Paul Verlaine Was Bad for Arthur Rimbaud

         Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine were both 19th century French Symbolist poets. Rimbaud was born on October 20, 1854, in Ardennes, France whilst Paul Verlaine was born on March 30, 1844, in Metz, France. When the two poets met in October 1871, Arthur was 16 and Paul was 27. At this point, Verlaine was already married to 17-year-old Mathilde Maute who was pregnant with his child while Rimbaud had just run away from home to go live in Paris to fulfill his need to be a 'seer'. Initially, Rimbaud had written to Verlaine about feedback for his poetry, but to Rimbaud's surprise, Verlaine enclosed a ticket and the train fare to come to Paris to live with him temporarily. So, Rimbaud went and arrived at Verlaine's house filthy, unwashed, and unmannered. While at dinner, Rimbaud disgusted everyone with his appearance and foul language. Soon, Rimbaud was asked to leave the residence, but Verlaine did find him somewhere else to live.
         It should be noted that Verlaine was a violent alcoholic, and he frequently abused his wife and child in his drunken rages. Rimbaud was also flawed as he was temperamental, sadistic, and addicted to drugs and alcohol. When Rimbaud was moved out of the house, he convinced Verlaine to come with him and abandon his wife. Verlaine agreed, and the two began to live together. Whilst living together, the two constantly fought and abused more substances together. It's also suggested that they had a homosexual relationship, due to police reports claiming that Verlaine had markings of homosexual activity. They also offended friends and increasingly alienated themselves. Rimbaud also physically hurt Verlaine a lot, often stabbing him with a knife.
         We must also talk about how Rimbaud was naive and under experienced in the literary world. He had only started writing poetry professionally when he was just 15 years old. He hadn't had many good influences in his life, especially male. He had an absent father, a troubled older brother, and a cold, strict, distant mother. He came to Verlaine to help him in the literary world and Verlaine was absolutely not helpful at all. Verlaine introduced him to a life of drugs, alcohol, and violence.
         This lifestyle ended on July 10, 1873 when Verlaine shot Rimbaud in his wrist with a gun. Verlaine was sentenced to pay a fine and two years in prison while Rimbaud was sent to the hospital. After this incident, Rimbaud abandoned literature and went to live life as a trader in Africa. With this new life in Africa, Rimbaud stopped his addictions of drugs, alcohol, and violence and was described as a sarcastic, honest guy.