BAUDELAIRE, CHARLES PIERRE

(1821-67), Fr. poet; after taking degree (1839), led life of extravagant debauchery; acquired habits of opium and haschisch; paralysis was followed by miserable death; first important literary work, translation of tales of horror of Edgar Allen Poe, in which B. found kindred spirit, though his own poems far surpa those of Poe in depth and technique; bond between the two was their love of thrills and their morbidity; B. analyses himself in Lunatiques, an e ay on those who are under influence of the moon and ‘love all that it loves.’ First collection of poems appeared (1857) as Fleurs du mal, some of which were excised by censors after prosecution of author; further translations from Poe and much critical work followed. historian; historiographer to Louis XIII.