Although the stench is a very unpleasant odor and invokes a negative response to the sense of smell, the odor is also a sad reminder that the animal is now deceased and that death brings about a sad and depressed feeling. .
Baudelaire moves from discussing the smell of the dead animal to the actual process of decay, which isn't really a happy thought. The flies have swarmed the dead beast and make it appear as a dark black cloud has descended upon the carcass. Its insides infested with maggots so much that it made the rotting flesh move in waves, as though it were breathing. The swarming of the flies produced a sound that resembled running water or the wind. This is the sound of Nature running its course, and the animal had met the end of its living journey and had been set free to become one with Nature once again. .
The eighth stanza of Baudelaire's poem kind of sticks out like a thorn, it doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the poem. It seems as though Baudelaire is bragging about how good of a writer in saying that he is God of the vision, and his work is a perfect art. The ninth stanza returns back to referring to the carcass once again. There is dog-like animal watching the couple observing the dead animal and is waiting for them to leave so that it can devour parts of it. Baudelaire then states his purpose in describing the dead corpse when he says "And even you will come to this foul shame". This brings about the realization that we are all to die, and nothing can be done to prevent it. Death is a sad thing and the reader is reminded that one day they will be just like the dead animal. He then says that "When through your bones the flower and sucking grass, Weave their rank cerement". This means that the same thing will happen to us when we die, we will be given back to Nature. The very last stanza seems to be the narrator talking to his girl as they look at the carcass, saying something to the effect of "I am your man, if you get far from my control, you will be alone and die just like the carrion".