Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.
THE HERMAPHRODITE
In this stanza the supernatural being Maldoror contemplates a beautiful human hermaphrodite sleeping in a forest near Paris. This portion of The Songs of Maldoror really emphasizes the oneric nature of Ducasse’s writing. Stanzas like this one and The Philosophical Gravedigger always make me wonder if the French horror film director Jean Rollin was influenced by the Count de Lautreamont.
This interlude with the hermaphrodite reminds me of Rollins’ Two Orphan Vampires and the way the title figures have brief encounters with the mad wolf-woman of the train yard, the haughty matriarchal vampress and the she-ghoul. The mystery surrounding the exact nature of the orphan vampires, who may or may not have been around since the Aztecs, is reminiscent of the enigmas surrounding Maldoror himself. Continue reading
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