CHARLES Baudelaire was one of the leading figures in 19th Century literature and his Fleurs du Mal is regarded as a classic collection of poems.
Born in 1821 in Paris he studied in Lyon and Paris and despite his family’s attempts to keep the young writer on the right tracks he soon gained a ‘bohemian’ reputation.
In the 1840’s he made a name for himself as a critic, but also as a target for cheats and moneylenders that led to Baudelaire struggling with debts throughout most of his adult life.
Then in 1857 he produced his first, and most celebrated collection of poems, Les Fleurs du Mal that catapulted him into the literary world.
One of the main reasons the poems made such a stir was that they dealt with sex and death, scandalising polite society, but creating a new perspective on modern life that still resonates today.
Charles Baudelaire also worked on translating some of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, claiming he found tales that long existed within his own mind.
Despite his successes Baudelaire had to turn to his mother for financial support, which led him to depression and bouts of drinking.
The last two years of his life were spent in "maisons de santé" in Brussels and in Paris, where he died on August 31, 1867.
Charles Baudelaire is buried in the famous Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.
Poems in Les Fleurs du Mal
· Epitaphe pour un livre condamné
· L'albatros
· Elevation
· Correspondance
· Le guignon
· La vie antérieure
· La beauté
· L'idéal
· La chevelure
· Le serpent qui danse
· Une charogne
· Le chat
· Le balcon
· Le parfum
· Je te donne ces vers
· Harmonie du soir
· Le flacon
· L'invitation au voyage
· Les chats
· La musique
· Sépulture
· Le mort joyeux
· Spleen 1, 2, 3 & 4
· Obsession
· A une mendiante rousse
· La servante au grand coeur
· La mort des amants
· Le léthé
· Les bijoux
· Le jet d'eau
· Les promesses d'un visage
· L'imprévu
· Recueillement
If you found this useful...
+ Stay up-to-date: Get your free This French Life newsletter
Comments