Live here, live elsewhere

In the 19th century, the French poet Rimbaud created "live elsewhere",

May 1968 , Paris students wrote this sentence on the wall of the University of Paris.

In the 1970s, Milan Kundera used it as the title of his novel

After that, it became a commonly used name for bars around the world

"Life Elsewhere" As the French Symbolist poet Rimbaud famously said, real life is always elsewhere. This is the characteristic of youth. In youth, who does not have the desire for honor? Who hasn’t rebelled against family? Who doesn’t yearn for the unknown world? Looking around, the life around us is mediocre, narrow, boring, and unchanged. Every day is filled with food, clothing, housing, and transportation, without color or brightness. It is in order to escape this annoying reality of existence that people endow themselves with passion and imagination.

Rimbaud (1854-1891) was good at writing Latin poetry at the age of 15 and mastered the traditional rhythm of French classical poetry. From the age of 16 (1870), he often wandered around and had a close relationship with the poet Verlaine, who was 10 years older than him. However, there was a conflict later, and Verlaine even shot and wounded Rimbaud. There are about 140 existing poems by Rimbaud, mainly written between the ages of 16 and 19. The influence of the Parnassians can be seen in Rimbaud's early poems, and his later poems strengthened the symbolism. His major collections of poems include "A Season in Hell" and "Collection of Emmanuel".

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Living elsewhere

In this poetry collection I read, in addition to Dickinson, I was also deeply impressed by two other poets. I don't like their poems, but I have some feelings about their stories.

These two poets are Verlaine and Rimbaud, two of the Three Musketeers of French Symbolist poets.

Verlaine published a collection of poems very early, especially when he met Mathilde who later became his wife. He wrote many passionate love poems, full of yearning for tenderness and a happy life, and It has a certain influence in the literary world. His fate began to change after meeting Rimbaud.

Rambo was a young boy with an unfortunate childhood. His mother was unkind and he took his children to live alone after being abandoned. At the same time, he passed on his misfortune to his children and often severely punished them. However, he was also a genius. At the age of 15, he wrote "Vowels" and "Drunk Boat" which amazed the world. When he was fifteen or sixteen years old, he came to Paris alone to seek advice from Verlaine. Verlaine, who was 10 years older than him, also admired his talent very much, guided him carefully, and enthusiastically helped him in life, and gradually developed a strong feeling for Rimbaud.

Afterwards, their behavior became more shocking. They were often together, and when they couldn't get enough of each other, they would even hug each other on the street, attracting the attention of passers-by. In the end, Verlaine abandoned his family and ran away with Rimbaud, spending two years together in England and Belgium.

I think the relationship between homosexuals should be the same as that of heterosexuals, but their love objects are different from ordinary people. But the relationship between Verlaine and Rimbaud was obviously unequal. In the UK, in order to maintain his life, Verlaine looked for jobs everywhere and lived a hard life. He really liked Rimbaud and was willing to give everything for him. Like all people who fall in love, Rimbaud was just a teenager and was obviously passive in accepting all this. Two years later, he was tired of this life and broke up with Verlaine and wanted to go back to Paris. Verlaine lost control of his emotions. He shot and wounded Rimbaud and was imprisoned for two years.

In this year, the 19-year-old Rimbaud put down his poetry and said goodbye to the poetry world forever. I think that talent and poetry brought him more pain than fame.

They broke up, and their life trajectories were completely different from now on.

Two years of prison life changed Verlaine's thoughts and feelings. He accepted Catholicism in prison and gained a new understanding of life and feelings. He wandered between decadence and pious repentance. His poetic sentences are erratic. After he was released from prison, he lived a life of poverty, but he never stopped writing poetry and achieved remarkable results. When he was over fifty, he was elected the King of Poets of France, but his fame obviously did not help his life and spirit.

Rimbaud was a person who easily got tired of the existing status quo. This can be seen from his career and the places he visited after the age of 20. He left France and went to Southern Europe, Northern Europe, Asia, and Africa. , he served as a soldier, worked as a supervisor and translator, and finally did business in Africa. He was very wealthy and died of illness at the age of 37.

Having seen their endings, perhaps I should sympathize with Verlaine. There is nothing wrong with loving. Paying everything for your lover results in jail and poverty. Verlaine reminds me of those who sacrificed a lot but lost everything and lost their minds at the same time. The resentful woman. But I can't sympathize with him. Rimbaud is just a teenager first of all. The enthusiasm of an underage boy is not within the scope of my understanding and tolerance. In addition, Rimbaud is such a person. He pursues a vast life and wants to To become a Rimbaud who is amorphous and cannot be defined.

"I am willing to be anyone", this is the goal pursued by the boat of his life and art, and this goal is floating on the sea and wandering with the rapids, and can never be reached. He could care less about everything and be with Verlaine, but he would soon get tired of the inherent life together. Verlaine fell in love with such a person, just like Xiaojiabiyu fell in love with a prodigal son, and the ending is predictable.

"Life is elsewhere", Rimbaud said in the poem. This poem was later used by Milan Kundera as the title of the novel and became widely circulated.