Thomas Keske wrote:
> THE ALCHEMIST
> ii) The Poet as Alchemist
>
> To explain the analogy between the poet and the alchemist let's
> look at quotation 7:
>
> "Des poetes illustres s'etaient partage depuis longtemps les
> provinces les plus fleuries du domaine poetique . Il m'a paru
> plaisant, et d'autant plus agreable que la tache plus
> difficile, d'extraire la beaute du Mal. Ce livre,
> essentiellement inutile et absolumment innocent, n'a pas
> ete fait dans un autre but que de me divertir et d'exercer
> mon passione de l'obstacle."
>
> Central to the mediaeval alchemist and to Baudelaire's
> conception of the poet is the idea of transformation or
> transubstantiation.
>
> The translated title then becomes Flowers from Evil or Flowers
> out of Evil. The poet transforms evil, suffering, sickness -
> `mal' is a tricky word to translate too - into a thing of beauty.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas, only thus if one takes the poet as being the purveyor and
master of the explosive power of changing ideas, whereas the alchemist
was, of course, the purveyor and master of the explosive power of
destroying the material that comprised fortifications. That invariably
placed the alchemist above the poet, in terms of value, considering the
value of materialized destructive force was always considered greater
value than that of changing minds.
In effect the poet's exceptional use of language places the poet in a
peculiar situation of being capable of breaking down worldviews,
paradigms, and cherished beliefs, in a similar but less effective way
than neuro linguistic programming which can effect by combining alchemy
with poetics for more bang for the buck.
R.M.
|
|