Rimbaud Lived at 165 Kings Road in Reading, Berkshire, from August to December, 1874
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
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Two times today he passed the mansion where
A tamed down Arthur Rimbaud stayed up in
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CHT162719 Arthur Rimbaud (1854-91) in his Bed (oil on canvas by Rossman, Jef (19th Century)
oil on canvas
Private Collection
Archives Charmet
French, out of copyright
The attic. Arthur didn’t even snare
Attention for a moment. No cult sin
Was caused (because the passing one had things
To think about much more important than
A long dead acned kid). Instead, the wings
Of poetry filled up grown thoughts. This man
Was plotting out a sonnet he could write,
Creation Rimbaud would have sneered at, brat,
That Arthur. Nobler than an attic height
This building disapproved the young one’s scat.
The mansion, far more like a sonnet, soon
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Got rid of France’s hooligan, that goon.
~ Phillip Whidden
by phillipw | Sep 7, 2024 | AR, BE, RE |