Rating: 
Summary: these poems are poisonous flowers
Review: This is perhaps my very favorite collection of poetry ever written. It's an amazing, incredible work. I love the way Baudelaire comes up with metaphors and similes that are highly imaginative but at the same time easy to understand. That is the sign of a great poet, the ability to convey great talent written in a way that strongly connects with the reader. Few poetry books have received the fame and notoriety that this one has. Although first published in the 1840's, its publication in the English language was even banned until 1917. But since its publication, "Flowers of Evil" has influenced countless writers and poets. Some of the poems are romantic, some morbid, some violent, some nastalgic, some spiritual, but they are all, probably without exception, beautiful--and for me they hold a unique appeal. These poems are very much the words of a guy who's very much a beast of the earth, but who hungers for higher spiritual things. He's bound by his fleshly troubles and desires, but in the midst of this, he's also very much a spiritual being close to God. It is this irony, as well as the dark and rebellious and sensuous genius of these poems, that makes them such a masterpiece. David Rehak
author of "Poems from My Bleeding Heart"
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