11 Questions
What is the speaker's emotional state in the first stanza?
Agitated and fearful
What is the speaker's attitude towards the addressee in the second stanza?
Affectionate and romantic
What is the speaker's comparison of their own heart to?
A block of crimson ice
What is the speaker's attitude towards the passing of time?
Fearful and anxious
What is the tone of the poem's language?
Dramatic and hyperbolic
What is the speaker's emotional state in the first stanza?
Nostalgic and melancholic
What is the sound the speaker compares to the building of a scaffold?
The sound of firewood falling
What is the speaker's desire in the second stanza?
To be comforted by the loved one
What is the speaker's attitude towards the loved one's love?
The speaker believes it is not worth as much as the sunlight
What is the speaker's metaphor for their heart?
A frozen red block
What is the speaker's perspective on the passing of time?
The speaker is nostalgic for the past
Study Notes
Winter's Arrival
- The speaker reflects on the approaching winter, which brings darkness, cold, and a sense of doom
- The sound of firewood falling on the courtyard pavement announces the start of winter
- Winter is associated with negative emotions: wrath, hate, horror, shivering, and hard labor
- The speaker's heart is likened to a frozen, red block, implying emotional numbness
Longing for Summer
- The speaker nostalgically remembers the warmth and beauty of summer, now lost
- The brief duration of summer is lamented, with autumn already arrived
- The speaker yearns for the sunlight on the sea, which is now unattainable
Love and Longing
- The speaker addresses a beloved, asking to be loved and cared for despite being unworthy
- The speaker requests to be treated with maternal love, even if they are ungrateful or wicked
- The beloved is described as having greenish, slumberous eyes, symbolizing beauty and comfort
Experience the melancholic and eerie atmosphere of winter through the words of Charles Baudelaire. His poem reminisces about the passing of summer and the bleakness of winter. Can you decipher the emotions and imagery woven into this poem?
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