Verlaine, Paul Marie (1844-1896)

The French artist Henri Fantin-Latour, together with Symbolist poets Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) and Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), in a self-portrait. Popular in England for his still-life and flower paintings, Fantin-Latour was on the edge of the Impressionist movement. He painted several portrait groups and, later, some extraordinary figure subjects.

French lyric poet. He was acknowledged as the leader of the Symbolist poets (see Symbolism). His volumes of verse, strongly influenced by the poets Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud, include Poèmes saturniens/Saturnine Poems (1866), Fêtes galantes/Amorous Entertainments (1869), and Romances sans paroles/Songs without Words (1874). In 1873 he was imprisoned for shooting and wounding Rimbaud. His later works reflect his attempts to lead a reformed life.