Rimbaud and Verlaines House
The French poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud lived here.
Location: 8 Royal College Street, Camden, London, NW1 0TH
Description: Arthur Rimbaud first met Paul Verlaine in 1871. Rimbaud was 17, Verlaine 27. Both were brilliant, volatile and utterly committed to the quest for the new, in art and life. Rimbaud was a young poet in search of a patron. Verlaine was a young poet in search of distraction - not least from his miserable marriage to Mathilde, whom he regularly hit. Verlaine's brother-in-law described Rimbaud as a vile, vicious, disgusting, smutty little schoolboy, but Verlaine found him an exquisite creature. He didn't seem to mind that Rimbaud rarely washed, left turds under one friend's pillow, and put sulphuric acid in the drink of another; not to mention that he hacked at his wrists with a penknife and stabbed him in the thigh. But by then, he was in love. The two of them ran off to Brussels and then London.
Rimbaud was delighted and astonished by London. Verlaine was overwhelmed by the incessant railways on splendid cast-iron bridges and the brutal, loud-mouthed people in the streets, but inspired by the interminable docks. The city was, he wrote, prudish, but with every vice on offer, and, permanently sozzled, despite ridiculous bills on drunkenness. The two poets were often sozzled, too: on ale, gin and absinthe. Rimbaud's extraordinary sonnet Voyelles, which gained an instant cult following, was clearly inspired by his experiments with 'the Green Fairy'.
Their relationship ended with a slap in the face with a wet fish. When Verlaine came home one day with a fish and a bottle of oil, Rimbaud sniggered. Furious at being mocked, Verlaine whacked him with the fish, then stormed off to Brussels and threatened suicide. After pawning his lover's clothes, Rimbaud followed him and, in a Brussels hotel, they had their final row. With the gun he'd planned to kill himself with, Verlaine shot Rimbaud in the arm. He was jailed for two years.
|
The French poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud lived here. |
Ranking This Month: 1603/3069
Pages Hit This Month: 25
Your Comments:
Other places nearby:
Bram Stoker's first London home», 1.9km
Shakespeare's Ireland Yard», 2.2km
Bram Stoker's Heroic Deed», 3.9km
Lord Byron & 1st ever plaque», 1.6km
CS Forester lived here», 7.0km
George Orwell Lived here», 1.5km
Poet Dylan Thomas lived here», 4.2km
Author DH Lawrence lived here», 2.2km
The Wind in Holland Park», 3.7km
The Turks Head Literary Club», 1.7km
Location Pinpointed:
Open Street Maps», Google Maps»
pinpointing the forgotten and lost history of London
Shady Old Lady »» Car Reviews »» Classic Telly »» Peckish © 2024 The Shady Old Lady, Privacy Policy
