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The Alchemy of Sadness
By Charles Baudelaire
One man lights you with his ardour
one decks you in mourning, Nature!
What says to the first: ‘A Sepulchre!’
To the other cries: ‘Life and splendour!’
Unknown Hermes, who assists,
yet intimidates me as well,
you make me Midas’ equal,
the saddest of alchemists:
You help me change gold to iron,
paradise to hell’s kingdom:
in the shrouded atmosphere
I find a dear corpse, and on
the celestial shores, it’s there,
I build a mighty sepulcher.
Extra Info:
Hermes was the mercurial Greek messenger god, spirit of alchemy, and as Hermes Trismegistes a source of wisdom. Midas was offered a gift by the god Bacchus, and asked to turn everything to gold. Bacchus reversed the dreadful results, at Midas’ request.
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