The Darkness, Poem by Charles Baudelaire

Poem by Charles Baudelaire Collection The Flowers of EvilThemes LovePeriod 19th century

In the vaults of unfathomable sadness
Where Destiny has already banished me;
Where no rosy and cheerful ray ever enters;
Where, alone with Night, sullen hostess,

I am like a painter whom a mocking God
Condemns to paint, alas! upon the darkness;
Where, a cook with funereal appetites,
I boil and I eat my own heart,

At moments there shines, and lengthens, and spreads
A specter made of grace and splendor.
With its dreamy Oriental bearing,

When it reaches its full stature,
I recognize my beautiful visitor:
It is She! dark and yet luminous.

Charles Baudelaire

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