Ernest Delahaye (1 September 1853 – 20 November 1930) was a French writer and essayist. He maintained a long and close friendship with

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

whom he first met in April 1865 when they attended school together in Charleville in the Ardennes region of France. He and Rimbaud had a shared interest in poetry, and he would help Rimbaud by making fair copies of his drafts for distribution to Rimbaud's literary friends. He was one of the few (seven) recipients of the privately printed ''

A Season in Hell ''A Season in Hell'' () is an extended poem in prose written and published in 1873 by French writer Arthur Rimbaud. It is the only work that was published by Rimbaud himself. The book had a considerable influence on later artists and poets, ...

'', though Rimbaud later asked for it back to give it to someone else. According to Rimbaud biographer,

Charles Nicholl Charles "Boomer" Bowen Nicholl (19 June 1870 – 9 July 1939) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cambridge University and Llanelli. Nicholl played for Wales on fifteen occasions during the 1891 and 1896 Hom ...

, Rimbaud's "

ast AST, Ast, or ast may refer to: Science and technology * Attention schema theory, of consciousness or subjective awareness Computing * Abstract syntax tree, a finite, labeled, directed tree used in computer science * Anamorphic stretch transform, ...

strictly dateable poem" was contained in a letter to Delahaye of 14 October 1875. Through Rimbaud, Delahaye also met poet

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...

and became friendly with him. Verlaine wrote a poem - ''Sonnet Boiteux'' - which is dedicated to him. Delahaye mixed his civil service career, working at the Education Ministry, with writing biographical material on both Rimbaud and Verlaine, contributing first-hand accounts of the poets' lives and families.

Works

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Notes

Sources

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External links

''Rimbaud, the Artist and the Moral Being'' (excerpt) translated from the French in ''The Black Herald'' magazine, issue 3, 2012
1853 births 1930 deaths French biographers French male writers French male essayists Arthur Rimbaud French male poets French male biographers {{france-nonfiction-writer-stub