“What boredom. What a stupid life. What am I doing here? And what would I go looking for elsewhere?”

Original: Quel ennui!… Quelle vie bête! Que fais-je ici, moi?… Et qu’irais-je chercher ailleurs?… — The questions expose the profound dissatisfaction beneath Rimbaud’s practical life abroad. · Letter from Aden, 1884 (French)

• Boredom
• Discontentment
• Existence

“I am going to make a work for the Geographical Society, with maps and engravings, on Harar and the Galla countries.”

Original: Je vais faire un ouvrage pour la Société de géographie, avec des cartes et des gravures, sur le Harar et les pays Gallas. — The project shows Rimbaud redirecting his energy from poetry towards exploration, geography and practical knowledge. · Letter to his family from Aden, 18 January 1882 (French)

• Discovery
• Knowledge
• Travel

“He would give more than the formula of his thought, than the notation of his march towards Progress.”

Original: Il donnerait plus que la formule de sa pensée, que la notation de sa marche au Progrès. — Poetry should reveal movement and discovery rather than merely package finished ideas. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

• Ideas
• Poetry
• Progress