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Verlaine Paul 1844 - 1896 (52)

A poem is really a kind of machine for producing the poetic state by means of words.


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Paul Verlaine (March 30, 1844 - January 8, 1896) was an important French lyric poet who contributed to the transition from Romanticism to Symbolism. He was born in Metz, France, into a wealthy family. He graduated from school in 1862 with honors in Latin translation, and worked for a period of time at an insurance company and then at the city hall. However, from his youth he had started writing poetry, and as he grew up he came into contact with the group of Parnassian poets and other contemporary writers, such as Mallarmé and Anatole France, and began to publish his poems.

By 1870 he had published three collections of poems and had become known in literary circles. In August 1870, he married sixteen-year-old Mathilde Mauté and moved to live with his in-laws in Paris. That same year, a seventeen-year-old adolescent named Rimbaud began sending him letters, declaring himself a fervent admirer of his poetry. They corresponded regularly, and in 1871 Arthur Rimbaud left his hometown of Charleville and arrived in Paris, passing through the siege of the Prussian troops who were besieging the city. Verlaine hosted him for fifteen days during which their friendship turned into love.

Paul abandoned his wife and his three-month-old child and left with Rimbaud. They wandered in cities of northern France and Belgium until they settled in London. There, they lived a bohemian life with writing, many drunkenness, and brawls. In July 1873, Verlaine injures Rimbaud in the hand by shooting him twice after an intense argument, and while both were under the influence of alcohol. Verlaine was sentenced to two years in prison. He was released in January 1875. His wife had left him by then, and he made an attempt to reconcile, without success. He tried to reconnect with Rimbaud, whom he met in Stuttgart, but again without success. He left for England and lived in various cities working as a French teacher.

He managed to gain recognition from the English writers of the time through his poetry and returned to France, where his collection of poems "Sagesse" was published in 1880, which was crucial for establishing him as a great poet. In 1883, a 23-year-old student of his, with whom Verlaine had a close relationship, died, which cost him a lot. In the following years, he stayed with his mother, who died in 1886. He then lived in various places, writing poetry and prose until his death in 1896.