Paul Verlaine (1844-1896):

Life
 Grew up comfortable and spoiled by his mother. Sophisticated education with distinction in
Latin translation
 Married Mathilde Mauté. Their love is described in La Bonne Chanson
 Abandoned his wife and son to travel France and Belgium with Rimbaud
 Shot and wounded Rimbaud in 1873 as a result of mounting tumult in the relationship
 Seemingly sincere return to Catholicism in 1874 following his prison sentence and studies of
Shakespeare and Dickens. Immediately afterwards, he rushed to meet Rimbaud who met
Verlaine’s return with violence
 Taught French in England afterwards, while gaining an appreciation for Tennyson,
Swinburne, and Anglican hymn writers
 After the death of a pupil in 1883 and more failed reconciliations with his wife, he resorted to
alcoholism and debauchery
 Died in the lodgings of Eugénie Krantz, an aging prostitute frequented by those in his literary
circle

Poetry
 First associated with the Parnassian poets, then became a leader of Symbolists. Also formed
the group known as the Decadents which claimed Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud,
Stéphane Mallarmé, and Tristan Corbière
 First collection Poèmes saturniens contained pastiches of Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle
and focused on love and melancholy
 The collection Romances sans paroles contains “impressionist” sketches, with an emphasis
on musicality, landscapes, and regret
 Focus of Catholicism and his emotional journey in the collection Sagesse
 Art poétique was adopted by the Symbolists. He later disavowed the Symbolists for
foregoing rhyme and versification
 Jadis et naguère as well as Parallèlement contain pieces written years before but not found
in other collections.
 Les Poètes maudits contained prose poetry and reviews of other contemporary poets
 Verlaine’s poetry is characterized by:
o Lyricism – communication of human feeling through suggestions and vagueness,
words are used merely for their sound
o Intentional absence of intellectual or philosophical content (at least directly)

Source:
Burnshaw, Stanley. The Poem Itself. Fayetteville, University of Arkansas Press, 1995.

Underwood, Vernon Philip, “Paul Verlaine.” Encylopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica,

Claire de Lune

 My first impression is that the poem is very easy to read. The first stanza is full of the s
sounds, but in particular the last grouping of syllables of all 4 lines glide the tongue into two
tolls of the consonant. The s sound is quite bright and exciting while Verlaine describes
merrymakers. In the second stanza, the –eur rhyme in lines 5 and 7 correlates with vainqueur
and leur in lines 6 and 8. Similarly, the –eau sound in beau is repeated in oiseaux and jets
d’eau as well as the rhyme in line 11. In a sense, the rhyme becomes “easier to remember”
and the effect allows the reader to give the correct finality at the end of the quatrain. Verlaine
even eases the reader into the longer rhotic sounds of the second stanza by beginning line 5
with a chain of nasal sounds that is overall more “extended” than anything in the first stanza.
 The same bridging of sounds is replicated in the order of ideas. Line 4 is the first hint of
melancholy in the poem, and that theme is immediately developed in the minor key and
unbelief of the masked dancers in the next stanza. The dancers’ song mingles with
moonlight, so Verlaine then addresses what the moonlight is illuminating. This reminded me
of the composition of paintings, in which the artist specifically arranges the scenes to draw
the viewer’s eye from focal point to focal point.

Les fêtes galantes – the painter Antoine Watteau revisited the Baroque style during the Rococo
period and popularized scenes of costumed merry men and women in idyllic landscapes. He
placed the patrons of his art in natural scenes of mythological scale to both secure funding and
appeal to l’Académie des Beaux-Arts.

Paul Verlaine

Green

 The overall sense of this poem is that of a weary traveler settling into the comforting embrace
of his lover. The length of line 1 and the speed of line 2 contrast to conjure first a sense of
being overwhelmed by new growth and then frenzy. I get the feeling that Verlaine’s search
for love has grown cold until he is reinvigorated, possibly suggesting that Rimbaud is the
intended recipient.
 The last stanza in particular grows softer and calmer. The pronounced e’s in lines 9 and 11
account for the quietest sounds of the poem, while the rhyme of baisers and reposez reinforce
the comfort found in Verlaine’s love. All of the words can be pronounced without moving
the mouth very much, and if you were to whisper the last two lines, you can even hear the
sounds of the kisses that Verlaine describes.
 If Romances sans paroles were to have a thesis or mission statement, it would be to capture a
portion of Verlaine’s heart in poetry rather than just describe his feelings. We are supposed to
feel cradled by this poem, even lulled to sleep, and Verlaine’s agreement between meaning
and lyricism effect his will on the reader in just 12 lines.
 Paul Verlaine

[Dans l’interminable]

 The monotony of the vers impairs as well as the repeated stanzas is a fitting choice for
communicating a feeling of ennui. The natural rhythm of the poem can take one of two
primary forms which can be described in musical terms.
‣ The poem can be performed in slow 4/4 time with the monosyllabic word at the start of
each line coming on an accented upbeat. This can create a sense of panic more than
melancholy as the sudden subdivision surprises the reader.
‣ The poem can be performed with an interesting 8/8 rhythm (2+3+3). Now every second
and third beat is dragged out with an extra subdivision of time. Overall, this pattern fits
much better with the extended n sounds that are found in every stanza but the fifth.
 More than recreating the objective reality of his experience, Verlaine crafts the impression of
what he feels. The copper sky is reminiscent of the “lid” that Baudelaire described in Spleen
and the shifting, glistening snow is as restless as the poet. Contrary to Baudelaire’s bleeding
sun, Verlaine compares the cyclic death and rebirth of the moon to the days drudging past.
 A key moment occurs in line 20 with the rhetorical question « Quoi donc vous arrive? ». The
feeling woven into the poem leaches the life out of the landscape and every living thing. The
oak trees appear grey and dead, the crow is wheezing, and the wolves are starving. If life
cannot be sustained under this oppression, then what happens next? According to Verlaine, a
refrain of the same lines which started the poem.

Paul Verlaine

Bruxelles

 Once again, Verlaine creates a wide variety of rhythms using vers impairs. The large
majority of lines come with two even beats followed by a triplet figure, but scattered
throughout each stanza are lines which flow better with two triplets. For example, the pattern
established at the beginning of Line 1 with the segmented « Tournez, tournez » is difficult to
apply to « Bien dans le ventre et mal dans la tête » in Line 15. The natural caesura occurs
after the fifth syllable, generating speed at the beginning and end of the line. The overall
effect is whimsical, almost mimicking a limerick or the mechanical “galloping” of horses on
a merry-go-round (line 19). This also gives some creative freedom to the reader to interpret
the cadence of a line as compared to the formalism which previously dominated French
poetry.
 The sense I get after reading this poem is that it is more accessible than previous works.
Verlaine later studied Shakespeare extensively, and I think they probably had many values in
common. The poem here is recording an experience shared by the average person compared
to the “cramped” intellectual references of Nerval or the drug-fueled depths of a Rimbaud
poem. The craft of Verlaine’s poetry is in his ability to make music out of the ordinary.
 Paul Verlaine

[L’espoir luit comme un brin de paille…]

 Why a sonnet? The form is usually short enough to carry a theme–usually an intense
emotion–but long enough to flesh it out. Here, an entire dialogue is stretched out over the
fourteen lines with a surprising number of complete sentences and at least two distinct
voices. The dramatic structure organizes what would normally be a loose meditation of guilt
into “scenes” in which Verlaine addresses both of his failed relationships.
 The first stop in Verlaine’s voyage through his past is the drunk wasp. The symbol here is a
multifaceted view of the violence that occurred between Rimbaud and himself. The flight of
the wasp is reminiscent of the bullet shot at Rimbaud, the wasp sting is less subtle, and
Verlaine acknowledges that he was once inebriated with the same rage as the insect.
However, his imminent conversion to Catholicism enters in as hope shines out from the
stable.
 Next, a feminine presence springs from Verlaine’s memory. Is she the idealization of a
loving wife who lives only in the past? Is she the Virgin Mary here to comfort Verlaine and
encourage hope for redemption? Perhaps both, as Verlaine is haunted in the present by his
past spouse and future saint, who he is not quite ready to recognize.

Paul Verlaine

[Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit]

 The content of the poem is simple, perhaps as simple as one can get without frivolousness.
Without hint of abstraction, Verlaine establishes a scene and its elements. With his life in
ruins, the rigid pattern of the poem may serve as an attempt to reestablish order.
 By including this work in Sagesse, Verlaine suggests a type of rudimentary wisdom that is
oft overlooked in the aftermath of misfortune: notice the good things in life and long for
them.
 The last stanza is indulgent with self-pity, and rather indicative of the end of Verlaine’s life.
His passions exhausted and all attempts at rebirth set aside, he eventually gave himself over
to animalistic, hedonic pursuits. Ironically, the ruined youth lamented in this work was the
most productive time of Verlaine’s life and served as a continuation of the stereotypical,
tortured existence of the greatest poets.