"My soul is swooning," Baudelaire exclaimed, his heart filled with fear. The forces of evil, ugliness, and stupidity weighed heavily on him. He fought back with dreams and irony. With shutters closed, he departed for an enchanted world where scents, colors, and sounds intertwine. Far across the sea, he created fairytale palaces populated by voluptuous women and mysterious cats. He even ventured into hell to pick flowers. From evil, he drew beauty, and from ceaseless suffering, moments of happiness. In 1857, he was convicted for insulting public morals; the poet responded that he could not have written his work otherwise than as a reflection of the spirit raging in evil. Beyond good and evil lies beauty: Baudelaire gave us that experience in unforgettable verse.