Synopses & Reviews
The
enfant terrible of French letters, Jean-Nicholas-Arthur Rimbaud (1854-91)and#160;was a defiant and precocious youth who wrote some of the most remarkable prose and poetry of the nineteenth century, all before leaving the world of verse by the age of twenty-one. More than a century after his death, the young rebel-poet continues to appeal to modern readers as much for his turbulent life as for his poetry; his stormy affair with fellow poet Paul Verlaine and his nomadic adventures in eastern Africa are as iconic as his hallucinatory poems and symbolist prose.
The first translation of the poet's complete works when it was published in 1966, Rimbaud: Complete Works, Selected Letters introduced a new generation of Americans to the alienated geniusand#8212;among them the Doors's lead singer Jim Morrison, who wrote to translator Wallace Fowlie to thank him for rendering the poems accessible to those who "don't read French that easily." Forty years later, the book remains the only side-by-side bilingual edition of Rimbaud's complete poetic works.
Thoroughly revising Fowlie's edition, Seth Whidden has made changes on virtually every page, correcting errors, reordering poems, adding previously omitted versions of poems and some letters, and updating the text to reflect current scholarship; left in place are Fowlie's literal and respectful translations of Rimbaud's complex and nontraditional verse. Whidden also provides a foreword that considers the heritage of Fowlie's edition and adds a bibliography that acknowledges relevant books that have appeared since the original publication. On its fortieth anniversary, Rimbaud remains the most authoritativeand#8212;and now, completely up-to-dateand#8212;edition of the young master's entire poetic ouvre.
About the Author
Wallace Fowlie (1908-98) was the James B. Duke Professor of French Literature at Duke University. He was the author or translator of thirty books, including
Rimbaud: A Critical Study and
Rimbaud and Jim Morrison: The Rebel as Poet.
Seth Whidden is assistant professor of French at Villanova University and coeditor-in-chief of
Parade sauvage, the scholarly journal of Rimbaud studies.
Table of Contents
&&LDIV&&RList of Illustrations &&LBR&&RForeword (2005) by Seth Whidden &&LBR&&RAcknowledgments &&LBR&&RSelected Bibliography (a partial listing of works published since 1966) &&LBR&&RIntroduction (1966) by Wallace Fowlie &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RPoésies / Poetry &&LBR&&R&&L/i&&R&&LBR&&R1869 / 1869 &&LBR&&RLes étrennes des orphelins / The Orphans' Gifts (New Year's) &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R1870 / 1870 &&LBR&&RSensation / Sensation &&LBR&&RSoleil et chair / Sun and Flesh &&LBR&&ROphélie / Ophelia &&LBR&&RVenus Anadyomène / Venus Anadyomene &&LBR&&RPremière soirée / The First Evening &&LBR&&RLes reparties de Nina / Nina's Replies &&LBR&&R&&Li&&R"Morts de Quatre-vingt-douze [. .]" / "Dead of '92 [. .]"&&L/i&&R &&LBR&&RLes effarés / The Frightened Ones &&LBR&&RRoman / Novel &&LBR&&RRêvé pour l'hiver / A Dream for Winter &&LBR&&RLe buffet / The Cupboard &&LBR&&RL'éclatante victoire de Sarrebrück / The Dazzling Victory of Sarrebruck &&LBR&&RLe maline / The Sly Girl &&LBR&&RAu Cabaret-Vert / At the Cabaret-Vert &&LBR&&RLe dormeur du val / The Sleeper in the Valley &&LBR&&RÀ la musique / To Music &&LBR&&RBal des pendus / Dance of the Hanged Men &&LBR&&RLe châtiment de Tartufe / Tartufe's Punishment &&LBR&&RLe forgeron / The Blacksmith &&LBR&&RMa bohème (Fantaisie) / My Bohemian Life (Fantasy) &&LBR&&RLe mal / Evil &&LBR&&RRages de Césars / Caesars' Rages &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RPoèmes datés de 1871 - début 1872 ou dans des lettres de mai ou juin 1871 / Poems dated 1871 - early 1872 or in letters from May or June 1871 &&LBR&&R&&L/i&&RLe coeur volé / The Stolen Heart &&LBR&&RChant de guerre parisien / Parisian War Song &&LBR&&RMes petites amoureuses / My Little Lovers &&LBR&&RAccroupissements / Squattings &&LBR&&RLes poètes de sept ans / Seven-year-old Poets &&LBR&&RL'orgie parisienne ou Paris se repeuple / Parisian Orgy or Paris is Repopulated &&LBR&&RLes pauvres À l'église / The Poor in Church &&LBR&&RLes soeurs de charité / Sisters of Charity &&LBR&&RL'homme juste / The Just Man &&LBR&&RLes premières Communions / First Communions &&LBR&&RCe qu'on dit au Poète À propos de fleurs / What is Said to the Poet Concerning Flowers &&LBR&&RLes mains de Jeanne-Marie / The Hands of Jeanne-Marie &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RPoèmes non datés (fin 1870 - début 1872?) / Undated poems (late 1870 - early 1872?)&&L/i&&R &&LBR&&RLes assis / The Sedated Men &&LBR&&RLe bateau ivre / The Drunken Boat &&LBR&&RLes chercheuses de poux / The Seekers of Lice &&LBR&&RLes douaniers / The Customs Men &&LBR&&R"L'étoile a pleuré rose [. .]" / "The star wept rose-colored [. .]" &&LBR&&ROraison du soir / Evening Prayer &&LBR&&RTête de faune / Faun's Head &&LBR&&RVoyelles / Vowels &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RAlbum zutique (fin 1871 - début 1872?) / Album called "zutique" (end 1871 - 1872?)&&L/i&&R &&LBR&&RSonnet du trou du cul / Sonnet to an Asshole &&LBR&&RLys / Lily &&LBR&&RVu À Rome / Seen in Rome &&LBR&&RFête galante / Love Feast &&LBR&&R"J'occupais un wagon de troisième [. .]" / "I occupied a third-class carriage [. .]" &&LBR&&R"Je préfère sans doute [. .]" / "Doubtless I prefer [. .]" &&LBR&&R"L'Humanité chaussait [. .]" / "Humanity was putting shoes on [. .]" &&LBR&&RConneries / Nasty Jokes &&LBR&&RJeune goinfre / Young Glutton &&LBR&&RParis / Paris &&LBR&&RCocher ivre / Drunken Coachman &&LBR&&RVieux de la vieille! / The Old Man of the Old Woman! &&LBR&&Rétat de siège? / State of Siege? &&LBR&&RLe balai / The Brush &&LBR&&RExil / Exile &&LBR&&RL'angelot maudit / The Outcast Cherub &&LBR&&R"Mais enfin, c' [. .]" / "But finally, th [. .]" &&LBR&&R"Les soirs d'été [. .]" / "Summer evenings [. .]" &&LBR&&RBouts-rimés / Rhymed endings &&LBR&&R"Aux livres de chevet [. .]" / "To the bedside books [. .]" &&LBR&&RHypotyposes saturniennes, ex Belmontet / Saturnian Hypotyposes, taken from Belmontet &&LBR&&RLes remembrances du vieillard idiot / Memories of the Simple-minded Old Man &&LBR&&RRessouvenir / Remembrance &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RD'autres poèmes de la période dite "zutique" (1871-1872?) / Other poems from the period called "zutique" (1871-1872?)&&L/i&&R &&LBR&&R"Nos fesses ne sont pas les leurs [. .]" / "Our backsides are not theirs are not theirs [. .]" &&LBR&&R"Les anciens animaux [. .]" / "Ancient animals [. .]" &&LBR&&RVers pour les lieux / Verses for Such Places &&LBR&&R"De ce siège si mal tourné [. .]" / "Of this seat so poorly made [. .]" &&LBR&&R"Quand le fameux Tropmann [. .]" / "When the famous Tropmann [. .]" &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RPoèmes datés de, transcrits ou publiés en 1872 / Poems dated, transcribed, or published in 1872 &&LBR&&R&&L/i&&RComédie de la soif / Comedy of Thirst &&LBR&&RBonne pensée du matin / A Good Thought in the Morning &&LBR&&RLa rivière de Cassis / The Cassis River &&LBR&&RLarme / Tear &&LBR&&RPatience / Patience &&LBR&&RChanson de la plus haute tour / Song of the Highest Tower &&LBR&&RL'éternité / Eternity &&LBR&&Râge d'or / Golden Age &&LBR&&RJeune ménage / Young Couple &&LBR&&R"Est-elle almée? [. .]" / "Is she an almeh? [. .]" &&LBR&&RFêtes de la faim / Feasts of Hunger &&LBR&&RLes corbeaux / The Crows &&LBR&&R"L'Enfant qui ramassa les balles [. .]" / "The Child who picked up the balls [. .]" &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RPoèmes non datés (1872 - 1873?) / Undated poems (1872 - 1873?)&&L/i&&R &&LBR&&R"Entends comme brame [. .]" / "Listen to how [. .]" &&LBR&&RHonte / Shame &&LBR&&R"Le loup criait sous les feuilles [. .]" / "The wolf howled under the leaves [. .]" &&LBR&&RMémoire / Memory &&LBR&&RMichel et Christine / Michel and Christine &&LBR&&R"O saisons, ô châteaux [. .]" / "O seasons, o castles [. .]" &&LBR&&R"Plates-bandes d'amarantes [. .]" / "Flowerbands of amaranths [. .]" &&LBR&&R"Qu'est-ce pour nous, mon coeur [. .]" / "What does it matter for us, my heart [. .]" &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RDu temps qu'il était écolier / From His Schoolboy Days&&L/i&&R &&LBR&&R"Le soleil était encore chaud [. .]" / "The sun was still hot [. .]" &&LBR&&RInvocation À Vénus / Invocation to Venus &&LBR&&RCharles d'Orléans À Louis XI / Charles d'Orléans to Louis XI &&LBR&&RUn coeur sous une soutane / A Heart under a Cassock &&LBR&&RLes déserts de l'amour / Deserts of Love &&LBR&&RProses dites "évangeliques" / Prose called "evangelical" &&LBR&&R"À Samarie, plusieurs ont manifesté leur foi en lui [. .]" / "In Samaria, several displayed their faith in him [. .]" &&LBR&&R"L'air léger et charmant de la Galilée [. .]" / "The light and charming air of Galilee [. .]" &&LBR&&R"Bethsïda, la piscine [. .]" / "Bethsaida, the pool [. .]" &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RUne saison en enfer (1873) / A Season in Hell (1873)&&L/i&&R &&LBR&&R"Jadis, si je me souviens bien [. .]" / "Long ago, if my memory serves me [. .]" &&LBR&&RMauvais sang / Bad Blood &&LBR&&RNuit de l'enfer / Night in Hell &&LBR&&RDélires / Delirium &&LBR&&RI. Vierge folle / I. The Foolish Virgin &&LBR&&RII. Alchimie du verbe / II. Alchemy of the Word &&LBR&&RL'impossible / The Impossible &&LBR&&RL'élair / Lightning &&LBR&&RMatin / Morning &&LBR&&RAdieu / Farewell &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&Li&&RIlluminations (1872 - 1874?) / Illuminations (1872 - 1874?)&&L/i&&R &&LBR&&RAprès le déluge / After the Flood &&LBR&&REnfance / Childhood &&LBR&&RConte / Story &&LBR&&RParade / Circus &&LBR&&RAntique / Ancient &&LBR&&RBeing Beauteous / Being Beauteous &&LBR&&R"O la face cendrée [. .]" / "Oh! the ashen face [. .]" &&LBR&&RVies / Lives &&LBR&&RDépart / Departure &&LBR&&RRoyauté / Royalty &&LBR&&RÀ une raison / To Reason &&LBR&&RMatinée d'ivresse / Morning of Drunkenness &&LBR&&RPhrases / Phrases &&LBR&&ROuvriers / Workers &&LBR&&RLes ponts / Bridges &&LBR&&RVille / City &&LBR&&ROrnières / Ruts &&LBR&&RVilles ("Ce sont des villes! [. .]") / Cities ("They are cities! [. .]) &&LBR&&RVagabonds / Vagabonds &&LBR&&RVilles ("L'acropole officielle [. .]") / Cities ("The official acropolis [. .]") &&LBR&&RVeillées / Vigils &&LBR&&RMystique / Mystic &&LBR&&RAube / Dawn &&LBR&&RFleurs / Flowers &&LBR&&RNocturne vulgaire / Daily Nocturne &&LBR&&RMarine / Seapiece &&LBR&&RFête d'hiver / Winter Party <>