Flowers of Evil

Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821–1867) was a French poet , essayist, art critic, and translator of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) is his most famous work. In beautiful prose-poetry, Baudelaire expresses the fleeting, ephemeral, ever-changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century. His work influenced an entire generation of poets.Baudelaire rejects the notion that nature is supreme, the idea of the romantics and expressed by them in their writing and art. He considered the poem as a self-referential object. He was a slow and fastidious worker, often sidetracked by emotional distress and illness. It was not until 1857, when he was 36, that he published this book, the first and most famous volume of his poem.Baudelaire’s works touch on sex, death, wine, lesbianism, sacred and profane love, metamorphosis, melancholy, lost innocence, and the oppressiveness of society. He uses the sense of smell in his poems to evoke remembered feelings of the past.In 1847, at the age of 26, Baudelaire became acquainted with the works of Edgar Allan Poe who died two years later at age forty. He liked the bizarre and macabre Poe tales and poems. He felt that they expressed his own feelings. Baudelaire, like Poe, struggled with illness, poverty, and melancholy, believed in Saint Augustine’s notion of Original Sin, which plays a part in their writings, and felt that humans are not naturally good, but faulty, and therefore denounced democracy and the idea of progress. From 1847 to 1865, until two years before his death, Baudelaire used much of his time translating Poe's works, and his translations were praised. He also wrote two essays on Poe.Les fleur du Mal contains 54 translated poems. The first “Benediction,” expresses what has been said above about him. It begins:When by the changeless Power of a Supreme DecreeThe poet issues forth upon this sorry sphereHis mother, horrified, and full of blasphemy,Uplifts her voice to God, who takes compassion on her.“Ah, why did I not bear a serpent’s nest entire,Instead of bringing forth this hideous Child of doom!Oh cursed be that transient night of vain desireWhen I conceived my expiation in my womb!

Esta version de Las Flores del Mal no es íntegra… si quieres el libro en todo su esplendor, esta no es la opción correcta.

but I still love Rimbaud better. It's worth a buy and read. Love French poetry.

I’ve been wanting another copy of this book since I read it years ago and gave it off. I enjoy this version/translation WAY BETTER! This is amazing, and I love Baudelaire’s works so much!

Mad I was reading a biography recently, this poet's work was noted within the story, as well as bibliography. The excerpts of one particular work of his peaked my interest. I then researched the author's life, as well as previewing the free preview - I was absolutely drawn in. Madman? For You to Decide!!

It's a poetry translation, and I've read bette translations of this work.

This version is difficult for me to understand. This is not even Elizabethan...it's worst. I'll donate it to my local library

Interesting book. Poe has always been a favorite of mine and I wanted to see what those influenced by him wrote. The poems are a bit aged but if you can understand the language and appreciate the nuances, that's all you really need.

It wasn't clear here that the paperback version of this book isn't the dual language version of the book. it is only in English - and while this is ok in some ways, I really would have preferred the original French versions to compare.

Real good

Beautiful book for these beautiful poems

do ponto de vista material, o livro é razoável (já que é uma brochura bem simples) e do ponto de vista do conteúdo, poderia ter pelo menos uma página contendo algumas informações sobre o autor e o livro e, principalmente, quem é esse tradutor para a língua inglesa.

Very dark prefer DH Lawrence