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A ''poète maudit'' is a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

living a life outside or against society. Insanity, crime, violence, abuse of alcohol or other drugs, and in general any societal sin, often resulting in an early death, are typical elements of the biography of a ''poète maudit''.

History of the term

The phrase ''poète maudit'' (literally, "accursed poet") was coined in the beginning of the 19th century by

Alfred de Vigny Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny (; 27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet and early French Romanticism, Romanticist. He also produced novels, plays, and translations of Shakespeare. Biography Vigny was born in Loches (a town to wh ...

in his 1832 novel ''Stello'', in which he calls the poet "" (the race that will always be cursed by the powerful ones of the earth).

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

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

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 ...

are considered typical examples. Lautréamont or Alice de Chambrier are also considered as ''poètes maudits'', as is the American 20th-century poet

Hart Crane Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Inspired by the Romantics and his fellow Modernists, Crane wrote highly stylized poetry, often noted for its complexity. His collection '' White Buildings'' (1926), feat ...

. The term came into wider usage since Verlaine's anthology. Originally it was used just for the writers in his book (see below), but then it became a name for writers (or even artists in general) whose lives and art are outside or against their society. For example, the poet and publisher

Pierre Seghers Pierre Seghers (5 January 1906, in Paris – 4 November 1987, in Créteil) was a French poet and editor. During the Second World War he took part in the French Resistance movement. Career He founded, among other things, the famous line of boo ...

published an anthology '' Poètes maudits d'aujourd'hui: 1946–1970'' ("The accursed poets of today: 1946–1970") in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1972, collecting authors such as

Antonin Artaud Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...

, Jean-Pierre Duprey and 10 others, some of whom (like Artaud) became very famous posthumously. The term is also used outside France. Examples include American poet Delmore Schwartz, whom Mark Ford called "America's most genuine claimant to the title", Canadian poet Paul Potts, Czech poet

Karel Hynek Mácha Karel Hynek Mácha () (16 November 1810 – 5 November 1836) was a Czechs, Czech Romanticism, romantic poet. His poem ''Máj'' is among the most important poems in the history of Czech literature. Biography Mácha was born on 16 November 1810 ...

, the Polish poet

Rafał Wojaczek Rafał Wojaczek (December 6, 1945 – May 11, 1971) was a Polish poet of the postwar generation. He was a son of a respected family in Upper Silesia. His life was marked by abortive studies, alcoholism, depression and suicide attempts, the last ...

and the Italian poet Salvatore Toma; Wojaczek and Toma committed suicide at an early age. Another notable example of poète maudit is Dino Campana, an Italian author famous for his only poetry collection, the ''Canti Orfici'', who died in a psychiatric hospital at the age of forty-six.

''Les Poètes maudits''

''Les Poètes maudits'' is a work by

that was published in 1884. The work is a homage to

Tristan Corbière Tristan Corbière (18 July 1845 – 1 March 1875), born Édouard-Joachim Corbière, was a French poet born in Coat-Congar, Ploujean (now part of Morlaix) in Brittany, where he lived most of his life before dying of tuberculosis at the age of ...

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French Symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools o ...

Marceline Desbordes-Valmore Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (20 June 1786 – 23 July 1859) was a French Romanticism, French Romantic poet and novelist. Early life and education Desbordes-Valmore was born in Douai. Following the French Revolution, her father's business was ...

, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam and Pauvre Lélian (Paul Verlaine himself, the name being an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

Gallery

File:Charles Baudelaire 1855 Nadar.jpg, Portrait of

Nadar Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (; 5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910), known by the pseudonym Nadar () or Félix Nadar'','' was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloon (aircraft), balloonist, and proponent of History of avi ...

(1855) File:Frédéric Bazille - Paul Verlaine.jpg,

Frédéric Bazille Jean Frédéric Bazille (; December 6, 1841 – November 28, 1870) was a French Impressionist painter. Many of Bazille's major works are examples of figure painting in which he placed the subject figure within a landscape painted '' en plein ai ...

(1867) File:Lautreamont1.jpg,

Comte de Lautréamont Comte de Lautréamont (; ) was the '' nom de plume'' of Isidore Lucien Ducasse (; 4 April 1846 – 24 November 1870), a French poet born in Uruguay. His only works, '' Les Chants de Maldoror'' and ''Poésies'', had a major influence on modern a ...

by Jacques Lefrère
(before 1870) File:Carjat Arthur Rimbaud 1872 n2.jpg,

at the age of seventeen by

Étienne Carjat Étienne Carjat (; 28 March 1828 – 8 March 1906) was a French journalist, caricaturist and photographer. He co-founded the magazine ''Le Diogène'', and founded the review . He is best known for his numerous portraits and caricatures of po ...

(c.1872)

References

External links

Verlaine's work in French (pdf)

Poètes maudits des littératures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poete Maudit French poetry Poetry by Paul Verlaine