And this brings an interesting twist into another fictional character, a certain Mr. Holmes of 221 Baker St. He also was fond of opium, but I don't think the sharpening of the mind was ever explicitly mentioned.
Stephen Maturin from Master and Commander was known to take a drop or two of laudanum. You can still get a prescription if you have the right condition. I looked it up yesterday.
It's strange that when I first read the poem, I too thought it was about an exotic location. However, Baudelaire wrote it when he was in exile in Amsterdam. Read it again with that thought in mind and the details such as the barges and wet skies are redolent of Northern Europe, not the Far East. Apologies if that destroys the poem for you
Alas, my ageing memory played me false. Baudelaire never went to Holland and, even though he lived in Brussels for a while, never went across the border. It seems that it was a meme in 19thc. Paris that Holland was a paradise of freedom and unbridled luxury. Books and magazines were devoted to the theme and they were the inspiration behind the poem. In honesty, Amsterdam still enjoys that sort of reputation - the tokers enjoying the coffee shops and tourists looking at women behind glass doors.
And this brings an interesting twist into another fictional character, a certain Mr. Holmes of 221 Baker St. He also was fond of opium, but I don't think the sharpening of the mind was ever explicitly mentioned.
Stephen Maturin from Master and Commander was known to take a drop or two of laudanum. You can still get a prescription if you have the right condition. I looked it up yesterday.
It's strange that when I first read the poem, I too thought it was about an exotic location. However, Baudelaire wrote it when he was in exile in Amsterdam. Read it again with that thought in mind and the details such as the barges and wet skies are redolent of Northern Europe, not the Far East. Apologies if that destroys the poem for you
Thank you, Diogenes. I love it all the same!
I like your translation of the Baudelaire 😊
Thank you! My first poem! Took me hours. Much longer than the actual newsletter.
They do 😊
Nice free translation. You should write some more.
This one really hit me right there. Totally loved it
Alas, my ageing memory played me false. Baudelaire never went to Holland and, even though he lived in Brussels for a while, never went across the border. It seems that it was a meme in 19thc. Paris that Holland was a paradise of freedom and unbridled luxury. Books and magazines were devoted to the theme and they were the inspiration behind the poem. In honesty, Amsterdam still enjoys that sort of reputation - the tokers enjoying the coffee shops and tourists looking at women behind glass doors.