Charles Baudelaire, a Poet of Shock

Charles Baudelaire’s poems within Le Fleurs du Mal were all essentially invested in the experience of shock. The notion of shock was a main feeling and expression that was found in modernist literature. The notion of shock was shown through Charles Baudelaire’s poem through his texts focus on the rapid pace of modern life as well as reminiscing of prior occurrences in history. The cultural progression of Modernism produced many different types of expressions from most of society ranging from the notion of alienation, disruption as well as shock. Baudelaire mainly displayed the notion of modernism within his text by taking notice of the flaring difference between reality and society’s understanding of it.
Looking in more depth of the modernist text of Charles Baudelaire within Le Flurs du Mal, we can see that he truly embraced this movement. This can be shown through Baudelaire’s interpretation of reality that was through the perspective of a modernist. Baudelaire perspective of reality was quite different than most other individuals within society then. As Charles Baudelaire, highlights the correlation between experiences under a modern environment and his own understanding of it.
The modernism movement formed a break with traditions and prior literary movements and was motivated by the artists desire to overcome the past. Baudelaire’s poetry was a prime example of a modernist text. Charles Baudelaire modernism text of poetry was extremely focused on the consideration of shock and trauma as defining experiences. Baudelaire poems helped individuals experience these expressions but his poetry gave off the feeling of shock the most. Coincidentally, the main principle and component of modernity is the occurrence of shock. The notion of shock was caused by certain experiences that cause individuals to go through a sense of trauma as these certain experiences elude their memory and cognition.
According to Sigmund Freud, the “human protective shield, which has its own energy, guards the nervous system against 'the excessive energies of the outside world'". Freud here is referring, “the excessive energies of the outside world” as what is causing shock within society. This is suggesting that the external world is constantly threatening to shock us. The safeguard of an individual’s body is its consciousness, which protects the subconscious from experiencing shock. As our consciousness allow us to depict the real world with a modern perspective.
Baudelaire in his poems showed society of the world of alcohol, drugs, sex which in a sense pushed at the boundaries of public taste, at that time. Baudelaire with referring to modern society was also describing personal experiences of his own life. Baudelaire’s expression of modern city, society and his obsessions of modern life really shaped is poetry. With his expression and depiction of modern society he instilled shock within his readers as his writings rejected the traditional perspective of life. During his time of writing, old patterns of living were dying and new ones were taking their place. Individuals within society were not accustomed to modern living or writing as they were part of the aristocratic and feudal social order of Paris. Baudelaire represented the new industrialized and bourgeois order that transformed society to be more modern.
“To the Reader” by Baudelaire, the first poem within his collection really stands out as it displays many shocking images that society was not accustomed to. At the same time he was attempting to make a connection to his readers as seen by the title. Baudelaire refers to the devil, as he is to blame for the evil temptations and behavior within the world.
“It is the Devil who holds the threads that move us! It is in hateful objects that we and peace
Each day, one step further towards Hell
Without horror, through the stinking shadows.” (p.1) Charles Baudelaire shock is shown through his dark perspective of the world that to him is filled with hypocrites, death, and sin. Baudelaire is indirectly saying that society lacks freedom as the devil is in control of the world. Baudelaire also mentions that the boredom in our lives leads to many of our evil actions and in a sense is considered a modern vice.

“And it is Boredom! Eye laden with involuntary tears, Dreaming of scaffolds, pulls upon its pipe
You know it, reader, this delicate monster
— Hypocrite reader, — my likeness, — my brother!” (p.1)

Charles Baudelaire here states the evil lurking inside the average individual within society is partly caused by boredom. Baudelaire is adamant in pushing the point that most individuals are hypocrites as most individuals are capable of committing evil actions. He seems to be very critical of human existence, ironically in the final line of the poem Baudelaire admits to be a hypocrite as well. He is a hypocrite in the sense that he is too disposed to vice and corruption just like most individuals within society then.
As previously stated Baudelaire work is focuses on individuals to experience shock and to an extent even a feeling of trauma. But within Baudelaire text he also recognizes the closure of experiences that characterizes modern existence. The closure within his poems gives individuals a sense of connection and at the same time they have their experienced those experiences of Baudelaire. Due to Baudelaire placing shock experience in the center of his poetry he must have had a vast amount of experiences and occurrences that has a connection with shock. Indeed this is true as within his poems, Baudelaire discusses the historical events he was part of and occurred within his period of time on earth. Baudelaire described this as shocking and traumatic because they occurred in seclusion and Baudelaire felt a sort of connection to relate these occurrences to shock. Also Baudelaire served as a resource for himself as he was able to create modernist poetry from experiencing the modern urban life. Another aspect of how Charles Baudelaire exemplified the characteristics of a modern poet was due to his certain unique writing style. In “Correspondences”, Baudelaire generates emotions within his reader through his ability to integrate a unique sense of symbolism within his writing. The symbolism is unique in the sense that within the poem every image is a symbol that leads to another representation. An example of his use of symbolism is shown down below; “Nature is a temple in which living pillars sometimes give voice to confused words; Man passes there through forests of symbols which look at him with understanding eyes.” (p.8)

Here Baudelaire is giving voice and life to things that are silent. As he is describing the living pillars speaking words and the forest watching the man. Baudelaire uses imagery throughout this passage describing nature to demonstrate mankind's connection to nature through the senses, which is the ultimate correspondence. Correspondence also refers to the communication between human mind and external world. Another aspect of Baudelaire writing style that is encompassed within his modern text is his use of synesthesia. Through synesthesia, the major senses; sounds, colors, and scents are tied together to create mental images, where all senses are stimulated through the reader’s eye. This is shown in the text below; There are perfumes as cool as the flesh of children,
Sweet as oboes, green as meadows And others are corrupt, and rich, triumphant With power to expand into infinity, 
Like amber and incense, musk, benzoin, that sing the ecstasy of the soul and senses.” (p.8)
This passage exemplifies synesthesia as it displays the notion that the senses can and should intermingle. Baudelaire's system depends on associations evoked by the content of a word. The sense of taste as he states “sweet as oboes” is being intertwined with the sense of sound as oboes are known as a musical instrument. This passage also is an example of parallelism, in which the words have some sort of connection to the poem as a whole and the symbolism behind it. Another example of a poem that uses the style of synesthesia is Rimbaud’s “Vowels”. Rimbaud assigns color values to different vowels as seen below;

“A Black, E white, I red, U green, O blue: vowels, I shall tell, one day, of your mysterious origins: A, black velvety jacket of brilliant fies
Which buzz around cruel smells” (pg.1)

By assigning color values to vowels this is similar to what his predecessor Charles Baudelaire, created with his integration of senses within "Correspondences". Looking in depth within this passage, Rimbaud’s correspondences between vowels and the colors are conditioned by very individual forms of imagery. Rimbaud’ s sense of writing and his personal style could date back to Charles Baudelaire and his influential modernist text and style. Baudelaire was able to shock his readers within his modernist texts as he expressed his ideas with a modernist perspective. Baudelaire notion of shock found within his work was caused by his view of the outside world. Through his unique writing style, his unique way of symbolizing and connecting different objects with others, Baudelaire’s text exemplified modernism.