'Phrases' -- Arthur Rimbaud

When the world is reduced to a single dark wood for our eyes' astonishment,----a bench for two faithful children,----a musical house for our pure sympathy,----I shall find you.

Should there be here below but a single old man, handsome and calm in the midst of incredible luxury, I shall be at your feet.

Should I have realized all your memories,----should I be the one who can bind you hand and foot,----I shall strangle you.

* * *

When we are very strong,----who draws back? very gay,----who cares for ridicule? When we are very bad,----what would they do with us?

Deck yourself, dance, laugh. I could never throw love out the window.

* * *

My comrade, beggar girl, monster child! O it's all one to you those unhappy women, these wiles and my discomfiture. Bind yourself to us with your impossible voice, your voice! sole soother of this vile despair.

* * *

An overcast morning in July. A taste of ashes flies through the air;----an odor of sweating wood on the hearth,----dew-ret flowers----devastation along the promenades----the mist of the canals over the fields----why not incense and toys already?

* * *

I have stretched some ropes from steeple to steeple; garlands from window to window; golden chains from star to star, and I dance.

* * *

The upland pond smokes continuously. What witch will rise against the white west sky? What violet frondescence fall?

* * *

While public funds evaporate in feasts of fraternity, a bell of rosy fire rings in the clouds.

Reviving a pleasant taste of India ink, a black powder rains on my vigil. I lower the jets of the chandelier, I throw myself on the bed, and turning my face toward the darkness, I see you, my daughters! my queens!

i loved those. any arthur rimbaud recommendations?

Oh! This is comfy and reasssuring, ,and you know how I love my benches ;)

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When the world is reduced to a single dark wood for our eyes' astonishment,----a bench for two faithful children,----a musical house for our pure sympathy,----I shall find you.

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Originally Posted by fayefaye

i loved those. any arthur rimbaud recommendations?

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'Phrases' is one of the poems in the Illuminations, which is a deranged assortment of prose poetry, but, in my opinion, the best place to start is with Rimbaud's last poem, A Season in Hell, which I consider his masterpiece.

These lines from "Bad Blood" chill me and make me want to laugh insanely at the same time:
"But orgies and the companionship of women were impossible for me. Not even a friend. I saw myself before an angry mob, facing a firing squad, weeping out sorrows they could not understand, and pardoning ! - like Joan of Arc ! - "Priests, professors and doctors, you are mistaken in delivering me into the hands of the law. I have never been one of you ; I have never been a Christian ; I belong to the race that sang on the scaffold ; I do not understand your laws ; I have no moral sense ; I am a brute ; you are making a mistake..."

The puishment visited on the outsider- what does it mean, what moral purpose does it serve andwhy do we inflict it except out of sheer cowardice?

And I used the following lines as a subtitle for an essay on colonialsm- I had not dreamt that the process could be so poetically encapsulated:

"The white men are landing. Cannons ! Now we must be baptized, get dressed, and go to work."

That Joan of Arc quote used to be in my sigline. One of my favorites.

I wasn't sure if I'd read any of Rimbaud's poems, but now I think it's worth a try.

Thanks Ab :D

N'importe où au dehors de ce monde/ Anywhere outside of this world

That's Rimbaud isn't it? I just so love that line... "n'importe où"...kind of "it doesn't matter where". It's normal in French but it's so evocative...

I've heard of Rimbaud but his life,his exagerated attempts to be someone left me cold,after all that, he was an innovative writer.

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Originally Posted by johnnybgoode

I've heard of Rimbaud but his life,his exagerated attempts to be someone left me cold,after all that, he was an innovative writer.

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Indeed, he lived a rather fascinating life. Though he wrote such an extensive amount, most of his poetry came from his early life, as he wrote significantly less as time continued; sadly, too, he lived a rather short life, dying at the age 37, I believe. Throughout his life, he seemed more a writer of letters rather than poetry, especially exchanging many letters with partner, also a famed poet, Paul Verlaine.
Though some of his poetry gets slightly difficult to understand, perhaps owning more of a personal quality in his lifetime, that he wrote such brilliance at an early age, I find worthy of reverence. All of his poetry, letters, and biography, to me, seem well worth researching. :nod:

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Originally Posted by fayefaye

i loved those. any arthur rimbaud recommendations?

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You could check A Season in Hell or Illuminations. :nod: