You have to be always drunk. That's all there is to it—it's the only way. So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk.
But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk.
And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a ditch, in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake again, drunkenness already diminishing or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock, everything that is flying, everything that is groaning, everything that is rolling, everything that is singing, everything that is speaking. . .ask what time it is and wind, wave, star, bird, clock will answer you: "It is time to be drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish."
Be Drunk is a poem by Charles Baudelaire that talks about drinking to not feel the effects of life. Charles was born in Paris The line “So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk” is relatable to this current day due to the amount of people that drink due to their own lifestyles. This poem is a Carpe diem because it focuses on the idea that we should drink to our hearts content and focus on the future later on. “be continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish." This quote specifies what the context actually means, wine or alcohol is a great way be drunk but the quote also mentions poetry or virtue which gives this a double meaning.
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
“ Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers”, this quote specifically starts at the beginning of the poem which immediately sets the tone while the meaning behind it talks about the time we have on earth. Shortly afterwards the author tells us “Art is long, and Time is fleeting” which indicates that we are using our time incorrectly and we wont have much more of it. This poem gives the reader the idea that we should make history with our current lifes so that others can see the path that we had followed and allow them to do the same. This poem is another version of Carpe Diem due to its idea that we should pave the path in the current years and not waste our time waiting.
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Dreams is a poem written by Langston Hughes that conveys the meaning of following ones dreams. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, 1901 and died in 1967 and within his life he was one of the portrayers of a literary art form called jazz poetry. “Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go life is a barren field frozen with snow.” This quote talks about the A that people have and how they die quickly. It Is important for each person to make and follow the Aspirations that they have built within their life. Most people give up on the aspirations they have set due to how long it takes. This poem illustrates the idea of carpe diem due to the nature of living in the now.