Symbolism in poetry conveys deeper meanings than words alone, evoking unique feelings in readers. It was popularized in the mid-19th century as a transition from Romanticism to Modernism and Surrealism. Symbolism also conceals taboo subjects, as seen in Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal. Symbolist poets aim to maintain the legitimacy of inner life and contemplation beyond what can be quantified. Symbolism values ethereal concepts and often focuses on the dark side of human nature, expressed in various formats.
Symbolism in poetry is a kind of literary shorthand, used to convey deeper meanings than the words themselves otherwise would. The metrical line of the poem is chosen precisely because of the larger context and connections they can convey to the reader, who must make individual associations based on their own personal experiences. The symbolism allows this to happen in the poem by not directly mentioning intent. The poet attempts to evoke unique and strong feelings in the reader through symbolism in the poem, instead of direct statements which would limit its reach and the different reactions it might have on various audiences.
A major reason for poetry‘s ability to elicit reactions in the reader is due to its use of symbolism, using far fewer words than prose. This trait of the poem led to a widespread movement known as the Symbolism movement in France, Russia, and Belgium during the mid-19th century. It was a popular transition period bridging the earlier Romantic period of the mid-18th century, with the Modernism and Surrealism movements in the arts of the early 20th century.
Another function of symbolism in poetry has been to conceal the true meaning of a poem when its intention is to address taboo subjects of the day. Charles Baudelaire is considered one of the main founders of the symbolist movement. He published his poetry collection, Les Fleurs du Mal, or The Flowers of Evil, in 1857, Paris, France. Several poems in the collection were deemed obscene by the authorities for allusions to topics such as lesbianism, Satanism and drug addiction, and although the author and publisher were fined for promulgating such work, it quickly sold out. It was also a great impetus for other poets to start using symbolism in poetry to express their controversial views on life.
The origin of the use of symbolism in poetry arose at a time in Western societies where mechanization and physical science exploitations were taking hold. Ideas about human perceptions of the world promoted by biologists such as Charles Darwin and philosophers such as Auguste Comte suggested that nothing was real except what could be perceived by the senses. Symbolist poets felt that this degraded the mystical and spiritual aspect of human existence. The poetry’s use of symbolism both then and now was a direct attempt to maintain the legitimacy of inner life and contemplation that goes beyond what can be quantified or given a dollar value.
Due to these roots in the foundation of symbolism in poetry, the arena has continued to focus on valuing ethereal concepts such as love, meaning of life, and changing cultural values over measurable facts achieved through rigorous reasoning. This allows symbolism to be expressed in a wide variety of formats, from lyric poems that can be sung or played on musical instruments to free-associative poems that, on the surface, may seem nonsensical until thought about more deeply . The genre has also had a traditional focus on the dark side of human nature, using symbolism in an attempt to bring to light aspects of human existence that are often carefully buried by all other expressions in human culture.
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