Tag Archives: The Songs of Maldoror

May 30, 2015 · 4:41 pm

MALDOROR 4:1 – PRELUDE TO A PRIVATE ARMAGEDDON

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. We are now at the 4th Canto, 1st Stanza.

PRELUDE TO A PRIVATE ARMAGEDDON

Maldoror 4 1 denderaThe supernatural being Maldoror has arrived at Dendera in Egypt. He is perforce surrounded by human beings and, given his loathing of humanity, he compares being among so many people to other unwholesome sensations. Among those: accidentally stepping on a frog and feeling it being crushed and smeared into the ground underfoot. Our narrator tells us he shivers with disgust at any contact with humans the way a dead shark’s heart continues to beat long after it is dead.

As usual Maldoror contradicts some of the information he has previously given readers about himself and claims that he stood in Dendera back when it was at its height in the 1st Century B.C. He disgustedly notes how swarms of wasps have inhabited so many of the corners and entrances of the ancient works of architecture. Their buzzing reminds him of the sound of his own sorrow when he ponders the perverse conduct of his archrival God.   Continue reading →

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May 27, 2015 · 12:04 am

MALDOROR 3:5 – THE RED LANTERN AT TWILIGHT

Maldoror 3 5 red lanternBalladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. This is one of the most twisted sections of  a book loaded with them.  

THE RED LANTERN AT TWILIGHT

All of the action in this stanza takes place at twilight and the first moments of darkness. The supernatural being Maldoror comes upon a French brothel that used to be a convent centuries before. A rough wooden bridge leads across a stream of filth to the establishment. Customers take their leave by crawling out through a grate into a courtyard littered with chickens and chickenshit.     Continue reading →

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May 23, 2015 · 3:38 pm

MALDOROR 3:4 – THE SUPREME DRUNKARD

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. This time around our supernatural protagonist commits his greatest affront to God so far.

THE SUPREME DRUNKARD

The coveted Portuguese translation of The Songs of Maldoror.

The coveted Portuguese translation of The Songs of Maldoror.

This is the 4th stanza of the 3rd canto. On a beautiful spring morning Maldoror comes upon God lying in a drunken heap on the side of a road in France, sleeping off his binge of the night before. Periodically he makes to stand up but always collapses back down into slumber.

A passing hedgehog prods the hungover deity with his spines but that fails to rouse him. A woodpecker and a screech owl try to wake him up by pecking him and clawing at him to no avail. A mule kicks the Creator in the temple and a toad spits in God’s face but not even these assaults and insults excite a response from him.   Continue reading →

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May 19, 2015 · 8:37 pm

MALDOROR 3:3 – THE TIGER-HEADED DRAGON

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. It’s a battle of monsters this time around.

THE TIGER-HEADED DRAGON

Image by Joey B at Deviant Art

Image by Joey B at Deviant Art

As this stanza begins the supernatural being Maldoror has been conversing with the Wandering Jew from folklore. Way back in And Now Men Fear You No More we learned about Maldoror’s long-ago relationship with Lohengrin the Knight of the Swan when they both lived in the Grail Castle. Now our main character interacts with another figure from legend.

The narrative never bothers clarifying which of the many versions of the Wandering Jew story it favors, it’s simply presenting a chance meeting of two ancient beings who wander the Earth.  

A white-winged, serpent-tailed dragon with the head and body of a tiger makes an aerial approach toward the two figures. The dragon lands and the Wandering Jew notes it is taller than the tallest oak. The dragon has come for Maldoror and the two exchange words of greeting as a prelude to their battle.  Continue reading →

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May 15, 2015 · 8:43 pm

MALDOROR 3:2 – VICTIMS BOTH LIVING AND DEAD

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

VICTIMS BOTH LIVING AND DEAD

Maldoror 2The malevolent supernatural being Maldoror commits one of his most horrific acts of violence ever in this stanza. For those horror fans who prefer to see our vile main character perpetrating genuine atrocities this is the tale for you.  

This stanza begins with Maldoror contemplating an elderly, poverty-stricken madwoman who roams the roads of France. She wears tattered clothing and her aged face is withered like a mummy’s while what little hair she has left falls like long spider-legs over her head and neck. Continue reading →

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May 9, 2015 · 5:08 pm

MALDOROR 3:1 – THE MYSTERIOUS RIDERS

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

THE MYSTERIOUS RIDERS 

Mysterious HorsemenThis is the First Stanza of the Third Canto (3:1). It should be no surprise to anyone that Maldoror once again presents an image of himself that contradicts much of what he has previously told the reader. In this stanza he is the Angel of the Land and is forever in the company of his lover Mario, the Angel of the Sea. The two frequently ride their horses at incredible speed along the beaches of the world, tracing the shoreline of continents and inspiring hushed superstitious whispers from the fishermen who observe them speeding by.

The pair glory in each other’s company and share a regal disdain for the human race, dismissing the planet Earth as a “craggy chamberpot”. We are told that “unlimited chains of generations” have regarded the two lovers with unease since they often appear at times of war or disease. (Readers may remember previous hints Maldoror has given that he is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse biding his time until the end of the world arrives.) Maldoror and his companion are also often sighted flying in the air overhead as hurricanes unleash massive destruction.   Continue reading →

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May 5, 2015 · 10:20 pm

MALDOROR 2:15 – THE CONQUEST OF CONSCIENCE

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. The title character clashes with God directly again this time as well as with a flock of winged octopi.

THE CONQUEST OF CONSCIENCE

maldoror 2 15 tentaclesWe’ve come to the end of the Second Canto of The Songs of Maldoror. In this stanza the supernatural being Maldoror returns to the version of his past in which he is untold centuries old. Our insane narrator adopts and disgards these multiple personae like clothing selected to match his mood of the day.  

For people who obsess over continuity this stanza matches up well with And Now Men Fear You No More, in which Maldoror is supposedly one of the angels who remained neutral in the war between God and Lucifer. In that stanza our main character also takes credit for tutoring mankind in the ways of challenging God/The Demiurge through rational thought and counter-theology.    Continue reading →

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May 2, 2015 · 3:49 pm

MALDOROR 2:14 – THE BODY IN THE SEINE

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

THE BODY IN THE SEINE

body floatingLast time around the monster Maldoror was involved in a tale of mayhem, murder and bestiality. This time around he’s in the presumed role of a hero. A swollen body floats down the Seine River. A boatman hooks the corpse with a pole and drags it to shore, where a curious crowd has gathered.  Continue reading →

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April 30, 2015 · 9:57 pm

MALDOROR 2:13 – I SOUGHT A SOUL THAT MIGHT RESEMBLE MINE

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

I SOUGHT A SOUL THAT MIGHT RESEMBLE MINE

SharkI’m not bothering with a detailed look at Maldoror 2:12 because it was a fairly run of the mill (for Ducasse) look at the hopelessly groveling nature of prayers to a deity. He has just one point to make – that prayers are basically butt-kissing disguised as devotion – and makes it over and over again. 

I’ll pick up with Maldoror 2:13, which – for cross-referencing purposes – I’m titling I Sought a Soul That Might Resemble Mine. This stanza begins with our supernatural main character lamenting his lonely uniqueness and longing to find someone like himself.  Continue reading →

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April 27, 2015 · 3:14 pm

MALDOROR 2:11 – THE ANGEL OF THE LAMP

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. This time around the title character battles an angel from Heaven.

THE ANGEL OF THE LAMP

Notre Dame Cathedral BESTThe vile supernatural being Maldoror is lurking near a Paris cathedral. He is furiously cursing a lamp that hangs high overhead in the sacred place because the “holy” light it shines prevents him from attacking the worshippers inside. He begs the lamp to permit itself to be extinguished by the wind, reminding it that it owes nothing to the worshippers that it protects from his assaults.

Maldoror can tell the lamp is acting specifically on orders from his archrival God because of the way its light glows more and more intensely to drive him out whenever he attempts to enter during a mass but the people in attendance at the mass seem oblivious to the blinding intensity of the light which assails him. Our protagonist has returned to the cathedral in the dead of night to confront the lamp. Continue reading →

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