Charles Baudelaire: Poems Literary Elements

Charles Baudelaire: Poems Literary Elements

Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View

The poems are narrated from a first-person subjective point of view.

Form and Meter

There is no set form and meter used in the poems.

Metaphors and Similes

The poem entitled ‘’Be Drunk’’, the act of getting drunk is used as a metaphor for the various coping mechanisms a person may use to get over the pain they may experience during their everyday life.

Alliteration and Assonance

We find alliteration in the line ‘’ 'Tell me, my soul, poor chilled soul’’.

Irony

The ironic element in the poem entitled ‘’ ’ Anywhere Out Of The World’’ is how the narrator gets mad on his own soul for not answering even though he is the soul that is supposed to answer.

Genre

Meditative poems

Setting

The action in the poem entitled ‘’ Cats’’ takes place inside various homes.

Tone

The tone used in the poem ‘’Get Drunk’’ is a condescending one.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The idea transmitted in most of the poems is the protagonist is the narrator and the antagonist is represent by the world who can’t accept him.

Major Conflict

The major conflict in the poem ‘’ Anywhere Out Of The World’’ is between the narrator and his own soul which refuses to answer to his questions.

Climax

The poem ‘’ The Sky’’ reaches its climax when the man in the poem looks up towards the sky.

Foreshadowing

There are no foreshadowing elements in the poems.

Understatement

In the poem ‘’ Anywhere out of the World’’, the narrator tries to prove that there are places where the soul can rest and find happiness. This proves however to be an understatement as the narrator’s soul ends up telling the narrator that nowhere in the world he will be happy.

Allusions

One of the things alluded in the poem entitled ‘’ Anywhere out of the World’’ is the idea that the world is all the same. The narrator tries in the poem to find a better place for his soul but is unable to and the soul ends up telling the narrator how all the places in the world are the same and how nowhere is good.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The term ‘’beds’’ is used in the poem entitled ‘’ 'Tell me, my soul, poor chilled soul’’ as a general term to make reference to the life and problems every person has.

Personification

We find personification in the line ‘’the clock will answer you’’ in the poem ‘’Be drunk’’.

Hyperbole

We find a hyperbole in the line ‘’ You have to be always drunk. That's all there is to it--it's the only way’’ in the poem entitled ‘’Be drunk’’.

Onomatopoeia

We find onomatopoeia in the lines ‘’ I shiver as I listen to each log crash and slam:/ The echoes are as dull as executioners' drums,’’ in the poem entitled ‘’Autumn’’.

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