Crossed Drawings (Rimbaud, Verlaine and Some Others)
Author(s): Alain Buisine and Madeleine Dobie
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Yale French Studies, No. 84, Boundaries: Writing & Drawing (1994), pp. 95-117
Published by: Yale University Press
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ALAIN BUISINE
Crossed Drawings*(Rimbaud,
Verlaineand Some Others)
Un jourpeut-6tre
il disparaitra
miraculeusement
-D6lires I, Une Saison en Enferl
He runs,he runs,theferret,and it reallyisn't easy to catch him,to seize
him as he passes by.But where exactlyhas he got to in this year 1876,
ArthurRimbaud, the eternal absconder, the indefatigablevagabond?
What has become of him? What is he doing? What has happened to
him? How is he and how does he live? Is he still on the road, or has he
set himself up provisionally,like some merchant or other,beforereturning,once more, to his distant wanderings?In France,his friends,
with Paul Verlaine at the fore,speculate about his wild peregrinations
and make funof his misadventures,affabulatinghis activities and his
discourse:
Oh la la, j'ai rienfaitde ch'mind'puismondergnier
Copp6e! I1est vraiqu'j'en suis chauv'commeun pagnier
Perc6,qu'j'sensqueut' chos' dans1'gosierqui m'ratisse
Qu'j'ai dansle dos comm'des avantgouitsd'un rhumatisse,
Et que j'm'emmerd'plusseuq'jamais.Mais c'est-n-6gal
J'auraiprom'n6ma gueuleinfecteau S6n6gal
Et vu Sainte-H6eln'! (merdea Badingue!) un' rud'noce,
eud' n6goce
Quoi ! Mais tout9a n'estpas s6rieux.J'reve
Maint'nant,et pleind'astuss',j'baluchonn'des vieillesplaqu's
D'assuranc',pourrevend'contdu rhumaux Kanaks.*
*Becauseofthetransfer
oftheFondsDoucettotheBibliotheque
Nationale,we were
regretfully
unableto supplytherelevantpicturesforthisarticle.
*Inthisroughtranslation
Verlaine'sslang,his imitaI do notattemptto reproduce
suchas c'est-n-6gal/S6negal.
Wherever
tionofRimbaud'saccentorwordplays
possible,I
and all such quotationsare attributed.
Whereno
have used publishedtranslations,
is myown.-Translator'snote.
reference
is supplied,thetranslation
1. ArthurRimbaud,OeuvresCompletes,edited,presented
andannotatedbyAntoineAdam(Paris:Gallimard,Bibliothequede la Pl6iade,1972),106;A Seasonin Hell
trans.EnidRhodesPeschel(London:OxfordUniversity
Press,1972),75.
& Drawing,ed.M. Reid,? 1994byYaleUniversity.
YFS 84,Boundaries:Writing
95
96
Yale FrenchStudies
Oh dear,I haven'tbeen on theroadsincemylast
Copp6e!It's truethatI'm as bald as I'm
in mythroat
Broke,thatI feelsomethingscratching
That in myback,I've gotthebeginnings
ofrheumatism,
AndthatI'm morefedup thanever.Butno matter
I'll haveshownmyuglyfacein Senegal
Andseen St Helena! (Shitto Badingue!)t A hell ofa time,
What?Butnoneofthatwas serious.I've gotbusinesson mymind
I packup old insuranceplates
Now,and,veryshrewdly,
Andtradethemforrumwiththecanaks.
It was doubtless the veryend of 1876 or the verybeginningof 1877
when he learned that Rimbaud, having got as faras Javain a roundtrip
that took him via Brussels, Rotterdam,Le Helder, Southampton, Gibraltar,Naples, Suez, Aden, Sumatra, the Cape, Saint Helen, Ascension, the Azores, Queenstown, Cork, Liverpool and Le Havre-"un
petit voyage,presque rien" [a little trip,really nothing to speak of],2
quipped his friendDelahaye-was finally back in Charleville, that
Verlaine wrote this ten-line poem, in the center of which he drew an
astonishing Rimbaud en canaque. Rimbaud as a Negro, his face tattooed,a thicklock ofhair stickingup fromhis skull,with earringsand a
huge braceleton his wrist:he is smokinga pipe (ofopium?) and holding
a large glass, most likely of rum. But even more remarkablethan the
pittoresque nature of this figurationis its position: properly,concretelyintratextual,the drawing is surroundedby Verlaine's coppee,
literallycoiled-up among its verses.As thoughthe disenchantedwords
which the poet lends him have the power to evoke his face,to restore
his form.*A near-magical evocation like that of the ancient homeric
nekuia which brings the dead back fromHell-and the Bridegroom
was, in his time, infernal!t
It should thereforecome as no surpriseto note that in his poems,
however lewd and slangy the coppee, Verlaine also meticulously respects Rimbaud's Ardennesaccent. Had he not writtenin the marginof
an earlier drawing of 1876, "Dargnieres nouvelles" [Latest News]t
was thenicknameofNapoleonIII.-Translator'snote.
tBadingue
*"d'evoquerson visage,de lui rendrefigure"literally:to evokehis face,to renhis form/face.-Translator's
note.
der/restore
to the Bridegroom
ofA Season in Hell, usuallyrenderedin
tThis is a reference
note.
Englishas theSatanicBridegroom.-Translator's
tAlsoimitatingRimbaud'saccent.-Translator'snote.
2. Letterto ErnestMillot,28 January
1877,quotedby Fr6d6ric
Eigeldinger
and
Andr6GendreinDelahayetemoin de Rimbaud(Neuchatel:A la Baconniere,
1974),254.
ALAIN
BUISINE
97
Rimbestarknaked(havingbeen strippedbya cab
whichrepresented
desideratur?"[The
driverin Vienna): "L'accent parisiano-ardennais
accentdesideratur?]
Parisiano-Ardennais
Verlaine,whotextualiseshis
hopesin
drawings
byhavingthememergefromthepoemsthemselves,
as thoughtherestitution
thesecoppeesto recoverRimbaldianorality,
ofhisvoicecouldalso conjureuphisimage,andif
oftheparticularities
many of his drawings(including"Ultissima verba" and "La sale
bete!"areaccompaniedbya Coppee,itis in orderthatthewordslentto
theotheralso renderhimfigurally
present.*In this,Verlaineis simply
to a deviceofRimbaud's,iffortheauthoroftheIlluminaconforming
subordinateto
tions,the joiningof vision is indeedfundamentally
andthehalanditsauralreception,to musicalityandorality,
sonority
lucinatorycapacityofthepoetfirstrequiresan audio-oralstimulus.3
is
Bya significant
reversal,in Verlaine,ArthurRimbaud'sportrait
ofreconstituted
the phylactery
orality.Howeverparodic,satiricand
derisorythese dizains-doubtless scribbleddown in haste between
constitutea magic
twostraight
absinthes-maybe,theynevertheless
act, securingan iconic presentationof the poet. To providehimself
is
withan image(farmorethanan idea) ofRimbaud:this,forVerlaine,
thevoiceofhimwhowas themaster
theprimary
objectin reproducing
ofthe "Viergefolle"("theFoolishVirgin").
This passion of VerlaineforRimbaud'sface,his "visageparfaitemal en ordre
mentovaled'angeen exil,avec ses cheveuxchatain-clair
oval face,thatof a
et des yeuxd'un bleu pale inquietant"[perfectly
hairand troubling
fallenangel,withits dishevelledlight-brown
paleblue eyes]4wouldneverfail.If,in theprefaceto thePoetesMaudits,
whichhe addedto the 1884 Vanieredition,he insistson theauthenwhichhe suppliesin thevolume,it is apparticityofall theportraits
entlyArthur'sfacewhichmostpreoccupieshim:
enoctobre
M. Arthur
Rimbaud
EtienneCarjatphotographiait
excellente
a sousles
1871.C'estcettephotographic
quele lecteur
... parle proc6d&
dela photogravure.
yeux,reproduite
d6mentide
N'est-cepas bien "L'Enfantsublime",sans le terrible
de k6vres
mais non sans la protestation
des
Chateaubriand,
*"Sa presencefigurale:"his figuralor facialpresenceorform.-Translator's
note.
3. On thissubject,cf.,therichanalysesofAnne-Emanuelle
in Le Banquet
Berger
de Rimbaud.Recherches
sur1'oralitg(tditionsChampVallon,1992).
4. Paul Verlaine,"ArthurRimbaud,"les Poktesmaudits,Oeuvresen Prosecompletes, editedand withnotesand an introduction
byJacquesBorel,(Paris:Gallimard,
Bibliothequede la Pl6iade,1972),644.
98
YaleFrenchStudies
longtempssensuelleset d'unepaired'yeuxperdusdansun souvenir
tresancienplut6tque dansun ravememeprecoce?Un Casanova
ne rit-ilpas dans ces
gosse,mais bienplus expertes aventures,
narineshardies,et ce beau mentonaccident6ne s'en vient-ilpas dire:
"va te fairelanlaire"a touteillusionqui ne doivel'existencea la plus
volont6?Enfin,a notresens,la superbetignassene put
irrevocable
etreainsi mise a mal que parde savantsoreillersd'ailleursfoul6sdu
couded'un purcapricesultanesque.Et ce d6daintoutvirild'une
toiletteinutilea cettelitt6ralebeaut6du diable!
Mr.ArthurRimbaudin October
EtienneCarjatphotographed
1871.It is thisexcellentphotograph
whichthereaderhas before
him,reproduced. . . throughtheprocessofphotoengraving.
Is thisnotthe "SublimeChild,"withouttheterrible
d6mentiof
butnotwithouttheprotestoflips thathavelong
Chateaubriand,
beensensualand ofa pairofeyeslostin a veryancientmemory
ratherthanin a yetprecociousdream?A boy-Casanova,
thoughfar
does he notlaughin his boldnostrils,and
moreexpertin love-affairs,
doesn'this handsome,ruggedchinseem to say "go to hell" to any
illusionwhichdoes notowe its existenceto themostirrevocable
will?Finally,to mymind,onlyknowingpillows,crumpledbyan
elbowin a puresultanesquecaprice,couldmeddlewiththissuperb
mop ofhair.Andtheentirelyviriledisdainfora toilettesuperfluous
"5
to thisliterallydiabolicbeauty!
It is known that anyone who came into contact with Rimbaud felt
the fascination of his face. Ernest Delahaye, evoking the Rimbaud of
1871, insists on the extremebeauty ofhis "yeux d'un bleu pale irradie
de bleu fonce-les plus beaux yeux que j'ai vus-avec une expression
de bravoureprete a tout sacrifierquand il etait serieux,d'une douceur
enfantine,exquise, quand il riait,et presque toujoursd'une profondeur
et d'une tendresseetonnantes" [eyesofa pale blue irradiatedwith dark
blue-the most beautiful eyes I have everseen-with an expressionof
gallantry,as ifreadyforall sacrifices,when he was serious,ofexquisite,
childlike gentleness when he smiled, and almost always of an astonishingdepth and tenderness).6When he saw him again in 1879, he was
once again struck,in this face in which the "fraichecarnationd'enfant
anglais" [rosy complexion of an English child] had given way to the
5. "Avertissement
a proposdes portraitsci-joints,"("Foreword
concerning
the
attachedportraits"),
Les PoktesMaudits,op.cit.,635.
6. ManuscritCasals, Bibliothequelitt6raire
JacquesDoucet,page 15, quotedin
Delahayet6moinde Rimbaud,op. cit.,159.
ALAIN
BUISINE
99
"teintsombred'un Kabyle", [darkcoloringofa Kabyle],by "ses yeux,si
extraordinairementbeaux!-a l'iris bleu-clair entoure d'un anneau
plus fonce couleur de pervenche" [his eyes, so extraordinarilybeautiful!-with a pale-blue iris,ringedby a darkerperiwinkle-blue).7It was
Verlaine,who, more than any other,createdthisveritablefixationwith
his formerlover's face. He "commentait et critiquait de pres les portraitsqu'il connaissait de lui-tous insuffisamentresemblants-, enquetait sur ceux qu'il n'avait jamais vus, essayait d'en faireexecuter
d'autres. Iconographe de Rimbaud, il projetait d'etablir "une edition
aussi complete que possible" de ses oeuvres "de grandluxe", dont "la
greatattractionsubsidiaire" devait etrecinq portraitsdu poete par luimeme, Forain,R6gamey,Manet et Fantin-Latour[commented on and
minutely criticized the portraitsof him which he knew-all insufficientlylifelike-made inquiries about those which he had neverseen,
and triedto have othersexecuted. Rimbaud's iconographer,he planned
to put together "as complete an edition as possible" of his works,
an edition de luxe whose "great subsidiaryattraction" was to be five
portraitsof the poet by himself, Forain, R6gamey,Manet et FantinLatour).8Verlaine, iconographerof Rimbaud-this is an understatement: he was manifestlyan iconophile. Everythingwas done as though
it were essential, primordialto make Rimbaud visible, to recoverhis
nearest likeness, as he emphasizes in his "ArthurRimbaud" "1884,"
which includes a (posthumous!) portraitof "ArthurRimbaud, Twelve
Years-Old" by PaterneBerrichon,dated Roche, 29 April, 1897.
Ne pas tropse fieraux portraits
qu'on a de Rimbaud,y comprisla
et
chargeci-contre,
pouramusante artistiquequ'elle soit.Rimbaud,
a l'age de seize a dix-septans qui est celui oii il a faitles verset
faisaitla prosequ'on sait,6taitplutotbeau-et tresbeau-que laid
commeen t6moignele portrait
parFantindans son Coin de table
sorte
de douceurluisaitet souriaitdans
Manchester.
Une
est
a
qui
ses cruelsyeuxbleus clairet surcetteforteboucherougeau pli
un jourdes
amer:mysticismeet sensualiteet quels! On procurera
enfinapprochantes.
ressemblances
[Oeuvresen prosecompletes,
803.1
we haveof
One shouldnotput too muchfaithin theportraits
Rimbaud,includingthecaricatureopposite,howeveramusingand
7. ErnestDelahaye,"Rimbaud,"Revue littgrairede Franceet de Champagne
(Reims-Paris:
1905),185.
8. H61ene Dufour,ArthurRimbaud.Portraits,
dessins,manuscrits,
53.
100
Yale FrenchStudies
itmaybe.Atsixteenorseventeen,
theageatwhichhe
artistic
thepoetry
andwrotetheprosewhichweknow,
hewas
composed
rather
thanugly,
as Fantin-Latour's
handsome-even
veryhandsome,
portrait
ofhimin The CorneroftheTable,now at Manchester,
A kindofgentleness
shoneandsmiledinhiscruelpale
suggests.
redmouthwithitsbitter
blueeyesandonthatstrong
crease:what
Onedaywewillfinally
mysticism
andwhatsensuality!
obtain
whichcomeclose.
resemblances
In Verlaine'sEyes-the expressionis appropriate-writing
about
Rimbaudwas necessarilyto reactivatethememoryofhis face,as lifelikeas possible.Forhis editionoftheCompleteWorksofArthurRimbaud,publishedbyVanierin 1895,he drewfrommemorytwofamous
In thefirst,"ArthurRimbaud:June1872," thepoet,whohas
portraits.
hishandsinhispocketsandis smokinga pipe,resembles,
withhislong
a
hair,his hat and his smartcardigan, youngpeasantlad dressedup in
his Sundaybestandon his waytotown.His body,somewhatawkward,
slenderand evenrathermeagerand skinny,is exactlythatofa young
adolescentjustpast childhood.In theseconddrawing(ofwhichthere
are actuallyseveralversions),we see Rimbaudwearingthe same hat,
leaningon his elbows at a table,and dreamilysmoking.Whythis
imperiousnecessitytofigurethepoetwhenpublishing
hisworks?Was
itmerenostalgiaon thepartofan inconsolableloverwhowouldnever
againfindso seductivea companion?In reality,
Verlaine,in his desire
to graphically
freezeand fix"l'hommeaux semellesde vent"*is simplyplayingoutto itsfinalconsequencesthiswill toidentifyRimbaud
whichno one can avoidfeelingin readinghis work-life.
Forhis many
sketches,be theycruellysarcasticaround 1876 or melancholically
touchingaround 1895, are identity-drawings,
just as we speak of
And ifVerlaineseeks an evergreaterresemblanceto
identity-photos.
theoriginal,
is itnotbecausehe infactfeelsthatRimbaudneverresembleshimself,thathe continuallyescapesthenarrowand constraining
ofself-resemblance?
identificatory
configuration
Alwaysotherto the
way in which he was imagined . .. elusive, unfigurable...
Duringthesame yearof 1876in whichVerlaineputhis vengefulcoppees in thenomad'smouth,ErnestDelahayemade threedrawingsof
Rimbaudas a savage.In the first,"A MissionaryWho Comes from
*AsVerlainebaptizedRimbaud:"The manwiththewindat hisheels,"orliterally,
"themanwithsoles ofwind."-Translator'snote.
ALAIN BUISINE
101
" one sees Rimbaud,faceand chesttatooed,wearinga sort
Charleville,
an enormous
ofloin-clothand a hat piercedbyan arrow,brandishing
bottleof "firewater" and equippedwith a "Hottentotdictionary"
attachedto his beltby a strap,busytraininga ringofboisteroussavages,themen starknakedand thewomenbare-chested.
In thebackthatRimbaudis
groundsomepalmtreesanda cactusseemto confirm
nowin somedistantandexoticelsewhere.In theseconddrawing(penRimbaudAmongtheKafirs,wearinga
ciledon theback ofthefirst),
cowboyhat,a braceleton eachwrist,his nosepiercedbyan arrow,
and
witha tie floatingon his barechest,tatooedwitha glassand a bottle
(one of his arms is also tattooedwith two crossedpipes),the poet
exclaimsto a native:"These Kafirs,wonderful
hips!"Lastly,in a third
the
still
from
Rimbaud
1876,
Kingof Savages,thepoet,comdrawing,
pletewithpipeand crownandprotectedbytwobodyguards,is curled
up absurdlyon the seat ofhis royalthronewhile twoimploringsubjects,respectfully
prostrateat his feet,awaithis sovereigndecisions.
Still in 1876,GermainNouveau,in a lettersentto Verlaineon 4
August,drewa youngman runningafterhis tophatwhichhas blown
off.Whenwe recallthatthislettercontainsa poem entitled"Negro
Landscape,"it is notimpossibleto imaginethatthisdrawing(thereis
evidencegiventheveryhighdegreeofcomno needforsupplementary
the
two
plicitybetween
poets),refersto Rimbaud,offon his African
the "Rimbaud,Now Kingofa
All theseimagesprefigure
adventures.
TribeofSavages,"ofwhichMaxime Gaucherwouldlaterspeak,very
in his Causerieslitteraires,
pejoratively,
1872-1888,a workpublished
in 1890,in whichhe criticizesthe "decadents,"without,of course,
that this Africandestinyis alreadyinscribedin the
understanding
workofthepoet who "aboutitau negrecommefigureprivilegieede
l'alteritevoulue,ou meme la seule alteritepossiblemais en meme
tempsinterdite"[endsup as Negro-the privilegedfigureof willed
oreven,theonlyalterity
alterity,
possible,butatthesametime,forbidden]:9"Jesuis une bete,un negre"[I am a beast,a Negro]exclaimsthe
doublemovement,
poetin Une Saison en Enfer.'0In a contradictory
VerlaineandDelahayes'drawingsaccordRimbaud(evenbeforehe settled in Africa)the alterityofnegritudewhichhe had been claiming
9. MichelCourtois,"Le mythedunegrechezRimbaud,"Litterature
no. 11,(October1973):85.
10. "Mauvais Sang," Oeuvres Completes,97; trans.Enid RhodesPeschel,"Bad
in thetextas 0. C. andS.H.
Blood," A Seasonin Hell,53. Op. cit.,henceforth
102
YaleFrenchStudies
since Mauvais Sang, while in largemeasureannullingit, since the
confersa unique and determinate-andthusreassuringfiguration
identityon himwhowouldalwaysescapebothothersandhimself.By
depictingRimbaudas a Negro,Verlaineand Delahayefailto capture
establishedin Harar,Rimbaud,
him,especiallygiventhat,oncefirmly
relentlessly
workingto amass a smallcapitaland securea life-income
intoa White,faithful
to
foran improbableold-age,was retransformed
thecommercialand capitalistvalues oftheWest.It is notinconceivablethatin Harar,Rimbaudexpendeda considerablepartofhis energy
in act,as he hadformerly
donein poetry:
in eludingall identification
Life"elsewhere"as thepassageto actionofthepoetic.
In short,the function(if not the only,then at least one of the
ofthisepistolary
principalfunctions)
triangle,
constituted
at thetime
byPaul Verlaine,ErnestDelahaye,and GermainNouveauseemsto be
neverceasedto remove
thefiguration
ofRimbaud,whosewanderings
him fromtheirsight.The threecorrespondents
send a networkof
illustratedlettersto compensateforRimbaud'sabsence.
intersecting
so thattheymayholdon to theillusion
Theyplayat "cross-drawings"
ofknowingwhotheirformer
friend
was.WhenErnestDelahayewrites
... vautmieuxque
1877)that"la debaucheillustratoire
(28 January
tout commentaire" [of illustrations debauchery . .. is worth more
thananycommentary]
thatit
(0. C., 302),he meansfirstandforemost
alone harborsanyhope ofcatchingup withRimbaud,ofrecapturing
and sabotaginghim, in otherwords,of unmaskinghim and determininghis identity.On 1 May 1875,Verlaine,who in the firstpart
ofhis letterto Delahaye,has just affirmed
(bydenial,of course)his
towardsRimbaud,neverthelessconcludeswith
superbindifference
"Ne tardepas tropa m'accablerde
thissymptomatic
post-scriptum:
et de dessinset de nouvelles.Nouveauycompris,puisque
paragraphes
Nouveauil y a." [Do nothesitateto bombardme withparagraphs
and
drawingsand news. Nouveau (the new) includedbecause Nouveau
(new)thereis.]' 1In thesame vein,in a letterdated3 September
ofthe
same year,he addressesthispressingadviceto him: "Renseigne,cancanne,dessine"(ibid.,109) [Inform,
gossip,draw.]EventhoughErnest
it was Verlainewho acted
Delahayewas theauthorofmanydrawings,
as foreman,
requesting,
inciting,and activatingtheirproduction.For,
farmoreimplicatedandcompromised
byhispastthaneitherDelahaye
de Paul Verlaine,publishedfromthe originalmanuscripts
11. Correspondance
SlatkineReprints,1983),
witha prefaceand notes by Ad. Van Bever,(Geneva-Paris:
vol.3, 108.
ALAIN
BUISINE
103
orNouveau,he neededto convincehimselfthatthe" Oestre"was,up
to a certainpoint,the same.
Stillon thepartoftheauthoroftheFetesGalantes,therewas this
samedesiretobringRimbaudbackthrough
theartofcaricature
which,
accordingto Delahaye,he adored: "Il aimait la caricature-pourla
gaiete et l'imaginationqui en fontune sortede poeme-et aussi a
cause de son goiuit
pourle grotesqueet la contorsion.Gill et AlfredLe
Petitetaientses favoris,.... Puis les chosesd'Edm.Morin,a cause de
leurvie intenseet de leurnon-pretention
"a la ligne" (Delahaye temoinde Rimbaud,194)[He lovedcaricature-forthegaietyandimaginationwhichmakeofit a kindofpoem-and also becauseofhis taste
forthegrotesqueandforcontorsion.Gill andAlfredLe Petitwerehis
favorites.... He also likedEdm.Morin'sthingsfortheirintenselife
Rimbaudappreandtheirlackofpretension"to theline"].In drawing,
ciated"l'attitude,le gestecurieux,ou bienl'interpretation
amusante,
des traitset des mouvements:r6galpourle poetedes
forc6e,
perverse,
Assis" (ibid.,194) [posture,thecuriousgestureortheamusing,forced
orperverse
offeaturesandmovements:majesticforthe
interpretation
poetoftheAssis].Westillpossessa fewcaricaturesin Rimbaud'sown
nervousBourgeois,
one
hand,notablyhisDaumieresqueshort-winded,
ofwhomhas just receiveda kick in the behind.Raredrawings,very
raredrawings,
reallyno morethana fewdrawingsin lettersto Ernest
Delahayeand in theAlbumzutique, as thoughRimbaudhimself,for
whom creationwas firstand foremosta matteroforal imagination,
tracesas possible.
had wishedto leave as fewproperly
figurative
Of course,the drawingsof Verlaineand his friendsare derisory
mockeries,thatone shouldnot be too quick to inflatewithan overly
weightymetaphysicalsignificance.In this sense, it is not entirely
wrongto considerthemthesimplecaricaturesofa fewundisciplined
schoolboysprolongingbeyond adolescence the practicesof their
schooldays:littlesketchesin themarginsoftextbooksordictionaries
or on theback oftheplatesin a Geography
Atlas; marginaliarapidly
pencilledalongsidetheexercisesin notebooks;caricaturesdeeplyenin thewoodofclassroomtables,orcircugravedforfuturegenerations
latedon littlepieces ofpaperunderthemaster'snose; sketchesmade
in real lifesituations,on the cornerofa cafetable,byVerlaine,who
thefacesandpostures
alwayslikedto drawin pencilrapidly,
nervously
of his friends.But this is precisely the point....
This was a practice
thatwas carelessand clandestine,swiftand humorous.These drawingsdo not,strictlyspeaking,constitutea work,theyare not in any
104
Yale FrenchStudies
sense monumentalized,like those of a VictorHugo, forexample.
a goodmanyofthembelongedto a correspondence.
Moreover,
Fragile
and threatened,preciselybecause of theiraleatorypostal destiny,
whichcould ensureonlya precarioussurvival(andthereis no doubt
thatmanyofthemhave been lost),capriciousand epidermicbecause
theyrepercutethedailymoodsofthecorrespondents,
theyareall the
moresymptomatic
because theydo not constitutea work.
It is apparentbynowthatthegoalofmyanalysisis notto compare
thegraphicpracticeofa writerwithhis literary
work,in an attemptto
determinethemodesofarticulation,aesthetic,phantasmal,orother,
of writingand drawing.My concernis ratherto measurehow the
ofhis friendsliterallysymptomatized
reaction
graphicinterventions
to the Rimbaldianposture,withall thatwas inconceivableand even
unbearableforthosewho had byno meansdecidedto go to such extremesortotakesuchrisks.I also wanttoexaminehowtheseintervento normalizehis
tions,eveniftheywereburlesquein tone,attempted
theex-poetwithina relativelycodeddestiny
situationbyintegrating
at least conformed
to
which,ifnot completelybanal and predictable,
certainexistentialschemas with which othershad alreadyexperimented.Thus,whenaround1876,Verlainedrewa Rimbaudin suitand
top-hat,arrivingat the stationand shouting"M . . . a la Daromphe!
a "Wien!"" [Sh-to Daromphe!I'm offto "Wien],he reJ'foul'camp
ducestheescapadeto thekindofpassingcrisiswhichall adolescents
experienceat sometimeorother,byentitlinghis sketch"Les voyages
1juinesse"[Travelbroadensthemindoftheyoung].So thisis
forment
just a case of momentaryrebellion against the mother.... One reas-
suresoneselfas bestone can!
"Au matinj'avaisle regardsi perduetla contenancesi morte,que ceux
ne m'ontpeut-etrepas
I'd have
que j'ai rencontres
vu," (Inthemorning,
a
and
such
dead
countenance
that
a
lost
look
those
whom
I ensuch
countered
possiblydid notsee me),writesRimbaudin Une Saison en
thesefew
Enfer(0. C., 97; SH, 53).IfRimbaudtakespainstounderscore
to SaintMatthew'sGospel(XIII,13):
words,itis becausehe is referring
"becauseseeingtheydo not see, and hearingtheydo nothear,nordo
theyunderstand."'2Rimbaudwould remaininvisibleto thosewho
encountered,withoutreally seeing him. Alreadyabsent,in other
12. As JeanLuc Steinmetzsuggestsin his editionof Une Saison en Enfer(Paris:
Garnier-Flammarion,
1989),196.
ALAIN
BUISINE
105
evenwhenhe was still
words,impossibleto delimitand to identify,
physicallypresent...
This beingthe case, one can betterunderstandwhy,in the only
thethreecomrades,Delahaye,Verlaine,and
sketchwhichrepresents
Nouveautogether,
theartistrepresents
himselfwitha telescopewhich
he needsto see thepoet. This drawing,Rimbaud "versdes horizons
inconnus,"is by farthe most complexof the seriesundertakenby
Delahaye.Lazilysprawledon a mountainslope,withhis backturned
to thescene,GermainNouveau puffsat his cigar:"Nouveau qui s'en
fiche"['Nouveau,not caringless'],specifiesDelahaye.Underthesea,
just beneaththe surface,floatsRimbaud'sface."La lune qui rigole"
"sertde chapeaua Rimbe"['Thelaughingmoon"is a hatforRimbe'].A
modernversionofAeolus,theancientgodofthewinds,Verlaineblows
intohispipethelid ofwhichis actuallya "marvellous"steamer,
carryingthepoetoff"versles horizonsinconnus," as,fromtheboat'schimney,thererisesa vastplumeofsmoke.In otherwords,thissubaquatic
is no longervisible
Rimbaud,as he headsforthefarthest
destinations,
to his friends:Nouveau has completelygivenup tryingto see him;
Delahayepersistswiththeaid ofa telescope.As forVerlaine,farfrom
tryingforthe umpteenthtime to meet with,to catch up with his
friend,he now blows to hastenhis flight.And if the solid steamer
whichbearsRimbaudawayis nothinglikea drunkenship[bateauivre]
it will carrythepoetoffall themoresurelyon his definitive
exile.
He has gone.... Butthenwho saw thepoetbeforehis departure?
Andindeed,washe reallyseen?Yes,he wasinfactseen,as FelixF6neon
in a finearticlepublished
findsit necessaryto emphasize,remarking,
in The Symbolistin October1886 that,"tandisque l'oeuvre,enfin
publiee,enthousiasmeplusieurspersonneset en effarequelques autres,l'hommedevientindistinct.Deja son existencese conteste,et
Pourtantdes
Rimbaudflotteen ombremythiquesurles symbolistes.
le perpetuent"
genslont vu,vers1870.Des portraits
[whilethework,
which has at last been published,fills some with enthusiasmand
themanis becomingindistinct.
His existence
otherswithtrepidation,
is alreadybeingcontested,and Rimbaudfloatslike a mythicshadow
overthe symbolists.However,people did see him in around1870.
recallhim).13 Rimbaudwas notyetdead,andithadbeenonly
Portraits
six yearssince his definitivedepartureforAfrica,yetit was already
13. "ArthurRimbaud,Les Illuminations,"in Oeuvresplus que compltes, texts
byJoanU. Halperin(GenevaandParis:Droz,1970),vol.2,572.
assembledandpresented
106
YaleFrenchStudies
necessaryto giveproofofhis existence,to compensateforhis disappearance.
The sun, shiningwith all its rayswore a broadsmile that day,the
betterto showhow generouslyit warmsthe Earth.In a field,a thin,
beardedpeasantwearinga tall,pointedhat witha birdperchedatop,
restsfora fewminutes,leaningon his spade. Alonga path,another
peasantcomestowardshim,he too is wearingclogsanda tall,pointed
hat.The firstpeasant,noticingthearrivalofthisacquaintancewhom
he haddoubtlessnotexpectedto see exclaims:"Well,well!" whilethe
otherimmediately
is
replies:"Oh, sh-! " Needlessto say,theformer
none otherthanVerlaine,at the timewhenhe was doinghis bestto
in Juinville,
to thesouthofRethel,andthe
takecareofhis ruralaffairs
kilometersaway,was workingfor
latterRimbaudwho,scarcelythirty
his motherat the Roche farm,priorto his imminentdeparturefor
Cyprus.This drawingby Delahaye,"Rencontreimaginairede Rimbaud et de Verlaine,"whichwas executedsome six yearsafterthose
to a close theattemptat a
analyzedabove,is like a fullstop,bringing
ofRimbe.It'sover!The poetofTheIlluminations
graphicresurrection
has finallytornhimselfaway,andeventhesketchesofearlierdayswill
no longerserveanypurpose.
Is itpurechancethatthevictimofoneofthemostmemorabledisputes
betweenArthurRimbaudand one ofhis contemporaries,
was thephoEtienneCarjat,whoproducedportraits,
tographer
notablyofRimbaud
himself?It was in 1872,at thetimewhenVerlaineandhisfriends
held
theirassises* "on the firstfloorof a wine merchantoccupyingthe
corneroftherueBonaparteandPlace Saint-Sulpice,
oppositea secondorMarchevening
handbookstore."(Preface,0.C., 963).One February
at theVilainsBonshommes[a literary
dinner],
Rimbaud,excitedfrom
toomuchalcohol,apparently
"shit"an
punctuatedwitha resounding
abusiverecitalofan unendingstreamofpoems."Surquoi,M. Etienne
de qui le recitateur
etaitl'ami litteraire
et
Carjat,le photographe-poete
..
artistique,s'interposatropviteet tropvivement . , traitantl'interrupteurde gamin.... Rimbaud,qui se trouvaitgris,pritmal la chose,
se saisitd'unecanne-epeea moi ... , etpardessusla tablelargede pres
de deux metres,dirigeaversM. Carjat. . . la lame degainee"[Upon
ofwhomthereciter
which,M. EtienneCarjat,thephotographer-poet
*A roughequivalentwouldbe "heldcourtin.... " Translator's
note.
ALAIN
BUISINE
107
too hastilyand withtoo
and artisticfriend,intervened
was a literary
much force..., callingthe offending
speakera brat.... Rimbaud,
ofmine,and across
whowas drunk,tookit badly,seizeda sword-stick
the table,whichwas almosttwo meterswide,aimed the unsheated
M. Carjat,horrified
bladeatM. Carjat.. . .") Reportedly,
bythisattack,
evenifhe had suffered
onlya veryminorgrazeto his hand,destroyed,
withtheexceptionofthetwowhichstillsurvive,all theotherphotographicplatesofRimbaudwhichhe keptin his studioin rue NotreEvenifthisis merelegend,it is appealingandsatisDame-de-Lorette.
ofRimbaud's
fyingbecause it alreadyinscribesan initialeffacement
ofthesenegativesto
face.Andhow can one notrelatethedestruction
ofRimbaud,whichVerthedisappearanceofthefourself-caricatures
laine was so fondof and whichhe had leftwithhis wifein the rue
Nicolet? When these disappearances(accidentalor not, this is no
longerat issue),beginto forma series,theyalso shapea destiny.
A further
consequenceofthisscandalousoutburstagainstCarjat
was thatsome oftheartistsoriginally
to
approachedbyFantin-Latour
figurein his Coin de Table did not wish to be presentin the canvas
besidethecoupleformed
byVerlaineandRimbaud.Itwas thusthatthe
andthatFantin-Latour
poetAlbertMeratrefused,
compensatedforhis
owndefectionwitha hugevase offlowers.The presenceofRimbaud
to createan absence,to erasea face...
was thussufficient
But
Rimbaud,he is impossibleto figureout and impossibleto figure?
himin a drawing
had nothis sisterIsabellesucceededin representing
whichshe had givento theeditorLeon Vanier,A Rimbaudin oriental
costume,playingthe Abyssinianharp?One mightin truthwonder
howsucha graphicexploithadprovedpossible,giventhatIsabellehad
IsabelleRimbaud(as SteveMurphy
neverbeentoAbyssinia!In reality,
had merelytraceda drawingbya certainE. Ronjat,
has demonstrated)
based on a photographtakenby MessieursChefneuxand Audon to
illustratean articlebyAudon,publishedin theTourdu Mondein 1889
and entitled"Voyageau Choa." Thoughit is truethatAudon(one of
thecreditors
ofhis associateLabatut)suffered
thesamemisfortunes
as
a
infection
he
had
to
have
his
Rimbaud,since,following gangrenous
rightfootamputatedandreturntoFrance,thereis absolutelyno reason
to thinkthathis harpistwas in factRimbaud.And in anyevent,this
harpistwas actuallya Negro whom Isabelle whitened:her sketch
la positionque le dessindu Tourdu Mondedonnait
"gardefidelement
a la tete,se contentant
quanta elle de la rendreplusemaciee,de la doter
108
YaleFrenchStudies
d'une moustacheplus europeennequi cache le haut des levreset de
reduirel'apparencecrepuedescheveux"[faithfully
retainstheposition
oftheheadin thedrawingwhichappearedin RoundtheWorld,
merely
it moreemaciated,endowingitwitha moreEuropeanmousrendering
tachewhichconcealstheupperlip,andreducingthekinkyappearance
ofthehair].14
Butthemostastonishingthingis that,havingseen this
sketchat Vanier's,Verlainewas so convincedby it thathe wrotea
poem "Des clientsperdusse tanneront.A. Rimbaud:La Saison en
enfer"[Lostclientswill gettanned.A. Rimbaud:The Seasonin Hell"],
dedicated"a Arthur
Rimbaud,d'apresun dessinde sa soeur"[toArthur
Rimbaud,aftera drawingbyhis sister"]:
mort!mort!Maismortdumoinstelquetuveux,
Toimort,
Ennegreblanc,ensauvagesplendidement
...
Civilise,civilisant
negligemment
Youdead,dead!dead!Butatleastdeadas youwish,
As a whiteNegro,as a savagesplendidly
Civilized,
civilizing
negligently....15
Therecan be no doubtthatVerlainewantednothingmorethanto
be convinced.Whata pleasureforhimtosee hisRimbaudreincarnated
in a lyricalimage,evenifdeepdownhe suspectedthatthisnaiveimage
Too bad! Whatcountedwas thathe manifest
was a merecounterfeit!
himself,thathe appearto his worshippers.
This initialsketchbyRimbaud'ssisterwas togeneratea wholeline
offaux-Rimbauds,
sincePaterneBerrichon's
Rimbaudverstrenteans
to thisfirstmatrixin
was inspiredbyit,and Isabelleherselfreturned
latersketches.Thus, forexample,the drawingsof Rimbaudshortly
beforehis death,which she claimed to have done frommemoryin
1896,arein factnothingbutclumsyvariationson thisinitialtracing.
HerArthurRimbaudmourantconservestheinclinationofthehead
anda traceofthehairfromthedrawingwhichappearedin theTourdu
Monde.As forherRimbauda' Rocheof 1891,whichstrangely
resembles a colonialsoldier,one ofPierreLoti's Spahissurprisingly
lost in
the Ardenneswilderness,it once again has recourseto the same
physiognomy.
Andas ifthiswerenotenough,Isabellewouldfeelherself
obligedto
14. SteveMurphy,"'J'aitous les talents":Rimbaudharpisteet dessinateur,'
34.
15. PaulVerlaine,
ed.Jacques
Oeuvrespodtiques
Borel(Paris:Gallimard,
completes,
Bibliothequede la Plkiade,1962),601.
ALAIN
BUISINE
109
to be in Rimbaud'sown hand!-of the
producedrawings-purported
distantcountriesin which he had sojourned,and this by the same
method-tracing.In fact,as SteveMurphyhas shown,thesedrawings
("Environsde Farre.Abyssinie","La maisonde Soleillet,""Ankober"),
to Rimbaudwerein facttraced
whichhavesometimesbeenattributed
byIsabelle fromillustrationswhichappearedin the Tourdu Monde
herselfaboutthismysterious
regionof
whichshehadboughttoinform
Choa whereherbrotherwas trafficking.
In short,it was once again,as always,a questionofcompensating
tosaythatIsabelle
fora lack,a hauntingabsence.Foritdoesnotsuffice
fameby
growing
soughtto consolidateand turnto profitherbrother's
In a moreprofound
outfaux-Rimbauds.
sense,shetoosympchurning
tomatizedthe unbearableimpossibilityof havinga pictureof her
on hand."La vie etrangeet legendairede Rimbaud,son destin
brother
hacheet les mysteresqu'il exhaleconstituentune veritableprovocalifeofRimbaud,
tionaux identifications"
[The strangeand legendary
whichemanatesfromit conhis fragmented
destinyand themystery
stitutea veritableincitementto identification];16and Isabellewould
withtheself-serving
assisrespondto thisincitementbyengendering,
lineofRimbauds,whichhas
tanceofherhusband,a whole,reassuring
ofourincapacity
survivedto thepresentday,a reflection
comfortably
insiststhatit is
to figurethe "true"Rimbaud.WhenYves Bonnefoy
"indecentque l'on s'acharnea suivreles tracesde qui a faitretoura
l'existenceanonyme"[itis indecentto pursuethetracesofsomeone
he is incontestably
who has returnedto an anonymousexistence,]17
right,exceptthatin thiscase-and thischangesalmosteverythingand
farfrombeingthesimpleresultofcircumstances
theanonymity,
a
In
his
the
case
effacedistance,is also a Rimbaldiangesture, creation.
mentis concerted.
andinflationary
iconography
producedby
Indeed,all thistrumped-up
in
meet
its
match
the
most
selfthefamilywouldultimately
derisory
as we nowsayofa certainkindof
portrait
imaginable:purelyabstract,
painting.Butbeforereachingthisextreme,Rimbaudhad firsttriedto
The
his legendthroughhis photographic
short-circuit
self-portraits.
Colloquede Cerisy
16. AlaindeMijolla,'Rimbaudmultiple',inRimbaudmultiple,
D. Bedou,1986),223.
(Gourdon,
Rimbaudparlui-mdme
17. YvesBonnefoy,
(Paris:EditionsduSeuil,coil."Ecrivains
" 1961),173.
de toujours,
110
YaleFrenchStudies
a
is in itselfalreadysignificant:
movefromdrawingsto photographs
totheindustrial
movefromtheold techniquesofrepresentation
ageof
It is obviouslyalwayspossibleto overinvest,
technicalreproducibility.
in thethreenegativeswhichwe possess
and aesthetically,
affectively
It nevofArthurRimbaud,to overemphasizetheirdramaticsobriety.
erthelessremainstruethattheyrepresenta degrezero of exoticism
ofOrientalist
whencomparedto theflashinessand picturesquesness
inFranceinthewakeofthefamousplates
iconography,
mass-produced
backfromhisjourneytoEgyptin the
whichMaximedu Campbrought
companyof GustaveFlaubert.Nothingcould be starkerthan Rimifone ofthemrepresents
him "les brascroises,
baud's self-portraits:
dansun jardinde bananes" [armsfolded,in a gardenofbanana-trees]
whose[veryrelative]luxuriancecould,up to a certainpoint,evokethe
ofan oasis, the two others,on the otherhand,selectascetic
fertility
decors:in the first,he is half-wayup a stonyhillock coveredwith
scrawnyscrubs,in the second he is on a terrace,one hand on the
railing,theotherpressedto thecollarofhis jacket.In neitheris there
whichmightcause hisfamilytofantasizeaboutthefabulous
anything
dimensionofhis exoticodyssey.Andthiscompleteabsenceofpicturare
esque appearseven more pronouncedwhen these self-portraits
comparedwithanyofRimbaud'sothernegatives-thosewhichwere
meant to be sold, commercialized-his douboulas-makerphotographedin Hararin 1883,sittingnextto twolargecolumns,makesa
goodpseudoethnographic
post-card,ofthe kindfavoredbythe innumerablephotographers
who held swayin the Frenchcoloniesat the
In the same way,whenSottirois
beginningofthetwentiethcentury.
nextto some banana trees(thoughthistimethey
also photographed
so thattheirindentedfoliagewouldgivethe
werein the foreground,
effect
ofan oasis),he takeson an appearancewhichis bothpicturesque
andmartial,veryTartarinde Tarascon,completewithhatandhis gun.
To all appearances,Rimbaudscrupulously
reservesforothersanything
whichcreatesa spectacle.As forhimself,he recoilsfromit ...
et vousdonnerune
"Ceci est simplementpourrappelerma figure,
ideedespaysagesd'ici" [Thisis onlytorecallmyfaceandtogiveyouan
Rimbaudwarnsin a letterto his
idea ofthecountryside
hereabouts],18
In
familyon 6 May 1883,to whichhe adjoinstwoofhis self-portraits.
18. Oeuvres completes, 365. Trans. Paul Schmidt in ArthurRimbaud, Complete
works(New York:HarperandRow,1967),259.
ALAIN BUISINE
1ll
containnothingof
otherwords,fromhis pointofview,suchportraits
the aura thatwas beginningto surroundhim in France.Theironly
andoftheface.A mimetic
valuewas thatofa "degrezero"offiguration
ofthe currentstateofhis person,purelymechanical,
objectification
to his newdreamsofengineering.
He also remarks
whichcorresponds
that"toutcela est devenublanc a cause des mauvaiseseaux qui me
serventa laver"[Ithas all becomepale becauseofthebadwaterI have
touse forrinsingthem](Rimbaud,0. C., 396; Schmidt,259),as though
mustinevitablyovertakeanyportraitofArthethreatofeffacement
thurRimbaud.". . . I1 me blanchitun cheveupar minute.Depuis le
temps que qa dure,je crains d'avoir bientotune tete comme une
houppepoudree"[.. . it is turningme whiteat therateofone haira
minute.Withthe timethatit takes,I fearthatmyhead will soon be
likea powder-puff],
(ibid.,382),Rimbaudwouldwriteto his motherin
1890.The blanchingofnegativesand hair.As thoughall thingswere
theimageofArthur
fromevercrystallizing.
indeedin leaguetoprevent
Lessthantwoyearslater,in thelettertohisfamilydated15January
1885,Rimbaudabandonseven this simplemimeticreminderof his
person"Jene vous envoiepas ma photographie;
les fraisinuj'e6vite
tiles.Jesuis d'ailleurstoujoursmal habille;on ne peutse vetirici que
de cotonnadestreslegeres"[I am not sendingyou myphotograph;
I
carefullyavoid all useless expenses. Moreover,I'm always badly
Butdo thecostof
dressed;all cne can wearhereis verylightcotton].19
the views and the relative,veryrelativeeccentricity
ofhis clothing
disreallyserveto justifythe abandonmentof these photographic
patches?Inthiscase,theexpenseis doubtlessa merepretext,
justifying
thewayin whichhe himselfcontrived
his owneffacement
byrefusing
to transmithis image. His refusalof all vestimentary
baroqueis in
forit signifiesRimbaud'srefusal
keepingwiththisconcertedstrategy,
ofall visiblesignswhichmightbringhimto another'sattention.The
result:a virtuallyanonymousRimbaud,exceptto themembersofhis
family,
who knewhim beforeand couldrecognizehimin spiteofhis
changes.As earlyas 1883,when the SecretaryGeneralof the GeographicalSocietyofParis,whichat thetimewishedto "collectin its
Albumstheportraits
ofthosepeoplewho had madea nameforthemsciencesand in travel(Schmidt,382),asked
selvesin thegeographical
SelectedLetters
19. Ibid.,396.Trans.WallaceFowlieinRimbaud,CollectedWorks,
ofChicagoPress,1966),347.
(Chicago:University
112
YaleFrenchStudies
himto sendhis photograph,
Rimbauddidnotrespondto therequest.
Andevenifhe confidedtohisfamilyhisfearofdisappearing
"au milieu
de ces peupladesdu Harar,sans que la nouvelleen ressortejamais" [in
the midst of these tribes,withoutnews of me ever gettingout]
in his
(Schmidt,
365,Fowlie,343),he actuallyseemedto do everything
powerto programthisforgetting.
Rimbaud'slast drawingwould radicalizethis occultationof his
oftheyear1891,his kneehad beenswelling
body.Sincethebeginning
and
was
continuously,
increasingly
causinghimatrociouspain.It was
butthepain
absolutelyessentialthathe returnto Franceto be treated,
thathe couldno
was bythenso intense,theankylosisso debilitative,
decidedto havehimselftranslongereitherwalkorride.He therefore
ofAprilhe himselfdrewup a
andatthebeginning
portedon a stretcher,
This litterstrangely
planforitsconstruction.
resemblesa coffin
awaitingitscorpse.Itwas actuallya sortoflongcratewithtwoshaftsforthe
bearers,simplysurmountedat eitherend by stems woveninto an
upside-downV,boundtogetherbyanotherbar,doubtlesssupposedto
supporta clothwhichwouldprotectthe invalidfromthe oppressive
ofdesign,an engineer's
ardorofthesun.An almostabstractgeometry
workingdrawing,bareand aridlike thetraveljournalwhichhe would
keep duringhis evacuation.L'Itinerairede Harar a Warambotis indeed nothingmore than a minimalistlistingof time-tables,deparofa terrible
tures,arrivalsandnamesofplacestraversed,
stenographic
in thesamewaythatthestretcher
is itselfreducedto thebare
dryness,
minimum.
ofthepoetin theformofan emptystretcher-itwas
Self-portrait
all as thoughRimbaudretainedonlythe emptyframe:frameofthe
litterand frameofthe painting.The bodyhad disappeared.In other
words,the Rimbaldiansilence, which has provokedso much discourse,is complemented,
Rimreduplicated
byhis visualeffacement.
baud was so forcefully
propelledinto all his undertakings,
evenhis
returnto Europe,thathe leftnothingtangibleorvisible
catastrophic
behindhim: "l'existencede Rimbaudparaitcommen'ayantpas de
cheminde retour,
commen'6tantpas une construction.
Ellene peutse
le present,presentqui n'existememepas
ne peutprolonger
stabiliser,
commeunetracequi
parcequ'il se consumeavantmemede s'installer,
s'effaceau momentmeme ouielle se marque" [Rimbaud'sexistence
It cannotbe
appearsto haveno returnroad,not to be a construction.
a
it
cannot
the
which
doesn't
even
stabilized,
prolong present, present
ALAIN
BUISINE
113
exist,forit is consumed beforeit can even take hold, like a traceerased
in the verymoment that it is made].20
"Tout ecrivainlaisse apres lui, aux yeux de son lecteur,une sortede
spectre.Mais s'il est tellement difficilede se representerRimbaud (et
d'abord physiquement),n'est-ce pas parce que nous eprouvonsa le lire
la vaine obsession qui futla sienne: voler un jour,en meme temps que
le feu,sa propreimage?" [In the eyes of theirreaders,all writersleave
behind them a kind of ghost. But if it is so verydifficultto represent
Rimbaud (to begin with, physically),is it not because in readinghim,
we feel his own vain obsession of one day stealing,along with fire,his
own image?//]21But steal it from whom? From himself,in order to
avoid seeing himself rapidly ageing in his absurd commercial evolution into a shopkeeper?Or fromothers,to preventthem fromcontemplating his portraitbecause, no longera poet, he is no one? In fact,it is
really a matter of stealing it simultaneously from others and from
himself.Of fleeingfromany recognizable image which would involvea
congelation, a fixtureof identity.
Is there any need to emphasize that Rimbaud produced the most abstractimage ofhimselfat a time when his bodywas makingits horrible
returnin the most caricatural manner possible? He became his very
own caricature-Arthur Rimbaud as a pumpkin:
... je suis reduita 1'etatde squeletteparcettemaladiede ma
jambegauchequi est devenuea presentenormeet ressemblea une
enormecitrouille.
... I have shrunkto thestateofa skeletonthrough
thissicknessin
myleftleg whichhas now becomehugeand lookslike a huge
pumpkin.
["Letterto his mother and sister," O. C., 665; Fowlie, 361.1
ArthurRimbaud as hunchback, as a hopping marionnette:
. . . De tempsen temps,je me leveet sautilleune centainede pas
surmes b6quilles,et je me rassois.Mes mainsne peuventrientenir.
la tetede monseul piedet du
Jene puis,en marchant,
d6tourner
20. LiviusCiocarlie,"Le 'texte'dela correspondance
deRimbaud,"
africaine
Arthur
Rimbaud,no. 3, La revuedes lettresmodernes(Paris:Minard,1976),33.
21. G6rardMac6, "Rimbaud 'recentlydeserted,"'ex libris (Paris: Gallimard,
1980),74.
114
YaleFrenchStudies
boutdes b6quilles,la tfteet les 6pauless'inclinenten avant,et vous
bombezcommeun bossu.Voustremblezde voirles objetset les gens
se mouvoirautourde vous,craintequ'on ne vousrenversepourvous
casserla secondepatte.On ricanea vous voirsautiller.Rassis,vous
avez les mains6nerv6eset l'aisselle sci6e,et la figured'un idiot.
... Everyonce in a whileI getup and hop a fewstepson my
in myhands.
crutchesthenI sit downagain.I can'tholdanything
WhenI walk,I can'tturnmyfacefrommysinglefootand theends
ofmycrutches.My head and shoulderssink,I look like a
hunchback.You tremblewhenyousee thingsandpeoplemovingall
aroundyou,forfearthey'llknockyouoverand breaktheleg you
haveleft.Peoplelaughto see youhoppingaround.You sit back
down,yourhandsare wornout,yourshoulderis sawedthrough,
you
look like a lunatic.["Letterto his sisterIsabelle,"15 July1891,O.C.,
690; Schmidt,2931
Even in their most malicious sketches, for example, when they
imagine Rimbaud in a cellar, lyingdead drunkin frontof two barrels,
Delahaye and Verlainehad not dared to go so far.Once again, Rimbaud
had roundlydefeatedthem. He himselfbecame the grotesquepuppet,
the living caricature, even more lopsided than the "doddering old
fools" ("gacteux")whom he had mercilessly sketched as a child. Already,with his stayin Harar drawingto a close, he felthimselfbecoming an object of curiosity:
de ne pouvoirfaireun toura l'Expositioncette
Jeregrette
ann6e.... Ce seradoncpourla prochaine;et a la prochaineje
les produitsde ce pays,et,peut-etre,
pourraiexposerpeut-etre
m'exposermoi-meme,carje croisqu'on doitavoirl'air
excessivement
baroqueapresun longsejourdansles payscomme
ceux-ci.
I'm sorryI can't come to visittheExpositionthisyear.... I'll
save it forthenextone; and at thenextone maybeI can exhibitthe
and maybeexhibitmyself;I thinkyoumust
productsofthiscountry,
getto look exceedingly
baroqueaftera longstayin a place like this.
["Letterto his mother and sister," 18 May 1889, O. C., 543; Schmidt,
274.]
In other words, firsta little in Harar, and then verybrutallywhen
his leg swelled monstrouslybeforeit had to be amputated in Marseille,
Rimbaud took on the appearance of the caricatures which had delightedhis friends,but at an inopportunemoment,ten yearslater.Now
ALAIN BUISINE
115
thathisworksweremoreandmorewidelycirculated,
andhisfameas a
poetwas beingestablished,he becamethegrotesquebywhichhe had
Yetagain,he escapedtheimagewhichmightbe
once beenportrayed.
heldofhim.
By way of an apologia to these fewannotatedvignetteswhose sole
ofimpossibleidentificatory
purposeis to marktheeffects
assignation
thislastreturn
alwaysproducedbythefalsepresenceofthepoet,I offer
ofArthur
Rimbaud,in thesacredformofan icon.Itwas on 8 June1899
when,in a church,themothersaw,once again,in a kindofhallucination,herArthurwho had been dead forsevenlongyears:
Hierdonc,je venaisd'arriver
a la messe,j'6taisencorea genoux
faisantma priere,lorsquearrivepresde moi quelqu'un,a qui je ne
faisaispas attention;et je vois posersous mes yeuxcontrele pilier
une b6quille,commele pauvreArthuren avaitune. Jetournema
tete,et je restean6antie:c'6taitbienArthurlui-meme:memetaille,
memeage,memefigure,
peau blanchegrisatre,
pointde barbe,mais
de petitesmoustaches;et puis une jambede moins;et ce garqonme
II ne m'a pas 6t6
avec une sympathieextraordinaire.
regardait
de retenirmes larmes,larmesde
possible,malgr6tousmes efforts,
douleurbiensfir,mais il y avaitau fondquelque choseque je ne
sauraisexpliquer.Jecroyaisbienque c'6taitmonfilsbien-aimequi
6taitpresde moi.
I had justgotto Mass, I was stillon myknees
So yesterday,
whensomeonecame up besideme,I wasn'tpaying
sayingmyprayer,
attentionto him; thenbeforemyeyes,I saw a crutchlike poor
Arthur
had beinglayedagainstthepillar.I turnedmyhead to look,
andwas completelyovercome:it was Arthurhimself:sameheight,
sameage,same face,his skina grayishwhite,no beard,buta little
moustache;and thenhe had one leg missingtoo; and thisboywas
tenderness.
I couldn'tin spite
lookingat me withsuch extraordinary
ofall myefforts,
holdbackmytears,tearsofpain,ofcourse,but
deepdowntherewas somethingwhichI can'texplain.I truly
believedthatit was mybelovedson who was bymyside.22
himselfso thathis mothercouldrecRimbaud,finallyresembling
ognizeandblesshim.The Assumptionofthehallowedson(cf.,Gerard
Mace; "Rimbaud'recentlydeserted,"'70-71). The hallucinationthus
22. LetterfromMme Rimbaudto her daughterIsabelle,9 July1899,quotedin
de VitalieRimbaudsuividela correspondance
MadameRimbaud,essai de biographie
CuifbySuzanneBriet(Paris:Minard,Lettresmodernes,1968),108.
116
Yale FrenchStudies
had exactlythesame functionas theearliersketchesbyVerlaineand
Delahaye: thatofgivinga faceto the one who had alwaysfrustrated
others'desireto capturehim.
In thesameguise,whenAllenGinsberg,
oftheBeat
mythicalfigure
toldhis friendsthathe clearlysaw the ghostofthepoet
generation,
whenin 1982he sleptat 5 bis,quai de la Madeleine,whereRimbaud
had livedwithhis mother,whatwas he sayingifnot thatRimbaud,
is a saint,and can appearto thefaithful?
nowin theheavenofpoetry,
And indeedit sufficesto be a believer,as Verlainealreadywas. But
withwhichRimbaldianstrack
whenone considerstherelentlessness
Rimbaud,piouslycollectingthe most minordocumentsand testimony,to attaina betterknowledgeofwhohe was,aretheynotall, are
we notall,believers?Forthisis doubtlesstheonlywayofcomingtoan
acceptableand bearablecompromisewiththe Absolute,whichsubsistsonlyin its perpetualwithdrawal.23
-Translated byMadeleineDobie
SELECT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abeles,Luce. Fantin-Latour:
Coin de table, Verlaine,Rimbaudet les VilainsBonshommes.Paris:Les DossiersduMus6ed'Orsay,18,Editionsdela Reuniondesmus6es
nationaux,1987.
Autourde Verlaineet de Rimbaud,dessinsineditsde Paul Verlaine,
Carr6,Jean-Marie.
de GermainNouveau et d'ErnestDelahaye. Paris:CahiersJacquesDoucet, 1949.
. Dessinsd'6crivainsfrangaisauxXIXemesicle. Paris:Maisonde Balzac,198384.
Guyax,Andr6,and H6elne Dufour.ArthurRimbaud.Portraits,
dessins,manuscrits.
Paris:Les dossiersdu Mus6e d'Orsay,Editionsde la r6uniondes mus6esnationaux,
1991.[Todate,thisis themostcompleteandreliablevolumedevotedto Rimbaldian
iconography.]
auxiconographies
Etiemble,Ren6."Supplement
ou complement
d'Arthur
Rimbaud,"in
Le Mythede Rimbaud:Genesedu mythe.Paris:Gallimard,1954.
Rimbaud."RevuedArdenneet dArgonne11,
d'Arthur
Houin,Charles."Iconographie
1901.
1901andLe SagittaireOctober-November,
AlbumRimbaud.Paris:Gallimard,
Matarasso,Henri,andPierrePetitfils.
Bibliotheque
de la Pleiade,1967.
Murphy,
Steve."'J'aitousles talents!':Rimbaudharpisteet dessinateur,"
Paradesauvage,Bulletin6, 1990.
Petitfils,
Pierre.Album Verlaine.Paris:Gallimard,Bibliothequede la Pleiade,1981.
Geneva:Slatkine,
Regamey,
Felix. Verlainedessinateur.Paris:Floury,1896,reprint,
1981.
I amproviding
23. To reducethenumberofnotesinthisarticletoa minimum,
here
oftheprincipalbooksandarticlesdevotedtothe
analphabetically
arranged
bibliography
drawings
ofArthurRimbaudand Paul Verlaine.See SelectBibliography.
ALAIN
BUISINE
117
Ruchon,Francois.Rimbaud. Documentsiconographiques.Geneva: EditionsPierre
Cailler,1947.
. Verlaine.Documentsiconographiques.
Geneva:EditionsPierreCailler,1947.
Taute,St6phane.ArthurRimbaud dans les collectionsmunicipalesde CharlevilleMezieres.Charleville-Mezieres,
1966,1969.
VanBever,Ad. and MauriceMonda. Bibliographieet iconographiede Paul Verlaine.
Paris:Messein,1926.