this passage. The worms” that crawl to the dead matter within the poet are like remorse. “long This inversion of the sequence of analogy indicates that emotions like remorse have become foreign to the poet, he must rely on the image of the worms” to remind himself of “long remorse’s character. Finally, this passage marks a long sequence where the poet refers to himself strictly through allegory, being graveyard”(2.8) and dusty boudour” (2.13). It would appear “a “a that spleen has left the poet no longer able to reflect upon himself independently; rather he must identify with objects like a graveyard or boudour that are emblematic of his emotional state. This alienation from the self reaches its apex in the final verses of Spleen II. The line break signals the initiation of a dialogue between the poet and his own disenfranchised, physical self. He remarks: o living flesh, you are no more! —Henceforth, You are of granite, wrapped in a vague dread, Slumbering in some Sahara’s hazy sands, An ancient sphinx lost to a careless world, Forgotten on the map, whose haughty mood Sings only in the glow of the setting sun. (2.19-24) The poet renounces his own corporeal body in this stanza, claiming, are no more! / “you You are of granite, wrapped in a vague dread” (2.19-20). The body as both as an organic entity and a manifestation of the poet’s self is more,” and is instead rendered into or dead “no “granite,” matter seemingly like his memories. The poet’s alienation from himself is juxtaposed with the image of an sphinx lost to a careless world / [that] Sings only in the glow of the setting “ancient sun.” (2.22)—an allusion to the Statue of Memnom that Baudelaire modifies to into a symbol of the isolating marginality of the poet. Pairing this allusion of alienation from society alongside an
this passage. The “long worms” that crawl to the dead matter within the poet are like remorse. This inversion of the sequence of analogy indicates that emotions like remorse have become foreign to the poet, he must rely on the image of the “long worms” to remind himself of remorse’s character. Finally, this passage marks a long sequence where the poet refers to himself strictly through allegory, being “a graveyard”(2.8) and “a dusty boudour” (2.13). It would appear that spleen has left the poet no longer able to reflect upon himself independently; rather he must identify with objects like a graveyard or boudour that are emblematic of his emotional state. This alienation from the self reaches its apex in the final verses of Spleen II. The line break signals the initiation of a dialogue between the poet and his own disenfranchised, physical self. He remarks: —Henceforth, o living flesh, you are no more! You are of granite, wrapped in a vague dread, Slumbering in some Sahara’s hazy sands, An ancient sphinx lost to a careless world, Forgotten on the map, whose haughty mood Sings only in the glow of the setting sun. (2.19-24) The poet renounces his own corporeal body in this stanza, claiming, “you are no more! / You are of granite, wrapped in a vague dread” (2.19-20). The body as both as an organic entity and a manifestation of the poet’s self is “no more,” and is instead rendered into “granite,” or dead matter seemingly like his memories. The poet’s alienation from himself is juxtaposed with the image of an “ancient sphinx lost to a careless world / [that] Sings only in the glow of the setting sun.” (2.22)—an allusion to the Statue of Memnom that Baudelaire modifies to into a symbol of the isolating marginality of the poet. Pairing this allusion of alienation from society alongside an
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