The Flowers of Evil

Some have told me these poems may do harm; I was not glad to hear it. Others, good souls, have told me they may do good; that did not upset me either. The fear of the first and the hope of the second equally surprised me and only served to show that this century has despised and forgotten all classical notions of literature. (Charles Baudalaire)

Few writers have had as much influence on later generations as Charles Baudelaire, whom they consider the first modern poet. His name is known everywhere, as Baudelaire is now the most translated and most read French poet in the world. He is one of the most distinguished symbolists, who paved the way that all modernist schools followed.