The poetic genius of Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) blossomed early and burned briefly. Since his death at age thirty-seven, Rimbaud's life and work have influenced generations of readers and writers. Radical in its day, his writing took some of the first and most fundamental steps toward the liberation of poetry from the formal constraints of its history, and now represents one of the most powerful and enduring bodies of poetic expression in human history. In this new translation, Mason draws on a century of Rimbaud scholarship to choreograph a superbly clear presentation of the poet's works. He arranges Rimbaud's writing chronologically, based on the latest manuscript evidence, so readers can experience the poet's rapid evolution from the lyricism of 'Sensation' to the groundbreaking early modernism of 'A Season in Hell'. In fifty pages of previously untranslated material, including award-winning early verses, RIMBAUD COMPLETE reveals facets of the poet previously unknown to UK readers.
Enduring icon of creativity, authenticity, and rebellion, and the subject of numerous new biographies, Arthur Rimbaud is one of the most repeatedly scrutinized literary figures of the last half-century. Yet almost thirty years have elapsed without a major new translation of his writings. Remedying this state of affairs is Rimbaud Complete," the first and only truly complete edition of Rimbaud's work in English, translated, edited, and introduced by Wyatt Mason.
Mason draws on a century of Rimbaud scholarship to choreograph a superbly clear-eyed presentation of the poet's works. He arranges Rimbaud's writing chronologically, based on the latest manuscript evidence, so readers can experience the famously teenaged poet's rapid evolution, from the lyricism of ""Sensation" to the groundbreaking early modernism of "A Season in Hell.
In fifty pages of previously untranslated material, including award-winning early verses, all the fragmentary poems, a fascinating early draft of A Season in Hell, a school notebook, and multiple manuscript versions of the important poem ""O saisons, o chateaux," Rimbaud Complete displays facets of the poet unknown to American readers. And in his Introduction, Mason revisits the Rimbaud myth, addresses the state of disarray in which the poet left his work, and illuminates the intricacies of the translator's art.
Mason has harnessed the precision and power of the poet's rapidly changing voice: from the delicate music of a poem such as ""Crows" to the mature dissonance of the "Illuminations, Rimbaud Complete unveils this essential poet for a new generation of readers.
"From the Hardcover edition.
