At the age of fifty Stephane Mallarme (1842-98)
spoke of his published work as very precise reference
points on my mind's journey. In "Stephane Mallarme",
Roger Pearson charts that journey for the first time,
blending a biographical account of the poet's life with
a detailed analysis of his evolving poetic theory and
practice. A poet on this earth must be uniquely a poet',
he declared at the age of twenty-two, and he duly lived
a poet's life. But what is a poet's life? What is a
poet's function? In his poems, in complex prose
statements, and by the example of his life, Mallarme
provided answers to these questions. To Mallarme, being
a poet meant many things: a continuous, lifelong
investigation of language and its expressive potential;
and bringing people together, as much in life as in
poetry. His Tuesday salons were famous with visitors
including Yeats, Rilke and Verlaine, as well as the
artists Manet, Renoir, Whistler and Gauguin; his poetry
inspired music by Debussy, Ravel and Boulez; and his
poem "A Throw of the Dice will Never Abolish Chance"
spread over 20 pages and combining verse with varied
typography inspires poets and visual artists to this
day. Poetry was a way of bringing all human beings
together in heightened awareness and an understanding of
the magnificent act of living. "Stephane Mallarme"
chronicles a fascinating and utterly unique voice in
French poetry. It will not only prove an essential
resource for students of English and French literature,
but an engaging book for anyone interested in
nineteenth-century France.
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