Rimbaud's Poetry: A Witness to History and Sensitivity

Extract

[...] A revolutionary wind blows in the writing of the young poet. Liberty and influence of his time are outlined in his work to form a unity that will guide his thought. The violence of the battles is not spared in his poems. However, like a poetic revolution, these atrocities are sublimated to loudly convey his message. In the poem that bears the evocative title of Bad, Rimbaud makes an implicit allusion to the Prussian troops, particularly through the colors: 'While the red spits of the machine gun / Whistle all day through the infinite blue sky; / Scarlet or green, near the King who mocks them, / The battalions collapse in mass in the fire'. [...]

[...] Firstly, we will see that Rimbaud has the will to make poetry an enterprise between revolutionary ideals and respect for stylistic rules. Then, he puts forward the undeniable presence of the historical and political influence of his time. Finally, his collection appears as the cry of the heart of a rebellious adolescent facing war, a cry that is both personal and universal. Poetry for poetry, that's a turn of phrase that characterizes Rimbaud's idea. It turns away from the exaggerated lyricism of Romanticism, which Rimbaud doesn't appreciate much. [...]

[...] It allows its author to convey their feelings about a specific era through a devastating style, which will certainly have a greater impact on the reader. To illustrate his point, he cites Rimbaud and his work in the context of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, where poetic novelty mixes with the fragility of an adolescent witness to major historical and political changes. It is interesting to ask [...]

[...] /The Poet makes himself a seer by a long, immense and reasoned derangement of all the senses. All forms of love, suffering, madness; he seeks himself in all that is unknown, and becomes prophetic.'-even, he exhausts in himself all the poisons, in order to keep only the quintessences." The role of the seer is no longer only to share his feelings as the lyricism did, he must now find the very essence of his passions to transmit them, it is a true conscientious objector, as much in a poetic sense as in a military sense. [...]

[...] While Rimbaud seeks above all to move, he does not forget his provocative side. How to overlook his famous Venus in Venus Anadyomene who, emerging from the water, reveals all its filth: 'The kidneys bear two inscribed words: Clara Venus; / - And all this body stirs and stretches its wide rump / Hideously beautiful with an ulcer on the anus.' He breaks the codes of beauty just as he does with poetic codes. He questions established certainties, like a final provocation that marks his annoyance at this society. [...]