Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), a famous French poet, a pioneer of modern poetry and the originator of symbolist literature. He was born in Paris and died at the age of six. His father, his mother remarried when he was seven years old, and his young mind has been cast a gloomy shadow since then, giving rise to a "sense of destiny that will always be lonely." He lived a wandering life. He had excellent grades while studying at the Lycée Louis the Great in Paris, but he was undisciplined and was later expelled. In the colorful world of Paris, he was well-read, lived a dissolute life, and even lived in poverty. He was determined to use poetry to explore the phenomena and true meaning of existence and to realize his deepest desires and longings. He believes that poets see the interaction of things in the universe through imagination, and gain insight into the mutual "reaction" of the subjective world and the objective world, thereby reaching a world beyond reality and creating a kind of poetry that abandons romanticism and indulges in sighing, making it Become a lyric about the tragic fate of man.
Baudelaire began writing poetry in 1841 and published his masterpiece "Flowers of Evil" in 1857. This is an artistic flower that describes the ugliness, evil and disease of the century in capitalist society. It is a work with very superb artistic skills and extremely rich ideological content. The poem has unrestrained imagination, exquisite conception, strict rhythm and perfect form. It is in sharp contrast to the pessimism and depression of its content. He said: "In this cruel book, I have injected all my thoughts, all my heart, all my beliefs and all my hatred." The poet writes "evil", reflecting his views on health, light and even "holiness" A strong yearning for things, as Gorky said, he "lives in evil, but loves kindness." It can be said that "The Flower of Evil" is a film that exposes and accuses the decadent capitalist society, and therefore resists it. This work is also a record of the poet's failure to pursue liberation, light, happiness and ideals in that dark society with melancholy, loneliness and morbid psychology.
In addition to the poetry collection "Flowers of Evil", Baudelaire also wrote the literary and art criticism collections "Aesthetic Insights" and "Romantic Art", and the prose poetry collections "Artificial Heaven" and "Melancholy in Paris" 》. He also devoted himself to translating the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Baudelaire's life was a life full of contradictions, pain, resistance and decadence, but he was not a decadent poet, but just a poet of a decadent era. He is full of anger and contempt for this era, and yearns for and pursues light. His depression and melancholy are the reflection of the "disease of the century" and have deep social roots. His works are an impact on the traditional aesthetic views of the bourgeoisie, and he is a "powerful artist".