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book: Paul Verlaine
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Paul Verlaine

A Bilingual Selection of His Verse
  • Edited by: and
  • Translated by: and
Published/Copyright: 2019

About this book

Crowned “Prince of Poets” in his later years, Paul Verlaine stands out among the iconoclastic founders of French modernist verse. This diglot anthology offers the most comprehensive selection of Verlaine’s poetry available in English translation.

Verlaine’s famous works are presented here alongside poems never previously translated into English, including neglected political works and prison pieces only recently brought to light, which reveal social, homoerotic, and even pornographic inspirations. The poems are organized not by collections and date of publication but by themes and time of composition. This innovation, along with Valazza’s extensive supporting materials, will help the curious student or scholar explore the master poet’s work in the context of his troubled life: from the beginning of his literary career among the Parnassians to his affair with Rimbaud and the end of his marriage, his time in prison, and his bohemian lifestyle up to his death in 1896. Verlaine, the poet of ambiguity, has always been a challenge to translate. Rosenberg expertly crafts language that privileges the musicality of Verlaine’s verse while respecting each poem’s meaning and pace.

Featuring 192 poems in French with English translations, this collection will appeal to scholars and poetry enthusiasts alike.

Author / Editor information

Contributor: Paul Verlaine Samuel N. Rosenberg was a literary scholar and translator of French poetry of the Middle Ages and the nineteenth century. He was Professor Emeritus of French at Indiana University and edited and translated numerous works, including Robert the Devil and Robert de Reims: Songs and Motets, both published by Penn State University Press.  --- Contributor: Nicolas Valazza Nicolas Valazza is Associate Professor of French at Indiana University. His research focuses on nineteenth-century literature.

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    v
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    List of Illustrations

    vii
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    Preface

    viii
    Nicolas Valazza
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    Translator’s Note

    xvii
    Samuel N. Rosenberg
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    Chronology

    xxii
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  • Part 1: The Parnassian Years
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    Introduction

    1
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    First Poems

    4
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    From Poèmes saturniens [Saturnine Poems

    12
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    From Les Amies [Girlfriends]

    36
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    From Fêtes galantes [Gallant Festivities]

    40
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    Poems Contemporaneous with Poèmes saturniens, Les Amies, and Fêtes galantes

    52
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    From La Bonne Chanson [The Good Song]

    64
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  • Part 2: Under the Spell of Rimbaud
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    Introduction

    85
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    First Encounters

    86
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    From Album zutique

    92
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    From Romances sans paroles [Songs Without Words]

    96
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    Poems Contemporaneous with Romances sans paroles

    124
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    After the Shooting

    128
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  • Part 3: From Prison to Conversion
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    Introduction

    139
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    In Prison (Poems from Cellulairement [Cellularly] and Other Poems)

    140
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    After the Conversion (Poems from Sagesse [Wisdom] and Other Poems)

    156
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    From Amour [Love] and Other Poems

    184
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    From Bonheur [Happiness]

    210
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    From Liturgies intimes [Intimate Liturgies]

    220
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  • Part 4: The Last Years
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    Introduction

    233
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    From Dédicaces [Dedications]

    234
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    From Chansons pour Elle [Songs for Her]

    248
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    From Odes en son honneur [Odes in Her Honor] and Élégies

    260
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    From Dans les limbes [In Limbo]

    270
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    In England (1893)

    280
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    From Épigrammes [Epigrams]

    290
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    From Invectives [Invective]

    298
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    From Chair [Flesh]

    312
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    From Biblio-sonnets

    318
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    Late Uncollected Poems

    322
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    Notes

    337
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    Selected Bibliography

    367
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    Index of Titles and First Lines

    371
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    Index of Proper Nouns

    390
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
May 26, 2021
eBook ISBN:
9780271086354
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
424
View content
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271086354
eBook ISBN: 9780271086354
Keywords for this book
Verlaine; French; poetry; Nineteenth-Century France; Decadence; Symbolism; Translation
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