The poet’s life and times are well documented, and close readings of key poems offer fresh perspectives on the mind and art of one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century – and indeed of the modern age. Other topics include: the influence of Edgar Allan Poe on Baudelaire; Baudelaire as the pioneering poet of the urban scene; the reception of his work by critics (including, notably, Walter Benjamin) and by the poets who followed him; translation of his poetry into English – and into Scots; spleen, ennui, and ‘idéal’; the ‘voyage’; evil and affliction; song-settings of Baudelaire’s poetry; comparisons with Flaubert.