Les Fleurs du mal is a volume of French poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 by Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...

. First published in 1857 (see 1857 in poetry

1857 in poetry

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-United Kingdom:* Edward Bulwer-Lytton, writing under the pen name "Owen Meredith", The Wanderer...

), it was important in the symbolist

Symbolism (arts)

Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...

 and modernist

Modernism

Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...

 movements. The subject matter of these poems deals with themes relating to decadence

Decadence

Decadence can refer to a personal trait, or to the state of a society . Used to describe a person's lifestyle. Concise Oxford Dictionary: "a luxurious self-indulgence"...

 and eroticism

Eroticism

Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...

.

Overview

The initial publication of the book was arranged in six thematically segregated sections:

• Spleen et Idéal (Spleen
  Spleen
  The spleen is an organ found in virtually all vertebrate animals with important roles in regard to red blood cells and the immune system. In humans, it is located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It removes old red blood cells and holds a reserve of blood in case of hemorrhagic shock...
  
   and Ideal)
• Tableaux parisiens (Parisian Scenes)
• Le Vin (Wine)
• Fleurs du mal (Flowers of Evil)
• Révolte (Revolt)
• La Mort (Death)

The foreword to the volume, identifying Satan

Satan

Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

 with the pseudonymous alchemist Hermes Trismegistus

Hermes Trismegistus

Hermes Trismegistus is the eponymous author of the Hermetic Corpus, a sacred text belonging to the genre of divine revelation.-Origin and identity:...

 and calling boredom the worst of miseries, neatly sets the general tone of what is to follow:

Si le viol, le poison, le poignard, l'incendie,

N'ont pas encore brodé de leurs plaisants dessins

Le canevas banal de nos piteux destins,

C'est que notre âme, hélas! n'est pas assez hardie.

If rape and poison, dagger and burning,

Have still not embroidered their pleasant designs

On the banal canvas of our pitiable destinies,

It's because our souls, alas, are not bold enough!

The preface concludes with the following malediction:

C'est l'Ennui! —l'œil chargé d'un pleur involontaire,

Il rêve d'échafauds en fumant son houka.

Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat,

—Hypocrite lecteur,—mon semblable,—mon frère!

It's Ennui! — his eye brimming with spontaneous tear

He dreams of the gallows in the haze of his hookah.

You know him, reader, this delicate monster,

Hypocritical reader, my likeness, my brother!

Literary significance and criticism

The author and the publisher were prosecuted under the regime of the Second Empire

Second French Empire

The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...

 as an outrage aux bonnes mœurs (trans. "an insult to public decency"). As a consequence of this prosecution, Baudelaire was fined 300 franc

Franc

The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...

s. Six poems from the work were suppressed and the ban on their publication was not lifted in France until 1949. These poems were "Lesbos", "Femmes damnés (À la pâle clarté)" (or "Women Doomed (In the pale glimmer...)"), "Le Léthé" (or "Lethe

Lethe

In Greek mythology, Lethe was one of the five rivers of Hades. Also known as the Ameles potamos , the Lethe flowed around the cave of Hypnos and through the Underworld, where all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness...

"), "À celle qui est trop gaie" (or "To Her Who Is Too Gay"), "Les Bijoux" (or "The Jewels"), and " Les "Métamorphoses du Vampire" (or "The Vampire's Metamorphoses"). These were later published in Brussels in a small volume entitled Les Épaves (Jetsam).

On the other hand, upon reading "The Swan" or "Le Cygne" from Les Fleurs du mal, Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....

 announced that Baudelaire had created "un nouveau frisson" (a new shudder, a new thrill) in literature.

In the wake of the prosecution a second edition was issued in 1861 which added 32 new poems, removed the six suppressed poems and added a new section entitled Tableaux Parisiens.

A posthumous third edition with a preface by Théophile Gautier

Théophile Gautier

Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....

 and including 14 previously unpublished poems was issued in 1868.

Adaptations

In 1969 the book was partially adapted by the electronic music pioneer Ruth White in her album "Flowers of Evil", being recited over a electronic set.

Notorious punk band The Viletones's leader Steven Leckie named his art gallery in Toronto "Fleurs Du Mal", which became known for breaking out controversial avante garde artists.

The poems provided the lyrics to the 1986 album Spleen and Ideal

Spleen and Ideal

Spleen and Ideal is the second album recorded by Dead Can Dance, released in 1986. The line up continued with Brendan Perry, Lisa Gerrard, Scott Rodger, James Pinker and Peter Ulrich with the addition of Gus Ferguson on Cello...

by the Gothic musical group Dead can Dance

Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...

.

Japanese rock band Buck-Tick

Buck-Tick

Buck-Tick is a rock band formed in 1983 in Fujioka, Japan. The band has consisted of Atsushi Sakurai , Hisashi Imai , Hidehiko Hoshino , Yutaka Higuchi and Toll Yagami for the majority of its existence...

 used the title for their 1990 album, Aku no Hana

Aku no Hana

is the fifth album by Buck-Tick, released on cassette and CD on February 1, 1990. It reached number one on the Oricon charts and is their best selling album to date. The title comes from Charles Baudelaire's volume of poetry, Les Fleurs du mal . The album was digitally remastered and re-released on...

(English: "Evil Flowers").

Israeli singer Maor Cohen's 2005 album, the Hebrew name of which translates to French as "Les fleurs du mal", is a compilation of songs from the book. The texts were translated to Hebrew by Israeli poet Dori Manor, while the music was composed by Cohen himself.

The 2008 album Symphony

Symphony (album)

Symphony is an album from the English Soprano singer Sarah Brightman, released in January 2008 . This classical crossover album is a contrast to her previous collaboration with producer Frank Peterson, 2003's Harem; using more Gothic influences instead of Eastern."Running" was the IAAF's Green...

 by English soprano Sarah Brightman

Sarah Brightman

Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...

 includes a song entitled "Fleurs du Mal".

External links

• www.ViletonesOfficial.com

• Charles Baudelaire International Association
• :s:fr:Les Fleurs du mal: complete work on French Wikisource
• Les Fleurs du mal: full online downloadable text
• Fleursdumal.org, a collection of the various French editions and accompanying translations in English.
• An illustrated version of Les Fleurs du Mal, 1861 edition by inkwatercolor.com