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Rimbaud is the enfant terrible of French literature, the precocious genius whose extraordinary poetry is revolutionary in its visionary, hallucinatory content and its often liberated forms. He wrote all his poems between the ages of about fifteen and twenty-one, after which he turned his back on family, friends, and France to roam the world. In his final years he was a trader in the Horn of Africa. Out of this brief, colorful life and wilderness of sensory poetry, a mythic Rimbaud has been created. One of the greatest French poets of all times, Rimbaud has become an enduring icon of youth, rebellion, and freedom--though behind the myth of the man lies a poetic adventure of high ambition and painful rigor, poignant yet heroic. This bilingual edition provides all of Rimbaud's poems, with the exception of his Latin verses and some small fragments. It also includes some of his prose pieces, chosen because they offer a commentary on his poetic concerns.About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
The central conflict arises from the poet's attempt to transcend the limitations of language and bourgeois reality through a systematic derangement of the senses. Rimbaud’s objective is to capture the absolute, pushing the boundaries of traditional verse into hallucinatory and visionary territories. He faces the internal opposition of his own existential restlessness and the external constraints of a society he rejects. The collection functions as a chronological record of a brief, intense creative period, moving from formal experimentation to the radical prose of his later years.
Readers and critics frequently highlight the intense, compressed energy of Rimbaud's work, noting how his brief career produced some of the most influential poetry in the French canon. Discussion often centers on the tension between the myth of the rebellious youth and the technical precision found within his verses. Scholars emphasize the importance of his departure from traditional structures, which paved the way for modern symbolist movements. The collection is widely regarded as a foundational text for those interested in the evolution of poetic form and the intersection of life and art. Readers often find the inclusion of scholarly notes essential for navigating the dense, symbolic nature of his imagery.
Page Count:
337
Publication Date:
2010-01-15
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0199538956
ISBN-13:
9780199538959