Flowers of Evil

Charles Baudelaire invented modern poetry, and Flowers of Evil has been a bible for poets from Arthur Rimbaud to T. S. Eliot to Edna St. Vincent Millay, who, with George Dillon, composed an inspired rhymed version of the book published in 1936 and reprinted here, with the French originals, for the first time in many years.

Millay and Dillon, while respectful of the spirit of the originals, lay claim to them as to a rightful inheritance, setting Baudelaire’s flowing lines to the music of English. The result is one of the most persuasive renditions of the French poet’s opulence, his tortured consciousness, and his troubling sensuality, as well as an impressive reimagining of his rhymes and rhythms on a par with Marianne Moore’s La Fontaine or Richard Wilbur’s Molière.

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) was a French poet, translator, and critic. He studied law in his youth but went on to pursue a literary career and a bohemian lifestyle in Paris, changing hairstyles, lovers, and residences as he racked up debt. He began his literary career as an art critic and started publishing his poetry in the mid-1840s. In 1857, he published the first edition of his most famous work, The Flowers of Evil, a work that revealed his familiarity with and affection toward the urban life of Paris. Baudelaire’s writing earned him a reputation as a ＂cursed poet,＂ a reputation he celebrated, and parts of The Flowers of Evil remained censored by the French government until 1949.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) was an American poet and playwright. Throughout her career, Millay was considered one of the most successful and revered poets of her time, known for both her dramatic works and her lyric verse. Some of her most famous poetry collections include A Few Figs From Thistles, Second April, and The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for her poem ＂Ballad of the Harp-Weaver,＂ making her the first woman to win the award.

George Dillon (1906-1968) was a poet and editor. Dillon edited Poetry magazine from 1937 through 1949 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for his collection The Flowering Stone. Today he is perhaps best known for being one of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s many lovers.