Editing Les Fleurs du mal (section)

===Foreword===
The foreword to the volume, ''Au Lecteur'' ("To the Reader"), identifying [[Satan]] with the pseudonymous alchemist [[Hermes Trismegistus]] and calling boredom the worst of miseries, sets the general tone of what is to follow:

<blockquote><poem>''Si le viol, le poison, le poignard, l'incendie,''
''N'ont pas encore brodé de leurs plaisants dessins''
''Le canevas banal de nos piteux destins,''
''C'est que notre âme, hélas ! n'est pas assez hardie.''

: If rape, poison, dagger and fire,
: Have still not embroidered their pleasant designs
: On the banal canvas of our pitiable destinies,
: It's because our soul, alas, is not bold enough!</poem></blockquote>

The preface concludes with the following malediction:

<blockquote><poem>''C'est l'Ennui!—l'œil chargé d'un pleur involontaire,''
''Il rêve d'échafauds en fumant son houka.''
''Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat,''
''Hypocrite lecteur,—mon semblable,—mon frère!''

: It's Boredom!—eye brimming with an involuntary tear
: He dreams of gallows while smoking his hookah.
: You know him, reader, this delicate monster,
: Hypocritical reader, my likeness, my brother!</poem></blockquote>