Response to Question #3

Baudelaire argues that half of what we find beautiful has to do with what is appropriate to modern times. If we focus too much on what has already been classified as beauty in antiquity then we shut ourselves off from enjoying the wonders of the everyday. Baudelaire says,” for nearly all our originality comes from the stamp that time impresses upon our sensibility”. O’Hara epitomizes the idea of the “transient” in his poem “The Day Lady Died”. The poem describes his boring everyday activities such as withdrawing cash from the bank to buying a carton of cigarettes. The description of his daily routines is not meant to bore the reader, but to show how strange it is that life can go on after the death of a great artist. The poet challenges his grief through concrete descriptions of his schedule to clearly defer from the topic of Billy Holiday’s death. O’Hara focuses on the present to not get caught up on the reality of mortality.