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What does the swan symbolize in Charles Baudelaire’s poem “Le Cygne”?
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Charles Baudelaire
French poet and critic Charles Baudelaire, photograph by Étienne Carjat, 1863.
In Charles Baudelaire’s poem “Le Cygne” (The Swan), the image of a swan stranded in total dereliction near the Louvre serves as a powerful symbol of an existential condition characterized by loss and exile that transcends both time and space.1
Rather than referencing the legendary "swan song" associated with death in folklore, Baudelaire uses the swan to reflect the broader themes found in his collection Les Fleurs du mal. Within the section “Tableaux parisiens,” the swan represents the isolation and suffering experienced by the poet—and by extension, humanity—as he navigates the modern urban landscape of Paris in a futile quest for fulfillment.21