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The speaker sees Paris as a modern myth in progress, evoking such mythological figures as Andromache and Hector. Even the negative aspects of city life, ranging from prostitution to gambling, are described as animals, giving Baudelaire's poetry an allegorical quality. For example, in "Evening Twilight," the poet evokes "Dark Night," which casts its shadow over the ants, worms, and demons, symbolizing Parisian prostitution, theater, and gambling. Together, the city, its vices, and its people form a mythical, "unhealthy atmosphere," instructing the reader to learn his or her lesson.
Yet Paris is primarily a cemetery of failed love, as described in "To a Passerby." The "howling" street immediately evokes the speaker's powerful spleen, making the poem's atmosphere one of deception and botched happiness. Indeed, the hostility of the city is only surpassed by the cruelty of the speaker's loved one. Thus, the loved one's presence does not promise future happiness in mutual affection, but rather, it symbolizes cold death. In French, the words "majestic" ("majestueux") and "sumptuous" ("somptueux") contain letter combinations similar to those in the word "killer" ("tueur"), and the murder theme is further developed in the phrase, "The softness that fascinates and the pleasure that kills." This symbolism is also present in "To a Red-headed Beggar Girl," where the beautiful breasts of the beggar are contrasted with her "wanton fingers" and "dagger of gold." Paris becomes a realm of spleen and misery where love is impossible.
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