Arthur Rimbaud, Author at Witness

Arthur Rimbaud

Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) is one of the foremost figures of French symbolism. After a tempestuous relationship with the poet Paul Verlaine, Rimbaud abandoned poetry at the age of twenty and traveled the world, settling in Africa. Donald Revell’s translations of Rimbaud’s landmark works A Season in Hell (2007) and The Illuminations (2009) are available from Omnidawn. Rimbaud included “Les Poètes de sept ans” in an 1871 letter to the poet Paul Demeny.

Seven-Year-Old Poets

By Arthur Rimbaud

Poetry•Vol. XXVIII No. 1 (Spring 2015)

Closing a workbook, the Mother took herself Contentedly off, and proudly, failing to see In the acne and blue eyes of her son The indentured soul of repugnance. He sweat obedience all day long; was A bright kid. All the same, a negroid twitch And squint betrayed bitter hypocrisies. In the shadow of peeling wallpaper… [Read More]