Though Rimbaud's work tells the story of his often-fascinating life, it does so in a manner that creates a portrait of the poet as an ideal rather than a flesh-and-blood human being. The preceding quote comes from Lives, in Illuminations, but dozens more along these lines can be found throughout his poetry, for Rimbaud is constantly holding himself up as ideal artist who understands far more than any of the mortals by whom he's surrounded.īeyond the vigour of these traits, however, Rimbaud's poetry begins to falter - for beneath his passion, technical acumen, and self-confidence there is not only precious little enlightenment with regard to the human condition, but only marginal glimpses of concrete subject matter. I am an inventor more deserving far than all those who have preceded me a musician, moreover, who has discovered something like the key of love. Another feature of his work is a gleeful arrogance worthy of his young age. In addition, Rimbaud's writing is also rich in symbolism and metaphor, so skilfully applied that many a poet still adopts his techniques. Two qualities that mark almost all aspects of these works are youthful passion and aggression. He died in France from cancer, aged 37.ĭuring the short time he spent as a writer Rimbaud produced three major works: the prose poem collections Illuminations and A Season in Hell, and a long poem entitled The Drunken Boat (which New Directions has long since published in the same volume with the latter collection). His life as a poet was a short one, however, as he soon gave up writing and began wandering the world before settling into arms and coffee dealing in Africa. It was during this time that Rimbaud was writing most of the verse for which he is remembered. Things came to a head with Verlaine pulling a gun and wounding his younger partner. Their stormy relationship, along with their hashish and absinthe-laced lifestyle, caused quite a scandal in literary circles. Though a gifted student, he was also restless, which led to his running away to Paris, where he apparently became the lover of symbolist poet Paul Verlaine. For those not familiar with Rimbaud's life, he was born in Charleville, north-east France, in 1854.
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