Paul Verlaine

Author Code: FPVX

Educated at the Lycee in Paris, Verlaine became a civil servant after leaving school. In 1870, at the proclamation of the Third Republic, he joined the 160th Battalion of the Garde Nationale, but soon joined the Communard in 1871. During the Paris Commune, he held the post of head of the press bureau of the Central Committee and was eventually forced into hiding. In August, 1871, he once again returned to Paris. He embarked on a homosexual affair with Arthur Rimbaud which took them to England in 1872. He shot Rimbaud in a jealous rage in 1873 and was imprisoned at Mons. On his release, he returned to England and worked as a teacher while continuing to write and publish his poetry. In 1877, he returned to France and taught English. Verlaine eventually devolved into drug addiction and alcoholism, which forced him into poverty. nevertheless, his poetry was an inspiration to composers such as Faure and Debussy. His works include Poemes Saturniens (1866), Fetes Galantes (1869), La Bonne Chanson (1870), Sagesse (1880), Amour (1888), Hombres (1891), Mes Prisons (1893) and Confessions (1895).