Showing results by author "Arthur Symons" in All Categories

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. Among them is the famed Decadent author and poet Arthur Symons.

This collection was published posthumously in 1869 under the title of Petits Poèmes En Prose, but is also known as Le Spleen de Paris. A prime influence was Gaspard de la Nuit, the prose poem collection by Aloysius Bertrand. Baudelaire described these short pieces as experiments, and also "confessions." The poet was seeking to create "the miracle of a poetic prose, musical without rhythm and without rhyme, subtle and staccato enough to follow the lyric motions of the soul, the wavering outlines of meditation, the sudden starts of the conscience."

The devil always held a fascination for decadent poet Charles Baudelaire. In this brief morality tale, the author sells his soul for good fortune, and, ironically, for relief from the crushing sense of ennui that traditionally accompanies an indulgent lifestyle.