Book description
Between 1855 and his death in 1867, Charles Baudelaire inaugurated a
new--and in his own words "dangerous"--hybrid form in a series
of prose poems known as Paris Spleen. Important and provocative, these
fifty poems take the reader on a tour of 1850s Paris, through gleaming
cafes and filthy side streets, revealing a metropolis on the eve of
great change. In its deliberate fragmentation and merging of the lyrical
with the sardonic, Le Spleen de Paris may be regarded as one of the
earliest and most successful examples of a specifically urban writing,
the textual equivalent of the city scenes of the Impressionists. In this
compelling new translation, Keith Waldrop delivers the companion to his
innovative translation of The Flowers of Evil. Here, Waldrop's perfectly
modulated mix releases the music, intensity, and dissonance in
Baudelaire's prose. The result is a powerful new re-imagining that is
closer to Baudelaire's own poetry than any previous English translation.
"Baudelaire considered prose poetry a miracle genre. ... The
present translation of Baudelaire's seminal work offers many advantages.
... (Waldrop) writes in clear, powerful English. And above all, he makes
the right choices, those one would expect from an award-winning poet and
seasoned translator.... Waldrop conveys the lyricism and satire of the
original. His English mirrors the musicality of French. ...
Essential."--C. B. Kerr, Choice CHARLES BAUDELAIRE (1821-1867)
wrote some of the most influential 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.
