Man and the Sea
Baudelaire (France)
Free man, you will always love the sea!
The sea is your mirror, you are watching your soul in the endless waves,
and rushing infinity,
Your spirit is the same painful abyss,
You like to be immersed in your image;
You embrace it with your eyes and arms, your heart
In the face of this rough and uninhibited Moaning,
Sometimes you can send your own commotion.
Both of you are gloomy and cautious:
O man, no one has explored the bottom of your abyss;
O sea, no one knows Your hidden wealth,
You keep your secrets so carefully!
However, I don’t know how many centuries have passed.
You have no mercy, no regrets, and you fight fiercely.
You like killing and death so much.
O eternal fighter, O ruthless brother!
Criticism of this poem can be carried out from the perspective of social history and psychology, examining the social background in which Baudelaire lived, the impact of his life on him, and focusing on analyzing the "massacre and murder" in the poem. The key presentation of "death" and the image of a "fighter" who "mercilessly" "kills" are a breakthrough in the traditional concepts of "fighter" and hero.
Aesthetics, psychology, and social history can also be analyzed in a comparative literary way, comparing this poem with other poems about the theme of the "sea" or the theme of "massacre", focusing on Baudelaire. His connections with romanticism, realism, and modernism, as well as his connections and differences with poets such as Poe and Ginsberg.
Or conduct a close reading of the text to examine the language characteristics of Baudelaire's poetry and the "functional" role played by metaphors in his poetry.
There are many angles, it’s up to you to choose.