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Les Fleurs du mal (often translated The Flowers of Evil) is a volume of French poetry by Charles...

Les Fleurs du mal (often translated The Flowers of Evil) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. First published in 1857, it was important in the symbolist and modernist movements. The subject matter of these poems deals with themes relating to decadence and eroticism. The initial publication of the book was arranged in five thematically segregated sections: The foreword to the volume, identifying Satan with the pseudonymous alchemist Hermes Trismegistus 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. 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! "Ennui" is left untranslated here, as "boredom" does not accurately portray Baudelaire's intended meaning. "Ennui" means an oppressive boredom that induces listlessness. The author and the publisher were