“SPLEEN AND IDEAL”

With the evident exception of the creation of an entirely new section, the “Tableaux Parisiens,” no changes for the second edition are more marked, or more complex, than the revision of the end of “Spleen and Ideal.” Most commentators agree that the changes give the section a clearer sense of an ending than did the first edition, which meandered to a close with some of the collection's least remarkable poems, such as “La Pipe” (lxviii) and “La Musique” (lxix). In the revised version, these poems have been moved from the very end to a position preceding sixteen poems – some old, some new – which now conclude the section. To be sure, this new grouping of poems – which starts with “Sépulture” (lxx) and “Une gravure fantastique” (lxxi), but also includes new poems such as “Le Goût du néant” (lxxx), “Alchimie de la douleur” (lxxxi), and “Horreur sympathique” (lxxxii) – accentuates a thematics of morbid perversity as a kind of counter-weight to the faithful optimism of the opening, romantic cycle of the section. But considerable controversy remains as to whether the overall unity of the section has been enhanced, as well as to what the significance of the new ending cycle might be.