Arthur Rimbaud Quotes

France, Poet
October 20, 1854 – November, 10, 1891.

ean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (UK: /ˈræ̃boʊ/, US: /ræmˈboʊ/; French: [aʁtyʁ ʁɛ̃bo] (About this sound listen); 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet who is known for his influence on modern literature and arts, which prefigured surrealism. Born in Charleville-Mézières, he started writing at a very young age and excelled as a student, but abandoned his formal education in his teenage years to run away from home to Paris amidst the Franco-Prussian War. During his late adolescence and early adulthood he began the bulk of his literary output, then completely stopped writing at the age of 21, after assembling one of his major works, Illuminations.

The only unbearable thing is that nothing is unbearable.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Unbearable
Life is the farce which everyone has to perform.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Life
- Perform
- Farce

Romanticism has never been properly judged. Who was there to judge it? The critics!

Arthur Rimbaud
...You have to pass an exam, and the jobs that you get are either to shine shoes, or to herd cows, or to tend pigs. Thank God, I don't want any of that! Damn it! And besides that they smack you for a reward; they call you an animal and it's not true, a little kid, etc.. Oh! Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn!

Arthur Rimbaud
- God
- True
- Animal
I went out under the sky, Muse! and I was your vassal.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Sky
- Muse
- Vassal
La vieillerie poétique avait une bonne part dans mon alchimie du verbe.

Arthur Rimbaud
The wolf howled under the leaves And spit out the prettiest feathers Of his meal of fowl: Like him I consume myself.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Wolf
- Meal
- Consume
I'm intact, and I don't give a damn.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Damn
- Intact

Ô mes petites amoureuses,Que je vous hais !

Arthur Rimbaud
But the problem is to make the soul into a monster.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Soul
- Problem
- Monster
Plus douce qu'aux enfants la chair des pommes sures,L'eau verte pénétra ma coque de sapin.

Arthur Rimbaud
Je dis qu'il faut être voyant, se faire voyant. Le poète se fait voyant par un long, immense et raisonné dérèglement de tous les sens.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Long
I understand, and not knowing how to express myself without pagan words, I’d rather remain silent.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Words
- Express
- Pagan
Is it in these bottomless nights that you sleep in exile?

Arthur Rimbaud
- Sleep
- Nights
- Exile

J'ai embrassé l'aube d'été.

Arthur Rimbaud
Then you'll feel your cheek scratched... A little kiss, like a crazy spider, Will run round your neck... And you'll say to me : "Find it !" bending your head - And we'll take a long time to find that creature - Which travels a lot.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Time
- Long
- Crazy
J'allais sous le ciel, Muse! et j'étais ton féal.

Arthur Rimbaud
Plus léger qu'un bouchon j'ai dansé sur les flots.

Arthur Rimbaud
Idle youth, enslaved to everything; by being too sensitive I have wasted my life.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Life
- Idle
- Enslaved
Je me suis baigné dans le PoèmeDe la Mer...Dévorant les azurs verts.

Arthur Rimbaud

Moi ! moi qui me suis dit mage ou ange, dispensé de toute morale, je suis rendu au sol.

Arthur Rimbaud
J'ai vu des archipels sidéraux! et des îlesDont les cieux délirants sont ouverts au vogueur:Est-ce en ces nuits sans fond que tu dors et t'exiles,Million d'oiseaux d'or, ô future Vigueur ?

Arthur Rimbaud
- Future
Elle est retrouvée,Quoi ? - L'Éternité.C'est la mer alléeAvec le soleil.

Arthur Rimbaud
I am alone in possessing a key to this barbarous sideshow.

Arthur Rimbaud
- Alone
- Key
- Sideshow