Twi-light and the Anima: Baudelaire's Two Poems Entitled `Le Crépuscule du soir'

Baudelaire's verse and prose poems entitled "Le Crépuscule du soir" (Les Fleurs du mal, XCV and Petits poèmes en prose, XXII) describe twilight reveries inspired by the approach of night in the metropolis. Interpreted within a Jungian framework, these depictions of the city's metamorphoses at dusk become psychic dramas in which the images relating to woman assume archetypal significance. In each poem, as darkness descends, a feminine presence incites the transformation of reality from a masculine and rational universe to a feminine and instinctual one. The imagery and structure of the two works illustrate the anima's role as guide to the inner world. In both poems, Baudelaire reveals the inner reality of the human psyche and brings to light its unconscious femininity. (MG-T)