Other editions of book The flowers of evil

The Flowers of Evil which T S Eliot called the greatest example of modern poetry in any language shocked the literary world of nineteenth century France with its outspoken portrayal of lesbian love its linking of sexuality and death its unremitting irony and its unflinching celebration of the seamy side of urban life Including the French texts and comprehensive explanatory notes to the poems this extraordinary body of love poems restores the six poems originally banned in 1857 revealing the richness and variety of the collection About the Series For over 100 years Oxford Worlds Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe Each affordable volume reflects Oxfords commitment to scholarship providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features including expert introductions by leading authorities voluminous notes to clarify the text up-to-date bibliographies for further study and much more

'All first-rate poetry is occupied with morality: this is the lesson of Baudelaire. More than any poet of his time, Baudelaire was aware of what most mattered: the problem of good and evil.' TS Eliot. This new verse translation of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), translated by poet and former publishing agent Robert Wilkinson, contains all 126 poems of the expanded 1861 edition. Eliot called Baudelaire 'the greatest exemplar in modern poetry in any language', and Baudelaire remains, both in academic circles and the popular imagination, the brightest beacon of nineteenth-century French poetry, the lyrical pivot between Romanticism and Modernism. In the translator's opinion Baudelaire is still highly relevant today, and his ‘modern’ stance prefigures much of the artistic and literary culture that came after him. Some of his poetry appears to anticipate surrealism. He created an original method of art criticism, the personal, subjective kind we now take largely for granted. And he also seems surprisingly contemporary in his analysis of the urban underworld, his compassion for the poor and downtrodden, his distrust of an over-mechanical, dehumanised society, and his fascination with drug-induced states of being. Baudelaire is an artist of his time – and an artist for all time. The translator's intention in this work is to introduce a poet of extraordinary genius to a new audience, especially a non-French-speaking audience, in a refreshingly direct and readable way.

The Flowers of Evil, which T.S. Eliot called the greatest example of modern poetry in any language, shocked the literary world of nineteenth century France with its outspoken portrayal of lesbian love, its linking of sexuality and death, its unremitting irony, and its unflinching celebration of the seamy side of urban life. Including the French texts and comprehensive explanatory notes to the poems, this extraordinary body of love poems restores the six poems originally banned in 1857, revealing the richness and variety of the collection.

The Flowers of Evil, which T.S. Eliot called the greatest example of modern poetry in any language, shocked the literary world of nineteenth century France with its outspoken portrayal of lesbian love, its linking of sexuality and death, its unremitting irony, and its unflinching celebration of the seamy side of urban life. Upon its original publication in 1857 Charles Baudelaire’s “Les Fleurs du Mal” or “The Flowers of Evil” was embroiled in controversy. Within a month of its publication, the French authorities brought an action against the author and the book’s publisher claiming that the work was an insult to public decency. Rich with symbolism, “The Flowers of Evil” is rightly considered a classic of the modernist literary movement. Its themes of decadence and eroticism seek to exhibit Baudelaire’s criticism of the Parisian society of his time.

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