Charles Baudelaire: A Study

By Arthur Symons

Book Overview

Arthur Symons's Charles Baudelaire: A Study is a concise, luminous portrait of a poet who remade modern verse. It altered poetic conversation forever. Part literary biography study and part penetrating poetry analysis book, Symons brings an exacting eye to the rhythms, images and formal experiments that placed Baudelaire at the heart of nineteenth-century literature. His writing situates the poems in Parisian cultural history while tracing lines to symbolism and decadence and the modernist poetry themes that followed; readers encounter clear-minded French literary criticism that balances historical context with close reading. Symons's prose is both forensic and admiring, attentive to metre and metaphor while placing poems amid the salons and streets of Paris that shaped their tone. The study clarifies how Baudelaire's paradoxes and urban spectacle opened paths for later innovators, making this an essential resource for students of French literature, for poetry appreciation readers, and for anyone studying Charles Baudelaire's influence on modern verse. Familiarity with Arthur Symons's works deepens the pleasure, but no prior scholarship is required to follow his argument. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today - a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike. As both an early English-language account of Baudelaire and a model of reflective criticism, the book occupies a notable place in the history of French literary criticism and Victorian-era literary reception. For casual readers drawn to vivid portraits of literary life and for collectors who prize thoughtful, historically rooted criticism, this edition is a refined companion to the study of modern poetry and to wider enquiries into nineteenth-century literary movements. Its succinct guidance on symbolism and decadence suits classroom use and individual study. A readable landmark in French literary criticism. Essential for modern poetry study.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9354214371
• ISBN13: 9789354214370
• Release Date: November 2020
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 140 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"