L'Éternité

I have been reading Une Saison en Enfer (1873), a poetry collection by Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud, so I thought I would post my favourite bit of an otherwise quite extended poem. Rimbaud's work is not always as comprehensible as one would like, given that he wrote some of it under heavy drug influence. However, there are parts of it that are truly fantastic, especially given that this was written by a teenager in the nineteenth century. Some regard Rimbaud as the first punk poet that lived. He was a libertine and traveled relentlessly. He led a very tormenting relationship with the contemporary Symbolist poet Paul Verlaine, 27, who was married and had children but nevertheless gave it all up to be with the then 17-year-old Rimbaud. Their relationship was self-destructive to say the least, with Verlaine shooting Rimbaud during a jealous fit, which eventually landed Verlaine two years in prison.



Elle est retrouvée.
Quoi ? - L'Éternité.
C'est la mer mêlée
Au soleil.

Mon âme éternelle,
Observe ton voeu
Malgré la nuit seule
Et le jour en feu.

Donc tu te dégages
Des humains suffrages
Des communs élans
Et voles selon...

- Jamais d'espérance
Pas d'orietur.
Science et patience,
Le supplice est sûr.

Plus de lendemain,
Braises de satin,
Votre ardeur
Est le devoir.

Elle est retrouvée !
- Quoi ? - L'Éternité.
C'est la mer mêlée
Au soleil.

L'Éternité (Une Saison en Enfer) - Arthur Rimbaud.