Les Fleurs du mal

Lore & Background

Baudelaire’s volume is a collection of nearly all his poetry, written from 1840 until his death in 1867. Its initial publication in 1857 was arranged into six thematically segregated sections: Spleen et Idéal, Tableaux parisiens, Le Vin, Fleurs du mal, Révolte, and La Mort. The poems frequently break with tradition, using suggestive images and unusual forms, and deal with themes relating to decadence and eroticism, particularly focusing on suffering and its relationship to original sin, disgust toward evil and oneself, obsession with death, and aspiration toward an ideal world. The work was extremely controversial upon publication; six poems were censored due to their immorality, and the author and publisher were prosecuted under the Second Empire as an insult to public decency, resulting in a fine of 300 francs. The suppressed poems—including “Lesbos,” “Femmes damnées,” and “Les Bijoux”—were later published in Brussels as a small volume titled *Les Épaves*. A second edition in 1861 added 35 new poems, removed the six censored ones, and included a new section, Tableaux Parisiens, which contains 18 poems forming a 24-hour cycle of Paris. This section is considered a formidable criticism of 19th-century French modernity, dealing with feelings of anonymity and estrangement from a newly modernized city, and eulogizing figures such as the beggar, the blind, the industrial worker, the gambler, the prostitute, the old, and the victim of imperialism. Upon reading “Le Cygne,” Victor Hugo declared that Baudelaire had created “a new shudder in literature.” The volume was important in the symbolist and modernist movements and powerfully influenced poets including Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stéphane Mallarmé. A posthumous third edition in 1868 included a preface by Théophile Gautier and 14 previously unpublished poems.

Reader's Guide

Les Fleurs du mal, a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire, contains nearly all of his poetic work, composed between 1840 and his death in 1867. Its initial publication in 1857 was met with extreme controversy, leading to the prosecution of both author and publisher under the Second Empire for offending public decency. As a result, Baudelaire was fined, and six poems were suppressed, a ban that remained in France until 1949. The poems break with tradition through suggestive imagery and unconventional forms, exploring themes of decadence, eroticism, suffering linked to original sin, self-disgust, a preoccupation with death, and a longing for an ideal world. The work is structured into six thematic sections, including a section on Parisian scenes added in the 1861 second edition. This section is considered a powerful critique of 19th-century French modernity, focusing on the anonymity and estrangement felt in a city transformed by Haussmann's renovations, eulogizing figures like beggars, prostitutes, and the old. The book’s influence was profound on the symbolist and modernist movements, affecting not only literature but also painting. Notable French poets such as Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stéphane Mallarmé were powerfully influenced by it, and Victor Hugo declared that Baudelaire had created a new shudder in literature. A posthumous third edition appeared in 1868.

Did You Know?

• Upon reading the poem 'Le Cygne' from Les Fleurs du mal, Victor Hugo announced that Baudelaire had created 'un nouveau frisson' in literature.
• The foreword 'Au Lecteur' identifies Satan with the legendary alchemist Hermes Trismegistus.