I hope this message finds you well. I am reaching out about our upcoming class on Wednesday, April 23rd from 12:30pm to 1:45pm, where we will be discussing Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal" and specifically the concept of "spleen".

The poem begins with a melancholic tone, as the weight of Baudelaire's words seem to hang heavily in the air. He describes how victims are scattered in the night, which elicits a sense of sadness and disappointment. Initially, I felt that the poem was gloomy and disheartening. However, as I delved further into the text, I realized that Baudelaire often portrays a negative image of nature, love, and women's weaknesses.

Furthermore, Baudelaire's use of punctuation and rhyme adds to the flow and comprehension of the poem. The lexical words are mostly adverbs that describe the emotions and atmosphere created by the poem. Baudelaire's intention was to create a sense of imprisonment and loneliness, as though he was trapped in his own mind. The structure of the poem builds up the levels of anxiety, starting with the city, then moving on to nature and nightmares. The last stanza culminates in a powerful expression of his pain.

Overall, Baudelaire's poem is grammatically precise and exudes a feeling of emptiness. He searches for a version of himself, akin to a bat beating its timid wings against a decaying ceiling. I look forward to discussing these themes in class and hearing your thoughts.

Sincerely, [Your name]

In my honest opinion, Baudelaire's poem contained great metaphors and ideas that conveyed deep meanings. The ideas articulated were very intriguing, focusing on darkness, animals, flags, and skulls. The speaker skilfully projected his ideas through powerful metaphors. It seems there were some repetitions in the first stanza and a few words in the second stanza. The Spleen was a soothing presence of lightless heaven, an unusual story of how bats and ghosts rammed the wall and weakened his dreams.

In the poem's final stanza, Baudelaire's words "Et sans tambour ni musique, de longs corbillards Passe lentement dans mon âme" hinted at how his soul dies silently, without drums or gunshots, and little indication to anyone else. He also hoped that his coffin would be covered with the flag. [Espoir, vaincu, Pleurs et angoisse atroce et despotique Sur mon crâne courbé plante son drapeau noir].

Overall, I believe this poem has a lot of explanations and ideas that convey deep meanings. It was very informative because it was shocking for Baudelaire to write such a poem and express his emotions and ideas. The way the speaker broke down the story was exquisite, and though some words were difficult to understand, readers could get the general idea of what he was trying to communicate. The speaker gave useful hints for understanding the text, and the metaphors were vividly detailed. I would recommend this poem to anyone who loves poetry irrespective of the difficulties the author may express. This poem shows a dark and melancholic side of Baudelaire, and how he perceived things in his life, whether terrible or great. The speaker explored topics like malevolent animals to present his ideas, making his work a masterpiece.