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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker asks about a sad, black island, identified as Cythere, a famed place in songs, yet calls it a poor land.
In plain terms
A legendary island is described as bleak and impoverished.
What can you take from it?
Even famed places can be disappointing.

Where it applies

  • travel
  • storytelling
  • reflection

Putting it to work

  • research myths before travel
  • adjust expectations

Questions to consider

  • What 'islands' have you idealized?
  • How do you reconcile myth with reality?

Another view

Obscure reference may limit reader connection.

More from Charles Baudelaire

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  2. C'est l'imagination qui a enseigne a l'homme le sens moral de la couleur, du contour, du son et du parfum. Elle a cree, au commencement du monde, l'analogie et…

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  3. O toi, le plus savant et le plus beau des Anges, Dieu trahi par le sort et prive de louanges, O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere! O Prince de l'exil, a …

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