Short biography: Paul Verlaine

At the end of the 19th century, France had many talented poets, each of whom had a beautiful and interesting biography. Paul Verlaine was one of such outstanding lyricists. It was not for nothing that he was proclaimed "prince of poets" and recognized master of the symbolic direction. However, he was neither a theoretician, nor a leader.

Creativity and facts of the poet's personal life are inextricably linked. Being unbalanced and passionate in nature (as his biography tells us), Paul Verlaine constantly became entangled in the contradictions of his character and destiny, and also sagged under the pressure of hard life circumstances. But, as A. France rightly said: "It is inadmissible to apply the same yardstick to a poet and to sensible people. Paul has rights that are absent from us, because he is incomparably higher and at the same time incomparably lower than all of us. He is an unconscious being and such a poet who is born once in a century. "

Childhood and youth

Paul Verlaine was born in Metz in 1844. Because of the work of his father (he was a military engineer) the whole family was constantly moving until in 1851 he settled in Paris. Here the future poet spent his school years. In 1862 he received a bachelor's degree in literature. Already in his youthful years, Paul had a predilection for literary creation. He constantly read the poems of S. Baudelaire, as well as poets-Parnassians T. Gautier and T. de Bonville. At the end of 1862, the future poet enters the faculty of law to study jurisprudence, but material difficulties force him to drop out and start work.

First publications

In 1866, Paul is published in the journal Contemporary Parnassus. He also publishes on his own money a collection of "Saturnic poems." Verlaine's first book traces the influence on the author of the Parnassian poets who refused "confessional lyricism" and romantic "bubbling of feelings." In their opinion, the main criterion of beauty is perfection of form, "harmony between subjective and objective". Early verses by Paul Verlaine very clearly reflect this principle. Nevertheless, the poet has his own original style, which is characterized by melancholy intonations and the ability to convey to the reader the secret movements of the soul, its "music."

New works

In the late 60's, Paul collaborated with several literary magazines. Also at his own expense, he publishes in 1869 a collection of "Exquisite Holidays". For the poems was characterized by a melancholy-playful form, allowing a spoken intonation. The poet tries the rhymes impossible in the traditional versification.

At this time, Verlaine meets a 16-year-old girl Matilda. Flashed love passion inspires Paul to write a new collection of "Good Song". The verses included in the book have a common rhythm. The poet's words are tender and lyrical.

Wedding and a meeting with Rambo

In the summer of 1870 the collection "The Good Song" is published, and Verlaine immediately marries Matilda. The young people are settling in Paris, but the Franco-Prussian war that has begun causes them to survive their siege of the city. After 1871, Paul's melancholy intensified. This contributes to both the personal life that has not developed, and the loss of the Paris Commune.

Family relations became even more complicated after Paul's acquaintance with another French poet. It was the famous Arthur Rambo. Anarchism and continuous nihilism are the two ideological positions that characterize the art of Arthur and his biography. Paul Verlaine, pushed by a young genius, decides to break with the poetic tradition. He seriously reflects on the content of his poems.

Since the beginning of 1872 Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud spend all the time together. They travel a lot in England and Belgium. Rimbaud believes that Paul needs to look for new ways of poetic creativity. They often quarrel and make up, until in mid-1873 there is a culmination scandal. Paul shoots at Artyura and hurts him on the shoulder. Verlaine is imprisoned for two years for this. He will be released in January 1875.

Romances without words

All the verses of Paul Verlaine are good, but those included in the collection "Romances without Words" are his best poetic achievement. The collection was published in 1874, when the author was imprisoned. In the verses there are notes of melancholy, sadness and short oblivion. Some works resemble landscapes of the Impressionists, covered with gray haze or dissolved in fog. At the same time, the use of the pictorial possibilities of the language and the tendency to synthesis of picturesque and verbal images are clearly traced.

"Poetic art" and "Damned poets"

In 1882 Paul published a poem "Poetic art", which became a real manifesto for young Symbolist poets. Although Paul himself did not advise the followers of his work to imitate. It is better to create your own original style. In the same year, the cycle "Damned Poets" appeared, where the author talked about the newest school of symbolist poets and praised T. Corber, A. Rembo, S. Mallarme and others. The success of this cycle allowed Paul to publish more of his own works and get good for them money. We can say that financially this was the best time in the poet's life. This concludes his biography. Paul Verlaine died in 1896 from pneumonia.