Be Drunk

Be Drunk

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." 

Charles Baudelaire

       By enrolling in this literature of intoxication course, what do I  expect?  I expect nothing more than accounts that cross the borders of reality and imagination. I hope to read accounts of debauchery, loss of inhibitions and demented rage that blurs the line between the sacred and the mundane. I expect great things from some heavy hitters like Baudelaire, Rimbaud and one of my personal favorites Poe. The first two I have heard of but not had the pleasure to interact with their art. Poe, on the other hand, has been in and out of my life for over a decade and has become a staple to which I compare other writers. his darkness and ambiguity are unparalleled, and his ability to thrive on chaos is remarkable.

        Mr. Baudelaire is cool and all but I prefer to buy American. ALWAYS! Edgar Allan Poe is the perfect subject to explore in a course such as this one. Poe never met or even heard the name of Baudelaire, and Baudelaire, while he came to adopt Poe as a kind of divine inspiration, never met or corresponded with Poe. Any information Baudelaire might have left us about Poe, then, is merely his own interpretation or speculation.  I am unaware of another author with such wide differing public biographies and obituaries. after his death friend and enemies engaged in an all-out war to create/damage Poe's reputation/memory. Nevertheless, his drunken exploits whether real or not, are a staple of the life of this Virginia native. Poe was so into Mystery genre, he even made his death an unsolvable one. Considering that Poe is one of Americas national treasures, a museum was established in his name. Before the end of this year, I plan on going to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Virginia, live as he lived, sit where he sat, crowd his former space, harass his habitat and hopefully understand one of my heroes. I expect we get involved in Poe's work for more than a simple glance, he is way to special to be looked over and discarded like a simple Hallmark greeting card. We need to explore his words, analyze his syntax and dwell on his greatness, anything less would be sacrilegious. Even if he would win a Nicolas Cage look a like contest.

“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.”

Edgar Allan Poe