''L'Albatros'' ( French for ''The Albatross'') is a

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

decadent Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...

French poet List of poets French poetry, who have written in the French language: A Céline Arnauld (1885-1952) * Louise-Victorine Ackermann (1813–1890) * Adam de la Halle (v.1250 – v.1285) * Dominique Aguessy (1937– ) * Pierre Albert-Birot (1876–1 ...

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

. The poem, inspired by an incident on Baudelaire's trip to Bourbon Island in 1841, was begun in 1842 but not completed until 1859 with the addition of the final verse. It was first published in ' in 1859, and was printed as the second poem in the second edition (1861) of Baudelaire's ''

Les Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; ) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First published in 1857, it was important in the ...

''. Italian writer, literary critic, and university professor gave the poem a full treatment in his 1994 book ''L'albatros di Baudelaire''. The poem is recited by a young ''

Roman Coppola Roman François Coppola (born April 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker and music video director. He is the son of Francis Ford and Eleanor Coppola, and is known for his film collaborations with Wes Anderson. Coppola serves as president of fi ...

'' in the "French Plantation" scene of ''

Apocalypse Now Redux ''Apocalypse Now Redux'' is a 2001 American extended version of Francis Ford Coppola's epic 1979 war film ''Apocalypse Now''. Coppola, along with editor and longtime collaborator Walter Murch, added 49 minutes of material that had been removed ...

''.

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The poem is located in the section "''Spleen et Idéal''". It is built with four

alexandrin The French alexandrine () is a syllabic poetic metre of (nominally and typically) 12 syllables with a medial caesura dividing the line into two hemistichs (half-lines) of six syllables each. It was the dominant long line of French poetry from th ...

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...

s with crossed

Rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

s (ABAB type), alternating feminine and masculine word endings.

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References

Further reading