A hymn is a song of praise, usually religious in nature. Charles Baudelaire's 'Hymn to Beauty' is a second-person poem, addressing the personification of Beauty. Prince's song 'Anna Stesia' from the album 'Lovesexy' is also a second-person hymn, however it is to the personification of Love -- the woman Anna Stesia. Both works have many similarities and differences.
Both praise their subjects, but Baudelaire is also very critical. Throughout the poem, he questions the source of beauty: "Come you, o Beauty; from the sky profound/Or the abyss?" (first stanza); "Come you from the dark gulf or from the stars?" (third stanza); "What matter if you come from heaven or hell" (sixth stanza); "From Satan or from God, seraph or fiend" (seventh stanza). He believes that Beauty, as well as being pure and heavenly, is also cold and cruel. He hints that Beauty can lead men to fall from grace, but is not responsible for its actions: "You sow, at random, joy and bitterness/You rule the world, responsible for naught" (third stanza). In fact, men are most likely the ones to blame for their own downfall. By becoming "dazzled" to Beauty's "candle wings", they, in a sense, destroy themselves. The final irony of Beauty is that not only will it "burn" its admirers, but the consumed will still "bless this flame!" (fifth stanza). After making these insights, Baudelaire sighs and shrugs at them by the end of the poem. He asks what does it matter if, after all, Beauty "makes the world less grim, [and the] time fly faster" (seventh stanza).
Prince, on the other hand, feels that "Anna Stesia" (a play-on words on "anesthesia") is the panacea for the emptiness within himself. Anna Stesia represents the concept of Love, and he begs her to make him less lonely, and to "talk 2 me, ravish me, liberate my mind" (chorus). Just as anesthesia takes away pain, Prince's Anna Stesia takes away the things that are burning inside of him, and fills him with happiness and a sense of meaning. In fact, he sees Love as a way to elevate his soul, and get closer to God: "Closer 2 my higher self, closer 2 heaven... closer 2 God." Anna Stesia then becomes God, for "Love is God/God is Love". Prince is not praising God when he says that; he is giving Love the ultimate praise by saying that it is God. During the song, he prays to Anna Stesia to "liberate" and "craze" him. At the end, he prays directly to Love as it is the highest power: "You are my God, I am Your child." The sudden change to a religious message and from "U" to "You" symbolizes Prince's realization and respect of Love as the most important entity: "Now my Lord I understand" (third verse).
'Hymn to Beauty' and 'Anna Stesia' are very similar in that the writers use a religious context to praise their subjects. Baudelaire calls Beauty "infernal and divine". Prince comes right out to say to Love, "You are my God". Both works also show an inner conflict within the authors. Although Baudelaire is deeply affected by Beauty, he is also in horror and awe of Beauty's contradictory nature. The darkest and most vivid description of Beauty is from the fourth stanza: "Murder, among your baubles most beloved/Dances, enamoured, on your splendid breast". Murder? Splendid breast? Charles Baudelaire masters oxymoron to describe this thing that fascinates him.
Prince's conflict is his loneliness and desire to find Love. He feels stretched "between white and black, night and day", but settles for black night in which to hide himself (second verse). However, when he finds Love, he rises above his depression. When he looks into Love's face he sees God. This is very different from 'Hymn to Beauty' in that he is not critical or skeptical of Love. In fact, he sees Love as a cure-all, again back to the "anesthesia" theme. Although both works are in second-person format, Prince's song is much more internal than the semi-objective 'Hymn to Beauty'. While Baudelaire excels in relating the nature of Beauty through contradictory imagery, Prince is more interested in relating his own feelings through his surreal universe.
Separated by over a century and on the other side of the world, it is interesting to see the similarities in these two works. Charles Baudelaire and Prince, who at first seem like completely different people, share the same ideas on the same universal themes. |
