Les Litanies de Satan
"Les Litanies de Satan" is a poem by Charles Baudelaire, published as part of Les Fleurs du mal. The date of composition is unknown, but there is no evidence that it was composed at a different time to the other poems of the volume.[1]
The poem is a renunciation of religion, and Catholicism in particular.[2] It includes a blasphemous inversion of the Kyrie Eleison and the Glory Be, parts of the Catholic Mass,[3] or it substitutes Satan for Mary and liturgy directed towards her.[4] Swinburne called it the key to Les Fleurs du mal.[4] The poet empathises with Satan, who has also experienced injustice[5] and can have pity for those who are outcasts. But for political reasons, Baudelaire had to preface the poem with a note explaining he had no personal allegiance with Satan.[6] Even so, Les Fleurs du mal led to he and his publishers being fined for "insult to public decency."
The poem is an inspiration to Satanists to this day.[7]
References
- ^ Starkie, Enid (1933). Baudelaire. G.P. Putnam's sons. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
- ^ Debusscher, Gilbert; Schvey, Henry I.; Maufort, Marc (1989). New essays on American drama. Rodopi. p. 16. ISBN 9789051831078. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
- ^ Lawler, James R. (1997). Poetry and moral dialectic: Baudelaire's "secret architecture". Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 156. ISBN 9780838637586. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
- ^ a b universitet, Uppsala (1975). Studia anglistica upsaliensia. Almqvist & Wiksell. ISBN 9789155403317. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
- ^ Daniel, Robert R. (1997). The poetry of Villon and Baudelaire: two worlds, one human condition. P. Lang. ISBN 9780820434728. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
- ^ Leakey, F. W. (1992). Baudelaire, Les fleurs du mal. Cambridge University Press. p. 31. ISBN 9780521361163. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
- ^ Flowers From Hell: A Satanic Reader
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