2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Verlaine left the deepest mark in poetry, shaking the hitherto unshakable foundations of romanticism and classicism.
The desire for repetition of consonances, an unusual angle of depiction of emotional experiences, musical harmony - these are the distinguishing features of the Verlaine style.
Verlaine is a complex, contradictory personality, largely incomprehensible to his contemporaries. He gave poetry his own unique style, based on the contrast between musicality and dissonance of sounds. Just like in his own life. Collections of his poems open up the sad world of intangible existence, the universe of ever-elusive reality.
The biography of Paul Verlaine is full of long periods of lack of money, scandals and restlessness. All his life he suffered from the cruel blows of fate, with almost no resistance. Alcohol was his constant companion. And, despite the fame and talent, he finally sank and ended his days in terrible poverty.
Verlaine's youth
Paul-Marie Verlaine was born on March 30, 1844 in Metz. His father, Captain Nicolas Auguste Verlaine, originally from the Belgian Ardennes, served in the local garrison. Paul was the only child of his mother Eliza-Julie-Joseph-Stephanie Deshay.
Ardennes, or rather, a small house in Paliseul, where Paul lived with his aunton the paternal side, left a deep mark on the soul of the poet. A lovely little village surrounded by fields and gloomy forests. Here the poet spent his summer holidays until the age of 18. He then tenderly wrote in his poems about these lands. He often drew inspiration from the sad, lyricistic landscapes, colors and nature of his attractive homeland.
Further Paul Verlaine's biography takes us to Paris, where his family moved in 1851. The Batignel quarter, where mostly retired soldiers lived, became his second home.
Short biography of Paul Verlaine, the beginning of a poetic journey
In 1862, Verlaine received a bachelor's degree in literature. It was during this period that the future poet got acquainted with the works of Baudelaire, the literary cafes of Paris and the famous "Green Fairy" - absinthe. Verlaine said: "What a fool came up with this witch to call a fairy."
Paul very quickly got tired of studying to be a lawyer. He connected his future fate with poetry: he began to actively visit literary cafes and salons, in particular, the salon of the Marquise de Ricard, who was fascinated by the Parnassians. He began to see frequently Leconte de Lisle, who was considered the head of the whole movement, François Coppé and others, and Alphonse Lemaire, his future publisher. During this period, he published his first poems - the sonnet "Monsieur Prudhomme", and in 1864 - the collection "Saturnian Poems". The poems were produced with funds from the author's cousin, Eliza Montcomble. The book was published with a circulation of 491 copies. Literary circles greeted this collection coolly.
In a short time the poet lostfirst a father, then a beloved cousin. Verlaine was very upset by the departure of people dear to him and became addicted to alcohol.
Verlaine's Marriage
In 1869 he met Mathilde Mote de Fleurville, she became his muse. The collection "Good Songs" was released. In verse, the poet naively described the development of his love feelings for a seventeen-year-old girl. The wedding took place on August 11, 1870. The young couple settled on the rue Cardinal Lemoine at number two, overlooking the Seine, on the fifth and last floor.
In 1871, after the Commune, Verlaine entered the service of the city hall. The couple moved into the apartment of the wife's relatives, at number 14 on Rue Nikole. But just a few weeks after their move, Rimbaud will burst into this house with lightning and forever destroy the life of the young spouses and Verlaine's intentions to start a virtuous life.
Paul Verlaine, brief biography: he and Rimbaud
Verlaine himself invited Rimbaud to Paris after he got acquainted with his poems and received a letter from Arthur.
Verlaine and Rimbaud began their wild life in Paris, full of high-profile stories and creativity. They found inspiration in each other. Revels of friends often ended in scandals. Perhaps it was from this period that the biography of Paul Verlaine takes on a tragic turn.
Under the influence of Rimbaud and alcohol, Verlaine's behavior became completely immoral. He was rude to his young wife Mathilde, who eventually ran away with their son Georges, born in October 1871.
Verlaine and Rimbaudgot closer. Their scandalous love and spiritual relationship lasted more than two years. During this time, Verlaine repeatedly tried to return to the family nest, but the attraction to Rimbaud won.
On July 10, 1873, a dramatic event took place that forever broke off relations between the poets. In Brussels, Verlaine, under the influence of alcohol, shot Rimbaud twice and wounded his left wrist. Despite the retracted statement of the victim, Paul was imprisoned for two years.
The period from 1871 to 1874 is the most productive in the work of both poets. The talent of one feeds the inspiration of the other, giving birth to new stylistic forms.
Paul Verlaine's biography after prison does not tell anything good. At first, his life seemed to take a calm turn. He got a job as a teacher, plunged into religion. But this only lasted two and a half years. Then, his beloved student Lucien Letinois appeared in his life, because of the attachment to which and the renewed binges of the poet, the poet is fired. She and Lucien buy an estate where they live happily, but not for long. Due to financial troubles, Verlaine has to sell this estate, and Lucien dies of typhoid fever. Paul moves to live with his mother, writes the collection "Love" in memory of Lucien. Again embarks on a wild life, drinking and rowdy.
The poet is again imprisoned for two months for bullying his mother, after which they move to Paris, where the unfortunate woman soon dies, and Verlaine becomes absolutely destitute.
In the last 10 years of his lifecreativity was finally recognized as brilliant, and the Ministry of National Education assigned him an allowance. However, the biography of Paul Verlaine takes a new turn - Paul has an ulcer on his leg, which the poet cannot cure in any way. He wanders from hospital to hospital, and in between gets drunk and wanders around the Latin Quarter.
January 8, 1896 Verlaine died of pneumonia. His funeral cortege was accompanied by thousands of admirers, poets, Parisian bohemians and close friends.
The poet was buried at the Batignolles cemetery next to his relatives.
The full biography of Paul Verlaine deserves close attention. It occupies an important place in the history of French poetry, giving it more freedom and musicality and a huge variety of new meters and rhymes.
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