A new week, and a new way of working. I have to say I prefer working from books, but that's just a personal preference (there's something about the feel of a book in your hands...); I know that any student will need to be able to assimilate information from many different sources.
Today, I completed the exercise about interpreting a poem in another language, in this case French. I could understand the majority of the poem without the translation as I have studied French, which is a bit of a shame, because it meant it was harder to just listen to the sounds.
I enjoyed reading Rimbaud's poem 'Le dormer du val' and it's made me want to know more about him! He wrote this poem when he was only 16, and continued writing poetry until 20, becoming more experimental. This poem is clearly an early work; it is in the classic sonnet format.
According to Wikipedia: "Rimbaud was known to have been a libertine and for being a restless soul, having engaged in an at times violent romantic relationship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, which lasted nearly two years. After the end of his literary career, he traveled extensively on three continents as a merchant before his death from cancer just after his thirty-seventh birthday.[4] As a poet, Rimbaud is well known for his contributions to Symbolism and, among other works, A Season in Hell, which was a significant precursor to modernist literature."
He appears to have been very influential on a number of very well known artists, including: Dylan Thomas, Jack Kerouac, Henry Miller and Van Morrison. He has had a number of films made of his life from people of different nationalities, including 'Total Eclipse' featuring Leonardo DiCaprio as a lead role; he evidently made a huge impact. Many of his poems were published after his death. He also wrote a lot of letters which have been published, luckily for inquisitive people like me. At 16, he wrote:
"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."
Obviously, a very intelligent and thoughtful young man. I wonder if his violent relationship was the reason he stopped writing? He died young - probably of bone cancer. As his father left early, he would have spent time with his mother who is described as a "withdrawn, stubborn and taciturn" person, apparently the opposite of his father. She appeared to have been very strict with her sons, making them learn hundreds of Latin verses by heart with punishment for not completing this meaning she starved them. He excelled at school, but I can see why he wanted to run away so much... (Poor kids!) Apparently he ran away through boredom and search for adventure, but it seems to me that his home situation might have had more to do with it than is credited! He became openly hostile and drank, stole and cursed - nothing that normal teenagers don't do nowadays! His father had nothing to do with his three children: he wasn't present at their births or baptisms, and after the birth of the third child, Isabelle (Arthur was the second child), he left. The couple never divorced, but never regained contact.
His relationship with the American Paul Verlaine (also a poet) was short, but violent. Verlaine behaved like a madman in many ways, and ended up in prison. Rimbaud is later said to have regretted not continuing their relationship...
He completely changed careers to become a tradesman after leaving the poetic world. There are many speculations as to why, but I suppose no one will know the true reason, despite there being a deluge of autobiographical information about Rimbaud (mostly letters).
"I saw that all beings are fated to happiness: action is not life, but a way of wasting some force, an ennervation. Morality is the weakness of the brain.''
Clearly, a very troubled man, but he went on to inspire future generations. I'd like to look more at his later work.