“The poet would make himself a seer by a long, immense and reasoned disordering of all the senses.”

Original: Le Poète se fait voyant par un long, immense et raisonné dérèglement de tous les sens. — Poetic vision requires a sustained challenge to ordinary habits of perception. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

• Poetry
• Senses
• Vision

“With my savings I could rest a little after long suffering; yet I cannot stay a day without working, nor can I enjoy my earnings.”

Original: Avec mes économies, je pourrais me reposer un peu après de longues souffrances; et non seulement je ne puis rester un jour sans travail, mais je ne puis jouir de mon gain. — Rimbaud describes the restless relationship between labour, money and the inability to enjoy what he has earned. · Letter from Aden, 1884 (French)

• Money
• Rest
• Work

“It is obvious to me: I witness my thought coming into being; I watch it, I listen to it.”

Original: Cela m’est évident: j’assiste à l’éclosion de ma pensée: je la regarde, je l’écoute. — Rimbaud describes thought as an unfolding process that the poet observes rather than completely controls. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

• Consciousness
• Creation
• Thought