A French poet and adventurer who ceased writing verse at 19, he became an inextricable myth in French gay life after his early death. Rimbaud's poetry, partly written in free verse, is defined by its dramatic and imaginative vision, with the poet declaring one must become a visionary. His works stand as some of the most original within the Symbolist movement. His most celebrated poem is an allegory for a spiritual quest, envisioning a vessel's journey.
A phenomenonally precocious schoolboy, Rimbaud was still a teenager when he became notorious as Europe's most shocking and exhilarating poet. This book sets the two sides of Rimbaud side by side with a translation of his exhilarating poetry and a selection of the letters from the harsh and colourful period of his life as a colonial trader.
Presents a new translation and a revised chronology along with a sketch of the poet's life.
Features A Season in Hell, one of the great works of modern literature, and many of the verse poems which Rimbaud wrote between March 1870 and August 1872.
This may be the most beautiful book in the world, lighted from within and somehow embodying all forms of literature. Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times
Exploring themes of love, rebellion, and existential despair, this collection features Arthur Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell," a prose poem reflecting on his tumultuous relationship with Paul Verlaine. It includes "The Drunken Boat," a vivid narrative of loss at sea, and "Illuminations," a celebrated series of forty-two prose poems. Rimbaud's innovative style and profound insights have earned him recognition as a pivotal figure in modern symbolism, as noted by Albert Camus. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and showcases translations by notable scholars.
A reissue of Rimbaud's highly influential work, with a new preface by Patti Smith and the original 1945 New Directions cover design by Alvin lustig.
Written by Rimbaud at the age of 18 in the wake of his tempestuous affair with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, "A Season in Hell" has been a touchstone for anguished poets, artists, and lovers for more than a century. This stunning volume presents Rimbaud's poem in the original French and in English translation. Each of the poem's eight sections if accompanied by a dazzling Mapplethorpe photograph that brilliantly complements the work's shifting moods. 95 pp. 20,000 print. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
'The poet makes himself a seer by a long, prodigious, and rational disordering of all the senses. . .' Rimbaud was sixteen when he made this famous declaration. By 1886, then thirty-two and an explorer, trader and slave-trader on the Red Sea, he had absolutely no interest in the fate or success of the poetry infused with mysticism, alchemy and magic that he had written in his teens. That same year, in Paris, Les Illuminations was being published as the work of 'the late' Arthur Rimbaud, first in a Symbolist periodical and then in book form, with an Introduction by his former lover, Verlaine. Seldom has a writer's vision of changing the world through words failed so spectacularly as did Rimbaud's. That failure turned him into an incomparable tragic poet: not only 'a wild undisciplined genius, a mystic philosopher and thinker, an inspired poet' but also, according to Enid Starkie, 'one of the most finished artists . . . a supreme master of prosody and style'. This Penguin Classic reproduces the text of the Pléiade edition, 1954, with selected letters and prose translations that have been highly acclaimed.
Arthur Rimbaud is remembered as much for his volatile personality and tumultuous life as he is for his writings, most of which he produced before the age of eighteen. This book brings together his poetry, prose, and letters, including "The Drunken Boat," "The Orphans' New Year," "After the Flood," and "A Season in Hell," considered by many to be his. 'Complete Works' is divided into eight "seasons" - Childhood, The Open Road, War, The Tormented Heart, The Visionary, The Damned Soul, A Few Belated Cowardices, and The Man with the Wind at His Heels - that reflect the facets of Rimbaud's life. Insightful commentary by translator and editor Paul Schmidt reveals the courage, vision, and imagination of Rimbaud's poetry and sheds light on one of the most enigmatic figures in letters.
The book presents a new translation of Arthur Rimbaud's groundbreaking poetic work from 1873, capturing his intense emotions and visionary language that have influenced generations of poets. It explores Rimbaud's tumultuous youth, his escape from provincial life to the streets of Paris, and his eventual renunciation of poetry for a mundane existence in Aden. With the original French text alongside the translation, this edition includes an introduction, bibliography, and illustrations, highlighting Rimbaud's enduring legacy as a revolutionary figure in poetry.