For the first time he is present among us, vivid and surprisingly intact, in these fine translations.Ī deft and patient new translation of Les Fleurs Du Mal…Howard, it seems to me, has done what he has set out to, has given us, in English and in verse, a Baudelaire both immediately recognizable and impressively varied…It is a considerable achievement.Ī magnificent achievement…should be the English version for a long time to come. Readers of English do not have to take Baudelaire on faith any longer.
It is the English edition to acquire.īaudelaire revoiced…Howard’s achievement is such that we can be confident that his Flowers of Evil will long stand as definitive, a superb guide to France’s greatest poet. Richard Howard, generally esteemed as the finest American translator from the French of the postwar era, offers a new version of this masterpiece. (NOTE: An English-only edition, The Flowers of Evil, is available at the link to the left.)
The voice of Baudelaire lives in this masterful translation. The many kinds of love that lie outside traditional morality is the focus of “Fleurs du Mal” while rebellion is at the heart of “Révolte.” “Le Vin” centers on the search for oblivion in drink and drugs. “Tableaux Parisiens” condemns the crushing effects of urban planning on a city’s soul and praises the city’s anti-heroes including the deranged and derelict.
In “Spleen et idéal,” Baudelaire dramatizes the erotic cycle of ecstacy and anguish-of sexual and romantic love. Scandalous in its day for its portrayals of sex, love, death, the corrupting and oppressive power of the modern city and lost innocence, Les Fleurs Du Mal / The Flowers of Evil remains powerful and relevant for our time. Charles Baudelaire’s 1857 masterwork, translated into English by acclaimed poet Richard Howard.
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