“I have just ordered a photographic apparatus from Lyon so that I can…” — Arthur Rimbaud

“I have just ordered a photographic apparatus from Lyon so that I can include views of these strange regions in the work.”

Original: Je viens de commander à Lyon un appareil photographique qui me permettra d’intercaler dans cet ouvrage des vues de ces étranges contrées. — Photography becomes part of Rimbaud’s attempt to document the unfamiliar world he had encountered. · Letter to Ernest Delahaye, 18 January 1882 (French)

Arthur Rimbaud

About Arthur Rimbaud

20 October 1854–10 November 1891

Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was born on 20 October 1854 in Charleville, in the Ardennes region of northeastern France, and died on 10 November 1891 in Marseille. Few writers have produced so small a body of work and so immense a legend. Rimbaud wrote nearly all the poetry for which he is remembered between his…

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“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)

“The poet is truly a thief of fire.”

Original: Le Poète est vraiment voleur de Feu. — The poet is cast as a Promethean figure who takes transformative knowledge and power beyond ordinary human limits. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

“It is a very good business.”

Original: C’est une très bonne affaire. — The brisk commercial phrase reveals the practical, entrepreneurial voice of Rimbaud’s later correspondence. · Letter to his family from Aden, 18 January 1882 (French)

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About Arthur Rimbaud

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