Les Fleurs du mal

Les Fleurs du Mal is a collection of poems, by Charles Baudelaire. It was published between 1857 and 1868, there are three versions of the work. The first version of the book was forbidden, because it was seen to be against decency laws of the time. In total, six poems were forbidden. The poems in Les Fleurs du mal frequently break with tradition: they use suggestive images and unusual forms. The poems deal with themes relating to decadence and eroticism, particularly focusing on suffering and its relationship to the original sin, disgust toward evil and oneself, obsession with death, and aspiration toward an ideal world. Les Fleurs du mal was highly influential toward several notable French poets, including Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stéphane Mallarmé.