Baudelaire

The French poet and author of The Flowers of Evil, Baudelaire, was a notorious figure in French literature and the hero of many 60s and 70s American poets. His influence can still be felt today in the work of American poets who followed in his footsteps, writing with deep feeling about their angst and the pleasures of life. He had an older brother, Alphonse, a fact that often causes a boy to become interested in art and writing.¹ A friend of Balzac, Baudelaire often had romantic relationships with prostitutes. His poems focused on decadent topics like sex, death, and homosexuality. He translated Poe and Thomas de Quincey into French. Later in life, Baudelaire became addicted to laudanum, a form of opium. Some of the poets and writers he influenced include Rimbaud, T.S. Eliot, and even H.P. Lovecraft.

References

1. The Birth Order Book of Love. William Cane. (New York: Da Capo, 2008). See, especially, chapter 5 on the younger brother of brothers.