Baudelaire and Poe: Kindred Spirits

After reading a single stanza of Baudelaire's work and one of Poe's, it is clear to anyone and everyone that the poets had similar styles. They both wrote with non-subtle, sometimes even violent, disturbing imagery. For example in Baudelaire's "To the Reader," his translation reads,"Gangs of demons are boozing in our brain- ranked, swarming, like a million warrior-ants." Poe, similarly depicts imagery in "The Raven:"What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore, Meant in croaking 'Nevermore.'"

These comparable poems are clearly written by authors with a similar intent of impacting their reader through bold, ominous language. It may be guessed by readers that they had some sort of connection, and it can be verified by the fact that Baudelaire adored Poe, for he spent years translating his work from English to French to make it more accessible to his people, even over his own published array of poems. I guess it was the morbid nature of their work that brought the authors together in the unique, relatable themes of their work.