First published in 1860, Artificial Paradises is a book written by symbolist poet Charles Baudelaire about the effects of drugs, focusing on opium and hashish. He was inspired by other literature written about narcotics, including Coleridge's “Kubla Khan” and “Confessions of an English Opium-Eater”, written by Thomas De Quincey. In this book, Baudelaire is interested in the influence of opium and hashish in particular and details their effects on the mind and body.
He starts with talking about hashish in "The Poem of Hashish", giving a history of the drug and describing its effects. He explains that there are three stages of intoxication. Firstly, there is a sense of “gaiety”, where "simple words" and "trivial ideas" take on new, complex meanings. Afterwards, however, he describes how there are unpleasant bodily symptoms, such as thirst, coldness and spasms. Although praising the drug's ability to enhance creativity and imagination, he ultimately condemns the drug, concluding that it leads to indolence. He discusses how hashish can become addictive in a creative sense, and how artists and creative people can become dependent on the drug to formulate ideas.
Baudelaire then moves onto opium, in "An Opium-Eater", which is concerned with "Confessions of an Opium Eater" by Thomas De Quincey. Here, Baudelaire draws less upon his own experiences of using the drug, offering an analysis of Thomas De Quincey's text.
