Reviews for Twenty Prose Poems

The average rating for Twenty Prose Poems based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-04-04 00:00:00 Stephen Costa Incomparable. Oui, j'adore ce livre. Baudelaire's prose poems are to me his most astonishingly original and best. Having the original French and the English translation on facing pages is ideal. There's already a good review posted, so instead, here is a sample of the poetry itself. The Favours of the Moon The Moon, who is caprice itself, looked through the window while you were sleeping in your cradle and said to herself: 'I like this child.' And softly she descended her staircase of clouds and, noiselessly, passed through the window-panes. Then she stretched herself out over you with the supple tenderness of a mother, and laid down her colours on your face. Ever since, the pupils of your eyes have remained green and your cheeks unusually pale. It was while contemplating this visitor that your eyes became so strangely enlarged; and she clasped your neck so tenderly that you have retained for ever the desire to weep. However, in the expansion of her joy, the Moon filled the whole room like a phosphorescent vapour, like a luminous poison; and all the living light thought and said: 'You shall suffer for ever the influence of my kiss. You shall be beautiful in my fashion. You shall love that which I love and that which loves me: water, clouds, silence and the night; the immense green sea; the formless and multiform streams; the place where you shall not be; the lover whom you shall not know; flowers of monstrous shape; perfumes that cause delirium; cats that shudder, swoon, and curl up on pianos and groan like women, with a voice that is hoarse and gentle! 'And you shall be loved by my lovers, courted by my courtiers. You shall be the queen of all men that have green eyes, whose necks I have clasped in my nocturnal caresses; of those who love the sea, the sea that is immense, tumultuous and green, the formless and multiform streams, the place where they are not, the woman whom they do not know, sinister flowers that resemble the censers of a strange religion, perfumes that confound the will; and the savage and voluptuous animals which are the emblems of their dementia.' And that, my dear, cursed, spoiled child, is why I am now lying at your feet, seeking in all your person the reflection of the formidable divinity, of the foreknowing godmother, the poisoning wet-nurse of all the lunatics. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Written over many years, the twenty poems in this volume are quite different from one another. The longest, The Generous Gamester (or Gambler) can be read here in another translation.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-10-24 00:00:00 Gary Thurgood-parkes هذه القصائد لا تُنشر عادةً ضمن أعمال شارل بودلير الشعرية، فهي لا ترد ضمن ديوان "أزهار الشر" ولا "سأم باريس"، وهي خارجة على السياق الشعري لبودلير، وقد أدرجها المترجم رفعت سلّام ضمن أعمال شارل بودلير الشعرية الكاملة تحت عنوان "قصائد بلچيكية". إنها حالة من الهجاء الساخر والمرير لبلچيكا وللشخصية البلچيكية، الصيغة الشعرية التي حاول بودلير أن يكشف فيها بؤس الذهنية البلچيكية ليست بجمال ورونق قصائده في باقي الدواوين، لكن لا بأس بها.. ليست سيئة.