Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil)

Baudelaire’s section Tableaux Parisiens is considered one of the most formidable criticisms of 19th-century French modernity. This section contains 18 poems, most of which were written during the Haussmann’s renovation of Paris. Together, the poems in Tableaux Parisiens act as 24-hour cycle of Paris, starting with the second poem Le Soleil (The Sun) and ending with the second to last poem Le Crépuscule du Matin (Morning Twilight).