Arthur Rimbaud

Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (/rmbo/[2] or

/rmbo/; French pronunciation: [aty bo] ; 20 October 1854 10 November 1891) was a French poet
born in Charleville, Ardennes.[3] He inuenced modern
literature and arts, and pregured surrealism. He started
writing poems at a very young age, while still in primary
school, and stopped completely before he turned 21. He
was mostly creative in his teens (1720). The critic Cecil Arthur Hackett wrote that his genius, its owering,
explosion and sudden extinction, still astonishes.[4]

las Frdric (Frdric), arrived nine months later on 2

November.[3] The next year, on 20 October 1854, Jean
Nicolas Arthur (Arthur) was born.[3] Three more children followed: Victorine-Pauline-Vitalie on 4 June 1857
(who died a few weeks later), Jeanne-Rosalie-Vitalie
(Vitalie) on 15 June 1858 and, nally, Frdrique
Marie Isabelle (Isabelle) on 1 June 1860.[17]
Though the marriage lasted seven years, Captain Rimbaud lived continuously in the matrimonial home for less
than three months, from February to May 1853.[18] The
rest of the time his military postings including active
service in the Crimean War and the Sardinian Campaign
(with medals earned in both)[19] meant he returned
home to Charleville only when on leave.[18] He was not
at home for his childrens births, nor their baptisms.[18]
Isabelles birth in 1860 must have been the last straw, as
after this Captain Rimbaud stopped returning home on
leave entirely.[20] Though they never divorced, the separation was complete; thereafter Mme Rimbaud let herself
be known as Widow Rimbaud [20] and Captain Rimbaud would describe himself as a widower.[21] Neither
the captain nor his children showed the slightest interest
in re-establishing contact.[21]

Rimbaud was known to have been a libertine and for being a restless soul. He traveled extensively on three continents before his death from cancer just after his thirtyseventh birthday.[5]

1
1.1

Life
Family and childhood (18541861)

Arthur Rimbaud was born in the provincial town of

Charleville (now part of Charleville-Mzires) in the
Ardennes dpartement in northeastern France. He was
the second child of Frdric Rimbaud (7 October 1814
16 November 1878)[6] and Marie Catherine Vitalie Cuif 1.2 Schooling and teen years (18611871)
[7]
(10 March 1825 16 November 1907).[8]
Fearing her children were being over-inuenced by the
Rimbauds father, a Burgundian of Provenal extraction, neighbouring children of the poor, Mme. Rimbaud
was an infantry captain risen from the ranks; he had
moved her family to the Cours d'Orlans in 1862.[22]
spent much of his army career abroad.[9] From 1844 to This was a better neighbourhood, and the boys, now aged
1850, he participated in the conquest of Algeria, and in
nine and eight, who had been taught at home by their
1854 was awarded the Lgion d'honneur[9] by Imperial mother, were now sent to the Pension Rossat. Throughdecree.[10] Captain Rimbaud was described as goodout the ve years that they attended the school, however,
tempered, easy-going and generous.[11] with the long their formidable mother still imposed her will upon them,
moustaches and goatee of a Chasseur ocer.[12]
pushing them for scholastic success. She would punish
In October 1852, Captain Rimbaud, then aged 38, was her sons by making them learn a hundred lines of Latin
transferred to Mzires where he met Vitalie Cuif, 11 verse by heart, and further punish any mistakes by deyears his junior, while on a Sunday stroll.[13] She came priving them of meals.[23] When Rimbaud was nine, he
from a solidly established Ardennais family,[14] but one wrote a 700-word essay objecting to his having to learn
with its share of bohemians; two of her brothers were Latin in school. Vigorously condemning a classical edalcoholics.[14] Her personality was the exact opposite of ucation as a mere gateway to a salaried position, RimCaptain Rimbauds; she was narrowminded, stingy and baud wrote repeatedly, I will be a rentier".[23] Rimbaud
... completely lacking in a sense of humour.[11] When disliked schoolwork and resented his mothers constant
Charles Houin, an early biographer, interviewed her, he supervision; the children were not allowed out of their
found her withdrawn, stubborn and taciturn.[15] Arthur mothers sight, and until they were fteen and sixteen reRimbauds private name for her was Mouth of Dark- spectively, she would walk them home from school.[24]
ness (bouche d'ombre).[16]
As a boy, Rimbaud was small and pale with brown hair,
Nevertheless, on 8 February 1853, Captain Rimbaud and eyes that a childhood friend described as pale blue irand Vitalie Cuif married; their rst-born, Jean Nico- radiated with dark bluethe loveliest eyes I've seen.[26]
1

LIFE

and student, with Rimbaud for a while seeing Izambard

as a kind of older brother.[35] At the age of 15, Rimbaud was showing maturity as a poet; the rst poem he
showed Izambard, Ophlie, would later be included in
anthologies, and is regarded as one of Rimbauds three or
four best poems.[36] On 4 May 1870, Rimbauds mother
wrote to Izambard to complain that he had given Rimbaud Victor Hugo's Les Misrables to read.[37]

Rimbaud on the day of his First Communion.[25]

An ardent Catholic like his mother, Rimbaud had his

First Communion when he was eleven. His piety earned
him the schoolyard nickname sale petit Cagot".[27] That
same year, he and his brother were sent to the Collge
de Charleville. Up to then, his reading had been largely
conned to the Bible,[28] though he had also enjoyed fairy
tales and adventure stories, such as the novels of James
Fenimore Cooper and Gustave Aimard.[29] At the Collge
he became a highly successful student, heading his class
in all subjects except mathematics and the sciences; his
schoolmasters remarked upon his ability to absorb great
quantities of material. In 1869 he won eight school rst
prizes, including the prize for Religious Education, and
in 1870 he won seven rst prizes.[30]
Hoping for a brilliant academic career for her second son,
Mme Rimbaud hired a private tutor for Rimbaud when he
reached the third grade.[31] Father Ariste Lhritier succeeded in sparking in the young scholar a love of Greek,
Latin and French classical literature, and was the rst to
encourage the boy to write original verse, in both French
and Latin.[32] Rimbauds rst poem to appear in print was
Les trennes des orphelins (The Orphans New Years
Gifts), which was published in the 2 January 1870 issue
of La Revue pour tous.[33]
Two weeks later, a new teacher of rhetoric, the 22year-old Georges Izambard, started at the Collge de
Charleville.[34] Izambard became Rimbauds literary
mentor, and soon a close accord formed between teacher

On 19 July 1870, the Franco-Prussian War broke out,

between Napoleon III's Second French Empire and the
Kingdom of Prussia.[38] A week later, on 24 July, Izambard left Charleville for the summer to stay with his
three aunts the Misses Gindre in Douai.[38] In the
meantime, preparations for war continued and the Collge de Charleville became a military hospital.[39] By the
end of August, with the countryside in turmoil, Rimbaud
was bored and restless.[39] In search of adventure he ran
away by train to Paris without funds for his ticket.[40]
On arrival at the Gare du Nord, he was arrested and
locked up in Mazas Prison to await trial for fare evasion and vagrancy.[40] On about 6 September, Rimbaud
wrote a desperate letter to Izambard, who arranged with
the prison governor that Rimbaud be released into his
care.[41] As hostilities were continuing, he stayed with
the Misses Gindre in Douai until he could be returned
to Charleville.[41] Izambard nally handed Rimbaud over
to Mme Rimbaud on 27 September 1870, but he was at
home for only ten days before running away again.[42]
From late October 1870, Rimbauds behaviour became
openly provocative; he drank alcohol, spoke rudely, composed scatological poems, stole books from local shops,
and abandoned his characteristically neat appearance by
allowing his hair to grow long.[43] on 13 and 15 May 1871,
he wrote letters (the lettres du voyant),[44] to Izambard
and to Demeny respectively, about his method for attaining poetical transcendence or visionary power through a
long, intimidating, immense and rational derangement
of all the senses. The suerings are enormous, but one
must be strong, be born a poet, and I have recognized
myself as a poet.[45]

1.3 Life with Verlaine (18711875)

Rimbaud wrote to several poets but received no replies, so
his friend, oce employee Charles Auguste Bretagne, advised him to write to Paul Verlaine, an eminent Symbolist
poet.[46] Rimbaud sent Verlaine two letters with several of
his poems, including the hypnotic, nally shocking Le
Dormeur du Val (The Sleeper in the Valley), in which
Nature is called upon to comfort an apparently sleeping
soldier. Verlaine was intrigued by Rimbaud, and replied,
Come, dear great soul. We await you; we desire you,
sending him a one-way ticket to Paris.[47] Rimbaud arrived in late September 1871 and resided briey in Verlaines home.[48] Verlaines wife, Mathilde Maut, was
seventeen years old and pregnant, and Verlaine had recently left his job and started drinking. In later pub-

1.4

Travels (18751880)

3
station.[53] On the way, by Rimbauds account, Verlaine
behaved as if he were insane. Fearing that Verlaine
might give himself over to new excesses, Rimbaud ran
o and begged a policeman to arrest him.[54] Verlaine
was charged with attempted murder, then subjected to
a humiliating medico-legal examination.[55] He was also
interrogated about his correspondence with Rimbaud and
the nature of their relationship.[55] The bullet was eventually removed on 17 July and Rimbaud withdrew his complaint. The charges were reduced to wounding with a
rearm, and on 8 August 1873 Verlaine was sentenced
to two years in prison.[55]

Plaque erected on the centenary of Rimbauds death at the place

where he was shot by Verlaine in Brussels

Rimbaud returned home to Charleville and completed his

prose work Une Saison en Enfer (A Season in Hell)
still widely regarded as a pioneering example of modern
Symbolist writing. In the work he referred to Verlaine
as his pitiful brother (frre pitoyable) and the mad virgin (vierge folle), and to himself as the hellish husband
(l'poux infernal). He described their life together as a
domestic farce (drle de mnage).

lished recollections of his rst sight of Rimbaud at the

In 1874 he returned to London with the poet Germain
age of seventeen, Verlaine described him as having the
Nouveau.[56] They lived together for three months while
real head of a child, chubby and fresh, on a big, bony,
he put together his groundbreaking Illuminations.
rather clumsy body of a still-growing adolescent, with a
very strong Ardennes accent that was almost a dialect.
His voice had highs and lows as if it were breaking.[49]

1.4 Travels (18751880)

Rimbaud and Verlaine began a short and torrid aair.

They led a wild, vagabond-like life spiced by absinthe and
hashish.[50] The Parisian literary coterie was scandalized
by Rimbaud, whose behaviour was that of the archetypal enfant terrible, yet throughout this period he continued to write poems. Their stormy relationship eventually brought them to London in September 1872,[51] a
period over which Rimbaud would later express regret.
During this time, Verlaine abandoned his wife and infant son (both of whom he had abused in his alcoholic
rages). In England they lived in considerable poverty
in Bloomsbury and in Camden Town, scraping a living
mostly from teaching, as well as an allowance from Verlaines mother.[52] Rimbaud spent his days in the Reading
Room of the British Museum where heating, lighting,
pens and ink were free.[52] The relationship between the
two poets grew increasingly bitter.

Rimbaud and Verlaine met for the last time in March

1875, in Stuttgart, after Verlaines release from prison
and his conversion to Catholicism.[58] By then Rimbaud
had given up writing in favour of a steady, working life.
Some speculate he was fed up with his former wild living,
or that the recklessness itself had been the source of his
creativity. He continued to travel extensively in Europe,
mostly on foot.
In May 1876 he enlisted as a soldier in the Dutch Colonial
Army[59] to get free passage to Java in the Dutch East
Indies (now Indonesia). Four months later he deserted
and ed into the jungle. He managed to return incognito
to France by ship; as a deserter he would have faced a
Dutch ring squad had he been caught.[60]

In December 1878, Rimbaud journeyed to Larnaca,

Cyprus, where he worked for a construction company as
In late June 1873, Verlaine returned to Paris alone,
a stone quarry foreman.[61] In May of the following year
but quickly began to mourn Rimbauds absence. On 8
he had to leave Cyprus because of a fever, which on his
July he telegraphed Rimbaud, asking him to come to
return to France was diagnosed as typhoid.
the Hotel Lige in Brussels.[53] The reunion went badly,
they argued continuously, and Verlaine took refuge in
heavy drinking.[53] On the morning of 10 July, Verlaine 1.5 Abyssinia (18801891)
bought a revolver and ammunition.[53] About 16:00, in
a drunken rage, he red two shots at Rimbaud, one of In 1880 Rimbaud nally settled in Aden, Yemen, as a
them wounding the 18-year-old in the left wrist.[53]
main employee in the Bardey agency,[62] going on to run
Rimbaud initially dismissed the wound as supercial but
had it dressed at the St-Jean hospital nevertheless.[53]
He did not immediately le charges, but decided to
leave Brussels.[53] About 20:00, Verlaine and his mother
accompanied Rimbaud to the Gare du Midi railway

the rms agency in Harar, Ethiopia. In 1884 his Report on the Ogaden was presented and published by the
Socit de Gographie in Paris.[63] In the same year he
left his job at Bardeys to become a merchant on his
own account in Harar, where his commercial dealings in-

2 POETRY

cluded coee and (generally outdated) arms. His full- 2 Poetry

ment of an order from the Negus of Shewa (Menelik II,
the future King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of In May 1871, aged 16, Rimbaud wrote two letters exthe Tribe of Judah) enabled the latter to establish him- plaining his poetic philosophy. The rst was written 13
self the conqueror of the region as an Empire under his May to Izambard, in which Rimbaud explained:
imperial rule and counter the moves of the Italian army.
Several years were necessary to drive the camels caravan
I'm now making myself as scummy as I
(lonely at the end of the trip ; with troubles later to be
can.
Why? I want to be a poet, and I'm working
paid ...).
at turning myself into a seer. You won't underAt the same time he also engaged in exploring. Durstand any of this, and I'm almost incapable of
ing this period he also struck up a close friendship with
explaining it to you. The idea is to reach the
the Governor of Harar, Ras Makonnen, father of future
unknown by the derangement of all the senses.
Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie.[64] (He maintained
It involves enormous suering, but one must
friendly relationships with the ocial tutor of the young
be strong and be a born poet. Its really not my
heir.) Rimbaud worked in the coee trade. He was, in
fault.[72][73]
fact, a pioneer in the business, the rst European to oversee the export of the celebrated coee of Harar from the
Rimbaud said much the same in his second letter, comcountry where coee was born. He was only the third
monly called the Lettre du voyant (Letter of the Seer).
European ever to set foot in the city, and the rst to do
Written 15 Maybefore his rst trip to Paristo his
[65]
business there.
friend Paul Demeny, the letter expounded his revolutionary theories about poetry and life, while also denouncing
most poets that preceded him. Wishing for new poetic
forms and ideas, he wrote:
1.6 Sickness and death (1891)
In February 1891, in Aden, Rimbaud developed what
he initially thought was arthritis in his right knee.[66] It
failed to respond to treatment, and by March had become so painful that he prepared to return to France
for treatment.[66] Before leaving, Rimbaud consulted
a British doctor who mistakenly diagnosed tubercular
synovitis, and recommended immediate amputation.[67]
Rimbaud remained in Aden until 7 May to set his nancial aairs in order, then caught a steamer, L'Amazone,
back to France for the 13-day voyage.[67] On arrival in
Marseille, he was admitted to the Hpital de la Conception where, a week later on 27 May, his right leg was
amputated.[68] The post-operative diagnosis was bone
cancerprobably osteosarcoma.[67]

I say that one must be a seer, make oneself a seer. The poet makes himself a seer by
a long, prodigious, and rational disordering of
all the senses. Every form of love, of suering,
of madness; he searches himself, he consumes
all the poisons in him, and keeps only their
quintessences. This is an unspeakable torture
during which he needs all his faith and superhuman strength, and during which he becomes
the great patient, the great criminal, the great
accursed and the great learned one! among
men. For he arrives at the unknown! Because
he has cultivated his own soul which was rich
to begin with more than any other man! He
reaches the unknown; and even if, crazed, he
ends up by losing the understanding of his visions, at least he has seen them! Let him die
charging through those unutterable, unnameable things: other horrible workers will come;
they will begin from the horizons where he has
succumbed![74][75]

After a short stay at the family farm in Roche, from

23 July to 23 August,[69] he attempted to travel back to
Africa, but on the way his health deteriorated, and he was
re-admitted to the Hpital de la Conception in Marseille.
He spent some time there in great pain, attended by his
sister Isabelle. He received the Last rites from a priest
before dying on 10 November 1891 at the age of 37. The
remains were sent across France to his home town and he
Rimbaud expounded the same ideas in his poem Le
was buried in Charleville-Mzires.[70]
bateau ivre ("The Drunken Boat"). This hundred-line
Thomas Bernhard, on the 100th anniversary of Rim- poem tells the tale of a boat that breaks free of hubauds birth, related:[71]
man society when its handlers are killed by Redskins
On November 10, at two oclock in the afternoon, he was (Peaux-Rouges). At rst thinking that it is drifting where
dead, noted his sister Isabelle. The priest, shaken by so it pleases, the boat soon realizes that it is being guided
much reverence for God, administered the last rites. I by and to the poem of the sea. It sees visions both
have never seen such strong faith, he said. Thanks to magnicent (the awakening blue and yellow of singing
Isabelle, Rimbaud was brought to Charleville and buried phosphorescence, l'veil jaune et bleu des phosphores
in its cemetery with great pomp. There he lies still, next chanteurs) and disgusting (nets where in the reeds an
to his sister Vitalie, beneath a simple marble monument. entire Leviathan was rotting nasses / O pourrit dans

5
les joncs tout un Lviathan). It ends oating and washed
clean, wishing only to sink and become one with the sea.

Les Dserts de l'amour (c. 1871-1872) (Deserts of

Love) prose published in 1906

Archibald MacLeish has commented on this poem:

Anyone who doubts that poetry can say what prose cannot has only to read the so-called Lettres du Voyant and
Bateau Ivre together. What is pretentious and adolescent
in the Lettres is true in the poemunanswerably true.[76]

Proses "vangeliques (1872-1873) prose published in 1897 and 1948 (no title is given by Arthur
Rimbaud)

French poet Paul Valry stated that all known literature is written in the language of common senseexcept
Rimbauds.[77] His poetry inuenced the Symbolists,
Dadaists, and Surrealists, and later writers adopted not
only some of his themes, but also his inventive use of
form and language.

Letters

Rimbaud was a prolic correspondent and his letters provide vivid accounts of his life and relationships. Rimbauds letters concerning his literary life were rst published by various periodicals. In 1931 they were collected
and published by Jean-Marie Carr. Many errors were
corrected in the [1946] Pliade edition. The letters written in Africa were rst published by Paterne Berrichon,
the poets brother-in-law, who took the liberty of making
many changes in the texts.[78]

Works
Prologue. Le Soleil tait encore chaud... (c. 18641865) prose published by Paterne Berrichon in
1897
Les trennes des orphelins (1869) published by
Rimbaud in 1870
Lettre de Charles d'Orlans Louis XI (1870)
prose published in 1891
Un Coeur sous une soutane (1870) prose published
in 1924
Comdie en trois baisers (1870) published by Rimbaud in 1870
Le Dormeur du val (1870) (The Sleeper in the
Valley) published in Anthologie des potes franais
(1888)
Soleil et chair (1870) poem published in 1895
Album Zutique (1870) parodies
Lettres du Voyant (1871)
Voyelles (1871) published in 1883
Le Bateau ivre (1871) published by Paul Verlaine
in Les Potes maudits (1884)

Une Saison en Enfer (1873) published by Rimbaud

himself as a small booklet in Brussels.
Although a few copies were distributed to
friends in Paris... Rimbaud almost immediately lost interest in the work.[79]
Illuminations (1874) published in 1886
Rapport sur l'Ogadine (1883) published in 1884
Reliquaire - Posies published by Rodolphe
Darzens in 1891
Posies compltes (c. 18691873) published in
1895
Lettres de Jean-Arthur Rimbaud gypte, Arabie,
thiopie (18801891) published by Paterne Berrichon in 1899

5 Cultural legacy
Rimbauds poetry, as well as his life, inuenced many
20th-century writers, musicians and artists, including
Pablo Picasso, Jim Morrison, Dylan Thomas, Henri
Cartier-Bresson, Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, Jack Kerouac, Vladimir Nabokov, Bob Dylan, Luis Alberto
Spinetta, Patti Smith, La Liga del Sueo, Giannina
Braschi, Lo Ferr,[80] Henry Miller, Van Morrison,
Penny Rimbaud, Jim Morrison,[77] Richey Edwards and
Roberto Vecchioni. His life has been portrayed in several lms. Italian lmmaker Nelo Risi's 1970 lm Una
stagione all'inferno (A Season in Hell) starred Terence
Stamp as Rimbaud and Jean Claude Brialy as Paul Verlaine. Rimbaud is mentioned in the 1982 movie Eddie
and the Cruisers, along with the story line that the groups
second album was entitled A Season in Hell. In
1995 Polish lmmaker Agnieszka Holland directed Total
Eclipse, which was based on a play by Christopher Hampton who also wrote the screenplay. The lm starred
Leonardo DiCaprio as Rimbaud and David Thewlis as
Paul Verlaine. He is also the protagonist of the opera
Rimbaud, ou le ls du soleil (1978) by Italian composer
Lorenzo Ferrero. In 2012 composer John Zorn released
a CD titled Rimbaud, featuring 4 compositions inspired by Rimbauds work Bateau Ivre (a chamber
octet), A Season in Hell (electronic music), Illuminations (piano, bass and drums), and Conneries (featuring Mathieu Amalric reading from Rimbauds work). He
is also mentioned in the CocoRosie song Terrible Angels, from their 2004 album La maison de mon rve. In

REFERENCES

his 1939 composition Les Illuminations British composer [24] Starkie 1973, p. 36.
Benjamin Britten set selections of Rimbauds work of the
same name to music for soprano or tenor soloist and string [25] Jeancolas 1998, p. 26.
orchestra.
[26] Ivry 1998, p. 12.
In a scene in I'm Not There, a young Bob Dylan is por- [27] Delahaye 1974, p. 273. Trans. dirty hypocrite (Starkie
trayed identifying himself as Arthur Rimbaud by spelling
1973, p. 38) or sanctimonious little so and so (Robb
Rimbauds name and giving October 20 as his bithday.
2000, p. 35)
[28] Rickword 1971, p. 9.

See also
Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation

[29] Starkie 1973, p. 37.

[30] Robb 2000, p. 32.
[31] Starkie 1973, p. 39.

7
7.1

References
Notes

[32] Rimbauds Ver erat, which he wrote at age 14, at the Latin
Library, with an English translation. Archived 16 March
2015 at the Wayback Machine
[33] Robb 2000, p. 30.

[1] Robb 2000, p. 140.

[34] Robb 2000, pp. 3334; Lefrre 2001, pp. 104 & 109.

[2] Rimbaud. Random House Websters Unabridged Dictionary.

[35] Steinmetz 2001, p. 29.

[3] Lefrre 2001, pp. 2728; Starkie 1973, p. 30.

[4] Hackett 2010, p. 1.
[5] Robb 2000, pp. 422426.
[6] Lefrre 2001, pp. 11 & 35.
[7] Wiktionary.
[8] Lefrre 2001, pp. 18 & 1193.
[9] Starkie 1973, pp. 2526.
[10] Lefrre 2001, pp. 2728.
[11] Starkie 1973, p. 31.
[12] Robb 2000, p. 7.
[13] Lefrre 2001, pp. 1618 & 1193.
[14] Starkie 1973, pp. 2728.
[15] Lefrre 2001, p. 15: renferme, ttue et taciturne.
[16] Nicholl 1999, p. 94; Robb 2000, p. 50: Refers to Victor
Hugo's poem Ce que dit la bouche d'ombre, from Contemplations, 1856.

[36] Robb 2000, pp. 3334.

[37] Starkie 1973, pp. 4849; Robb 2000, p. 40.
[38] Robb 2000, pp. 4142.
[39] Robb 2000, p. 44.
[40] Robb 2000, pp. 4650.
[41] Robb 2000, pp. 4650; Starkie 1973, pp. 6061.
[42] Robb 2000, p. 51; Starkie 1974, pp. 5465.
[43] Ivry 1998, p. 22.
[44] Leuwers 1998, pp. 710.
[45] Ivry 1998, p. 24.
[46] Ivry 1998, p. 29.
[47] Robb 2000, p. 102.
[48] Robb 2000, p. 109.
[49] Ivry 1998, p. 34.
[50] Bernard & Guyaux 1991.
[51] Robb 2000, p. 184.

[17] Lefrre 2001, pp. 3132; Starkie 1973, p. 30.

[52] Robb 2000, pp. 196197.

[18] Lefrre 2001, pp. 2729.

[53] Robb 2000, pp. 218221; Jeancolas 1998, pp. 112113.

[19] Lefrre 2001, p. 31.

[54] Harding 2004, p. 160.

[20] Robb 2000, p. 12.

[55] Robb 2000, pp. 223224.

[21] Lefrre 2001, p. 35.

[56] Robb 2000, p. 241.

[22] Starkie 1973, p. 33.

[57] Jeancolas 1998, p. 164.

[23] Rickword 1971, p. 4.

[58] Robb 2000, p. 264.

7.2

Sources

[59] Robb 2000, p. 278.

[60] Robb 2000, pp. 282285.
[61] Robb 2000, p. 299.
[62] Robb 2000, p. 313.
[63] Nicholl 1999, pp. 159165.
[64] Nicholl 1999, p. 231.
[65] Goodman 2001, pp. 8-15.
[66] Robb 2000, pp. 418419.
[67] Robb 2000, pp. 422424.
[68] Robb 2000, pp. 425426.
[69] Nicholl 1999, pp. 298302.
[70] Robb 2000, pp. 440441.
[71] http://www.thebaffler.com/ancestors/
jean-arthur-rimbaud
[72] Robb 2000, pp. 7980.
[73] "Lettre Georges Izambard du 13 mai 1871".
Abelard.free.fr. Retrieved on May 12, 2011.
[74] Kwasny 2004, p. 147.
[75] "A Paul Demeny, 15 mai 1871". Abelard.free.fr. Retrieved on May 12, 2011.
[76] MacLeish 1960, p. 147.
[77] Robb 2000, pp. xiv.
[78] Fowlie 1966, p. 4.
[79] Fowlie & Whidden 2005, p. xxxii.
[80] Ferr set to music and recorded ten poems of Rimbaud
in his 1964 double album Verlaine et Rimbaud. He would
also set to music Le Bateau ivre later in his triple 1982 LP,
and Roman in On n'est pas srieux quand on a dix-sept ans
(1987).

7.2

Sources

Adam, Antoine, ed. (1999) [1972], Rimbaud: uvres compltes (in French), Paris: Pliade (ditions
Gallimard), ISBN 978-2070104765
Bernard, Suzanne; Guyaux, Andr (1991), uvres
de Rimbaud (in French), Paris: Classiques Garnier,
ISBN 2-04-017399-4
Bousmanne, Bernard (2006), Reviens, reviens, cher
ami. Rimbaud Verlaine. L'Aaire de Bruxelles (in
French), Paris: ditions Calmann-Lvy, ISBN 9782702137215
Brunel, Pierre, ed. (2004), Rimbaud: uvres compltes (in French), Paris: Le Livre de Poche, ISBN
978-2253131212

7
Delahaye, Ernest (1974) [1919], Delahaye, tmoin
de Rimbaud (in French), Geneva: La Baconnire,
ISBN 978-2825200711
Fowlie, Wallace; Whidden, Seth (2005), Rimbaud,
Complete Works, Selected Letters (Revised and updated ed.), Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
ISBN 0-226-71977-4
Goodman, Richard (2001), Arthur Rimbaud, Coffee Trader, Saudi Aramco World (September 2001)
52 (5), retrieved 23 August 2015
Guyaux, Andr, ed. (2009), Rimbaud uvres compltes (in French) (New revised ed.), Paris: Gallimard / Bibliothque de la Pliade, ISBN 9782070116010
Hackett, Cecil Arthur (2010) [1981], Rimbaud: A
critical introduction (Digital ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521297561
Harding, Jeremy; Sturrock, John (2004), Arthur
Rimbaud: Selected Poems and Letters, Penguin,
ISBN 0-14-044802-0
Ivry, Benjamin (1998), Arthur Rimbaud, Bath,
Somerset: Absolute Press, ISBN 1-899791-55-8
Jeancolas, Claude (1998), Passion Rimbaud:
L'Album d'une vie (in French), Paris: Textuel, ISBN
978-2-909317-66-3
Kwasny, Melissa (2004), Toward the Open Field:
Poets on the Art of Poetry, Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, ISBN 0-8195-6606-3
Lefrre, Jean-Jacques (2001), Arthur Rimbaud (in
French), Paris: Fayard, ISBN 978-2-213-60691-0
Lefrre, Jean-Jacques (2007), Correspondance de
Rimbaud (in French), Paris: Fayard, ISBN 978-2213-63391-6
Lefrre, Jean-Jacques (2014), Arthur Rimbaud:
Correspondance posthume (1912-1920) (in French),
Paris: Fayard, ISBN 978-2213662749
Leuwers, Daniel (1998), Rimbaud: Les Lettres du
voyant, Textes Fondateurs (in French), Paris: ditions Ellipses, ISBN 978-2729867980
MacLeish, Archibald (1965), Poetry and Experience, Baltimore: Penguin, ISBN 978-0140550443
Mason, Wyatt (2003), Poetry and prose, Rimbaud
Complete 1, New York: Modern Library, ISBN
978-0-375-7577-09
Mason, Wyatt (2004), I Promise to Be Good: The
Letters of Arthur Rimbaud, Rimbaud Complete 2,
New York: Modern Library, ISBN 978-0-67964301-2

8
Miller, Henry, The Time of the Assassins, A Study of
Rimbaud, New York 1962.
Nicholl, Charles (1999), Somebody Else: Arthur
Rimbaud in Africa 188091, Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-58029-6
Peyre, Henri (1974), A Season in Hell and The Illuminations, New York: Oxford University Press,
ISBN 0-19-501760-9
Rickword, Edgell (1971) [1924], Rimbaud: The Boy
and the Poet, New York: Haskell House Publishers,
ISBN 0-8383-1309-4
Robb, Graham (2000), Rimbaud, New York: W.W.
Norton & Co, ISBN 978-0330482820
Schmidt, Paul (2000) [1976], Rimbaud: Complete
Works, New York: Perennial (HarperCollins), ISBN
978-0-06-095550-2
Spitzer, Mark (2002), From Absinthe to Abyssinia,
Berkeley: Creative Arts, ISBN 978-0887392931
Starkie, Enid (1973), Arthur Rimbaud, London:
Faber and Faber, ISBN 0-571-10440-1
Steinmetz, Jean-Luc (2001), Arthur Rimbaud: Presence of an Enigma, Jon Graham (trans), New York:
Welcome Rain Publishers, ISBN 1-56649-106-1

EXTERNAL LINKS

Ross, Kristin (2008), The Emergence of Social

Space: Rimbaud and the Paris Commune, Radical thinkers 31, London: Verso, ISBN 9781844672066

8 External links
Works by Arthur Rimbaud at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Arthur Rimbaud at Internet
Archive
Works by Arthur Rimbaud at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Arthur Rimbaud Poetry list
Arthur Rimbaud. Find a Grave. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
Arthur Rimbaud Poets.org
Arthur Rimbauds Life and Poetry French and English
(French) Rimbaud Illuminations from the original
Publications de la Vogue, 1886
(French) The poem Ophlie

Underwood, Vernon (2005) [1976], Rimbaud et

l'Angleterre (in French), Paris: A G Nizet, ISBN
978-2707804082

(French) Rimbauds holes in space project

launched for the 150th anniversary (CharlevilleMzires)

White, Edmund (2008), Rimbaud: The Double Life

of a Rebel, London: Grove, ISBN 978-1-84354971-0

(French) Website for the 150th anniversary

(Charleville-Mzires)

7.3

Other reading

Capetanakis, J. Lehmann, ed. (1947), Rimbaud,

Demetrios Capetanakis: A Greek Poet In England,
pp. 5371, ASIN B0007J07Q6
Godchot, Colonel [Simon] (1936), Arthur Rimbaud
ne varietur I: 18541871 (in French), Nice: Chez
l'auteur
Godchot, Colonel [Simon] (1937), Arthur Rimbaud
ne varietur II: 18711873 (in French), Nice: Chez
l'auteur
James, Jamie (2011), Rimbaud in Java: The Lost
Voyage, Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, ISBN
978-981-4260-82-4
Magedera, Ian H. (2014), Outsider Biographies; Savage, de Sade, Wainewright, Ned Kelly, Billy the Kid,
Rimbaud and Genet: Base Crime and High Art in Biography and Bio-Fiction, 17442000., Amsterdam
and New York: Rodopi, ISBN 978-90-420-3875-2

(French) Arthur Rimbaud, his work in audio version

Verlaine (far left) and Rimbaud (second to left) in an 1872 painting by Henri Fantin-Latour

Rimbaud (self-portrait) in Harar in 1883.[57]

10

Rimbauds grave in Charleville. The inscription reads Priez pour

lui (Pray for him).

EXTERNAL LINKS

Bust of Rimbaud. Muse Arthur Rimbaud, Charleville-Mzires

The poem Le bateau ivre on a wall in Paris

Reginald Gray's portrait (2011)

11

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Arthur Rimbaud Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rimbaud?oldid=703692590 Contributors: Joakim Ziegler, Eclecticology,

JeLuF, Deb, Roadrunner, Hephaestos, Quercusrobur, Olivier, Someone else, Greg Godwin, Rbrwr, Patrick, Jahsonic, Gabbe, Ihcoyc,
Ellywa, Andres, John K, RodC, SatyrTN, Fibonacci, Morn, Fvw, Jerzy, Carbuncle, Dimadick, Phil Boswell, Bearcat, NightCrawler,
ChrisO~enwiki, Macarenaman, Romanm, Mayooranathan, Diderot, Alan De Smet, Wikibot, Cutler, Gtrmp, Nunh-huh, Orangemike,
Anville, Explendido Rocha, D3, Quadell, Rdsmith4, RetiredUser2, Tothebarricades.tk, Mike Rosoft, D6, Haiduc, Ma'ame Michu, Mammique, Antaeus Feldspar, Kwamikagami, Mjk2357, Alcidebava, Nk, Willerror, Amcl, HasharBot~enwiki, Jumbuck, Andershalden, Macho,
Ben davison, Philip Cross, Pnd~enwiki, Alex '05, Angr, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Undream, Mrio, FeanorStar7, MonsieurMustache, Je3000, Hailey C. Shannon, Dionyziz, SDC, Palica, Kbdank71, Paulo Andrade, Porcher, Icey, Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Vratnica, Jake
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Cydebot, Blearynyc1001, Nabokov, DBaba, A Musing, PamD, Kirk Hilliard, JAF1970, Ravenwing1854, Stoshmaster, Qp10qp, Scottandrewhutchins, Escarbot, Yomangani, Julia Rossi, Modernist, Wisl, Edwardpiercy, Sluzzelin, Deective, Banzaiboy, Kikadue~enwiki,
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Wiae, Rumiton, Brainmuncher, PhysMetal, Alcmaeonid, Dick Shane, Lucydusty, Tomasboij, BotMultichill, Gerakibot, HTO, Apollo Augustus Koo, Monegasque, Slowgaze, Mnudelman, Kumioko (renamed), Hangsuwan, Kgroussos, Maelgwnbot, JL-Bot, Asauer24, ClueBot,
Yamanbaiia, All Hallows Wraith, MrMetalFLower, Jeanenawhitney, Rimbaud 2, Sadiecampbell, Grisunge, JasonAQuest, XLinkBot, BodhisattvaBot, Czarnykon, Good Olfactory, Kbdankbot, Addbot, Willking1979, Download, LinkFA-Bot, Vysotsky, Woland1234, Lightbot,
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Cavarrone, Ziva11, Daubmir, Scrobblix, Klassikkomies~enwiki, ArthurBot, Xqbot, Katarinam, QueenQH, Petropoxy (Lithoderm Proxy),
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EmausBot, And we drown, Nerissa-Marie, Frederic420, Ovidcaput, TuHan-Bot, MadOwl, Arthur75, Josve05a, Linka Pralitz, SporkBot,
Wikignome0530, George Dance, Chewings72, 33gsd, Mentibot, Treeinthebog, LasciviousElderPassion, Helpsome, ClueBot NG, Velo Vrbata, WhiteFlower, Lemanbk, EnglishTea4me, Frietjes, Chisme, VEBott, Raoulis, Swansnic, RakiSykes, Papyrused, Helpful Pixie Bot,
Rappelle-toi, Wikitonykline, Toby Deller, BG19bot, Lunarcheck, Laureos, Pr Fox, Exercisephys, Toccata quarta, 1292simon, Pigiz, Hyperbore, Cyberbot II, Dexbot, Ophuls20393, Dennisthemonkeychild, CamelBaks, Mgrobe, Xeig77, Lekoren, Eyesnore, RaphaelQS, Sarah
Joy Jones, Inanygivenhole, Ngazidja, Timellisx, Bogislaw, GrandCelinien, Vanished user 31lk45mnzx90, Fouad Arsanios, Evanc1210,
Mohanbhan, Tolstoyan at Heart, CAamodt, KasparBot, MusicAngels, Murph9000, Hadit and Anonymous: 291

9.2

Images

File:Arthur_Rimbaud_plaque.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Arthur_Rimbaud_plaque.JPG License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Tim Lambrechts (Quasium)
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Henri_Fantin-Latour_005.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Henri_Fantin-Latour_005.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. Original artist: Henri Fantin-Latour
File:P1110482_Paris_VI_rue_Ferou_le_bateau_ivre_rwk.JPG Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/
P1110482_Paris_VI_rue_Ferou_le_bateau_ivre_rwk.JPG License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Mbzt
File:P_vip.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/P_vip.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Quill_and_ink.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Quill_and_ink.svg License: CC BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Ebrenc at Catalan Wikipedia
File:Rimbaud.PNG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Rimbaud.PNG License: Public domain Contributors:
Close-up from Arthur Rimbaud [1872 - foto de tienne Carjat] Original artist: tienne Carjat
File:RimbaudCommunion1.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/RimbaudCommunion1.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: John Tranter site Original artist: Unknown<a href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718'
title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img
alt='wikidata:Q4233718'
src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/
Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png
1.5x,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/
Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='1050' data-le-height='590' /></a>
File:Rimbaud_-_tombe__Charleville.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Rimbaud_-_tombe_
%C3%A0_Charleville.jpg License: CC BY 2.5 Contributors: No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on
copyright claims). Original artist: No machine-readable author provided. PRA assumed (based on copyright claims).

12

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

File:Rimbaud_2_by_Reginald_Gray.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Rimbaud_2_by_Reginald_

Gray.jpg License: CC0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Reginald gray
File:Rimbaud_in_Harar.jpg
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Rimbaud_in_Harar.jpg
License:
Public domain Contributors:
http://www.africantrain.org/le-double-rimbaud Original artist:
Unknown<a
href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718'
title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img
alt='wikidata:Q4233718'
src='https://upload.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png'
width='20'
height='11'
srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png
1.5x,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='1050'
data-le-height='590' /></a>
File:Rimbaud_in_Museum.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Rimbaud_in_Museum.JPG License:
Public domain Contributors: Transferred from nl.wikipedia to Commons. Original artist: Sidsmeets at Dutch Wikipedia
File:Rimbaud_par_Verlaine1.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Rimbaud_par_Verlaine1.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Personal scan from Alain Borer, Rimbaud, l'heure de la fuite, Gallimard Original artist: User:Skylie
(scan)
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author provided. Mobius assumed (based on copyright claims).
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Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau

9.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0