— Brian Mangal
Through all the pieces of literature that I have covered so far, there is one I constantly find myself coming back to: Charles Baudelaire’s “Be Drunk.” I’ve re-read it countless times and I still never get tired of it. The reason why I am so fond of it is because I feel as if I completely agree with the message that Baudelaire is trying to portray. That is to be “drunk” but not specifically drunk in the sense of intoxication. Instead, Baudelaire tells us that we could be drunk on anything we want, for example, poetry or virtue. I interpreted this as being “drunk” on something you love doing or spending your time doing something you enjoy. I feel as if anyone can relate to this. Why would we spend our time doing things we don’t have fun doing? For example, I enjoy watching movies so why not spend more time doing that instead of things like chores? Of course, I’m not saying to completely forget responsibilities, but instead why not try to find a way to enhance them. For example, if you love listening to music try playing your favorite songs when cleaning the house. Things like this are what Baudelaire means when he is telling you to be drunk. Being “drunk” is a way to live to your fullest potential every day.
What this text meant to me was that it gave me insight into how I perceive things. For instance, there would be times when I would absolutely dread having to study for a class that I disliked. As a result, I would end up cutting my study time and moving to something else that I actually wanted to do. While people may say it was the “wrong” thing to do, I feel it’s ok as long as you are able to keep yourself in check. Keeping yourself in check means balancing the things you enjoy and important responsibilities at the same time. Of course, this could also be a problem, and vice versa. Baudelaire would not encourage someone to force themselves to do something they don’t like. If you do that you may end up hating life. Therefore, I believe it is important to find a balance between responsibilities and “drunk” time. Ironically, I wasn’t in a good mood when reading this particular poem. I was skimming through different authors and found that I wasn’t a fan of certain pieces. At the time other poets felt as if their message was too complicated or it just wasn’t relatable to me. I grew weary of going through poem after poem with nothing that felt like “me”. However, when reading “Be Drunk” I found it incredibly easy to follow. And along with that, I could relate to its underlying meaning, that being to take time to be drunk with something you love. Personally, I think a poem that is relatable to the reader is extremely important and is another reason why I love this poem so much.
