Question

This word titles a poem in which the speaker proclaims that “living matter” has become a “block of granite” in the “hazy Sahara,” “omitted from the map.” In one poem titled for this word, the speaker compares himself to the “king of a rainy country;” in another, “Anguish” plants a “black flag” on the speaker at a time when the “low, heavy sky weighs like a lid.” A collection that consists of fifty prose poems inspired by Gaspard de la Nuit, including (*) “Let’s Beat Up the Poor!”, is titled for this quality (10[1])“of Paris.” (-5[2])A sequence of four poems titled for this word appears in an 1857 collection, in which it is the first word in the title of the section that follows an address to the “hypocrite reader.” For 10 points, name this term derived from humoral theory that Charles Baudelaire’s Flowers of (10[1])Evil (10[1])opposes to the “ideal.” ■END■

ANSWER: spleen [or “le spleen”; reject synonyms such as “boredom” or “dissatisfaction”]
<MB>
= Average correct buzz position

Back to tossups

Buzzes

PlayerTeamOpponentBuzz PositionValue
Caleb KendrickMaryland AMaryland B+9110
Jonathan ShaufThe Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 NegsFan-tastic Negs and Where to Find Them93-5
Darren PetrosinoRutgers DiasporaGlass Onyen: A Knives Out Mystery93-5
Ashish SubramanianGlass Onyen: A Knives Out MysteryRutgers Diaspora14310
Jim FanFan-tastic Negs and Where to Find ThemThe Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Negs14410

Summary

2023 BHSU @ Northwestern02/25/2023Y683%17%50%101.80
2023 BHSU @ Maryland03/11/2023Y3100%0%67%126.00
2023 BHSU @ Berkeley03/18/2023Y3100%0%0%110.67
2023 BHSU @ Yale04/08/2023Y3100%0%0%119.33
2023 BHSU @ Sheffield04/15/2023Y2100%0%0%113.00
2023 BHSU @ Waterloo04/15/2023Y3100%0%0%107.00