extent the arts of
music and painting, has been nothing short of phenomenal, and echoes of his past work continue to
reverberate today.

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18

Review of Les Fleurs du Mal, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/514184183, Consulted

13-04-2014
19

Charles Baudelaire biography, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-baudelaire,

Consulted 13-04-2014

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Word Count: 2355!
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Bibliography.!
(Please note I have listed the following in chronological order of time researched)!

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Baudelaire, Charles. Les Fleurs du mal. Paris, Poulet-Malassis, 1855.
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Charles Baudelaire, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire , Consulted 09-04-2014
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Charles Baudelaire, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-baudelaire, Consulted 09-04-2014
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Symbolism (arts), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolism_(arts), Consulted 09-04-2014!
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Literary Modernism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_modernism, Consulted 09-04-2014!
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Romanticism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism, Consulted 09-04-2014!
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Blok Alexander, The Twelve, Russia, Banner of Labor, 1918!
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The Twelve (Analysis), http://russiasgreatwar.org/media/culture/twelve.shtml , Consulted
10-04-2014!

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Arthur Rimbaud, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rimbaud , Consulted 11-04-2014!
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Rimbaud Arthur, Voyelles, Paris, Lutce, 1883.!
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Paul Verlaine, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/paul-verlaine, Consulted on 11-04-2014!
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The Cursed Poets and their Gods, http://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/01/the-cursed-poets-andtheir-gods , Consulted 11-04-2014!

Stephane Mallarm, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360307/Stephane-Mallarme,

Consulted 11-04-2014!

Baudelairean influence on T.S. Eliot, http://modernist-magazines.org/?q=content/hypocrite-lecteurinfluence-baudelaire, Consulted 11-04-2014!

Maddrey Joseph, The Making of T.S. Eliot: A Study of the Literary Influences, California,
McFarland, 2009!

Debicki Andrew, Spanish Poetry of the Twentieth Century: Modernity and Beyond, Kentucky, The
University Press of Kentucky, 1995!

The influence of Charles Baudelaire in Spanish modernismo, http://etheses.nottingham.ac.uk/

3072/ , Consulted 12-04-2014!

Bien Gloria, Baudelaire in China: A Study in Literary Reception, Delaware, University of Delaware,
2012!

Symbolism - Symbolism And Music, http://science.jrank.org/pages/11377/Symbolism-SymbolismMusic.html, Consulted 12-04-2014!

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Meister Barbara, Music Musique, Indiana, Indiana University Press, 2006!
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Courbet, Manet and Modernism, http://evergreen.loyola.edu/brnygren/www/Honors/modernity.htm ,

Consulted 13-04-2014!

Manet, the Man who Invented Modernity, http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/events/exhibitions/in-themusee-dorsay/exhibitions-in-the-musee-dorsay-more/page/1/article/manet-inventeur-dumoderne-27127.html?cHash=a03add91c7 , Consulted 13-04-2014!

Matisse and French Poetry, http://www.henri-matisse.net/poetry_french_b.html , Consulted

13-04-2014!

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