Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine

on July 10, 1873 Arthur Rimbaud was shot in the wrist by his friend Paul Verlaine. Verlaine received two years imprisonment. Inspired by all the hoo-hah, the 18 year-old Rimbaud wrote his domestic farce "A Season In Hell", a pioneering work in the Symbolist movement. A century after his death, his poetry would inspire some of the more louche poets of Rock 'n' Roll, notably Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison and Patti Smith. Soon after the Verlaine break-up, Rimbaud gave up poetry altogether. He spent the rest of his working life in construction, sales and the armaments business. Arthur Rimbaud appears three times in A Book of Ages, Verlaine twice.