Charles Baudelaire

Baudelaire's prose poems had two working titles: "Petits Poemes en prose" (small prose poems) and "Le Spleen de Paris". Francis Scarfe's version of this title, argued for in his introduction, is "Paris Blues". Baudelaire wrote these pieces over many years (1855-1867) but they were published only in magazines during his lifetime. The appeal of this beautiful book, says Francis Scarfe in his introduction, "lies in its wide range of subjects, its variations of tone and mood, its great variety of presentation and above all in its psychological subtleties....It shows the poet at the height of his powers, totally uninhibited in his expression of wonder, tenderness and compassion". Francis Scarfe has appended an early prose extravaganza, the short novel "La Fanfarlo" (1847), which has much in common with the poems. The translations, which reflect a lifetime's passion for and intimate understanding of Baudelaire's work, face the French text so can be enjoyed independently.