by L.C.

Created on: February 11, 2010

Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was born in Charleville, Ardennes October 20th 1854 and died November 1891. Rimbaud is best known for having had a drastic impact on French poetry, modern literature, music and art that is still pervasive today. The enfant terrible had a fascinating life, and by learning and analysing it we may come to better understand his poetry and letters.

Arthur was born into a provincial middle class family. His father, Frederic Rimbaud, was a career soldier who married his mother, Marie-Catherine-Vitalie Cuif in February 1853. Their first child, Jean-Nicolas-Frederick, was born the following November; the next year Mme Rimbaud gave birth to Jean-Nicolas-Arthur. She then went on to have Victorine (who died a month after birth), Vitalie and Isabelle. When Arthur was six years old his father left to join his regiment in Cambrai; he never returned home. Arthur and his siblings were raised by their single mother, who was a strict Catholic and a very stern woman.

The Rimbaud family moved to Cours d’Orleans in 1862 because Mme Rimbaud feared her children were being over-influenced by other children. Although the boys were allowed to attend the Pension Rossat their mother was increasingly overbearing, pushing them to succeed and walking them from the school grounds until they were fifteen and sixteen respectively. Arthur soon grew to be bitter towards his mother and her controlling behaviour. However, like his mother, Arthur was also a devoted Catholic,  which caused his classmates to call him a “sale petit cagot”, a dirty little hypocrite. Although he disliked schoolwork up until that point, Arthur started attending the College de Charleville where he excelled in all his classes except math and sciences. In 1870 he won seven firsts.

Mme Rimbaud hired a tutor for Arthur, Father Ariste Lheritier, who taught him Greek, Latin and French classical literature. Rimbaud had his first poem published January 2nd 1870, “Les Etrennes des orphelines”, The Orphans’ New Year’s Gift, published in the Revue pour tous. A teacher named George Izambard arrived at the College two weeks after Rimbaud’s poem was published, and became not only his literary mentor but a close friend.

When the Franco-Prussian war was declared Izambard left Charleville, and Rimbaud shortly became disconsolate and depressed. He ran away from home to Paris with no money and was arrested and imprisoned for a week. After he returned home he

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