Born On This Day- March 30th... Poet Paul Verlaine

I know of this because I took one class in 19^th century Poetry, a course I would have normally spent doodling, but with a dynamic teacher & the fact that the principals were absinthe drinking, opium smoking homosexuals appealed to me.

Verlaine by Courbet

Paul Verlaine's life swayed between the cruel & criminal & the callow & chaste. He married a young girl in 1870 but after a year fell in love with 17 year old poet- Arthur Rimbaud. The pair, along with Charles Baudelair, formed a movement titled The Decadents. In The Decadents’ writing, only the self is important, & the function of poetry is to preserve moments of extreme sensation & unique impressions. In spite of the vagueness of his poetry, Verlaine showed a careful craftsmanship in his compositions, using simple, musical language.

"There is weeping in my heart
Like the rain falling on the city."
(from Romances sans Paroles, 1874)

When Verlaine began his affair with the young Rimbaud, his marriage was shattered. In this impossible situation Verlaine left his family in Paris, adopted the Bohemian life shared with Rimaud in London. Their relationship ended in 1873 when Verlaine, drunk & desolate, tried to shoot Rimbaud after a quarrel. He was jailed for 18 months. When he was examined by the court physicians they noted that his "anus can be dilated rather significantly by a moderate separation of the buttocks & bears on his person the signs of active & passive pederastic habits."

During his imprisonment Verlaine studied Shakespeare & wrote Romances Sans Paroles. "& here is my heart which beats only for you." The collection is considered his masterpiece.

After being released, Verlaine returned to Paris & Rimbaud who proceeded to get Verlaine drunk, beat him & force him blaspheme against his Catholic faith. Verlaine moved back to England where he taught French before returning to France in 1877 to teach at the college of Rethel. It was in this period that Verlaine composed most of the poems, many with religious sentiment that reflects the poet's conversion to Roman Catholicism. In 1879 he gave up teaching, adopted one of his pupils- Lucien Létinois, & they had a farm together. The farm went bankrupt, & Verlaine returned to Paris.

In 1883 Verlaine's Lucien died of typhus & his mother died. Even though he was drinking heavily during this period, Verlaine was celebrated as the leading poet of France. He published such critical works, short biographical studies of poets, short stories, sacred & profane verse. He rewrote old poems, which he earlier had not regarded worthy of publication. Verlaine spent time in & out of hospitals, continued to drink, slept in slums, & spent a month in prison. He also suffered from rheumatism, cirrhosis, jaundice, diabetes, & a broken heart.

Voici des fruits, des fleurs, des feuilles et des branches
Et puis voici mon coeur, qui ne bat que pour vous,
Ne le déchirez pas avec vos deux mains blanches,
Et qu'à vos yeux si beaux l'humble présent soit doux.
J'arrive tout couvert encore de rosée
Que le vent du matin vient glacer à mon front.
Souffrez que ma fatique, à vos pieds reposée,
Réve des chers instants qui la délasseront.
Sur votre jeune sein laissez rouler ma tête
Toute sonore encor de vos derniers baisers;
Laissez-la s'apaiser de la bonne tempête,
Et que je dorme un peu puisque vous reposez.

In his last years, Verlaine wasted his royalties he earned on prostitutes he lived with a gay man, Bibi-la-Purée, who was especially famous for stealing umbrellas.

Verlaine: "For me, Rimbaud is an ever-living reality, a sun that burns inside me that does not want to be put out..." In his autobiographical writings he denied any sexual relationship with Rimbaud.

Verlaine died in Paris, at the age of 52, in 1896. His funeral was a public event, with thousands of Parisians following the casket to the Batignolles cemetery. Despite his fame, Verlaine died in poverty.