author
Paul Verlaine
1844–1896
A master of musical, emotionally charged verse, this French poet helped shape Symbolist poetry and gave the language a new softness and intimacy. His life was turbulent, but his finest poems remain delicate, haunting, and deeply influential.
5 Audiobooks
Hombres (Hommes)
by Paul Verlaine
Œuvres complètes - Volume 1 Poèmes Saturniens, Fêtes Galantes, Bonne chanson, Romances sans paroles, Sagesse, Jadis et naguère
by Paul Verlaine
Poems of Paul Verlaine
by Paul Verlaine
Ranskalaista laulurunoutta Alfred Musset'n, Paul Verlaine'n ja Charles Baudelaire'n runoja
by Alfred de Musset, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine
Poésies religieuses Préface de J. K. Huÿsmans
by Paul Verlaine
About the author
Born in Metz on March 30, 1844, Paul Verlaine became one of the great lyric poets of 19th-century France. He was linked first with the Parnassians and later with the Symbolist and Decadent circles, and he is especially remembered for the musical flow and emotional subtlety of his poetry.
His major books include Poèmes saturniens, Fêtes galantes, La Bonne Chanson, Romances sans paroles, and Sagesse. Verlaine's writing often feels intimate and fluid, favoring mood, sound, and suggestion over grand statement, and that style had a lasting effect on French and international poetry.
His personal life was famously unsettled, including his intense and troubled relationship with Arthur Rimbaud. Even so, his reputation only grew, and he is now widely seen as one of the key voices of the fin de siècle and one of France's most memorable poets.