Verlaine

PAUL VERLAINE (1844 – 1896) was a French poet associated with the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry. Verlaine's literary reputation declined in his final years—in part because of his scandalous behavior—even as he was identified as a major influence on the burgeoning symbolist movement. As much as for his literary reputation, however, Paul Verlaine’s fame rests on his stormy personal relationship with the poet Arthur Rimbaud. In 1895, as he was dying, Verlaine was elected “Prince des Poètes” by the French literary world. A few days before his death, he published his last poem, “Mort” (“Death”). In 1896 he died of a pulmonary infection. Thousands attended his funeral.