Rimbaud: A Critical Introduction

Originally published in 1981, this critical survey of Rimbaud's work was intended mainly for the student and the general reader, but the specialist will also find in it fresh and illuminating comments. While taking into account the 'two Rimbauds', the visionary poet and the trader, and the two aspects of the work, the poems and the letters, Professor Hackett's chief concern is the poetry. He concentrates on the more important of the early verse poems, the Lettre du voyant, the 1872 verse poems, and the major writings, Illuminations and Une Saison en enfer. Although he makes some shrewd criticisms, Professor Hackett shows Rimbaud's work to be that of a major poet who has had a decisive influence on the development of French poetry. English translations of the quotations are given at the end of the book, together with additional notes, chronology table and a select bibliography that lists books and articles which should prove helpful.