The Flowers of Evil (Wesleyan Poetry Series) - Hardcover

Baudelaire, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 081956799X ISBN 13: 9780819567994

Publisher: Wesleyan University Press, 2006

Synopsis

The poetic masterpiece of the great nineteenth-century writer Charles Baudelaire, The Flowers of Evil is one of the most frequently read and studied works in the French language. In this compelling new translation of Baudelaire's most famous collection, Keith Waldrop recasts the poet's original French alexandrines and other poetic arrangements into versets, a form that hovers between poetry and prose. Maintaining Baudelaire's complex view of sound and structure, Waldrop's translation mirrors the intricacy of the original without attempting to replicate its inimitable verse. The result is a powerful new re-imagining, one that is, almost paradoxically, closer to Baudelaire's own poetry than any previous English translation. Including the six poems banned from the first edition, this Flowers of Evil preserves the complexity, eloquence, and dark humor of its author. Brought here to new life, it is hypnotic, frank, and forceful.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In the annals of literature, few volumes of poetry have achieved the influence and notoriety of 'The Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs dur Mal) by Charles Baudelaire (1821-67). Banned and slighted in his lifetime, the book that contains all of Baudelaire's verses has opened up vistas to the imagination and quickened sensibilities of poets everywhere.

About the Author:

CHARLES BAUDELAIRE (1821-1867) wrote some of the most innovative poetry of the nineteenth century, in books including Les Fleurs du Mal and Le spleen de Paris. KEITH WALDROP is author of numerous collections of poetry and is the translator of The Selected Poems of Edmond Jabes, as well as works by Claude Royet-Journoud, Anne-Marie Albiach, and Jean Grosjean.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 081956799X
• ISBN 13: 9780819567994
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224