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.
Need I tell you that in this terrible book I have put all my heart, all my tenderness, all my religion (disguised), all my hatred? It is true that I shall write the opposite, that I shall swear by all the gods that it is a work of pure art, of mimicry, of mere dexterity and I shall be lying through my teeth. - Charles Baudelaire</p> Baudelaire is indeed the greatest exemplar in modern poetry in any language, for his verse and language is the nearest thing to a complete renovation that we have experienced. - T.S. Eliot</p> The translations are very good indeed - John Banville</p> 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, <i>The Guardian</i></p> This should be read by any poetry lover - Bill Spence, <i>Yorkshire Gazette & Herald</i></p>