Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet who had a significant impact on poetry, art, music, and cinema. He was born in 1854 and was a brilliant student who began composing original works in Latin at the age of 15. Rimbaud met the poet Paul Verlaine, who became his lover and a significant influence throughout his poetic career. Their relationship turned stormy, and Verlaine shot Rimbaud twice, hitting him in the wrist. Rimbaud completed his most valuable work, Une Saison en Enfer (A Season in Hell), and Illuminations, a volume of poetry. Rimbaud began traveling throughout Europe, enlisted in the Dutch army, and eventually became an arms dealer. He returned to France in 1891 after contracting cancer in his right knee and died at the age of 37.
Arthur Rimbaud was a French symbolist poet whose work has had a vast influence on poetry, art, music and even cinema. He is considered one of the most important French poets in history, although he was not very prolific and his literary career ended at the age of 21. His poetry, including the first free verse poems in French, paved the way for the Surrealist movement and the Beat poets, and references to him are widespread in all kinds of popular literature and music.
Rimbaud was born on October 20, 1854 in Charleville, France to a middle-class family. His father, a soldier, left the family when Arthur was six years old. He was a brilliant student who began composing original works in Latin at the age of 15. His poetry improved rapidly after his professor, Georges Izambard, became his mentor in 1870, although his personal life was chaotic. He often ran away from home and began to drink heavily and lead the life of an anarchist.
Rimbaud met the poet Paul Verlaine, who was to become his lover and a significant influence throughout his poetic career, in 1871. For a time, he lived in Verlaine’s house with his pregnant wife and in-laws. In less than a year Verlaine had abandoned his family and the two had moved to London together. They spent their time between London and France over the next year or so. During his relationship with Verlaine, Rimbaud began supplementing his drinking with absinthe, hashish and possibly opium.
Around 1873, the relationship turned stormy, the older man subjecting Rimbaud to the drunken rages he had previously felt on his wife and son. When Rimbaud announced plans for him to return to Paris, Verlaine shot him twice, hitting him in the wrist. Verlaine made a scene at the Brussels train station when Rimbaud was leaving and was arrested at Rimbaud’s request. Although he later withdrew the complaint, Verlaine was fined and spent two years in prison. The two met again for the last time, in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1875, after he had abandoned the literary life.
After his return to France in 1873, Rimbaud completed the long prose poem Une Saison en Enfer (A Season in Hell), probably his most valuable work. He returned to London the following year with fellow poet Germain Nouveau and shortly thereafter finished Illuminations, a volume of poetry. It would be his last literary work.
He began traveling throughout Europe at the age of 20, often on foot. He enlisted in the Dutch army in 1876 to get free passage to Java, but deserted when he arrived. He also lived for a time on the Greek island of Cyprus, Yemen and Ethiopia. During this time he had numerous affairs with indigenous women and eventually became an arms dealer.
In 1891, Rimbaud returned to France after contracting cancer in his right knee. His leg was amputated in May, a few days after he arrived at a hospital in Marseille. His sister tried to help him get back to health at his home, but in August she returned to the hospital and found the cancer had spread throughout his system. He died on November 10 at the age of 37. Though his time as a poet was short, he will no doubt continue to serve as an inspiration to artists of all stripes for decades to come.
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