The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-07-12
By VANCE THOMPSON.


drank absinthe discussed philosophy.
Charles eros, with his crisp, curly hair
and face tawn as n lascar's, was there.
Already far gone in drink, he leaned
with one clb W on the table, reCiting in
a hard, dry voice his last monologue-
one CuQuclin had just made famous in
drawing rooms. His hands, already
senile, tremhled with alcoholic fever
1 dare say he is dead now. this founder
of shadowy school of poets, this
auther of the "Coffret de Santal" The
harsh voice ceased. His head fell IN
the table. From the dozen or more
threats came howls of applause. All,
what crowd, this company which now
belongs to the twilights of the past!
a half d zen shirts in the crowd were
fairly clean. The rest were Nerainesque.
And what rhymes were shouted over
the wine and beer--the rhymes Of
young poets. in whose visions women
are always undraped and dsport an
unusual luxury uf seins nacreduX and
Ranches opulentes'
That somhre and vindictve creole.
Lecynte de Iisle. had a few years be-
fore denounced Paul Nerlane as an
employee of the Commune, in the gentle
hope Of getting him shot. Even Coppee,
this pentlest of poets, sneered at him.
George Moore, who had just gone t.
London, echoed these sentiments in
book he wrote about that time. The
Confessions Of a Young Man" Mr..
Moore has since recanted. You cannot
Judge the George Moore Of to-day by
his opinions in that book.
Eth hien. some of us. however. carried
the orifiahnme of Nerlaine. He sat
among MS there. this old man, with the
dirty neCkerchief and the ribald and
unclean speech. And is it thus / re-
member him? NJ. I remember him
best when, with his glowing eyes half
closed. he recited some new sonnet or
Unforeseen verses--splendd as golden
coins.
His face was like the mask Of Soc
rates with it, high cheek bones and
simian mouth The nose was fiat, ca
nous. broken. the great bald head COW
cred with knobs like a battered helmet;
a draggled beard hung about the cheeks
and chin; the ears were fiat and large.
The eyes, those deep set. dreamy, in
tolerably vague eyes. glowered at one
from beneath rugged, square hewn
brows
This was Paul Verlain as you might
have seen him any day slouching along
the street or lounging over marble
topped table in the Cafe Francois Pre-
mier. or at other times you might
have seen him sitting in his bed in some
foul mansarde. an old man. grmy and
drunk, in a greasy n!ghtcap and abom-
Unable linen George Moore saw him
thus once upon a time Disappearing.
DeGas. the great painter has recorded
an impression OF Nerlane in one of his
most famous pictures, The Absinthe
Drinker" Nerlaine is sitting at table
over an opalescent glass OF absinthe.
Near 10y sprawls a woman of the streets,
wretchcd, tipsy, pitlable. 1t is well that
this impression should be recorded. In
this poor great poet there was much
of walt Whitman fine humanity.
He h I'D a face viZardlike, unchanging.
made impudent with the use of evil
deeds. But the eyes were those of the
penitent thief turned toward Him on
the middle cross.
Mallarme was a frugal and painful
writer He left no great bulk or work.
No more than Botticelli, no more than
Bach will he ever be popular. And yet
! do not believe that any one has had
a greater more tyranniCal-intluence
on the young artistic generation than
has he. When naturalism was most
triumphant he stood out against II. In
deed ne was the incarnation of the liter
AIRY revolt against the debasing realism
that made Xola and destroyed Maupas-
SAINT. He began with the Parnassians,
but he went far beyond them. As pa
tiently as Gautier ne chiselled his verses,
but to each verse he gave as it were "A
second intention. 1t is not quite easy to
get at the heart Of his mystery, but his
theory may, | think, be explained in
this way. He held then, that each
verse should be at once plastic image,
the expression Of a thought and a phil
osophlc symbol. and it should be as well
"A musical phrase and a part also Of the
entire melody that made up the poem.
He was born in Paris in 1872 His
early manhood was spent in teaching
English in provincial colleges. Hi
books brought him little money; and
he lived on his collegiate stipend,
modcstly enough, in an apartment near
the Luxembourg. His family consisted
Of wife and daughter. was his
daughter who drove the famous
donkey Cart--the price of poem
that by some chance had been
bought and paid for. Malarme lived
very quietly, lie made few aCquaInt-
ances. 1t was as difficult to see
Illll Us any man III dIlS, MS
opinion %, the interviewer was Luther's
opinion of the devil. And yet to those
who had gained his friendship he was
IA rare friend lndulgent, stanCh and
tender, Notwithstanding the intransi-
gcanCe of his theories, no man was
reader to recognize the talent of Others
lie was a friend of the GOncourts, he
loved Daudct he appreciated Xoa anG
the most magnificent tribute laid upOT
poor Nillicrs de l'Isle Adams tomb was
Mallarme's funeral Grafton. In the day,
when in France IL was a crime agains
patriotism to praise Wagner, Nal
!arme not only defended his work bu
defended II with the presCience of on,
who forcsaw its tendency. He tough
for Manet, Rodin and Dcgas when every
mans hand was against them. He dis,
covered Cherct. lie introduced Maeter
l.nCk to fame,
No matter how closely one may hav
questioned Nerhacren', genius, II is din
cult To give the English reader an,
'Ndrt idea of his work, The man Is $
ttIIItltN rn-lav H.. il Ia.