In celebration of Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday this past Sunday, I revisited Baudelaire’s translation of Poe’s The Raven.

Between 1852 and 1865, Charles Baudelaire translated a lot of Poe’s works, especially his short fiction.  In fact, he was one of the reasons Poe’s works became renown and admired in Europe.  Although the two men never met, Baudelaire believed that he had met a kindred spirit in Poe.

My copy of Baudelaire’s translation of The Raven is a bilingual edition illustrated by Hamiru Aqi. I love the drawings as well as having the two poets’ words side by side.

Poe’s famous first lines:

and Baudelaire’s translation:

 

“To elevate the soul, poetry is necessary.”  Edgar Allan Poe