A Season in Hell, The Drunken Boat, and Other Poems

by Arthur Rimbaud

Arthur Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell" is a prose poem loosely divided into nine parts. In one part of the poem the poet portrays quite transparently his own relationship with French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine. The two had a brief alcohol and drug fueled affair which finally came to end when Verlaine shot Rimbaud in the wrist in a drunken rage. "A Season in Hell," which has been referred to as a pioneering example of modern symbolism, is included in this collection along with "The Drunken Boat," a fragmented first-person narrative which vividly describes the drifting and sinking of a boat lost at sea. It is probably the best known work from the representative selection of early poems by the writer presented here in this volume. Also included in this edition is a selection of poems from Rimbaud's masterpiece "Illuminations." What is most remarkable about Rimbaud's poetry is that it was produced almost entirely between the ages of seventeen and twenty, when Rimbaud would abruptly give up writing entirely in favor of a more steady working life. His writing he contended was a product of his reckless lifestyle to which he was resolved to abandon.

Genres: Poetry

54 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1886

About the author

Hallucinatory work of French poet Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud strongly influenced the surrealists.

With known transgressive themes, he influenced modern literature and arts, prefiguring. 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 to Paris amidst the Franco-Prussian war. During his late adolescence and early adulthood, he produced the bulk of his literary output. After assembling his last major work, Illuminations , Rimbaud completely stopped writing literature at age 20 years in 1874.

A hectic, violent romantic relationship, which lasted nearly two years at times, with fellow poet Paul Verlaine engaged Rimbaud, a libertine, restless soul. After his retirement as a writer, he traveled extensively on three continents as a merchant and explorer until his death from cancer. As a poet, Rimbaud is well known for his contributions to symbolism and, among other works, for A Season in Hell , a precursor to modernist literature.

Reviews

[Mathew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a friend growing up who was highly talented and talked a great game at whatever his current and most passionate interest was. The only problem was mysteriously, there was never any follow through and his ideals and talk were never backed up with experience or any kind of fulfillment, so he continued, and then eventually began to spiral in his own ideological loops. I went on, grew up, did a bunch of stuff, but occasionally when I'd see him again, he was still stuck on exactly the same fixation and had become bitter because life wasn't giving him what he felt he deserved.

This is exactly how Rimbaud's poetry felt. Skilled and ideologically high minded, but naïve and eventually collapsing under the poets inability to deal with his place in reality. The only balm for their soul seems to be half baked dreams based on a kind pseudo orientalism which ultimately amounts to nothing more than "the grass is always greener"

Ultimately this collection is utterly depressing and stands as a testament to squandered potential. I keep asking myself, if only, if only he'd kept writing, his mature voice might have been something truly incredible.
--
Side note: A working familiarity with French will be helpful when reading "A season in Hell" since there are entire sections that were left untranslated

[Jim Ringel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drunken, and then some.

[Bird Barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ebook

I think one review on here says it best,
“Drunken, and then some.”

Maybe it was the translation?

[Raniboo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The spirit of rimbaud flows through the soul of every poet that came after him, and reading a season in hell is like witnessing the spirit burning in a forbidden glory.