That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal; from which it follows that irregularity β that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment, are a essential part and characteristic of beauty.
Charles BaudelaireRead
The poet enjoys the incomparable privilege of being able to be himself and others, as he wishes.
Interpretation
The poet has the unique ability to express personal and universal experiences through imagination.
In this quote, Charles Baudelaire highlights the extraordinary freedom that poetry offers the poet, allowing him to transcend his own identity and embody various perspectives and emotions. This ability to express oneself while also portraying the experiences of others is a hallmark of artistic expression, reflecting both individuality and universality in the craft of poetry.
In practice
During a poetry reading, one might use this quote to discuss the duality of the poet's role.
That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal; from which it follows that irregularity β that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment, are a essential part and characteristic of beauty.
The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs.
Who among us has not dreamt, in moments of ambition, of the miracle of a poetic prose, musical without rhythm and rhyme, supple and staccato enough to adapt to the lyrical stirrings of the soul, the undulations of dreams, and sudden leaps of consciousness.
There is no sweeter pleasure than to surprise a man by giving him more than he hopes for.
The priest is an immense being because he makes the crowd believe astonishing things.
I consider it useless and tedious to represent what exists, because nothing that exists satisfies me. Nature is ugly, and I prefer the monsters of my fancy to what is positively trivial.
You always need that spark of imagination. Sometimes I'm midway through a book before it happens. However, I don't wait for the muse to descend, I sit down every day and I work when I'm not delivering lambs on the farm.
Punk is not dead. Punk will only die when corporations can exploit and mass produce it.
A story is a living thing, it moves and shifts.
To me, poetry is somebody standing up, so to speak, and saying, with as little concealment as possible, what it is for him or her to be on earth at this moment
I try to stay a civilian, to live as a human, not as a poet.
When we paint, whether it is on our bodies for ceremony or on bark or canvas for the market, we're not just painting for fun or profit, we're painting as we always have done to demonstrate our continuing link with our country and the rights and responsibilities we have to it.
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