Charles Baudelaire
French poet whose Les Fleurs du Mal shocked his contemporaries and transformed the trajectory of Western poetry. His concept of modernity, his synesthetic imagery, and his urban sensibility were seminal for symbolism and beyond.
Works
- Les Fleurs du MalPoetry exploring beauty, decay, eroticism, and existential despair
- Le Spleen de ParisProse poems capturing urban ennui, beauty, and moral corruption
- Les Paradis ArtificielsEssays exploring the aesthetic and psychological effects of intoxication
- Curiosites EsthetiquesEssays and criticism on art, beauty, and aesthetic philosophy