From Ecstasy to Anguish

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 316 - From Ecstasy to Anguish

Many years ago, when I was working at the Poe Museum in Richmond, I remember the brilliant curator, Chris Semptner talking about a French writer who was greatly influenced by Poe and translated Poe’s works into French. Chris seemed to be very excited at the connection, but to be honest, I forgot the writer’s name and basically did not give a second thought to this French writer until last week.

Anyway, I recently bought through Amazon the Bob Dylan Encyclopedia by Michael Gray. Some of the online copies were VERY expensive, and the one I got did have a mark on the back - but the book was huge - with over 700 pages - so I did mind spending 13.00 for a used copy when the other copies were going for well over 100 dollars. The book was about all things Bob Dylan - ever down to insignificant songs the he was planning to write - and a real pleasure to browse - from Paul McCartney to the Band to Highway 61 Revisited to The Times They Are a Changin’ - I could go on all day.  It was like reliving my youth.

As you can imagine, I have spent a great deal of time just browsing the book’s entries - and am not even close to finishing - but I ran into a picture of that French writer that I was briefly exposed to years ago - the writer who is famous for his translation of Poe’s works into French. The man’s name was Charles Baudelaire, and the article said he was greatly influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, and that Bob Dylan, in turn, was greatly influenced by this Charles Baudelaire.  So you could say that this Charles Baudelaire could be viewed as a missing link between Poe and Dylan.  Baudelaire’s importance to the popularity of Poe in Europe cannot be underestimated.

Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Poe.

Transcript

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 316 - From Ecstasy to Anguish

Many years ago, when I was working at the Poe Museum in Richmond, I remember the brilliant curator, Chris Semptner talking about a French writer who was greatly influenced by Poe and translated Poe’s works into French. Chris seemed to be very excited at the connection, but to be honest, I forgot the writer’s name and basically did not give a second thought to this French writer until last week.

Anyway, I recently bought through amazon the Bob Dylan Encyclopedia by Michael Gray. Some of the online copies were VERY expensive, and the one I got did have a mark on the back - but the book was huge - with over 700 pages - so I did mind spending 13.00 for a used copy when the other copies were going for well over 100 dollars. The book was about all things Bob Dylan - ever down to insignificant songs the he was planning to write - and a real pleasure to browse - from Paul McCartney to the Band to Highway 61 Revisited to The Times They Are a Changin’ - I could go on all day.  It was like reliving my youth.

As you can imagine, I have spent a great deal of time just browsing the book’s entries - and am not even close to finishing - but I ran into a picture of that French writer that I was briefly exposed to years ago - the writer who is famous for his translation of Poe’s works into French. The man’s name was Charles Baudelaire, and the article said he was greatly influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, and that Bob Dylan, in turn, was greatly influenced by this Charles Baudelaire.  So you could say that this Charles Baudelaire could be viewed as a missing link between Poe and Dylan.  Baudelaire’s importance to the popularity of Poe in Europe cannot be underestimated.

In fact, his translations of Poe are supposed to be the best in any language. Baudelaire is said to be responsible for establishing Poe’s reputation  . For example, I recently, I took an Uber ride and driver was a French foreign exchange student who was doing graduate work in literature. I mentioned Edgar Allan Poe to her and she said that she did not know who he was at all. Then she waited for a minute and said could you mean Edgar Poe? When I said yes, she became very excited because she did know a great deal about this Edgar Poe.  And this d
river’s knowledge about Poe was all because of Charles Baudelaire and his translations.
It happened that the French poet identified closely with the personality and talent of Poe, referring to him as the poor Eddie and my likeness and my brother. In fact, pictures of Baudelaire show him to have had a large head with a prominent forehead just like that of Poe. Both men revolted against the father figures in their lives, Baudelaire against his stepfather, and of course, Poe against his foster father, John Allan. Both Baudelaire and Poe could be vicious when judging the works of their peers, and the result was that they made many enemies. Edgar Poe Bole's personal life had much of the same self destructive behavior as Baudelaire - and their opium use and alcohol abuse are well documented.  Baudelaire admitted that Poe wasn’t as popular as he should be in America, and vowed to make Edgar a great man in France. Baudelaire worked hard to examine the psychological aspects of Poe’s work and analyze the personality traits that led to Poe’s creations, declaring him one of America's greatest poets.

It has been said that Baudelaire was a master at faithfully duplicating the original text while occasionally enhancing it.  His approach was to follow Poe's text closely, translating line by line and almost word for word, yet still managing to create a living work that possessed the qualities of the original - not an easy task

In some instances, Baudelaire's word choices clarified ideas that were more generalized in Poe's original text. For example, in "The Tell-Tale Heart," Baudelaire's translation of "of the men" to "de mes contradicteurs" (my contradictors) effectively emphasizes the narrator's increasing paranoia.  Let me off on that one for a minute - For instance, in a discussion where two witnesses provide conflicting accounts of an event, each witness could be considered a "contradictor" if their statements cannot both be true. In other words, while “coontradictors” might not be a word that you would find in an English language dictionary, the word can be understood as referring to those who express contradictory views or statements.

It has been said that Baudelaire lived a somewhat contradictory life - Desiring to write about Beauty, he wrote nonetheless that the “ignoble borders on the infectious”. He lived the life of a dandy-about-town yet was penniless. He took laudanum for his headaches and other syphilis symptoms, ending his days an opium-eater. Condemned and in debt, he fled France for Belgium and discovered there developed a series of pet hates. In life, his extraordinary poetic genius was only recognized by a small handful of intellectuals.

It is often said that Baudelaire had found in Edgar Allan Poe his “literary soul mate”, so much so that the main themes and poetic principles espoused by both men strongly resemble each other. Baudelaire said as much in a letter written in 1864: “The first time I opened a book he had written, I saw with equal measures of horror and fascination, not just the things that I had dreamed of, but actual phrases that I had designed and that he had penned twenty years earlier.”

As far as transcontinental connections their relationship was mostly
one-sided. Poe knew very little (if anything) of Baudelaire and his poetry
and thus did not promote it in American literary circles. However, most
scholars agree that Poe’s presence in French literature began with
Baudelaire’s translations of the American’s works.  Still, though the brotherly compassion Baudelaire developed for Poe might come across as powerful and compelling, the most fascinating aspect is how it spread and, in many ways, how that identification consumed Baudelaire’s whole life. The impact it had was crucial to creating the man  and the poet. Many scholars believe that neither Poe nor Baudelaire as we know them today would exist were it not for Baudelaire’s discovery of the American author.

The similarities between these two men was such that Baudelaire’s detractors even accused him of plagiarizing the American author. In 1865, Baudelaire defended himself, not without bitterness, in a letter to Paul Meurice’s wife: “I wasted a great deal of time translating Edgar Poe and all I gained was that some people accused me of taking my poems from Poe, who had written his some ten years before I ever even came across his work.”

It would seem, however, that both authors gained a great deal thanks to the work carried out by the Frenchman: Baudelaire’s French translations meant that Poe’s work could be widely disseminated in France (as people were just starting to hear about him) while the poet, whose financial problems were well known, found in the texts not only a source of inspiration but also, more pragmatically, financing. Over the course of fifteen years, Baudelaire translated:

Three volumes of short stories: 

Extraordinary stories, New extraordinary stories and Grotesque and serious stories

A novel: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

An essay: Eureka: A Prose Poem

Remember that when Baudelaire first discovered Poe's work, he felt an immediate, profound connection. He claimed that upon first reading Poe, he found "not just the things that I had dreamed of, but actual phrases that I had designed and that he had penned twenty years earlier". It was this resonance that led Baudelaire to dedicate significant time and effort to translating Poe's works into French.

Both authors explored:
The complexity of urban life and the psychology of city dwellers
The fleeting nature of existence in modern metropolises
The role of the artist as a gifted, often misunderstood creator
Themes of solitude, beauty, and introspection

However, Baudelaire diverged from traditional Romanticism by focusing on urban settings rather than nature, and by exploring vices and refined sensual pleasures.

Baudelaire and Poe also shared several life experiences and traits:
Both lived as outsiders to the literary elite. They both struggled with addiction and poverty.  Both faced judgment for their unconventional lifestyles.  And Baudelaire, like Poe, was known for his:eccentric and unconventional behavior, tendency to make shocking statements to test acquaintances, establish, chaotic relationships, experienced what seemed like constant financial struggles and frequent moves to escape creditors.

It is said that Baudeaire actively sought to become the "Edgar Allan Poe of Europe". He not only translated Poe's works but also adopted similar aesthetic principles and verse structures, explored comparable themes in his own poetry, and embraced a similar persona as a misunderstood, troubled genius

And much like Poe, Baudelaire lived a life of extremes. Both men often
cultivated a dandy image, dressing in fine clothing and frequenting art galleries and cafés.  And both writers experimented with hashish and opium - though is is believe that Baudelaire was a much heavier drug user that an Poe - as well as engaging in relationships with women from various social classes. Baudelaire struggled with financial management, quickly spending his considerable inheritance and relying on a court-appointed allowance.  Poe never had that much money to begin with.

Baudelaire’s lifestyle - and to a lesser extent that of Poe - was characterized by self-indulgence, narcissism, and a constant vacillation between extremes. 

In other words, Baudelaire's connection to Poe went beyond mere admiration. He saw himself as a spiritual successor to Poe, emulating his literary style and persona while living a similarly turbulent life marked by artistic brilliance and personal struggles.

One area that I felt a bit uncomfortable about was the use of drugs and alcohol by Poe and Baudelaire - and you can rest assured that I am going to look into this a great deal more in future episodes.  But as for now, the records show that Poe probably was far less a drug or alcohol user than our traditional view of Poe.  It is true that his natural father and brother were heavy drinkers, and Poe did drink at the University of Virginia, but an examination of such an important issue in Poe’s life requires a significant space. There is one incident of Poe writing about his using opium to a lady friend, but most scholars basically believe that Poe was trying to get attention, and do not put much stock in his claims.

On the other hand, Baudelaire was indeed a drug user. His substance use had a significant impact on his life, work, and legacy. Baudelaire was known to have an addiction to opium, which was a common drug of choice among artists and intellectuals of his time. His opium use, often in the form of laudanum, had profound effects on various aspects of his life:
In his personal life, the poet's opium addiction contributed to his financial difficulties, strained relationships, and health issues. It affected his ability to manage money, maintain satisfactory relationships, and engage in prolonged creative work

And while some argue that drugs enhanced Baudelaire's imagination, the poet himself recognized the double-edged nature of substance use. He described drugs as producing "the fire of a false happiness and false enlightenment".

Baudelaire's experiences with drugs certainly influenced his writing. In addition to opium, Baudelaire also struggled with alcohol abuse, particularly later in life. In 1864, while in Brussels, he began drinking excessively in addition to his opium use. His substance abuse extended to alcohol and potentially other drugs, contributing to his reputation as a "poète maudit" (cursed poet).   

Not surprisingly, Baudelaire's drug use definitely had lasting consequences.
It contributed to his financial instability and health problems. Some of his contemporaries attribute his mental instability to drug use, although recent scholarship suggests he may have suffered from bipolar disorder.  There is no question that his experiences with substances informed his literary work, particularly his explorations of altered states of consciousness. But while Baudelaire's drug use is an undeniable part of his biography, it's important to note that his literary genius extends far beyond this aspect of his life. His work continues to be celebrated for its artistic merit and influence on modernist literature.

It can be informative to examine how Baudelaire’s drug use, particularly his addiction to opium and interest in hashish, significantly influenced his writing, shaping both the themes and stylistic elements of his poetry and prose.  For example, his personal struggles with addiction are mirrored in his literary exploration of suffering and existential despair. In Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), he frequently refers to "le spleen," a term representing deep melancholy and discontent. His experiences with drugs allowed him to articulate these feelings more vividly, as he often used opium as a form of self-medication for his depression and bipolar disorder.

His writings reflect a complex relationship with intoxication. In his essays, such as (Artificial Paradises), he examines the psychological effects of drugs, describing both the euphoric highs and the subsequent lows. He famously noted that while opium provided "false happiness," it also led to a loss of will and creativity, portraying addiction as both a source of inspiration and a debilitating force.

Not surprisingly, the vivid imagery in Baudelaire's poetry can be attributed to his experiences under the influence of drugs - and we will experience some of that imagery in the next podcast episode. His descriptions often evoke altered states of consciousness, allowing readers to experience sensations akin to those induced by opium or hashish. For instance, he describes visions that emerge spontaneously, emphasizing the loss of control over one's imagination when under the influence.

However, in his later works, Baudelaire adopted a more reflective tone regarding drug use. He compared hashish to wine, ultimately favoring wine for its ability to enhance willpower rather than diminish it. This philosophical exploration reveals his ambivalence towards substances—while he acknowledged their potential for artistic inspiration, he also warned against their addictive nature and the moral implications of relying on them for creativity.

Baudelaire's drug use profoundly shaped his literary output, enabling him to explore complex themes of suffering, pleasure, and the human condition. His writings serve as a testament to the dual nature of addiction—both as a source of artistic inspiration and a destructive force that complicates the creative process. Through his work, Baudelaire invites readers to confront the darker aspects of existence while simultaneously celebrating the beauty found within that darkness.

Next, I’d like to take a brief look at the effect of Baudelaire’s bipolar disorder on his literary themes. Because his mental health struggles shaped not only the content of his poetry but also the emotional depth and complexity of his artistic expression.
Baudelaire's poetry frequently explores feelings of despair and melancholy, which are characteristic of the depressive phases associated with bipolar disorder. He coined the term "le spleen" to describe this pervasive sense of sadness and dissatisfaction with life, reflecting his own emotional turmoil during these periods.

Now during manic episodes, individuals with bipolar disorder often experience heightened creativity and energy. Baudelaire's work exhibits moments of intense passion and vivid imagery, suggesting that these manic states may have fueled his artistic output. His ability to capture beauty amidst decay and despair can be seen as a reflection of this duality in his mental state.

The themes of death, decay, and existential angst in Baudelaire's poetry can be linked to his struggles with mental illness. His fascination with mortality is evident throughout his work, often juxtaposing the beauty of life with its inevitable decline. This exploration may have been intensified by his own experiences with suicidal thoughts and attempts, which are common in individuals suffering from bipolar disorder.

Baudelaire's use of rich symbolism and evocative imagery is indicative of the heightened perceptions often experienced during manic phases. His ability to convey complex emotions through sensory details reflects a unique perspective on reality shaped by his mental health challenges. The interplay between beauty and horror in his work mirrors the oscillation between manic highs and depressive lows.

And there is a definite contrast between light and dark themes in his poetry - opposing themes that can be interpreted as a representation of his bipolar experiences. He often juxtaposes moments of ecstasy with profound despair, creating a dynamic tension that resonates throughout Les Fleurs du Mal. This duality invites readers to engage with both the beauty and tragedy inherent in human existence.

Baudelaire's bipolar disorder profoundly influenced his literary themes, allowing him to explore complex emotional landscapes that resonate with readers on multiple levels. His work serves as a testament to the interplay between mental illness and artistic expression, highlighting how personal struggles can lead to profound creative insights. Through his exploration of melancholy, beauty, death, and decay, Baudelaire established himself as a pioneering figure in modern literature, offering a unique perspective on the human condition.

Charles Baudelaire's bipolar disorder also influenced the use of imagery in his poetry, particularly through the emotional oscillations between despair and euphoria that characterize the condition. This duality is reflected in the vivid and often contrasting images he employed, which serve to convey complex emotional states and existential themes. During depressive phases, Baudelaire's imagery often evokes feelings of melancholy and alienation. He utilizes symbols such as "spleen," "the snuffling clock," and "the sinister mirror" to articulate his internal struggles. These images reflect a sense of disconnection from time and self, illustrating the experience of depression as a profound sense of loss and immobilization. For instance, the "snuffling clock" symbolizes the oppressive passage of time felt by those in despair, while the "sinister mirror" represents self-reflection that reveals painful truths about one's condition.

In contrast, during manic episodes, Baudelaire's poetry bursts with vibrant and dynamic imagery. His descriptions become more intense and passionate, capturing the exhilaration and heightened perception that accompany manic states. This can be seen in his use of lush sensory details that evoke beauty and vitality, creating a stark contrast to his darker themes. The interplay between these two states allows Baudelaire to explore the full spectrum of human experience, from ecstasy to anguish.

Many scholars believe that his use of symbolic language is deeply intertwined with his mental health. His imagery often transcends mere description; it serves as a means to express complex psychological states. For example, he frequently employs olfactory imagery—scents and fragrances—to evoke nostalgia or intimate memories, linking sensory experiences to emotional responses. This technique not only enriches his poetry but also reflects the heightened sensitivity often experienced by individuals with bipolar disorder.

The imagery in Baudelaire's work also grapples with existential questions about life, death, and beauty. His exploration of decay and mortality is infused with a sense of urgency that can be linked to his fluctuating moods. The stark contrasts between light and dark in his poetry mirror the bipolar experience, allowing readers to engage with profound philosophical inquiries about existence itself.

In conclusion, it is believed that Baudelaire’s bipolar disorder significantly shaped his use of imagery, enabling him to convey the complexities of human emotion through rich symbolism and evocative sensory details. His ability to oscillate between despair and euphoria allowed for a nuanced exploration of existential themes, making his work resonate deeply with readers. Through this interplay of contrasting images, Baudelaire not only captures the essence of his own psychological struggles but also reflects broader human experiences of suffering and beauty.

Join Celebrate Poe for episode 317 - Flowers of Evil - This episode takes a closer look at the revolutionary poetry in Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil - poetry that was extremely controversial when first published.

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