I was just reading the Complete Works of Arthur Rimbaud. I love his poetry and letters, and I think he was one of the world’s most influental poets. So, I just wanted to share one of my favorite parts of one of his letters. This one is from his letter to Georges Izambard, who was his teacher:
“And I have realized that I am a poet. It’s not my doing at all. It’s wrong to say: I think. Better to say: I am thought. Pardon the pun.
I is an other. So what if a piece of wood discovers it’s a violin, and the hell with those who can’t realize, who quibble over something they know nothing at all about!”
(Charleville, May 13, 1871)
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Wonderful, thanks for sharing. I have the Oxford Collected Poems of his awaiting but I’m dealing with Pessoa and Mallarmé first. It’s feasible you’d enjoy those old chaps too, if not already. Best wishes.