Portraits · Poets · XIV of XIV

Charles Baudelaire

1821–1867 · Poet

Inspiration is decidedly the sister of daily work.
L'inspiration est décidément la sœur du travail journalier.
Charles Baudelaire · advice to young writers, 1846 · our translation

Read it in the source →

Charles Baudelaire wrote this in 1846, at twenty-five, in a short piece of advice to young writers. Inspiration, he said, obeys like hunger or sleep; it comes to those who work every day. The orgy, he added, is no longer her sister.

'Conseils aux jeunes littérateurs', section VI, 'Du travail journalier et de l'inspiration' (first printed in L'Esprit public, 15 April 1846). Charles Baudelaire, Œuvres complètes, vol. 3, L'Art romantique (Paris: Calmann Lévy; 1885 printing), p. 285.

The originals

Photograph of Charles Baudelaire with swept-back greying hair, in a dark coat and loose bow tie — **The likeness**PHOTOGRAPHED BY ÉTIENNE CARJAT · c. 1862Our portrait is painted after it.Public domain (photographer died 1906; Woodburytype published in Galerie contemporaine, 1876-84; Commons tags it PD).

A printed proof of the title page Les Fleurs du mal covered in handwritten notes, signed Bon à tirer, C. Baudelaire — **Les Fleurs du mal · the proofs**His proof of the title page, 1857, with notes to the printer and, signed C. Baudelaire, "Bon à tirer": ready to print.Les Fleurs du mal, corrected proofs, 1857, title page. Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.