Answer: Baudelaire’s “The Albatross” and the Changing Role of the
Poet
Charles Baudelaire is often considered a late Romantic poet. Even Baudelaire sought to equate
himself with archetypal Romantic figures like Byron, Hugo, and Gautier; the latter once claimed that
Baudelaire had "found a way to inject new life into Romanticism" with the publication of his magnum
opus, Les Fleurs du Mal. However, the novelty that Baudelaire was allegedly introducing to ostensibly
Romantic verse was essentially a reflection of the changing social environment. It involved a new
characterization of the role of the poet, as demonstrated in Baudelaire’s poem “The Albatross.”
Baudelaire represents a shift into modernity that redefines the poet as a marginalized outcast, not a
public spokesman. The art of the poet is demystified amid a tide of thought that similarly contributed
to the rise of state secularism, atheism and a general modern godlessness. This de-sanctification, in
conjunction with other modern malaise such as a socio-economic system based increasingly in the
relative doldrums of specialization, heralded an increasingly common deficiency of the soul and
weariness of the mind known as ennui.
The progressively less relevant, less confident poet is subject to the harassment of the masses for his
values in the face of the very modern moralities and industrial utility that have caused deep
dissatisfaction of these masses. The Coleridgean, visionary poet is dead and in his place is left an
ardent defender of art; one that is misunderstood and erudite, awkwardly hobbling amidst a people
newly absorbed into the soul-deadening depths of ennui; one that is essentially an albatross
displaced from his native, mysteriously infinite elements of the sky and the sea and relocated to a
materiality of land (or in this case an extension of land, in the form of a ship). On land his virtues are
considered defects and his “mild” (line 3) nature makes him subject to the abuse of people looking to
amuse and distract themselves.
“The Albatross” appears third in Baudelaire’s seminal collection of verse, after a note “To the Reader”
and a “Benediction.” The poem is evidently still dealing with broad, encompassing and introductory
themes that Baudelaire wished to put forth as part of the principle foundations of his transformative
text. The titular bird is decidedly analogized with “The Poet,” (13) in very broad terms, and is
described as ungainly and “unseemly,” (10) tripping over his own “great white wings,” (8) or poetic
and aesthetic thought processes, when thrust into a finite, material reality of the ship, or practical
matters of the nineteenth century. These huge wings that appear to the sailors as nothing but
“useless oars” (8) in the utilitarian context of the ship are precisely what, in the poetically infinite
element of the sky, allow the albatross to “[scoff] at archers, [and love] a stormy day” (18). Or, to
complete the analogy, the wings are what allow the poet to surmount criticism and contemplate the
sublime.
This correlation between the poet and the albatross appear at first to be a timeless description of the
poet who has always been a “kinsman in the clouds” (13) and inevitably awkward among more
mundane company. This poem appears to pay tribute to Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in
its utilization and even elevation of the albatross. However, Baudelaire’s subtle analogical steps away
from the affected folkloric resonance of Romanticism in his fable-like redefinition of the Modern poet is
what is really at stake in this poem.
A brief look at how the great birds, decidedly analogous with poets, are treated by the respective
seafarers illuminates an evolving social landscape into which the poet is supposed to adapt. Left in
place of the fervor.
Explanation: Hope this works!