Une season en fer

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First edition, October 1873

Une Saison en Enfer (mostly translated as A Time in Hell ) is a relatively small collection of short texts in lyrical prose with interspersed verse poems. It comes from the French poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) and was written from April to August 1873 (that is, at the age of 19) in the village of Roche ( Ardennes ), in his mother's rural home.

background

The text collection is the only work that Rimbaud himself gave to print, but it remained practically unpublished because he did not pay the Brussels printer he commissioned and the small edition, apart from a few copies that he gave friends, e. B. Paul Verlaine , remained lying in the warehouse of the printing works, where in 1901, d H. posthumously, was discovered.

The texts in the little book clearly reflect a crisis situation: Rimbaud had come to Paris with great hopes in September 1871 at the invitation of his somewhat older poet colleague Verlaine, where he had initially aroused admiration in literary circles. In February 1872, however, he was practically expelled from Paris after he had entered into a homosexual relationship with Verlaine, who was just married and had just become a father, and had also caused some other nuisance. In the summer he had finally gone back to Paris and then went on an unsteady wandering with Verlaine in northern France, Belgium and England, which was marked by quarrels, rifts and reconciliations between friends. In April 73 he slipped away with his mother and siblings in Roche, where he wanted to overcome the inner crisis he had gotten into, a mixture of exhaustion, confusion and disappointment, by writing the "black book".

In the texts, which can hardly be classified in terms of genre and are often difficult to understand, Rimbaud looks back on his past more alogically, associating than logically referring to it, and just as erratically focuses on his present. Nevertheless, the texts are worked out precisely.

In the form of a mixture of retrospect, confession, self-talk, report, reflection, complaint and self-accusation, at times depressed and almost angry, out of inner confusion, Rimbaud undertakes a "persistent and strict examination of all (his) metaphysical undertakings" who truly went and goes through hell.

Rimbaud writes in a letter that his fate depends on this book. So it can be assumed that he wrote it first for himself, regardless of an audience. The text itself is largely dark, but remains meaningful in its darkness. Rimbaud expresses that "opposing views are much truer than all dialectical maneuvers that are supposed to make them compatible." The contradiction necessarily belongs to reality.

In Une Saison en Enfer / A Time in Hell , he continues what he had already started with the Seer Letters. In the chapter Delirien II Alchemy of the Word (Délires II Alchimie du verbe) he develops his new poetics, which began in the seer letters, in a critical review.

In the chapter Delirium I - Foolish Virgin / The Infernal Consort (Délires I Vierge folle / L 'Époux infernal) he looks back on his relationship with Paul Verlaine - a difficult, contradicting and passionate love affair that ultimately failed. Rimbaud uses a trick here by having Verlaine (the “foolish virgin”) appear as the speaker. Rimbaud himself appears as a "consort in hell".

"Bad Blood (Mauvais Sang)" is about Rimbaud's attempt to determine his peculiarity towards others. "Night of Hell (Nuit de l'enfer)" contains u. a. an indictment of Christianity. In the chapter "Tomorrow (Matin)" the book reaches its darkest point, which at the same time becomes a turning point - an approval of hopeless contradictions, new hope, and a "true awakening from sleep - the illusions of the West."

Rimbaud closes Une Saison en Enfer with the chapter Adieu as follows: “Me! I, who called myself magician or angel, renounced all morals, I am given back to the earth to look for a duty and to embrace the rough reality. "

content

  • Prologue (Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ...)
  • Bad Blood (Mauvais Sang)
  • Night of Hell (Nuit de l'enfer)
  • Delirium I Foolish Virgin / The Infernal Consort (Délires I Vierge folle / L 'Époux infernal)
  • Delirium II Alchemy of the Word (Délires II Alchimie du verbe)
  • The Impossible (L'impossible)
  • The Lightning (L'éclair)
  • Morning (matin)
  • Adieu (adieu)

expenditure

Web links

Commons : Une Saison en enfer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Yves Bonnefoy: Arthur Rimbaud in personal testimonials and 70 picture documents . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1962, 1990, p. 100.
  2. ^ Arthur Rimbaud: Une Saison en Enfer / Eine Zeit in der Hölle , Reclam, Stuttgart 1970, afterword by Werner Dürrson, p. 105.
  3. ^ Yves Bonnefoy: Arthur Rimbaud in personal testimonials and 70 picture documents . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1962 1990, p. 106.
  4. ^ Arthur Rimbaud: Une Saison en Enfer / Eine Zeit in der Hölle , Reclam, Stuttgart 1970, afterword by Werner Dürrson, p. 104.
  5. ^ Yves Bonnefoy: Arthur Rimbaud in personal testimonials and 70 picture documents . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1962, 1990, p. 106.
  6. ^ Yves Bonnefoy: Arthur Rimbaud in personal testimonials and 70 picture documents . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1962, 1990, p. 107.
  7. ^ Arthur Rimbaud: Une Saison en Enfer / Eine Zeit in der Hölle , Reclam, Stuttgart 1970, afterword by Werner Dürrson, p. 102.
  8. ^ Yves Bonnefoy: Arthur Rimbaud in personal testimonials and 70 picture documents . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1962 1990, p. 106.
  9. ↑ Arthur Rimbaud: Une Saison en Enfer / Eine Zeit in der Hölle , Reclam, Stuttgart 1970, afterword by Werner Dürrson, p. 34 ff.
  10. ^ Yves Bonnefoy: Arthur Rimbaud in personal testimonials and 70 picture documents . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1962, 1990, p. 125.
  11. ^ Arthur Rimbaud: Une Saison en Enfer / Eine Zeit in der Hölle , Reclam, Stuttgart 1970, afterword by Werner Dürrson, p. 83.