Rimbaud Complete (Modern Library) - Hardcover

Rimbaud, Arthur

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679642307 ISBN 13: 9780679642305

Publisher: Random House Inc, 2002

Synopsis

A complete collection of poetry and prose by the revolutionary nineteenth-century poet includes an introduction to the life, work, myth, and influence of Arthur Rimbaud.

About this title

About the Author

The poetic genius of Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891) blossomed early and burned briefly. Nearly all of his work was composed when he was in his teens, before all trace of his literary life disappeared with him into the African desert of his later years. During the century following his death at thirty-seven, Rimbaud’s work and life have influenced generations of readers and writers. Radical in its day, Rimbaud’s writing took some of the first and most fundamental steps toward the liberation of poetry from the formal constraints of its history, and now represents one of the most powerful and enduring bodies of poetic expression in human history.

Wyatt Mason studied literature at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and the University of Paris. His first translation, Pierre Michon’s

From the Back Cover

n of creativity, authenticity, and rebellion, and the subject of numerous new biographies, Arthur Rimbaud is one of the most repeatedly scrutinized literary figures of the last half-century. Yet almost thirty years have elapsed without a major new translation of his writings. Remedying this state of affairs is Rimbaud Complete, the first and only truly complete edition of Rimbaud’s work in English, translated, edited, and introduced by Wyatt Mason.

Mason draws on a century of Rimbaud scholarship to choreograph a superbly clear-eyed presentation of the poet’s works. He arranges Rimbaud’s writing chronologically, based on the latest manuscript evidence, so readers can experience the famously teenaged poet’s rapid evolution, from the lyricism of “Sensation” to the groundbreaking early modernism of A Season in Hell.

In fifty pages of previously untranslated material, including award-winning e

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Rimbaud Complete
By Arthur Rimbaud
Translated by Wyatt Mason
Edited by Wyatt Mason

Random House

Copyright © 2002 Arthur Rimbaud.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0-679-64230-7

Chapter One

1869

THE ORPHANS' NEW YEAR'S GIFTS

I

The room is full of shadow; you vaguely hear
Two children whispering, sadly, softly.
Heavy with sleep, their heads are bowed
Beneath the long white curtain that trembles and rises . . .
?Outside, birds huddle against the cold;
Wings benumbed beneath the sky's gray shade;
And the New Year, trailing mist,
Drags the folds of her snowy train behind her,
Smiling through tears, shivering as she sings . . .

II

But beneath the fluttering curtain, the little ones
Speak as one does in the dark of night, softly.
Lost in thought, they listen as if to a distant murmur . . .
How they tremble at the clear golden voice
Of the morning bell, its metallic refrain striking
The glass globe again and again . . .
?Then . . . on the floor . . . strewn around their beds
In this frozen room, you notice mourning clothes:
The bitter winter wind wailing at the threshold
Blows its grim breath into the house.
You sense something missing in all of this . . .
?Where is their mother? Where is her triumphant
Maternal stare, her warm absolving smile?
One night, alone, bent over them
She must have forgotten to kindle a fire
From a dying ember, must have forgotten
To tuck blanket and quilt around them
Before leaving, while crying out: forgive me.
She couldn't have known how cold the next morning would be,
Nor how to keep the winter wind behind the door . . .
?This maternal dream is a warm blanket,
A cottony nest where children hide,
Like beautiful birds on swaying branches,
Sleeping a soft sleep brimming with white dreams . . .
?And here, the nest is featherless and cold,
And the little ones are cold, restless, afraid;
A nest frozen solid by bitter winds.

III

Your heart has understood: these are motherless children.
No mother near! ?And father far away . . .
?So an old servant cares for them.
The little ones are all alone in this frozen house;
Four-year-old orphans who slowly
Awaken to a happy memory . . .
Like a rosary, a prayer made bead by bead:
?Oh what a beautiful morning! New Year's Morning!
During the night, each dreamt of his heart's loves,
Strange dreams of dancing toys
Gowned in gold, glittering jewels
Dancing a musical dance, disappearing
Under curtains and appearing again!
The next morning, they rose happily,
Mouths watering, rubbing their eyes . . .
With tousled hair and sparkling eyes
They made their way, brimming with holiday joy,
Little bare feet skimming across the floor,
Until softly tapping at their parents' door . . .
And in they went with nightshirted welcomes . . .
Endless kisses and every joy.

Excerpted from Rimbaud Complete by Arthur Rimbaud. Copyright © 2002 by Arthur Rimbaud. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House Inc
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0679642307
• ISBN 13: 9780679642305
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 528
• Editor: Mason Wyatt