Poet, born in Metz, NE France. Educated in Paris, he joined the civil service, but mixed with the leading Parnassian writers, and achieved success with his second book of poetry, Fêtes galantes (1869). In 1872 he left his wife to travel with the young poet Rimbaud, but their friendship ended in Brussels (1873) when Verlaine, drunk and desolate at Rimbaud's intention to leave, shot him in the wrist. While in prison for two years, he wrote Romances sans paroles (1874, Songs Without Words). Having rediscovered his Catholic faith, he then taught French at a Catholic school in Bournemouth, England, where he wrote Sagesse (1881, Wisdom), which contains perhaps his finest lyrics. In 1877 he returned to France, where he wrote critical studies, notably Les Poètes maudits (1884, The Accursed Poets), short stories, and sacred and profane verse.
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Paul-Marie Verlaine (French IPA: [vɛʀˈlɛn]) (March 30, 1844 – January 8, 1896) is considered one of the greatest French poets of the "fin de siècle".
Marriage and military service
Verlaine's private life spills over into his work, beginning with his love for Mathilde Mauté, a disciple of Louise Michel.
Imprisonment
Verlaine returned to Paris in August 1871.
Following his release from prison, Verlaine travelled to England, where he worked for some years as a teacher and produced another successful collection, Sagesse.
Final years
Verlaine's last years witnessed a descent into drug-addiction, alcoholism, and poverty.
Numerous artists painted Verlaine's portrait.
On his death in 1896, Paul Verlaine was interred in the Cimetière de Batignolles in Paris.
Analysis
The French poetry of much of the literature in the latter half of the century (or "fin de siècle") was often characterized as "decadent" for their lurid content or moral vision. In a similar vein, Verlaine used the expression "poète maudit" (accursed poet) in 1884 to refer to a number of poets like Stéphane Mallarmé and Arthur Rimbaud who had fought against poetic conventions and suffered social rebuke or had been ignored by the critics.
In poetry, the symbolist procedure - as typified by Verlaine- was to use subtle suggestion instead of precise statement (rhetoric was banned) and to evoke moods and feelings by the magic of words and repeated sounds and the cadence of verse (musicality) and metrical innovation.
Works
Verlaine's Complete Works are available in critical editions from the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade.
Poèmes saturniens (1866) Les Amies (1867) Fêtes galantes (1869) La Bonne chanson (1870) Romances sans paroles (1874) Sagesse (1880) Les Poètes maudits (1884) Jadis et naguère (1884) Amour (1888) Parallèlement (1889) Dédicaces (1890) Femmes (1890) Hombres (1891) Bonheur (1891) Mes hôpitaux (1891) Chansons pour elle (1891) Liturgies intimes (1892) Mes prisons (1893) Élégies (1893) Odes en son honneur (1893) Dans les limbes (1894) Épigrammes (1894) Confessions (1895)Film
The life of Verlaine and Rimbaud was the subject of the 1995 movie Total Eclipse by Agnieszka Holland.
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