This authoritative edition of Baudelaire's Complete Verse contains Les Fleurs du mal (1861), the first great modern work of poetry and one of the few books of poems to become an international bestseller, with Nouvelles Fleurs du mal (1868), Les Épaves (1866) and all of Baudelaire's other poetry in verse. The French text is given at the head of the page, while Francis Scarfe's scrupulous and inventive prose translations appear at the foot, making this an ideal edition both for the advanced student and the general reader wishing to tackle the French original with a reliable prose prompt to hand.

 

The companion volume, The Poems in Prose, contains Baudelaire's prose poems (Petits Poèmes en prose, 1869) and the short novel La Fanfarlo (1847), an extravaganza' written in his early twenties.

 

Francis Scarfe (1911-86) was a lecturer in French poetry at Glasgow University before and again after World War II. From 1959 to 1978, he was director of the British Institute. In recognition of his contribution to Anglo-French cultural relations he was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (1962), and for his work on Baudelaire he was awarded the Prix de L'Ile Saint-Louis (1966); on his retirement in 1978 he was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. He was the author of four collections of poetry and of the critical works Auden and After and André Chénier, His Life and Work.