Topical Guide 506
Mark Dorset
Allusion
The Voice of B. W. Beath in Matthew Barber’s Mind, in Reservations Recommended:
This is supposed to be a taste of the luxe life. It’s more like a stretch limo than a restaurant. These people are supposed to feel that they’re out of their league, says BW. See them whispering to each other, the little couples. “This is the life, eh, sweetie?” No, it’s not, kids. All the people around you are just like you, and all of you are glancing furtively at one another, wondering if any of you is anybody.
Charles Baudelaire, L’Invitation au Voyage, an excerpt:
Mon enfant, ma soeur,
Songe à la douceur
D'aller là-bas vivre ensemble!
Aimer à loisir,
Aimer et mourir
Au pays qui te ressemble! […]Des meubles luisants,
Polis par les ans,
Décoreraient notre chambre;
Les plus rares fleurs
Mêlant leurs odeurs
Aux vagues senteurs de l’ambre,
Les riches plafonds,
Les miroirs profonds,
La splendeur orientale,
Tout y parlerait
À l’âme en secret
Sa douce langue natale. […]Les soleils couchants
Revêtent les champs,
Les canaux, la ville entière,
D'hyacinthe et d’or;
Le monde s’endort
Dans une chaude lumière.Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.
A translation by William Aggeler;
My child, my sister,
Think of the rapture
Of living together there!
Of loving at will,
Of loving till death,
In the land that is like you! […]Gleaming furniture,
Polished by the years,
Will ornament our bedroom;
The rarest flowers
Mingling their fragrance
With the faint scent of amber,
The ornate ceilings,
The limpid mirrors,
The oriental splendor,
All would whisper there
Secretly to the soul
In its soft, native language. […]The setting suns
Adorn the fields,
The canals, the whole city,
With hyacinth and gold;
The world falls asleep
In a warm glow of light.There all is order and beauty,
Luxury, peace, and pleasure.
The complete original and Aggeler’s complete translation are on the Fleurs du Mal website.
See also:
Allusion; Quotation TG 140, TG 455, TG 462, TG 502
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