What do you think?
Rate this book
464 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 1857
Have you too wondered how tempting pain can be,
And made men wonder what you were, and why?
My soul was filled with love, anxiety,
Dread and desire, I was about to die
and translated by James McGowan (Oxford World’s Classics of Fleurs du Mal
“Dream of a Curious Man”
Do you, as I do, know a zesty grief,
And is it said of you, ‘curious man!’
I dreamed of dying; in my spirit’s heat
Desire and horror mixed, a strange mischance
There is no comparison here. A “zesty grief”? Are you fucking kidding me? If you use the word zesty, I start thinking of flavors of Doritos. The meter is equally cheesy. And this is the Oxford World’s Classics; people read this shit to think they’re highbrow! No wonder my first few attempts ended in failure; with translations such as the horrible one of James McGowan, it’s really lucky that Baudelaire found a place among English readers at all. The incantatory quality of Martin’s on the other hand is gripping from the very first line, profound, paradoxical, beautiful. I recommend this volume all the way.