The Flowers of Evil

Exploring the interplay of beauty and evil, the selected poems reveal Baudelaire's belief in expressing life's contradictions through art. His work captures the tension between sensuality and despair, often using women as symbols of both divine inspiration and destructive forces. Themes of escapism through indulgence in wine, opium, and passion permeate his poetry, while religious and fantastical imagery heightens the sense of mortality. Poems like "To a Passerby" highlight the haunting nature of desire and the contemplation of death, reflecting Baudelaire's complex emotional landscape.