The Cake by Charles Pierre Baudelaire
The Cake, by Charles Pierre Baudelaire: A poem about the fleeting nature of pleasure and the inevitability of decay.
By Charles Pierre Baudelaire · First published 1857 · Genre: Fiction, Drama, Satire · 1,013 words
First lines
I was travelling. The landscape in the midst of which I / was seated was of an irresistible grandeur and sublimity. / Something no doubt at that moment passed from it into my / soul. My thoughts fluttered with a lightness like that of the / atmosphere; vulgar passions, such as hate and profane love, / seemed to me now as far away as the clouds that floated in the / gulfs beneath my feet; my soul seemed to me as vast and pure / as the dome of the sky that enveloped me; the remembrance of / earthly things came as faintly to my heart as the thin tinkle / of the bells of unseen herds, browsing far, far away, on the / slope of another mountain. Across the little motionless lake, / black with the darkness of its immense depth, there passed / from time to time the shadow of a cloud, like the shadow of an / airy giant's cloak, flying through heaven. And I remember that / this rare and solemn sensation, caused by a vast and perfectly / silent movement, filled me with mingled joy and fear. In a / word, thanks to the enrapturing beauty about me, I felt that / I was at perfect peace with myself and with the universe; I / even believe that, in my complete forgetfulness of all earthly / evil, I had come to think the newspapers are right after all, / and man was born good; when, incorrigible matter renewing its / exigences, I sought to refresh the fatigue and satisfy the / appetite caused by so lengthy a climb. I took from my pocket / a large piece of bread, a leathern cup, and a small bottle / of a certain elixir which the chemists at that time sold to / tourists, to be mixed, on occasion, with liquid snow.
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Genres
- Fiction — The Cake is a work of imagination and subjective recollection, lending itself primarily to the fiction genre.
- Drama — The dramatic elements in the unfolding narrative and interaction between characters positions it in the drama genre.
- Satire — The author employs irony, sarcasm, and ridicule to criticize prevailing immorality, foibles and social behavior, indicating satire as a genre.
- Psychological Fiction — Intensive exploration of characters' thoughts, feelings, and motivations lends the book to the Psychological Fiction genre.
Tags
poetry · symbolism · decadence · French literature · 19th century · aestheticism · romanticism · sensation · beauty · transience · existentialism · art
What this Textopian page supports
The Cake is listed on Textopian as a poem by Charles Pierre Baudelaire, dated 1857 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Charles Pierre Baudelaire
- Date: 1857 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Fiction, Drama, Satire, Psychological Fiction, Social Commentary
- Length: 1,013 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Cake by Charles Pierre Baudelaire
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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