Had I know about Comparative Literature as an undergraduate, I might have been tempted to select that for my major. Not that I have any regrets; life has been fine, and I avoided the fate of having my scholarly career ending by shutting down a program or something of that sort.
But if I had selected Comp Lit, of course I knew English, added German, and would have selected French for my third language. I needed to prove proficiency for my M.A. in German, and I would like to think that I went well beyond that. Not fluent, but capable enough to do what I needed to and then some.
Along the way I encountered the works of Baudelaire. Symbolism attracted me for a time, and I was too German perhaps to become a decadent, but Baudelaire I suppose knew when to rein it in. His poem "L'Albatros" was one of the first I labored through. When I was morose, the image of being trapped somewhere while being destined for greater things appealed to me. Actually I was probably not as trapped as I felt, and I also likely thought I should have flown higher than I did, but it is an excellent poem. The link takes you to the original and several translations! Maybe you can share some others with me!
http://fleursdumal.org/poem/200
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