Symbolism in Poetry Ruba Symbols Are Referents

Symbolism in Poetry

Ruba

Symbols are referents which many people use in order to: (1) describe abstract feelings and concepts into concrete ones, (2) reveal ideas or truths through the use of symbols, (3) used to evoke feelings or ideas through the use of symbolic meanings or simply by (4) representation. Symbolism are used in almost every aspect of people's lives, such as the use of symbols in mathematics, science, anthropology, and other studies relevant to the study of human life. More importantly, the most difficult forms of symbolism are perhaps found in literature, wherein symbols are not bound by a set of rules just like in the study of sciences. Instead, symbols in literature are subjective, and can be interpreted into various meanings.

The concept of symbolism will be discussed in analyzing three popular and well-known symbolist poems: "Correspondences" and "To The Reader" by Charles Baudelaire and "My Familiar Dream" by Paul Verlaine. Each poem will be analyzed and related to the concept of symbolism, and how the poets utilize it in their poems.

The first poem is "Correspondences" by Charles Baudelaire. Symbolism is manifested in the poem directly, as implied in the line, "Of symbols watching him with friendly eyes." However, in order to comprehend the poem easily in its relation to symbolism, it is important that the poem must be understood first and analyzed holistically. The first four lines of the poem establish the fact that the poem is a symbolist one; the poet likens the reader's comprehension of the poem to the situation that he illustrates in the first four lines of the poem. In fact, the phrase, "watching him with friendly eyes" reflects the poet's understanding if the reader experiences difficulty in understanding the poem.

Baudelaire's significance of his use of the title, "Correspondences" becomes apparent in the seventh line, wherein 'correspondences' are made in various descriptions of different concepts. Line 7, which states, "Vast as the night and brilliant as the day," is a set of correspondences that fits into the poem's meaning while symbolically representing the significance of the poem's title. Similarly, the scent of perfumes are another set of correspondences in the poem, wherein the "sweet" scents of perfumes are radically contrasted with the "other" scents, which are described as "corrupted, rich, exultant, wild," which are opposite qualities of the innocent-like descriptions of sweet perfumes. Thus, through correspondences, Baudelaire was able to utilize symbolism through the use of the poem's title, i.e., using the word 'correspondences' to represent the 'correspondences' or pairs that are found in the poem.

The second poem, "To The Reader," is also a poem full of symbolism, and is also written by Baudelaire. In his poem, Baudelaire informs his reader that the worse thing that man can do in his life is not to do evil, but to live a life of boredom, that is, to live no life at all. While this is the main theme and message in his poem, Baudelaire uses symbolism to keep the content of his poem 'alive' and interesting to the reader. The poem's body seems to be direct in its message in the initial part of the poem; however, as the reader reaches the last part of Baudelaire's poem, symbolism becomes evident. In discussing the evils of man and his sinfulness, Baudelaire uses imagery and symbolism in order to extend this message: "Like a poor prisoner who kisses and consumes / The tortured breast of an ancient whore." Through these lines and use of imagery, Baudelaire represents man's sinfulness as the 'consummation' (doing the act of sinfulness) of the 'breast of an ancient whore' (man's original sin, as referenced in the Bible). Another symbol used is the representation of Boredom as a 'delicate monster' that kills man greater than committing a sin or evil action. Lastly, Baudelaire uses 'the reader' of the poem as a symbol for his own self, which he described in the last line of the poem as "my likeness, -my brother!"