French poet (1844?1896)
Paul-Marie Verlaine
(
vair-
LEN
,
[1]
French:
[p?l
ma?i
v??l?n]
; 30 March 1844 ? 8 January 1896) was a
French poet
associated with the
Symbolist
movement and the
Decadent movement
. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the
fin de siecle
in international and
French poetry
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in
Metz
, Verlaine was educated at the
Lycee Imperial Bonaparte
(now the
Lycee Condorcet
) in Paris and then took up a post in the
civil service
. He began writing poetry at an early age, and was initially influenced by the
Parnassien
movement and its leader,
Leconte de Lisle
. Verlaine's first published poem was published in 1863 in
La Revue du progres
, a publication founded by poet
Louis-Xavier de Ricard
. Verlaine was a frequenter of the salon of the Marquise de Ricard
[2]
(Louis-Xavier de Ricard's mother) at 10 Boulevard des Batignolles and other social venues, where he rubbed shoulders with prominent artistic figures of the day:
Anatole France
,
Emmanuel Chabrier
, inventor-poet and humorist
Charles Cros
, the cynical anti-bourgeois idealist
Villiers de l'Isle-Adam
,
Theodore de Banville
,
Francois Coppee
,
Jose-Maria de Heredia
, Leconte de Lisle,
Catulle Mendes
and others. Verlaine's first published collection,
Poemes saturniens
(1866),
[3]
though adversely commented upon by
Sainte-Beuve
, established him as a poet of promise and originality.
Marriage and military service
[
edit
]
Mathilde Maute became Verlaine's wife in 1870. At the proclamation of the
Third Republic
in the same year, Verlaine joined the 160th battalion of the
Garde nationale
, turning
Communard
on 18 March 1871.
Verlaine became head of the press bureau of the Central Committee of the
Paris Commune
. Verlaine escaped the deadly street fighting known as the Bloody Week, or
Semaine Sanglante
, and went into hiding in the
Pas-de-Calais
.
[
citation needed
]
Relationships with Rimbaud and Letinois
[
edit
]
Verlaine returned to Paris in August 1871, and, in September, received the first letter from
Arthur Rimbaud
, who admired his poetry. Verlaine urged Rimbaud to come to Paris, and by 1872, he had lost interest in Mathilde, and effectively abandoned her and their son, preferring the company of Rimbaud, who was by now his lover.
[3]
Rimbaud and Verlaine's stormy affair took them to London in 1872. In Brussels in July 1873, in a drunken, jealous rage, he fired two shots with a pistol at Rimbaud, wounding his left wrist, though not seriously injuring the poet. As an indirect result of this incident, Verlaine was arrested and imprisoned at
Mons
,
[4]
where he underwent a re-conversion to
Roman Catholicism
, which again influenced his work and provoked Rimbaud's sharp criticism.
[5]
The poems collected in
Romances sans paroles
(1874) were written between 1872 and 1873, inspired by Verlaine's nostalgically coloured recollections of his life with Mathilde on the one hand and impressionistic sketches of his on-again off-again year-long escapade with Rimbaud on the other.
Romances sans paroles
was published while Verlaine was imprisoned. Following his release from prison, Verlaine again travelled to England, where he worked for some years as a teacher, teaching French, Latin, Greek and drawing at
William Lovell's school
in
Stickney
in Lincolnshire.
[6]
From there he went to teach in nearby
Boston
, before moving to
Bournemouth
.
[7]
While in England, he produced another successful collection,
Sagesse
. Verlaine returned to France in 1877 and, while teaching English at a school in
Rethel
, fell in love with one of his pupils,
Lucien Letinois
, who inspired Verlaine to write further poems.
[8]
Verlaine was devastated when Letinois died of
typhus
in 1883.
Final years
[
edit
]
Verlaine's last years saw his descent into
drug addiction
,
alcoholism
, and poverty. He lived in slums and public hospitals, and spent his days drinking
absinthe
in Paris cafes. However, the people's love for his art resurrected support and brought in an income for Verlaine: his early poetry was rediscovered, his lifestyle and strange behaviour in front of crowds attracted admiration, and in 1894 he was elected France's "Prince of Poets" by his peers.
Verlaine's poetry was admired and recognized as ground-breaking, and served as a source of inspiration to composers.
Gabriel Faure
composed many
melodies
, such as the
song cycles
Cinq melodies "de Venise"
and
La bonne chanson
, which were settings of Verlaine's poems.
[9]
Claude Debussy
set to music
Clair de lune
and six of the
Fetes galantes
poems, forming part of the
melodie
collection known as the
Recueil Vasnier
; he also made another setting of
Clair de lune
, and the poem inspired the third movement of his
Suite bergamasque
.
[10]
Reynaldo Hahn
set several of Verlaine's poems as did the Belgian-British composer
Poldowski
(daughter of
Henryk Wieniawski
) and German composer
Anna Teichmuller
.
Verlaine's drug dependence and alcoholism took a toll on his life. He died in Paris at the age of 51 on 8 January 1896; he was buried in the
Cimetiere des Batignolles
(he was first buried in the 20th division, but his grave was moved to the 11th division?on the roundabout, a much better location?when the
Boulevard Peripherique
was built).
[11]
A bust monument to Verlaine sculpted by
Rodo
was erected in 1911. It sits in the
Luxembourg Gardens
in Paris.
Style
[
edit
]
Much of the
French poetry
produced during the
fin de siecle
was characterized as "
decadent
" for its lurid content or moral vision. In a similar vein, Verlaine used the expression
poete maudit
("cursed poet") in 1884 to refer to a number of poets like
Stephane Mallarme
,
Arthur Rimbaud
,
Aloysius Bertrand
,
Comte de Lautreamont
,
Tristan Corbiere
or
Alice de Chambrier
, who had fought against poetic conventions and suffered social rebuke, or were ignored by the critics. But with the publication of
Jean Moreas
'
Symbolist Manifesto
in 1886, it was the term
symbolism
which was most often applied to the new literary environment. Along with Verlaine, Mallarme, Rimbaud,
Paul Valery
,
Albert Samain
and many others began to be referred to as "Symbolists." These poets would often share themes that parallel
Schopenhauer's aesthetics
and notions of will, fatality and
unconscious forces
, and used themes of sex (such as
prostitutes
), the city, irrational phenomena (
delirium
, dreams,
narcotics
, alcohol), and sometimes a vaguely
medieval
setting.
In poetry, the symbolist procedure?as typified by Verlaine?was to use subtle suggestion instead of precise statement (
rhetoric
was banned) and to evoke moods and feelings through the magic of words and repeated sounds and the cadence of verse (musicality) and
metrical
innovation.
Verlaine described his typically decadent style in great detail in his poem "Art Poetique," describing the primacy of musicality and the importance of elusiveness and "the Odd." He spoke of veils and nuance and implored poets to "Keep away from the murderous Sharp Saying, Cruel Wit, and Impure Laugh." It is with these lyrical veils in mind that Verlaine concluded by suggesting that a poem should be a "happy occurrence."
[12]
Portraits
[
edit
]
Numerous artists painted Verlaine's portrait. Among the most illustrious were
Henri Fantin-Latour
,
Antonio de la Gandara
,
Eugene Carriere
,
Gustave Courbet
,
Frederic Cazalis
, and
Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen
.
-
-
-
-
-
by Edouard Chantalat
1898
Posthumous,
from a photograph.
- In preparation for
Operation Overlord
, the
BBC
via
Radio Londres
had signaled to the
French Resistance
that the opening lines of the 1866 Verlaine poem "
Chanson d'automne
" were to indicate the start of D-Day operations. The first three lines of the poem, "
Les sanglots longs
/
Des violons
/
De l'automne
" ("Long sobs of autumn violins"), meant that Operation Overlord was to start within two weeks. These lines were broadcast on 1 June 1944. The next set of lines, "
Blessent mon coeur
/
D'une langueur
/
Monotone
" ("wound my heart with a monotonous languor"),
[13]
meant that it would start within 48 hours and that the resistance should begin sabotage operations especially on the French railroad system; these lines were broadcast on 5 June at 23:15.
[14]
[15]
[16]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
- Paul Verlaine makes a memorable appearance in R.w. Meek’s historical fiction novel,
The Dream Collector
, Book II “Sabrine & Vincent van Gogh” (Historium Press 2024). Verlaine’s alcoholism is vividly described as well as his disastrous relationship with the symbolist poet, Arthur Rimbaud.
[17]
- Among the admirers of Verlaine's work was the
Russian language
poet and novelist
Boris Pasternak
. Pasternak went so far as to translate much of Verlaine's verse into Russian. According to Pasternak's
mistress
and
muse
,
Olga Ivinskaya
,
Whenever [Boris Leonidovich] was provided with literal versions of things which echoed his own thoughts or feelings, it made all the difference and he worked feverishly, turning them into masterpieces. I remember his translating Paul Verlaine in a burst of enthusiasm like this --
L'Art poetique
was after all an expression of his own beliefs about poetry.
[18]
- French composer
Cecile Paul Simon
(1881-1970) used Verlaine's text for her song "L’heure Exquise."
[19]
- Russian composer
Lyubov Streicher
(1888-1958) set Verlaine's text to music in her
Romances
.
[20]
- Twentieth century French composer
Denise Roger
used Verlaine’s text in her songs “Angoisse” and “Reversibilites.”
[21]
- French composer
Beatrice Siegrist
(born 1934) used Verlaine's text for her songs "Melodies."
[20]
- In 1943,
Richard Hillary
, author of
The Last Enemy
, quoted Verlaine (Sagesse) in his poem.
[22]
- His relationship with Rimbaud was dramatised in the 1964 Australian TV play
A Season in Hell
.
- In 1964, French singer
Leo Ferre
set to music fourteen poems from Verlaine and some from Rimbaud for his album
Verlaine et Rimbaud
. He also sang two other poems (
Colloque sentimental
,
Si tu ne mourus pas
) in his album
On n'est pas serieux quand on a dix-sept ans
(1987).
[
citation needed
]
- Soviet/Russian composer
David Tukhmanov
set Verlaine's poem to music in Russian and French (cult album
On a Wave of My Memory
, 1975).
[23]
- Guitarist, singer and songwriter Tom Miller (better known as
Tom Verlaine
, leader of the art rock band
Television
) chose his stage name as a tribute to Verlaine.
- New Zealand indie rock band
The Verlaines
are named after Verlaine. Their most popular song
"Death and the Maiden"
references his shooting of Rimbaud.
- The time Verlaine and Rimbaud spent together was the subject of the 1995 film
Total Eclipse
, directed by
Agnieszka Holland
and with a screenplay by
Christopher Hampton
, based on his play of the same name. Verlaine was portrayed by
David Thewlis
and
Leonardo DiCaprio
played Rimbaud.
- The poem
Crime of Love
was set to music for the album
Feasting with Panthers
, released in 2011 by
Marc Almond
and
Michael Cashmore
. It was adapted and translated by
Jeremy Reed
.
- Bob Dylan
's iconic "
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
," has the lyric, "Situations have ended sad; Relationships have all been bad; Mine've been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud".
- Singer
Lydia Loveless
included a song called 'Verlaine Shot Rimbaud' on her album
Somewhere Else
.
- The 1975
song "
Part of the Band
" includes the line "And I fell in love with a boy, it was kinda lame; I was Rimbaud and he was Paul Verlaine"
[24]
- "
Clair de lune
" by
Claude Debussy
takes its title from Verlaine's
poem of the same name
which depicts the soul as somewhere full of music "in a minor key" where birds are inspired to sing by the "sad and beautiful" light of the moon.
Works in French (original)
[
edit
]
Verlaine's
Complete Works
are available in critical editions from the
Bibliotheque de la Pleiade
.
Works in English (translation)
[
edit
]
Although widely regarded as a major French poet?to the effect that towards the end of his life he was sobriquetted as "Le Prince des Poetes" (The Prince of Poets) in the French-speaking world?surprisingly very few of Verlaine's major works have been translated
in their entirety
(vs. selections therefrom) into English. Here is a list to help track those known to exist.
French Title (Original)
|
English Title
|
Genre
|
Publisher, &c.
|
La Bonne Chanson
|
The Good Song
|
Poetry
|
Sunny Lou Publishing, 2022. Translated by Richard Robinson.
ISBN
978-1-95539-228-0
|
Chansons pour elle
|
Songs for Her & Odes in Her Honor
|
Poetry
|
Sunny Lou Publishing, 2021. Translated by Richard Robinson.
ISBN
978-1-73547-767-1
|
Fetes galantes
|
Fetes Galantes & Songs Without Words
|
Poetry
|
Sunny Lou Publishing, 2022. Translated by Richard Robinson.
ISBN
978-1-95539-220-4
|
Odes en son honneur
|
Songs for Her & Odes in Her Honor
|
Poetry
|
Sunny Lou Publishing, 2021. Translated by Richard Robinson.
ISBN
978-1-73547-767-1
|
Poemes saturniens
|
Poems Under Saturn
|
Poetry
|
Princeton University Press, 2011. Translated by Karl Kirchwey.
ISBN
978-0-69114-486-3
|
Romances sans paroles
|
Songs Without Words
|
Poetry
|
Omnidawn, 2013. Translated by Donald Revell.
ISBN
978-1-89065-087-2
|
Mes hopitaux
|
My Hospitals & My Prisons
|
Autobiography
|
Sunny Lou Publishing, 2020. Translated by Richard Robinson.
ISBN
978-1-73547-760-2
|
Mes prisons
|
My Hospitals & My Prisons
|
Autobiography
|
Sunny Lou Publishing, 2020. Translated by Richard Robinson.
ISBN
978-1-73547-760-2
|
Cellulairement
|
Cellulely
|
Poetry
|
Sunny Lou Publishing, 2020. Translated by Richard Robinson.
ISBN
978-1-73547-764-0
|
Femmes/Hombres
|
Women/Men
|
Poetry
|
Anvil Press Poetry Ltd, 1979. Translated by Alistair Elliot.
ISBN
978-0856460449
|
Voyage en France par un Francais
|
Voyage in France by a Frenchman
|
Poetry
|
Sunny Lou Publishing, 2021. Translated by Richard Robinson.
ISBN
978-1-95539-215-0
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Verlaine"
.
Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
.
- ^
Shapiro, Norman R.,
One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine
, University of Chicago Press, 1999
- ^
a
b
"Paul Verlaine"
.
Litweb.net
. Archived from
the original
on 7 August 2007
. Retrieved
18 July
2007
.
- ^
Willsher, Kim (17 October 2015).
"How 555 nights in jail helped to make Paul Verlaine a 'prince of poets'
"
.
The Observer
.
ISSN
0029-7712
. Retrieved
31 March
2020
.
- ^
Hanson, Ellis. (1998).
Decadence and Catholicism
. Harvard University Press.
ISBN
0-674-19444-6
.
OCLC
502187924
.
- ^
Delahave, Ernst (2006).
"Paul Verlaine"
(PDF)
. Martin and Bev Gosling
. Retrieved
5 September
2010
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Delahave, Ernst (22 May 2010).
"Biography of Paul Verlaine"
. The Left Anchor. Archived from
the original
on 12 May 2013
. Retrieved
5 September
2010
.
- ^
"Lucien Letinois | French author"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
31 March
2020
.
- ^
Orledge, Robert (1979).
Gabriel Faure
. London: Eulenburg Books. p.
78
.
ISBN
0-903873-40-0
.
- ^
Rolf, Marie. Page 7 of liner notes to
Forgotten Songs
by
Claude Debussy
, with
Dawn Upshaw
and
James Levine
, Sony SK 67190.
- ^
Wilson, Scott.
Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons
, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 48689-48690). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
- ^
Verlane, Paul (1882).
"Art Poetique"
.
Aesthetic Realism Online Library
. Translated by Eli Siegel (1968)
. Retrieved
18 February
2017
.
- ^
Lightbody, Bradley (4 June 2004).
The Second World War: Ambitions to Nemesis
. Routledge. p. 214.
ISBN
0-415-22405-5
. Retrieved
20 July
2013
.
The French Resistance ... was given 24 hours' warning of the invasion by a BBC radio broadcast. A single line from the poem "Chanson d'automne" by Paul Verlaine, "
blessent mon coeur D'une langueur monotone
" (wound my heart with a monotonous languor) was the order for action.
- ^
Bowden, Mark; Ambrose, Stephen E. (2002).
Our finest day: D-Day: June 6, 1944
. Chronicle. p. 8.
ISBN
978-0-8118-3050-8
.
- ^
Hall, Anthony (2004).
D-Day: Operation Overlord Day by Day
. Zenith. p. 100.
ISBN
978-0-7603-1607-8
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Roberts, Andrew (2011).
The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War
. HarperCollins. p.
74
.
ISBN
978-0-06-122859-9
.
- ^
Meek, R.w. (2024).
The Dream Collector, Book II, "Sabrine & Vincent van Gogh"
. New York, NY: Historium Press. pp. 94?103, 268?273.
ISBN
978-1-962465-34-2
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (
link
)
- ^
Olga Ivinskaya,
A Captive of Time: My Years with Boris Pasternak
, (1978). Page 34.
- ^
"C.-P. Simon Song Texts | LiederNet"
.
www.lieder.net
. Retrieved
2 April
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Cohen, Aaron I. (1987).
International Encyclopedia of Women Composers
. Books & Music USA.
ISBN
978-0-9617485-1-7
.
- ^
"Denise Isabelle Roger Song Texts | LiederNet"
.
www.lieder.net
. Retrieved
8 May
2024
.
- ^
Hillary, Richard (2005).
The Last Enemy
.
Project Gutenberg
.
- ^
"Давид Тухманов"
.
popsa.info
.
- ^
Kaufman, Gil (6 July 2022).
"The 1975 Invite You To Be 'Part of the Band' On Upcoming Single"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
17 January
2023
.
- ^
Delage R.
Emmanuel Chabrier
. Paris, Fayard, 1999, p692-3.
- ^
Negrello, Gilles (2014).
"De la verve poetique : Le Verlaine seconde maniere de Cellulairement"
.
Recherches & Travaux
(85): 31?46.
doi
:
10.4000/recherchestravaux.706
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Hanson, Lawrence & Elisabeth.
Verlaine: Prince of Poets
(Chatto & Windus, 1958)
- Lehmann, John
.
Three Literary Friendships
(Quartet, 1983)
- Mackworth, Cecily.
English Interludes: Mallarme, Verlaine, Paul Valery, Valery Larbaud, 1860-1912
(Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974)
- Richardson, Joanna
.
Verlaine
(Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971)
- Troyat, Henri
.
Verlaine
(Flammarion, 1993)
External links
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edit
]
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