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{{Short description|French poet (1854–1891)}}
{{Redirect|Rimbaud||Rimbaud (surname)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name = Arthur Rimbaud
| image = Rimbaud.PNG
| caption = Rimbaud at 17 by [[Étienne Carjat]]{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=140}}
| birth_name = Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1854|10|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Charleville-Mézières|Charleville]], France
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1891|11|10|1854|10|20|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Marseille]], France
| occupation = Poet
| period = 1870–1875 (major creative period)
| movement = [[Symbolism (movement)|Symbolism]]
| notable_works = {{plainlist|
* ''[[Le Bateau ivre|The Drunken Boat]]'' (1871)
* ''[[A Season in Hell]]'' (1873)
* ''[[Illuminations (poetry collection)|Illuminations]]'' (1873–1875)<ref>[https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/illuminations/]</ref>}}
| partner = [[Paul Verlaine]] (1871–1873)
| signature = Arthur Rimbaud signature.svg
| parents = {{Ublist|[[Frédéric Rimbaud]] (father)|[[Vitalie Rimbaud|Marie Catherine Vitalie Rimbaud]] (mother)}}
| relatives = {{Ublist|[[Vitalie Rimbaud (1858–1875)|Vitalie Rimbaud]] (sister)|[[Isabelle Rimbaud]] (sister)}}
}}
'''Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|r|æ̃|b|oʊ}}, {{IPAc-en|US|r|æ|m|ˈ|b|oʊ}};<ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref><ref>{{cite EPD|18|Rimbaud|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=bfLXAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA423|page=423}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃ nikɔla aʁtyʁ ʁɛ̃bo|lang|Fr-Arthur Rimbaud.oga}}; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a [[French poet]] known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on [[Modernism|modern]] literature and arts, prefiguring [[surrealism]].
Born in [[Charleville-Mézières|Charleville]], he started writing at a very young age and excelled as a student, but abandoned his formal education in his teenage years to run away to Paris amidst the [[Franco-Prussian War]].{{sfnm|Lefrère|2001|1pp=27–28 |Starkie|1973|2p=30}} During his late adolescence and early adulthood, he produced the bulk of his literary output. Rimbaud completely stopped writing literature at age 20 after assembling his last major work, ''[[Illuminations (poetry collection)|Illuminations]]''.
Rimbaud was a [[libertine]] and a restless soul, having engaged in a hectic, sometimes violent romantic relationship with fellow poet [[Paul Verlaine]], which lasted nearly two years. After his retirement as a writer, he travelled extensively on three continents as a merchant and explorer until his death from [[cancer]] just after his thirty-seventh birthday.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=422–426}} As a poet, Rimbaud is well known for his contributions to [[Symbolism (movement)|symbolism]] and, among other works, for ''[[A Season in Hell]]'', a precursor to [[Literary modernism|modernist literature]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mendelsohn |first=Daniel |title=Rebel Rebel |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/08/29/rebel-rebel |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast]] |___location=New York City |date=29 August 2011 |access-date=19 June 2016}}</ref>
== Life ==
=== Family and childhood (1854–1861) ===
Arthur Rimbaud was born in the provincial town of Charleville (now part of [[Charleville-Mézières]]) in the [[Ardennes (département)|Ardennes]] [[departments of France|department]] in northeastern France. He was the second child of [[Frédéric Rimbaud]] (7 October 1814 – 16 November 1878){{sfn|Lefrère|2001|pp=11 & 35}} and [[Vitalie Rimbaud|Marie Catherine Vitalie Rimbaud]] (née [[O'Keeffe|Cuif]]; 10 March 1825 – 16 November 1907).{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|pp=18 & 1193}}
Rimbaud's father, a [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundian]] of [[Provence|Provençal]] heritage, was an infantry captain who had risen from the ranks; he had spent much of his army career abroad.{{sfn|Starkie|1973|pp=25–26}} He participated in the [[French Algeria#Conquest of the Algerian territories under the July Monarchy (1830–1848)|conquest of Algeria]] from 1844 to 1850, and in 1854 was awarded the [[Légion d'honneur|Legion of Honor]]{{sfn|Starkie|1973|pp=25–26}} "by Imperial decree".{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|pp=27–28}} Captain Rimbaud was described as "good-tempered, easy-going and generous,"{{sfn|Starkie|1973|p=31}} with the long moustache and goatee of a [[Chasseur]] officer.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=7}}
In October 1852, Captain Rimbaud, then aged 38, was transferred to [[Charleville-Mézières|Mézières]] where he met Vitalie Cuif, 11 years his junior, while on a Sunday stroll.{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|pp=16–18 & 1193}} She came from a "solidly established {{lang|fr|Ardennais}} family",{{sfn|Starkie|1973|pp=27–28}} but one with its share of [[bohemianism|bohemians]]; two of her brothers were alcoholics.{{sfn|Starkie|1973|pp=27–28}} Her personality was the "exact opposite" of Captain Rimbaud's; she was reportedly narrowminded, "stingy and ... completely lacking in a sense of humour".{{sfn|Starkie|1973|p=31}} When Charles Houin, an early biographer, interviewed her, he found her "withdrawn, stubborn and taciturn".{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|p=15|ps=: "{{lang|fr|renfermée, têtue et taciturne}}".}} Arthur Rimbaud's private name for her was "Mouth of Darkness" ({{lang|fr|bouche d'ombre}}).{{sfnm|Nicholl|1999|1p=94|Robb|2000|2p=50|ps=: Refers to [[Victor Hugo]]'s poem "{{lang|fr|Ce que dit la bouche d'ombre|}}", from ''Contemplations'', 1856.}}
On 8 February 1853, Captain Rimbaud and Vitalie Cuif married; their first-born, Jean Nicolas Frédéric ("Frédéric"), arrived nine months later on 2 November.{{sfnm|Lefrère|2001|1pp=27–28|Starkie|1973|2p=30}} The next year, on 20 October 1854, Jean Nicolas Arthur ("Arthur") was born.{{sfnm|Lefrère|2001|1pp=27–28 |Starkie|1973|2p=30}} Three more children followed: Victorine-Pauline-Vitalie on 4 June 1857 (who died a few weeks later), [[Vitalie Rimbaud (1858-1875)|Jeanne-Rosalie-Vitalie]] ("Vitalie") on 15 June 1858 and, finally, [[Isabelle Rimbaud|Frédérique Marie Isabelle]] ("Isabelle") on 1 June 1860.{{sfnm|Lefrère|2001|1pp=31–32|Starkie|1973|2p=30}}
Though the marriage lasted seven years, Captain Rimbaud lived continuously in the matrimonial home for less than three months, from February to May 1853.{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|pp=27–29}} The rest of the time his military postings—including active service in the [[Crimean War]] and the [[Second Italian War of Independence|Sardinian Campaign]] (with medals earned in both){{sfn|Lefrère|2001|p=31}}—meant he returned home to Charleville only when on leave.{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|pp=27–29}} He was not at home for his children's births, nor their baptisms.{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|pp=27–29}} Isabelle's birth in 1860 must have been the last straw, as after this Captain Rimbaud stopped returning home on leave altogether.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=12}} Though they never divorced, the separation was complete; thereafter Mme Rimbaud let herself be known as "widow Rimbaud"{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=12}} and Captain Rimbaud would describe himself as a widower.{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|p=35}} Neither the captain nor his children showed the slightest interest in re-establishing contact.{{sfn|Lefrère|2001|p=35}}
=== Schooling and teen years (1861–1871) ===
Fearing her children were being over-influenced by the neighbouring children of the poor, Mme Rimbaud moved her family to the Cours d'Orléans in 1862.{{sfn|Starkie|1973|p=33}} This was a better neighbourhood, and the boys, now aged nine and eight, who had been taught at home by their mother, were now sent to the Pension Rossat, an old but well-regarded school. Throughout the five years that they attended the school, however, their formidable mother still imposed her will upon them, pushing them for scholastic success. She would punish her sons by making them learn a hundred lines of Latin verse by heart, and further punish any mistakes by depriving them of meals.{{sfn|Rickword|1971|p=4}} When Arthur was nine, he wrote a 700-word essay objecting to his having to learn Latin in school. Vigorously condemning a classical education as a mere gateway to a salaried position, he wrote repeatedly, "I will be a [[:wikt:rentier|rentier]]".{{sfn|Rickword|1971|p=4}} Arthur disliked schoolwork and resented his mother's constant supervision; the children were not allowed out of their mother's sight, and until they were fifteen and sixteen respectively, she would walk them home from school.{{sfn|Starkie|1973|p=36}}
[[File:RimbaudCommunion1.jpg|thumb|Rimbaud on the day of his [[First Communion]]{{sfn|Jeancolas|1998|p=26}}]]
As a boy, Arthur Rimbaud was small and pale with light brown hair, and eyes that his lifelong best friend, [[Ernest Delahaye]], described as "pale blue irradiated with dark blue—the loveliest eyes I've seen".{{sfn|Ivry|1998|p=12}} An ardent Catholic like his mother, he had his [[First Communion]] when he was eleven. His piety earned him the schoolyard nickname "{{lang|fr|sale petit [[Cagot]]}}".{{sfn|Delahaye|1974|p=273|ps=. Trans. "dirty hypocrite" {{harv|Starkie|1973|p=38}} or "sanctimonious little so and so" {{harv|Robb|2000|p=35}}}} That same year, he and his brother were sent to the {{lang|fr|Collège de Charleville|italic=no}}. Up to then, his reading had been largely confined to the Bible,{{sfn|Rickword|1971|p=9}} though he had also enjoyed fairy tales and adventure stories, such as the novels of [[James Fenimore Cooper]] and [[Gustave Aimard]].{{sfn|Starkie|1973|p=37}} At the Collège 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. He won eight first prizes in the French academic competitions in 1869, including the prize for Religious Education, and the following year won seven first prizes.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=32}}
Hoping for a brilliant academic career for her second son, Mme Rimbaud hired a private tutor for Arthur when he reached the third grade.{{sfn|Starkie|1973|p=39}} Father Ariste Lhéritier succeeded in sparking in the young scholar a love of Greek, Latin and French classical literature, and was the first to encourage the boy to write original verse, in both French and Latin.<ref>Rimbaud's [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/rimbaud.html Ver erat] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316133225/http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/rimbaud.html |date=16 March 2015 }}, which he wrote at age 14, at the [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ Latin Library], with an English [https://web.archive.org/web/20091231161509/http://www.lloydsmiley.com/Poetry___.php translation].</ref> Rimbaud's first poem to appear in print was "{{lang|fr|Les Étrennes des orphelins}}" ("The Orphans' New Year's Gifts"), which was published in the 2 January 1870 issue of {{lang|fr|La Revue pour tous}}; he was just 15.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=30}}
Two weeks later, a new teacher of rhetoric, the 22-year-old [[Georges Izambard]], started at the Collège de Charleville.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=33–34|Lefrère|2001|2pp=104 & 109}} Izambard became Rimbaud's mentor, and soon a close friendship formed between teacher and student, with Rimbaud seeing Izambard as a kind of elder brother.{{sfn|Steinmetz|2001|p=29}} At the age of 15, Rimbaud was showing maturity as a poet; the first poem he showed Izambard, "{{lang|fr|Ophélie|italic=no}}", would later be included in anthologies, and is often regarded as one of Rimbaud's three or four best poems.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=33–34}} On 4 May 1870, Rimbaud's mother wrote to Izambard to object to his having given Rimbaud [[Victor Hugo]]'s {{lang|fr|[[Les Misérables]]}} to read, as she thought the book dangerous to the morals of a child.{{sfnm|Starkie|1973|1pp=48–49|Robb|2000|2p=40}}
The [[Franco-Prussian War]], between [[Napoleon III]]'s [[Second French Empire]] and the [[Kingdom of Prussia]], broke out on 19 July 1870.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=41–42}} Five days later, Izambard left Charleville for the summer to stay with his three aunts – the Misses Gindre – in [[Douai]].{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=41–42}} In the meantime, preparations for war continued and the Collège de Charleville became a military hospital.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=44}} By the end of August, with the countryside in turmoil, Rimbaud was bored and restless.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=44}} In search of adventure he ran away by train to Paris without funds for his ticket.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=46–50}} On arrival at the {{lang|fr|[[Gare du Nord]]|italic=no}}, he was arrested and locked up in [[Mazas Prison]] to await trial for fare evasion and vagrancy.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=46–50}} On 5 September, Rimbaud wrote a desperate letter to Izambard,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rimbaud|first=Arthur|date=5 September 1870|title=Lettre de Rimbaud à Georges Izambard – 5 septembre 1870 – Wikisource|url=https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Lettre_de_Rimbaud_%C3%A0_Georges_Izambard_-_5_septembre_1870|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-10|website=fr.wikisource.org|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013200432/http://fr.wikisource.org:80/wiki/Lettre_de_Rimbaud_%C3%A0_Georges_Izambard_-_5_septembre_1870 |archive-date=13 October 2007 }}</ref> who arranged with the prison governor that Rimbaud be released into his care.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=46–50|Starkie|1973|2pp=60–61}} As hostilities were continuing, he stayed with the Misses Gindre in Douai until he could be returned to Charleville.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=46–50|Starkie|1973|2pp=60–61}} Izambard finally handed Rimbaud over to Mme Rimbaud on 27 September 1870 (his mother reportedly slapped him in the face and admonished Izambard<ref>Georges Izambard, ''Rimbaud tel que je l'ai connu'', Mercure de France, 1963, chap. IV, p. 33-34.</ref>), but he was at home for only ten days before running away again.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1p=51|Starkie|1973|2pp=54–65}}
From late October 1870, Rimbaud's 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.{{sfn|Ivry|1998|p=22}}
At the end of February 1871 he ran away again and made his way to Paris, which was now encircled and partially occupied by German troops. As can be seen from a letter to Izambard, he browsed in bookshops but set off home on foot after a few days. The validity of the claim that Rimbaud returned to the capital after the proclamation of the [[Paris Commune]] on March 18, 1871, and that he took part as a guerrilla in the defense of the Commune is uncertain. His sympathies for the Commune are, however, reflected in several poems from this period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fowlie |first=Wallace |date=1971 |title=Rimbaud and the Commune |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25088145 |journal=The Massachusetts Review |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=517–520 |jstor=25088145 |issn=0025-4878}}</ref>
On 13 and 15 May 1871, he wrote letters (later called the {{lang|fr|lettres du voyant}} by scholars),{{sfn|Leuwers|1998|pp=7–10}} to Izambard and his friend Paul Demeny respectively, about his method for attaining poetical transcendence or visionary power through a "long, immense and rational derangement of all the senses" (to Demeny). "The sufferings are enormous, but one must be strong, be born a poet, and I have recognized myself as a poet" (to Izambard).{{sfn|Ivry|1998|p=24}}
=== Life with Verlaine (1871–1875) ===
[[File:Arthur Rimbaud plaque.JPG|thumb|right|Plaque erected on the centenary of Rimbaud's death at the place where he was shot and wounded by Verlaine in [[Brussels]]]]
[[File:Rimbaud par Verlaine1.JPG|thumb|left|75px|Caricature of Rimbaud drawn by Verlaine in 1872]]
Rimbaud wrote to several famous poets but received either no reply or a disappointing mere acknowledgement (as from [[Théodore de Banville]]), so his friend, office employee Charles Auguste Bretagne, advised him to write to [[Paul Verlaine]], a rising poet (and future leader of the [[Symbolism (movement)|Symbolist]] movement) who had published two well-regarded collections.{{sfn|Ivry|1998|p=29}} Rimbaud sent Verlaine two letters with several of his poems, including the hypnotic, finally 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.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=102}} Rimbaud arrived in late September 1871 and resided briefly in Verlaine's home.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=109}} Verlaine's wife, Mathilde Mauté, was seventeen years old and pregnant, and Verlaine had recently left his job and started drinking. In later published recollections of his first sight of Rimbaud at the age of sixteen, Verlaine described him as having "the real head of a child, chubby and fresh, on a big, bony, 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".{{sfn|Ivry|1998|p=34}}
Rimbaud and Verlaine soon began a brief and torrid affair. They led a wild, vagabond-like life spiced by [[absinthe]], [[opium]], and [[hashish]].{{sfn|Bernard|Guyaux|1991}} 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,{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=184}} 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 London they lived in considerable poverty in [[Bloomsbury]] and in [[Camden Town]], scraping a living mostly from teaching, as well as with an allowance from Verlaine's mother.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=196–197}} Rimbaud spent his days in the [[British Museum Reading Room|Reading Room]] of the [[British Museum]] where "heating, lighting, pens and ink were free".{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=196–197}} The relationship between the two poets grew increasingly bitter, and Verlaine abandoned Rimbaud in London to meet his wife in Brussels.
[[File:Henri Fantin-Latour - By the Table - Google Art Project.jpg|300px|thumb|''By the table'', an 1872 painting by [[Henri Fantin-Latour]]. Verlaine is on the far left and Rimbaud is at the second to the left.]]
Rimbaud was not well-liked at the time, and many people thought of him as dirty and rude.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/verlaine-and-rimbaud-poets-from-hell-6109698.html|title=Verlaine and Rimbaud: Poets from hell|date=2006-02-08|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2020-03-26}}</ref> The artist [[Henri Fantin-Latour]] wanted to paint first division poets at the 1872 Salon, but they were not available.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/rimbaud0000robb|title=Rimbaud|last=Robb, Graham, 1958–|date=2000|publisher=W.W. Norton|isbn=0-393-04955-8|edition=1st American|___location=New York|oclc=44969183|url-access=registration}}</ref> He had to settle for Rimbaud and Verlaine, who were described as "geniuses of the tavern".<ref name=":0" /> The painting, ''By the table'', shows Rimbaud and Verlaine at the end of the table. Other writers, such as [[Albert Mérat]], refused to be painted with Verlaine and Rimbaud, Mérat's reason being that he "would not be painted with pimps and thieves",<ref name=":0" /> in reference to Verlaine and Rimbaud; in the painting, Mérat is replaced by a flower vase on the table.<ref name=":0" /> Mérat also spread many rumours in the salons that Verlaine and Rimbaud were sleeping together; the spread of those rumours was the commencement of the fall for the two poets, who were trying to build a good reputation for themselves.<ref name=":0" />
In late June 1873, Verlaine returned to Paris alone but quickly began to mourn Rimbaud's absence. On 8 July he telegraphed Rimbaud, asking him to come to the Grand Hôtel Liégeois in [[Brussels]].{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=218–221|Jeancolas|1998|2pp=112–113}} The reunion went badly, they argued continuously, and Verlaine took refuge in heavy drinking.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=218–221|Jeancolas|1998|2pp=112–113}} On the morning of 10 July, Verlaine bought a revolver and ammunition.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=218–221|Jeancolas|1998|2pp=112–113}} About 16:00, "in a drunken rage", he fired two shots at Rimbaud, one of them wounding the 18-year-old in the left wrist.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=218–221|Jeancolas|1998|2pp=112–113}}
Rimbaud initially dismissed the wound as superficial but had it dressed at the St-Jean hospital nevertheless.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=218–221|Jeancolas|1998|2pp=112–113}} He did not immediately file charges, but decided to leave Brussels.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=218–221|Jeancolas|1998|2pp=112–113}} About 20:00, Verlaine and his mother accompanied Rimbaud to the [[Brussels-South railway station|Gare du Midi]] railway station.{{sfnm|Robb|2000|1pp=218–221|Jeancolas|1998|2pp=112–113}} On the way, by Rimbaud's account, Verlaine "behaved as if he were insane". Fearing that Verlaine, with a pistol in the pocket, might shoot him again, Rimbaud "ran off" and "begged a policeman to arrest him".{{sfn|Harding|Sturrock|2004|p=160}} Verlaine was charged with attempted murder, then subjected to a humiliating medico-legal examination.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=223–224}} He was also interrogated about his correspondence with Rimbaud and the nature of their relationship.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=223–224}} The bullet was eventually removed on 17 July and Rimbaud withdrew his complaint. The charges were reduced to wounding with a firearm, and on 8 August 1873 Verlaine was sentenced to two years in prison.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=223–224}}
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, it is widely interpreted that he refers to Verlaine as his "pitiful brother" (''frère pitoyable'') and the "mad virgin" (''vierge folle''), and to himself as the "hellish husband" (''l'époux infernal''), and described their life together as a "domestic farce" (''drôle de ménage'').
In 1874, he returned to London with the poet [[Germain Nouveau]].{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=241}} They lived together for three months while he put together his groundbreaking ''[[Illuminations (poetry collection)|Illuminations]]'', a collection of prose poems, although he eventually did not see it through publication (it only got published in 1886, without the author's knowledge).
=== Travels (1875–1880) ===
Rimbaud and Verlaine met for the last time in March 1875, in [[Stuttgart]], after Verlaine's release from prison and his [[Religious conversion|conversion]] to Catholicism.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=264}} By then Rimbaud had given up literature in favour of a steady, working life. [[Stéphane Mallarmé]], in a text about Rimbaud from 1896 (after his death), described him as a "meteor, lit by no other reason than his presence, arising alone then vanishing" who had managed to "surgically remove poetry from himself while still alive".{{refn|« Éclat, lui, d'un météore, allumé sans motif autre que sa présence, issu seul et s'éteignant. » / « Voici la date mystérieuse, pourtant naturelle, si l'on convient que celui, qui rejette des rêves, par sa faute ou la leur, et s'opère, vivant, de la poésie, ultérieurement ne sait trouver que loin, très loin, un état nouveau. » [https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Divagations_(1897)/Arthur_Rimbaud Complete text on Wikisource].|group=n}} [[Albert Camus]], in ''L'homme révolté'', although he praised Rimbaud's literary works (particularly his later prose works, ''Une saison en enfer'' and ''Illuminations'' – "he is the poet of revolt, and the greatest"), wrote a scathing account of his resignation from literature – and revolt itself – in his later life, claiming that there is nothing to admire, nothing noble or even genuinely adventurous, in a man who committed a "spiritual suicide", became a "bourgeois trafficker" and consented to the materialistic order of things.<ref>Albert Camus, ''L'homme révolté'', "Surréalisme et révolution", p. 118-121.</ref>
After studying several languages (German, Italian, Spanish), he went on to travel extensively in Europe, mostly on foot. In May 1876 he enlisted as a soldier in the [[KNIL|Dutch Colonial Army]]{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=278}} to get free passage to [[Java]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]] (now Indonesia). Four months later he [[Desertion|deserted]] and fled into the jungle. He managed to return ''incognito'' to France by ship; as a deserter he would have faced a Dutch firing squad had he been caught.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=282–285}}
In December 1878, Rimbaud journeyed to [[Larnaca]] in [[Cyprus]], where he worked for a construction company as a stone quarry foreman.{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=299}} In May of the following year he had to leave Cyprus because of a fever, which on his return to France was diagnosed as [[typhoid fever|typhoid]].{{sfn|Porter|1990|pp=251–252}}
=== Abyssinia (1880–1891) ===
[[File:Rimbaud in Harar.jpg|thumb|left|Rimbaud (self-portrait) in [[Harar]], Ethiopia in 1883.{{sfn|Jeancolas|1998|p=164}}]]
Rimbaud finally settled in [[Aden]], [[Yemen]], in 1880, as a main employee in the Bardey agency,{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=313}} going on to run the firm's agency in [[Harar]], [[Ethiopia]]. In 1884, his ''Report on the [[Ogaden]]'' (based on notes from his assistant Constantin Sotiro) was presented and published by the [[Société de Géographie]] in Paris.{{sfn|Nicholl|1999|pp=159–165}} In the same year he left his job at Bardey's to become a merchant on his own account in Harar, where his commercial dealings included [[coffee]] and (generally outdated) [[firearm]]s.
[[File:Harar, casa di rimbaud, 05.jpg|thumb|Rimbaud's house in Harar, Ethiopia]]
At the same time, Rimbaud engaged in exploring and struck up a close friendship with the Governor of Harar, ''Ras'' [[Makonnen Wolde Mikael|Mekonnen Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot]], father of future emperor [[Haile Selassie]].{{sfn|Nicholl|1999|p=231}} He maintained friendly relations with the official tutor of the young heir. Rimbaud worked in the coffee trade. "He was, in fact, a pioneer in the business, the first European to oversee the export of the celebrated coffee of Harar from the country where coffee was born. He was only the third European ever to set foot in the city, and the first to do business there".{{sfn|Goodman|2001|pp=8–15}}<ref>{{cite journal |first=Avishai |last=Ben-Dror |title=Arthur Rimbaud in Harär: Images, Reality, Memory |journal=Northeast African Studies |publisher=[[Michigan State University Press]] |___location=East Lansing, Michigan |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=159–182 |date=2014|doi=10.14321/nortafristud.14.2.0159 |s2cid=143890326 }}</ref>
In 1885, Rimbaud became involved in a major deal to sell old rifles to [[Menelik II]], king of [[Shewa]], at the initiative of French merchant Pierre Labatut.{{sfn|Dubois|2003|p=58}} The explorer [[Paul Soleillet]] became involved early in 1886. The arms were landed at [[Tadjoura]] in February, but could not be moved inland because [[Léonce Lagarde]], governor of the new French administration of [[Obock]] and its dependencies, issued an order on 12 April 1886 prohibiting the sale of weapons.{{sfn|Dubois|2003|p=59}} When the authorization came through from the consul de France, Labatut fell ill and had to withdraw (he died from cancer soon afterwards), then Soleillet died from embolism on 9 October. When Rimbaud finally reached Shewa, Menelik had just scored a major victory and no longer needed these older weapons, but still took advantage of the situation by negotiating them at a much lower price than expected while also deducting presumed debts from Labatut.<ref>Letter to the Vice-consul de France, Émile de Gaspary, 9 November 1887, in ''Œuvres complètes'', Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, 1979, p. 461.</ref> The whole ordeal turned out to be a disaster.<ref>Letter from 30 July 1887.</ref>
In the following years, between 1888 and 1890, Rimbaud established his own store in Harar, but soon got bored and dismayed.<ref>Letter from 4 August 1888.</ref> He hosted explorer Jules Borrelli and merchant Armand Savouré. In their later testimonies, they both described him as an intelligent man, quiet, sarcastic, secretive about his prior life, living with simplicity, and taking care of his business with accuracy, honesty and firmness.<ref>Testimony from Jules Borelli to English biographer Enid Starkie and Paterne Berrichon; testimony from Armand Savouré to Georges Maurevert and Isabelle Rimbaud (J.-J. Lefrère, ''Arthur Rimbaud'', Fayard, 2001, p. 1047-1048 and 1074).</ref>
=== Sickness and death (1891) ===
[[File:Rimbaud - tombe à Charleville.jpg|thumb|right|Rimbaud's grave in Charleville. The inscription reads ''Priez pour lui'' ("Pray for him").]]
In February 1891, in Aden, Rimbaud developed what he initially thought was [[arthritis]] in his right [[knee]].{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=418–419}} It failed to respond to treatment, and by March had become so painful that he prepared to return to France for better treatment.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=418–419}} Before leaving, Rimbaud consulted a British doctor who mistakenly diagnosed tubercular [[synovitis]], and recommended immediate [[amputation]].{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=422–424}} Rimbaud remained in Aden until 7 May to set his financial affairs in order, then caught a steamer, ''L'Amazone'', back to France for a 13-day voyage.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=422–424}} On arrival in [[Marseille]], he was admitted to the Hôpital de la Conception, where, a week later on 27 May, his right leg was amputated.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=425–426}} The post-operative diagnosis was [[bone cancer]]—probably [[osteosarcoma]].{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=422–424}}
After a short stay at the family farm in [[Chuffilly-Roche|Roche]], from 23 July to 23 August,{{sfn|Nicholl|1999|pp=298–302}} he attempted to travel back to [[Africa]], but on the way his health deteriorated, and he was re-admitted to the Hôpital 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 was buried in Charleville-Mézières.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=440–441}} On the 100th anniversary of Rimbaud's birth, [[Thomas Bernhard]] delivered a memorial lecture on Rimbaud and described his end:
{{blockquote|"On November 10, at two o'clock in the afternoon, he was dead," noted his sister Isabelle. The priest, shaken by so much reverence for God, administered the last rites. "I have never seen such strong faith," he said. Thanks to Isabelle, Rimbaud was brought to Charleville and buried in its cemetery with great pomp. He still lies there, next to his sister Vitalie, beneath a simple marble monument.<ref>Bernhard, T., [http://www.thebaffler.com/ancestors/jean-arthur-rimbaud "Jean-Arthur Rimbaud"], ''[[The Baffler]]'', Nr. 22, pp. 148–156, April 2013.</ref>{{rp|148–156}}}}
== Poetry ==
The first known poems of Arthur Rimbaud mostly emulated the style of the ''[[Parnassianism|Parnasse]]'' school and other famous contemporary poets like [[Victor Hugo]], although he quickly developed an original approach, both thematically and stylistically (in particular by mixing profane words and ideas with sophisticated verse, as in "''Vénus Anadyomène''", "''Oraison du soir''" or "''Les chercheuses de poux''"). Later on, Rimbaud was prominently inspired by the work of [[Charles Baudelaire]]. This inspiration would help him create a style of poetry later labeled as [[Symbolism (movement)|symbolist]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Scott|last1=Haine|title=The History of France|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]|___location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=0-313-30328-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyoffrance00hain/page/112 112]|edition=1st|date=2000|url=https://archive.org/details/historyoffrance00hain/page/112}}</ref>
In May 1871, aged 16, Rimbaud wrote two letters explaining his poetic philosophy, commonly called the ''Lettres du voyant'' ("Letters of the Seer"). In the first, written 13 May to Izambard, Rimbaud explained:
{{blockquote|I'm now making myself as scummy as I can. Why? I want to be a poet, and I'm working at turning myself into a seer. You won't understand any of this, and I'm almost incapable of explaining it to you. The idea is to reach the unknown by the derangement of all the senses. It involves enormous suffering, but one must be strong and be a born poet. It's really not my fault.{{sfn|Robb|2000|pp=79–80}}<ref>"[http://abardel.free.fr/petite_anthologie/lettre_du_voyant_panorama.htm#annexe Lettre à Georges Izambard du 13 mai 1871]". Abelard.free.fr. Retrieved on May 12, 2011.</ref>}}
The second letter, written on 15 May—before his first trip to Paris—to his friend Paul Demeny, expounded his revolutionary theories about poetry and life, while also denouncing some of the most famous poets that preceded him (reserving a particularly harsh criticism for [[Alfred de Musset]], while holding [[Charles Baudelaire]] in high regard, although, according to Rimbaud, his vision was hampered by a too conventional style). Wishing for new poetic forms and ideas, he wrote:
{{blockquote|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 suffering, 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!{{sfn|Kwasny|2004|p=147}}<ref>"[http://abardel.free.fr/tout_rimbaud/lettres_1871.htm#lettre_demeny_15_mai_1871 A Paul Demeny, 15 mai 1871] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525172945/http://abardel.free.fr/tout_rimbaud/lettres_1871.htm#lettre_demeny_15_mai_1871 |date=25 May 2011 }}". Abelard.free.fr. Retrieved on 12 May 2011.</ref>}}
[[File:P1110482 Paris VI rue Ferou le bateau ivre rwk.JPG|thumb|The poem ''Le Bateau ivre'' on a wall in Paris]]
Rimbaud expounded the same ideas in his poem "''Le Bateau ivre''" ("[[Le Bateau ivre|The Drunken Boat]]"). This hundred-line poem tells the tale of a boat that breaks free of human society when its handlers are killed by "Redskins" (''Peaux-Rouges''). At first, thinking that it is drifting where it pleases, the boat soon realizes that it is being guided by and to the "poem of the sea". It sees visions both magnificent ("the awakening blue and yellow of singing phosphores", "''l'éveil jaune et bleu des phosphores chanteurs''") and disgusting ("nets where in the reeds an entire Leviathan was rotting" "''nasses / Où pourrit dans les joncs tout un Léviathan''"). It ends floating and washed clean, wishing only to sink and become one with the sea.
[[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 poem—''unanswerably'' true."{{sfn|MacLeish|1965|p=147}}
While "''Le Bateau ivre''" was still written in a mostly conventional style, despite its inventions, his later poems from 1872 (commonly called ''Derniers vers'' or ''Vers nouveaux et chansons'', although he did not give them a title) further deconstructed the French verse, introducing odd rhythms and loose rhyming schemes, with even more abstract and flimsy themes.<ref>Antoine Adam, « Notices, Notes et variantes », in ''Œuvres complètes'', Gallimard, coll. « Bibliothèque de la Pléiade », 1988, p. 924-926.</ref>
After ''Une saison en enfer'', his "prodigious psychological biography written in this diamond prose which is his exclusive property" (according to Paul Verlaine<ref>Quoted in Rodolphe Darzens' preface of the 1891 edition of Arthur Rimbaud's ''Poésies'', page XI (original source not provided). « Et alors, en mai 1886, une découverte inespérée, ma foi, presque incroyable; celle de l'unique plaquette publiée par Arthur Rimbaud de la ''Saison en Enfer'', « espèce de prodigieuse autobiographie psychologique écrite dans cette prose de diamant qui est sa propriété exclusive », s'exclame Paul Verlaine. »</ref>), a poetic prose in which he himself commented some of his verse poems from 1872, and the perceived failure of his own past endeavours ("''Alchimie du verbe''"), he went on to write the prose poems known as ''[[Illuminations (poetry collection)|Illuminations]]'',{{refn|Although it remains uncertain if he wrote at least parts of ''Illuminations'' before ''Une saison en enfer''. Albert Camus in ''L'homme révolté'' claims that this is irrelevant, for those two major works were "suffered in the same time", regardless of when they were each actually executed.|group=n}} forfeiting preconceived structures altogether to explore hitherto unused resources of poetic language, bestowing most of the pieces with a disjointed, hallucinatory, dreamlike quality.<ref>Arthur Rimbaud (1957). "Introduction". ''Illuminations'', and other prose poems. Translated by Louise Varèse. New York: New Directions Publishing. p. XII.</ref> Rimbaud died without the benefit of knowing that his manuscripts not only had been published but were lauded and studied, having finally gained the recognition for which he had striven.<ref>Peyre, Henri, Foreword, ''A Season in Hell'' and ''Illuminations'' by Arthur Rimbaud, translated by Enid Rhodes, New York: Oxford, 1973, p. 14-15, 19–21.</ref>
Then he stopped writing poetry altogether. His friend Ernest Delahaye, in a letter to Paul Verlaine around 1875, claimed that he had completely forgotten about his past self writing poetry.{{refn|« Des vers de lui ? Il y a beau temps que sa verve est à plat. Je crois même qu'il ne se souvient plus du tout d'en avoir fait. »|group=n}} French poet and scholar [[Gérard Macé]] wrote: "Rimbaud is, first and foremost, this silence that can't be forgotten, and which, for anyone attempting to write themselves, is there, haunting. He even forbids us to fall into silence; because he did, this, better than anyone."<ref>Alain Borer, ''Rimbaud en Abyssinie'', Seuil, 1984, p. 358. « Rimbaud, c'est surtout ce silence qu'on ne peut oublier et qui, quand on se mêle d'écrire soi-même, est là, obsédant. Il nous interdit même de nous taire; car il l'a fait, cela, mieux que personne. »</ref>
French poet [[Paul Valéry]] stated that "all known literature is written in the language of ''common sense''—except Rimbaud's".{{sfn|Robb|2000|p=xiv}} His poetry influenced the [[Symbolism (movement)|Symbolist]]s, [[Dadaist]]s, and [[Surrealist]]s, and later writers adopted not only some of his themes but also his inventive use of form and language.
== Letters ==
[[File:Rimbaud in Museum.JPG|thumb|Bust of Rimbaud. Musée Arthur Rimbaud, Charleville-Mézières]]
Rimbaud was a prolific correspondent and his letters provide vivid accounts of his life and relationships.<ref>Rimbaud, trans. & ed. by [[Wyatt Mason|W. Mason]], ''Rimbaud Complete'' (New York: [[Modern Library]], 2003), [https://books.google.com/books?id=fn9lqfdLwgQC&pg=PT361 pp. 361–375].</ref>{{rp|361–375}}<ref>Rimbaud, trans. & ed. by Mason, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-c6qA8yyguIC ''I Promise to Be Good: The Letters of Arthur Rimbaud''] (New York: Modern Library, 2004).</ref> "Rimbaud's letters concerning his literary life were first published by various periodicals. In 1931 they were collected and published by {{ill|Jean-Marie Carré|fr|Jean-Marie Carré|lt=Jean-Marie Carré.}} Many errors were corrected in the [1946] [[Bibliothèque de la Pléiade|Pléiade]] edition. The letters written in Africa were first published by [[Paterne Berrichon]], the poet's brother-in-law, who took the liberty of making many changes in the texts."<ref name="letters">Rimbaud, trans. & ed. by W. Fowlie, ''Rimbaud: Complete Works, Selected Letters'', A Bilingual Edition (Chicago & London: [[University of Chicago Press]], 1966), [https://books.google.com/books?id=G3gksXEocwsC&pg=PR34 p. 35].</ref>
== Works ==
=== Works published before 1891 ===
* "''Les Étrennes des orphelins''" (1869) – poem published in ''La revue pour tous'', 2 January 1870
* "''Première soirée''" (1870) – poem published in ''La charge'', 13 August 1870 (with the more catchy title "''Trois baisers''", also known as "''Comédie en trois baisers''")
* "''Le rêve de Bismarck''" (1870) – prose published in ''Le Progrès des Ardennes'', 25 November 1870 (re-discovered in 2008)
* "''Le Dormeur du val''" (''The Sleeper in the Valley'') (1870) – poem published in ''Anthologie des poètes français'', 1888
* "''[[Voyelles]]''" (1871 or 1872) – poem published in ''Lutèce'', 5 October 1883
* "''[[Le Bateau ivre]]''", "''Voyelles''", "''Oraison du soir''", "''Les assis''", "''Les effarés''", "''Les chercheuses de poux''" (1870–1872) – poems published by [[Paul Verlaine]] in his anthology ''Les Poètes maudits'', 1884
* "''Les corbeaux''" (1871 or 1872) – poem published in ''La renaissance littéraire et artistique'', 14 September 1872
* "''Qu'est-ce pour nous mon cœur...''" (1872) – poem published in ''La Vogue'', 7 June 1886
* ''[[A Season in Hell|Une Saison en Enfer]]'' (1873) – collection of prose poetry published by Rimbaud himself as a small booklet in Brussels in October 1873 ("A few copies were distributed to friends in Paris ... Rimbaud almost immediately lost interest in the work."{{sfn|Fowlie|Whidden|2005|p=xxxii}})
* ''[[Illuminations (poetry collection)|Illuminations]]'' (1872–1875 ?) – collection of prose poetry published in 1886 (this original edition included 35 out of the 42 known pieces<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100604030048/http://www.arthurrimbaud.be/codicologoe/illuminations-premieres-publications Illuminations – Premières publications]</ref>)
* ''Rapport sur l'Ogadine'' (1883) – published by the ''Société de Géographie'' in February 1884
=== Posthumous works ===
* ''Narration'' ("''Le Soleil était encore chaud...''") ({{circa|1864}}–1865) – prose published by [[Paterne Berrichon]] in 1897
* ''Lettre de Charles d'Orléans à Louis XI'' (1869 or 1870) – prose published in ''Revue de l'évolution sociale, scientifique et littéraire'', November 1891
* ''Un coeur sous une soutane'' (1870) – prose published in ''Littérature'', June 1924
* ''Reliquaire – Poésies'' – published by Rodolphe Darzens in 1891{{refn|This book contained most known poems from Rimbaud's earlier period, composed in 1870–1871, plus a few from 1872, now grouped in the ensemble known as ''Derniers vers'' or ''Vers nouveaux et chansons'' ("''Âge d'or''", "''Éternité''", "''Michel et Christine''", "''Entends comme brame...''"), and also four poems which were later considered by most specialists to be misattributed to Rimbaud and removed from later editions ("''Poison perdu''", "''Le Limaçon''", "''Doctrine''", "''Les Cornues''").|group=n}}
* ''[[Poésies (Rimbaud)|Poésies complètes]]'' ({{circa|1869}}–1873) – published in 1895 with a preface from Paul Verlaine{{refn|This book contained most known poems from Rimbaud's earlier period, composed in 1870–1871, some of his later poems from 1872 now grouped as the so-called ''Derniers vers'' ("''Mémoire''", "''Fêtes de la faim''", "''Jeune ménage''", "''Est-elle almée ?...''", "''Patience''" which corresponds to "''Bannières de mai''" in later editions, "''Entends comme brame...''" – but excluding "''Âge d'or''", "''Éternité''" and "''Michel et Christine''" which were in the 1891 collection), and five poems from ''Illuminations'' which were not in the original 1886 edition of that work and were found again since then ("''Fairy''", "''Guerre''", "''Génie''", "''Jeunesse''", "''Solde''"); therefore, despite its name, it was still far from complete, and it included "''Poison perdu''" which was later considered by most specialists to be falsely attributed to Rimbaud. Among the known 1870–1871 poems included in current editions, were still missing: "''Ce qu'on dit au poète à propos de fleurs''", "''Les douaniers''", "''Les mains de Marie-Jeanne''", "''Les sœurs de charité''", "''L'étoile a pleuré rose...''", "''L'homme juste''". Only two poems from that period were absent from the 1891 collection and included to the 1895 collection: "''Les étrennes des orphelins''" and "''Les corbeaux''".|group=n}}
* "''Les mains de Marie-Jeanne''" (1871 ?) – poem published in ''Littérature'', June 1919 (it was mentioned by Paul Verlaine in his 1884 anthology ''Les poètes maudits'', along with other lost poems he knew about, some of which were never found)
* ''Lettres du Voyant'' (13 & 15 May 1871) – letter to Georges Izambard (13 May) published by Izambard in ''La revue européenne'', October 1928 – letter to Paul Demeny (15 May) published by Paterne Berrichon in ''La nouvelle revue française'', October 1912
* ''Album Zutique'' (1871) – parodies – among those poems, the "''[[Sonnet du trou du cul]]''" ("The arsehole sonnet") and two other sonnets (the three of them being called "''Les Stupra''") were published in ''Littérature'', May 1922 – others from this ensemble appeared later in editions of Rimbaud's complete works
* ''Les Déserts de l'amour'' (''Deserts of Love'') ({{circa|1871}}–1872) – prose published in ''La revue littéraire de Paris et Champagne'', September 1906
* ''Proses "évangeliques"'' (1872–1873) – three prose texts, one published in ''La revue blanche'', September 1897, the two others in ''Le Mercure de France'', January 1948 (no title was given by Arthur Rimbaud)
* ''Lettres de Jean-Arthur Rimbaud – Égypte, Arabie, Éthiopie'' (1880–1891) – published by Paterne Berrichon in 1899 (with many contentious edits<ref name="letters"/>)
Source<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rimbaud |first=Arthur |title=Complete Works |date=2008 |publisher=HarperPerennial |isbn=978-0-06-156177-1 |edition=1st Harper Perennial Modern Classics |___location=New York, NY |oclc=310371795}}</ref>
== Cultural legacy ==
[[File:Rimbaud 2 by Reginald Gray.jpg|thumb|[[Reginald Gray (artist)|Reginald Gray]]'s portrait (2011)]]
[[University of Exeter]] professor Martin Sorrell argues that Rimbaud was and remains influential in not only literary and artistic circles but in political spheres, having inspired anti-rationalist revolutions in America, Italy, Russia, and Germany. Sorrell praises Rimbaud as a poet whose "reputation stands very high today", pointing out his influence on musicians [[Jim Morrison]], [[Bob Dylan]], [[Luis Alberto Spinetta]], [[Patti Smith]], and writer [[Octavio Paz]].<ref name="sorrell">Arthur Rimbaud: Collected Poems, Martin Sorrell, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 25.</ref> Dylan has referred to Rimbaud multiple times over his career,<ref>[[:de:Mark Polizzotti|Polizzotti, M.]], ''Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited'' (New York & London: [[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]], 2010), [https://books.google.com/books?id=1b6oAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 pp. 38–39].</ref>{{rp|38–39}} including in the track "[[You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go]]" (1975, on ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'').
=== Media portrayals ===
Rimbaud has been depicted in various media, including:
* 1964: Alan Bickford in ''[[A Season in Hell (Wednesday Theatre)|A Season in Hell]]''<ref name="season">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-a-season-in-hell/|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=14 June 2021|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: A Season in Hell}}</ref>
* 1971: [[Nelo Risi]]'s film ''[[A Season in Hell (1971 film)|Una stagione all'inferno]]'' (A season in hell), with [[Terence Stamp]] as Rimbaud and [[Jean-Claude Brialy]] as Verlaine.
* 1978: [[Lorenzo Ferrero]]'s opera ''[[Lorenzo Ferrero#Opera|Rimbaud, ou Le Fils du soleil]]'' (Rimbaud, or the Child of the Sun)
* 1979: [[David Wojnarowicz]]'s photographic series "Arthur Rimbaud in New York", which contrasts Rimbaud's face with life in New York City in the late 1970s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rudari |first=Frederico |date=2024-03-29 |title=Role-taking, role-making: the mask as a tool in David Wojnarowicz's Arthur Rimbaud in New York |url=https://rha.fcsh.unl.pt/index.php/rha/article/view/20 |journal=Revista de História da Arte |volume=F. 2024. Role-taking |language=en |pages=78–95 |doi=10.34619/ftkc-vdub |issn=1646-1762}}</ref>
* 1995: [[Agnieszka Holland]]'s film ''[[Total Eclipse (film)|Total Eclipse]]'', based on a 1967 play by [[Christopher Hampton]]. It starred [[Leonardo DiCaprio]] as Rimbaud and [[David Thewlis]] as Verlaine.
* 2025: Jessica Benhamou's film Alchemy of the Word, starring James Craven as Rimbaud and [[Jordan Luke Gage]] as Verlaine.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32481614/ | title=Alchemy of the Word | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>
=== Musical adaptations ===
Rimbaud's works have been set to music by individuals and groups including:
* [[Benjamin Britten]]: ''[[Les Illuminations (Britten)|Les Illuminations]]'' (1939), a song cycle
* [[Hans Krása]], Three Songs to texts of Arthur Rimbaud, 1943 (Sensation, Les Amis, L’étoile a pleuré rose), recorded by Christian Gerhaher
* [[Regina Hansen Willman]]: "Apres le Deluge" (1961)
* [[Hans Werner Henze]]: "Being Beauteous" (1963), a cantata <ref>{{Cite news |last=Clements |first=Andrew |date=2016-06-23 |title=Henze: Being Beauteous; Kammermusik CD review – strange, fragile, ecstatic music |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/23/henze-being-beauteous-kammermusik-cd-review-prohaska-gijsberten-ruck-ndr-so-ruzicka |access-date=2024-07-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
* [[Bill Hopkins (composer)|Bill Hopkins]]: ''Sensation'' (1965), a setting of poetry by Rimbaud and [[Samuel Beckett]].
* [[Denise Roger]]: ''3 Poèmes d'Arthur Rimbaud'' (1966)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Denise Roger (1924-2005) |url=https://data.bnf.fr/14785403/denise_roger/ |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=data.bnf.fr |language=fr}}</ref>
* [[Marc Almond]]: "My Little Lovers (Mes petites amoureuses)" (1993, on [[Absinthe (Marc Almond album)|''Absinthe'']])
=== Landmarks ===
Rimbaud's inscription of his name can be seen at the [[Temple of Luxor]] in [[Egypt]]. It can be found "carved ... into the ancient stone of the south end's transverse hall".<ref>Carsten Pieter Thiede & Matthew D'Ancona, 1997, The Jesus Papyrus, Phoenix/Orion Books, p13</ref>
== See also ==
{{Portal|Poetry|LGBTQ}}
* [[Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation]]
* [[Zutiste]]
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=n|30em}}
== Citations ==
{{Reflist|23em}}
=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Citation|title=Rimbaud: Œuvres complètes|year=1999 |orig-year=1972|___location=Paris|publisher=Pléiade (Éditions Gallimard) |editor-last=Adam|editor-first=Antoine|language=fr|isbn= 978-2070104765}}
* {{Citation | title = Œuvres de Rimbaud | year = 1991 | last1 = Bernard | last2 = Guyaux | first1 = Suzanne | first2 = André | ___location = Paris | publisher = Classiques Garnier | language = fr | isbn = 2-04-017399-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/uvres0000rimb }}
* {{Citation| last=Bousmanne | first = Bernard | title = Reviens, reviens, cher ami. Rimbaud – Verlaine. L'Affaire de Bruxelles | year = 2006 | ___location = Paris | publisher = Éditions Calmann-Lévy | language = fr | isbn = 978-2702137215 }}
* {{Citation| title = Rimbaud: Œuvres complètes | year = 2004| ___location = Paris | publisher = Le Livre de Poche | editor-last = Brunel | editor-first = Pierre | language = fr | isbn = 978-2253131212}}
* {{Citation| last = Delahaye | first = Ernest | title = Delahaye, témoin de Rimbaud | year = 1974 | author-link = Ernest Delahaye| orig-year = 1919 | ___location = Geneva | publisher = La Baconnière | language = fr | isbn = 978-2825200711}}
* {{Citation| title =Rimbaud, Complete Works, Selected Letters| year =2005| last1 = Fowlie | last2=Whidden | first1 =Wallace | first2 = Seth|author-link1= Wallace Fowlie | edition = Revised and updated | ___location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn = 0-226-71977-4}}
* {{citation
|last=Dubois|first=Colette|title=L'or blanc de Djibouti. Salines et sauniers (XIXe-XXe siècles)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PRnQc0B6JgsC&pg=PA66
|access-date=2017-12-10|date=2003-02-01|publisher=KARTHALA Editions|language=fr|isbn=978-2-8111-3613-0}}
* {{Citation | last = Goodman | first = Richard | author-link= Richard Goodman (writer) | title = Arthur Rimbaud, Coffee Trader | url = http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200105/arthur.rimbaud.coffee.trader.htm | publication-date = September 2001 | year = 2001 | journal = [[Aramco World|Saudi Aramco World]] | volume = 52 | issue = 5 | access-date = 23 August 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120507161059/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200105/arthur.rimbaud.coffee.trader.htm | archive-date = 7 May 2012 | url-status = dead }}
* {{Citation| title=Rimbaud Œuvres complètes | year = 2009 | edition = New revised | ___location = Paris | publisher = Gallimard / Bibliothèque de la Pléiade | editor-last = Guyaux | editor-first = André | language = fr | isbn = 978-2070116010 }}
* {{Citation | last = Hackett | first = Cecil Arthur | title = Rimbaud: A critical introduction | year = 2010 | orig-year = 1981 | edition = Digital | ___location = Cambridge | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn = 978-0521297561 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/rimbaudcriticali0000hack }}
* {{Citation| title =Arthur Rimbaud: Selected Poems and Letters | year =2004| last1= Harding | last2= Sturrock | first1 = Jeremy | first2 = John | publisher = Penguin | isbn = 0-14-044802-0}}
* {{Citation| last = Ivry| first = Benjamin| author-link=Benjamin Ivry| title = Arthur Rimbaud| year = 1998| ___location = [[Bath, Somerset]]| publisher = [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Absolute Press]]| isbn = 1-899791-55-8}}
* {{Citation| last= Jeancolas | first = Claude | title =Passion Rimbaud: L'Album d'une vie | year =1998| author-link = Claude Jeancolas | ___location = Paris | publisher = Textuel | language = fr | isbn = 978-2-909317-66-3}}
* {{Citation| last= Kwasny | first = Melissa| title =Toward the Open Field: Poets on the Art of Poetry | year =2004| ___location = Middletown, Conn | publisher = Wesleyan University Press | isbn = 0-8195-6606-3}}
* {{Citation| last = Lefrère | first = Jean-Jacques| title =Arthur Rimbaud | year =2001| ___location = Paris | publisher = Fayard | language = fr | isbn = 978-2-213-60691-0}}
* {{Citation| last = Lefrère | first = Jean-Jacques | title =Correspondance de Rimbaud | year =2007| ___location = Paris | publisher = Fayard | language = fr | isbn = 978-2-213-63391-6}}
* {{Citation| last = Lefrère | first = Jean-Jacques | title = Arthur Rimbaud: Correspondance posthume (1912-1920) | year =2014| ___location = Paris | publisher = Fayard | language = fr | isbn = 978-2213662749}}
* {{Citation | title = Rimbaud: Les Lettres du voyant | year = 1998| last1 = Leuwers | first1 = Daniel | series = Textes Fondateurs | ___location = Paris | publisher = Éditions Ellipses | language = fr | isbn = 978-2729867980}}
* {{Citation| last = MacLeish | first = Archibald | title =Poetry and Experience | year = 1965 | author-link = Archibald MacLeish | ___location = Baltimore | publisher = Penguin | isbn = 978-0140550443}}
* {{Citation | last = Mason | first = Wyatt | title = Poetry and prose | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fn9lqfdLwgQC | year = 2003 | series = Rimbaud Complete | volume = 1 | ___location = New York | publisher = Modern Library | isbn = 978-0-375-7577-09}}
* {{Citation | last = Mason | first = Wyatt | title = I Promise to Be Good: The Letters of Arthur Rimbaud | year = 2004 | series = Rimbaud Complete | volume = 2 | ___location = New York | publisher = Modern Library | isbn = 978-0-679-64301-2}}
* [[Henry Miller|Miller, Henry]], ''The Time of the Assassins, A Study of Rimbaud'', New York 1962.
* {{Citation | last = Nicholl | first = Charles | title = Somebody Else: Arthur Rimbaud in Africa 1880–91 | year = 1999 | author-link = Charles Nicholl (author) | ___location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn = 0-226-58029-6 | url = https://archive.org/details/somebodyelsearth00nich }}
* {{Citation| last = Peyre | first = Henri | title = A Season in Hell and The Illuminations | year = 1974 | ___location = New York | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 0-19-501760-9}}
* {{Citation| last = Porter | first = Laurence M. | title = The Crisis of French Symbolism | year = 1990 |edition= First |type= hardcover | ___location = Ithaca, NY | publisher = Cornell University Press | isbn = 978-0-8014-2418-2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FumYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA251}}
* {{Citation| last = Rickword | first = Edgell | title = Rimbaud: The Boy and the Poet | year = 1971 | author-link = Edgell Rickword | orig-year = 1924 | ___location = New York | publisher = Haskell House Publishers | isbn = 0-8383-1309-4}}
* {{Citation| last=Robb | first=Graham | title= Rimbaud | year=2000 | author-link=Graham Robb | ___location=New York | publisher= W.W. Norton & Co | isbn =978-0330482820}}
* {{Citation| last = Schmidt | first = Paul | title = Rimbaud: Complete Works | year = 2000 | author-link = Paul Schmidt (translator)| orig-year= 1976 | ___location = New York | publisher = Perennial (HarperCollins) | isbn = 978-0-06-095550-2}}
* {{Citation| last=Spitzer | first = Mark | title = From Absinthe to Abyssinia | year = 2002 | ___location = Berkeley | publisher = Creative Arts | isbn = 978-0887392931}}
* {{Citation| last=Starkie | first=Enid | title=Arthur Rimbaud | year=1973 | author-link=Enid Starkie | orig-year =1938 |___location=London | publisher = Faber and Faber | isbn =0-571-10440-1}}
* {{Citation| last= Steinmetz | first= Jean-Luc | title = Arthur Rimbaud: Presence of an Enigma | year= 2001 | others = Jon Graham (trans) | ___location = New York | publisher = Welcome Rain Publishers | isbn = 1-56649-106-1}}
* {{Citation| last=Underwood | first=Vernon | title=Rimbaud et l'Angleterre | year=2005 | orig-year=1976 | ___location=Paris | publisher=A G Nizet | language=fr | isbn= 978-2707804082}}
* {{Citation| last=Whidden | first=Seth | title = Arthur Rimbaud | year = 2018 | ___location = London | publisher = Reaktion | isbn = 978-1780239804}}
* {{Citation| last=White | first= Edmund | title = Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel | year = 2008 | author-link= Edmund White | ___location = London | publisher = Grove | isbn = 978-1-84354-971-0}}
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation| title = Demetrios Capetanakis: A Greek Poet in England | year = 1947 | pages = 53–71 | editor-last = Capetanakis | editor-first = J. Lehmann | asin = B0007J07Q6| section = Rimbaud }}
* {{Citation|last=Everdell|first=William R. |title=The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth Century Thought |year=1997 |___location= Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}
* {{Citation|last=Fowlie|first=Wallace |title=Rimbaud's Illuminations: A Study in Angelism |year=1953 |___location= London |publisher=Harvill Press}}
* {{Citation|last=Godchot|first=Colonel [Simon] | title = Arthur Rimbaud ne varietur I: 1854–1871 | year = 1936 | ___location = Nice | publisher = Chez l'auteur| language = fr }}
* {{Citation| last=Godchot | first=Colonel [Simon] | title = Arthur Rimbaud ne varietur II: 1871–1873 | year = 1937 | ___location = Nice | publisher = Chez l'auteur| language = fr }}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Rimbaud, Jean Arthur | volume= 23 |last= Gosse |first= Edmund William |author-link= Edmund Gosse | pages = 343–344 |short= 1}}
* {{Citation| last=James | first= Jamie| title = Rimbaud in Java: The Lost Voyage | year =2011 | ___location = Singapore | publisher = Editions Didier Millet | isbn = 978-981-4260-82-4}}
* {{Citation| last=Lehmann | first= John| author-link=John Lehmann |title = Three Literary Friendships | year =1983 | ___location = London | publisher = Quartet Books | isbn = 978-0-704-32370-4}}
* {{Citation | last=Magedera | first=Ian H. | title=Outsider Biographies; Savage, de Sade, Wainewright, Ned Kelly, Billy the Kid, Rimbaud and Genet: Base Crime and High Art in Biography and Bio-Fiction, 1744–2000. | year = 2014 | ___location = Amsterdam and New York | publisher = Rodopi | isbn =978-90-420-3875-2 }}
* {{Citation | last = Ross | first = Kristin | title = The Emergence of Social Space: Rimbaud and the Paris Commune | date = 2008 | author-link = Kristin Ross | series = Radical thinkers | volume = 31 | ___location = London | publisher = Verso | isbn = 978-1844672066}}
{{refend}}
== External links ==
{{sister project links|b=no|n=no|v=no|wikt=no|author=yes|d=Q493}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=33825| name=Arthur Rimbaud}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Arthur Rimbaud}}
* {{Librivox author |id=990}}
* [http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1268 Arthur Rimbaud – Poets.org]
* [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090714210549/http://www.mag4.net/Rimbaud/index-en.php Arthur Rimbaud's Life and Poetry – French and English]
* [http://arthur.le.fulgur.chez-alice.fr/Arp07_Stuning_Arthur_.htm « Stunning Arthur »], website related especially to the second part of his life, ([http://arthur.le.fulgur.chez-alice.fr/Arp07_Stuning_d.htm parallels] with the life and culture of [[Bob Marley]]). (= [http://outware.net « Arthur-le-Fulgurant »], extended version in French.)
* {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20121222062034/http://athena.unige.ch/athena/rimbaud/rimbaud_illuminations.html Rimbaud Illuminations – from the original ''Publications de la Vogue'', 1886]
* {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20130618204733/http://athena.unige.ch/athena/ophelia/rimb_oph.html The poem "Ophélie"]
* {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070810095012/http://rimbaud-arthur.info/ "Rimbaud's holes in space" project launched for the 150th anniversary (Charleville-Mézières)]
* {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.litteratureaudio.com/livres-audio-gratuits-mp3/tag/arthur-rimbaud/ Arthur Rimbaud, his work in audio version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424140417/http://www.litteratureaudio.com/livres-audio-gratuits-mp3/tag/arthur-rimbaud |date=24 April 2021 }} [[File:Speaker Icon.svg|20px]]
{{Rimbaud}}
{{Poète maudit}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimbaud, Arthur}}
[[Category:Arthur Rimbaud| ]]
[[Category:1854 births]]
[[Category:1891 deaths]]
[[Category:French male poets]]
[[Category:Symbolist poets]]
[[Category:Poètes maudits]]
[[Category:French LGBTQ poets]]
[[Category:19th-century French LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:French bisexual men]]
[[Category:French bisexual writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Grand Est]]
[[Category:People of the Paris Commune]]
[[Category:19th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:19th-century French poets]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Ethiopia]]
[[Category:French amputees]]
[[Category:French writers with disabilities]]
[[Category:Deserters]]
[[Category:Deaths from bone cancer in France]]
[[Category:People from Charleville-Mézières]]
[[Category:Poets with disabilities]]
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