The Flowers of Evil

Judicially condemned in 1857 as offensive to public morality, The Flowers of Evil is now regarded as the most influential volume of poetry published in the nineteenth century. Torn between intense sensuality and profound spiritual yearning, racked by debt and disease, Baudelaire transformed his own experience of Parisian life into a work of universal significance. With his unflinching examination of the dark aspects and unconventional manifestations of sexuality, his pioneering portrayal of life in agreat metropolis and his daring combination of the lyrical and the prosaic, Baudelaire inaugurated a new epoch in poetry and created a founding text of modernism.

Anthony Mortimer, already praised for his virtuoso translations of Petrarch, Dante and Villon, has produced a new version that not only respects the sense and the form of the original French, but also makes powerful English poetry in its own right.

Presented here in a dual-language edition, with extra material, notes and bibliography.

This book is part of Alma Classics Charles Baudelaire collection to include Paris Spleen and Hashish, Wine and Opium.

Alma Classics is committed to making available a wide range of literature from around the globe. Most of the titles are enriched by an extensive critical apparatus, notes and extra reading material, as well as a selection of photographs. The texts are based on the most authoritative edition and edited using a fresh, accessible editorial approach. With an emphasis on production, editorial and typographical values, Alma Classics aspires to revitalize the whole experience of reading classics.

Review

'The translations are very good indeed.' --John Banville

'The best way yet for us to enter the poet s dream-like world, producing, as his title says, beauty from the sordid world around him.' --Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian

'This should be read by any poetry lover.' --Bill Spence, Yorkshire Gazette & Herald

About the Author

Charles Baudelaire (1821-67) is most famous for his groundbreaking collection of verse The Flowers of Evil,but his essays, translations and prose poems have been equally influential.