Illusionary Love
When I behold thee wander by, my languorous love,To songs of viols which throughout the dome resound,Harmonious and stately as thy footsteps move,Bestowing forth the languor of thy glance profound.
When I regard thee, glowing in the gaslight rays,Thy pallid brow embellished by a charm obscure,Here where the evening torches light the twilight haze,Thine eyes attracting me like those of a portraiture,
I say--How beautiful she is! how strangely rich!A mighty memory, royal and commanding tower,A garland: and her heart, bruised like a ruddy peach,Is ripe--like her body for Love's sapient power.
Art thou, that spicy Autumn-fruit with taste supreme?Art thou a funeral vase inviting tears of grief?Aroma--causing one of Eastern wastes to dream;A downy cushion, bunch of flowers or golden sheaf?
I know that there are eyes, most melancholy ones,Wherein no precious secret deeply hidden lies,Resplendent shrines, devoid of relics, sacred stones,More empty, more profound than ye yourselves, O skies?
Yea, does thy semblance, not alone for me suffice,To kindle senses which the cruel truth abhor?All one to me! thy folly or thy heart of ice,Decoy or mask, all hail! thy beauty I adore!
Words in this poem
- languorous a.
- Producing, or tending to produce, languor; characterized by languor. [From Languor: cf. F. langoureux.]
- gaslight n.
- The light yielded by the combustion of illuminating gas.
- portraiture n.
- A portrait; a likeness; a painted resemblance; hence, that which is copied from some example or model. [F. portraiture.]
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- sapient a.
- Wise; sage; discerning; -- often in irony or contempt. [L. sapiens, -entis, p.pr. of sapere to taste to have sense, to know. See Sage, a.]
- inviting a.
- Alluring; tempting; as, an inviting amusement or prospect.
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- abhor v. i.
- To shrink back with horror, disgust, or dislike; to be contrary or averse; -- with from.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Illusionary Love is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Flowers of Evil, Project Gutenberg ebook #36098; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charles Baudelaire, Illusionary Love, in The Flowers of Evil (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36098, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/baudelaire-flowers-of-evil/illusionary-love.html, id L25441.
Form and metre
Illusionary Love is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in alexandrines.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB loveA · resoundB · moveA · profoundB
- 2 A-A- raysA · obscure · hazeA · portraiture
- 3 -A-A rich · towerA · peach · powerA
- 4 ABAB supremeA · griefB · dreamA · sheafB
- 5 -A-A ones · liesA · stones · skiesA
- 6 ABAB sufficeA · abhorB · iceA · adoreB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When I behold thee wander by, my languorous love, | 13 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘˘· |
| To songs of viols which throughout the dome resound, | 11 | ··········/ |
| Harmonious and stately as thy footsteps move, | 12 | ˘/˘˘·/˘··/·· |
| Bestowing forth the languor of thy glance profound. | 12 | ˘/˘··/˘···˘/ |
| When I regard thee, glowing in the gaslight rays, | 12 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Thy pallid brow embellished by a charm obscure, | 12 | ·/˘·˘/˘···˘/ |
| Here where the evening torches light the twilight haze, | 12 | ···/˘/˘··/·· |
| Thine eyes attracting me like those of a portraiture, | 13 | ··˘/˘·····/˘˘ |
| I say--How beautiful she is! how strangely rich! | 12 | ···/˘˘···/˘· |
| A mighty memory, royal and commanding tower, | 12 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| A garland: and her heart, bruised like a ruddy peach, | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| Is ripe--like her body for Love's sapient power. | 13 | ····/˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| Art thou, that spicy Autumn-fruit with taste supreme? | 12 | ···/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Art thou a funeral vase inviting tears of grief? | 12 | ···/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Aroma--causing one of Eastern wastes to dream; | 12 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| A downy cushion, bunch of flowers or golden sheaf? | 12 | ·/˘/˘··/·/˘· |
| I know that there are eyes, most melancholy ones, | 12 | ·······/˘·˘· |
| Wherein no precious secret deeply hidden lies, | 12 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Resplendent shrines, devoid of relics, sacred stones, | 12 | ˘/˘·˘/·/˘/˘· |
| More empty, more profound than ye yourselves, O skies? | 12 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/·· |
| Yea, does thy semblance, not alone for me suffice, | 12 | ···/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| To kindle senses which the cruel truth abhor? | 12 | ·/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| All one to me! thy folly or thy heart of ice, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Decoy or mask, all hail! thy beauty I adore! | 12 | ˘/·····/˘·˘/ |
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