Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a nineteenth-century French poet whose work explored beauty in decay, urban alienation, and transgressive pleasures.
His collection *Les Fleurs du mal* (The Flowers of Evil) scandalized readers and influenced generations of poets.
Baudelaire also translated Edgar Allan Poe and wrote influential art criticism.
The adjective Baudelairean describes work marked by similar themes of decadence, ennui, and dark romanticism.
Weary, listless dissatisfaction
- spleenBlood-filtering abdominal organ
- viceBad habit or deputy
- hedonismPursuit of gratification
- opiumNarcotic from scored seedpods
hashish · sensuality · debauchery · corruption · excess · artificiality · dandyism · world-weariness
Mutual relations or similarities
- synesthesiaInvoluntary sensory crossover
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- imageryVivid descriptive language
- suggestionIdea proposed for consideration
musicality · evocation · transcendence · spiritual · esoteric · dream · mysticism · sensation
Leisurely urban observer
- boulevardsBroad, tree-lined streets
- cafésEstablishments serving coffee
- SeineMajor French waterway
- Left BankParis's intellectual quarter
Montmartre · Latin Quarter · Haussmannization · Bohemian · Notre-Dame · Tuileries · Montparnasse · absinthe
Metered poetic passage
- sonnetFourteen-line metered poem
- prose poemPoetic text without verses
- lyricismExpressive, melodic quality
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
imagery · meter · rhyme · quatrain · couplet · versification
Pertaining to cities
- alienationState of being isolated
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
- modernityBeing of present times
- industrializationTransition to factory-based economy
crowds · city life · fleeting · transient · ephemeral · progress · dislocation · metropolis
Morally offensive or shocking
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
- obscenity trialLegal proceeding over indecent content
- transgressiveViolating accepted boundaries
- blasphemousDisrespectful toward the divine
subversive · provocative · taboo · indecency · moral outrage · suppressed · banned · iconoclastic
ennui
Weary, listless dissatisfaction
opium · hashish · sensuality · debauchery · corruption · excess · artificiality · dandyism · world-weariness · dissipation
correspondences
Mutual relations or similarities
- synesthesiaInvoluntary sensory crossover
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- imageryVivid descriptive language
suggestion · musicality · evocation · transcendence · spiritual · esoteric · dream · mysticism · sensation · mood
flâneur
Leisurely urban observer
- boulevardsBroad, tree-lined streets
- cafésEstablishments serving coffee
- SeineMajor French waterway
Left Bank · Montmartre · Latin Quarter · Haussmannization · Bohemian · Notre-Dame · Tuileries · Montparnasse · absinthe · garret
verse
Metered poetic passage
- sonnetFourteen-line metered poem
- prose poemPoetic text without verses
- lyricismExpressive, melodic quality
stanza · imagery · meter · rhyme · quatrain · couplet · versification
urban
Pertaining to cities
- alienationState of being isolated
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
- modernityBeing of present times
industrialization · crowds · city life · fleeting · transient · ephemeral · progress · dislocation · metropolis · aesthetics
scandalous
Morally offensive or shocking
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
- obscenity trialLegal proceeding over indecent content
- transgressiveViolating accepted boundaries
blasphemous · subversive · provocative · taboo · indecency · moral outrage · suppressed · banned · iconoclastic · irreverent