A Season in Hell

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This article is about the poetic work by Arthur Rimbaud. For other uses, see A Season in Hell (disambiguation).

"A Season in Hell" (French: Une Saison en Enfer) is an extended poem written by French writer Arthur Rimbaud. It is the only work that was published by Rimbaud himself. The book had a considerable influence on later artists and poets, for example the Surrealists.

Contents

[edit] Background

According to some sources, Rimbaud's first stay in London in late 1872 and early '73 converted him from an imbiber of absinthe to a smoker of opium. According to biographer, Graham Robb, this began "as an attempt to explain why some of his [Rimbaud's] poems are so hard to understand, especially when sober".[1] The poem was by Rimbaud himself dated April through August 1873, but these are dates of completion. He finished the work in a farmhouse in Roche, Ardennes.

There is a marked contrast between the hallucinogenic quality of Saison's second chapter, Mauvais Sang ("Bad Blood") and even the most hashish-influenced of the immediately preceding verses he wrote in Paris. Its third chapter, Nuit de l'Enfer (literally "Night of Hell"), then exhibits a refinement of sensibility. The two sections of chapter four apply this sensibility in professional and personal confession; and then, slowly but surely, at age 19, he begins to think clearly about his real future; the introductory chapter being a product of this later phase.

[edit] Format

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The poem is loosely divided into nine parts, some of which are much shorter than others. They differ markedly in tone and narrative comprehensibility, with some, such as "Bad Blood," being much more obviously influenced by Rimbaud's drug use than others.

  • Introduction (sometimes titled with its first line, Once, if my memory serves me well...) (French: Jadis, si je me souviens bien...) - outlines the narrator's damnation and introduces the story as "pages from the diary of a Damned soul."
  • Bad Blood (Mauvais sang) - describes the narrator's Gaulish ancestry and its supposed affect on his morality and happiness.
  • Night in hell (Nuit en enfer) - highlights the moment of the narrator's death and entry into hell.
  • Delirium 1: The Foolish Virgin - The Infernal Spouse (Délires I: Vierge folle - L'Époux infernal) - the most linear in its narrative, this section consists of the story of a man, enslaved to his "infernal bridegroom" who deceived him and lured his love with false promises.
  • Delirium 2: Alchemy of Words (Délires II: Alchimie du verbe) - the narrator then steps in and explains his own false hopes and broken dreams. This section is broken up much more clearly than many other sections, and contains many sections in verse.
  • The Impossible (L'impossible) - this section is vague, but seems to describe an attempt on the part of the author to escape from hell.
  • Lightning (L'éclair) - this very short section is also unclear, although its tone is resigned and fatalistic and it seems to indicate a surrender on the part of the narrator.
  • Morning (Matin) - this short section serves as a conclusion, where the narrator claims to have "finished my account of my hell," and "can no longer even talk."
  • Farewell (Adieu) - this section seems to allude to a change of seasons, from Autumn to Spring. The narrator seems to have been made more confident and stronger through his journey through hell, claiming he is "now able to possess the truth within one body and one soul."

[edit] Meaning & Philosophy

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Several parts of the piece, especially the first Delirium, contain explicitly romantic allusions to homosexuality. This may simply be a product of Rimbaud's own homosexual inclinations. It also occasionally bears resemblance to Rimbaud's stormy and violent affair as a teenager with the poet Paul Verlaine, with whom Rimbaud severed ties with shortly before writing the poem.

Delirium 2 contains several references to communicating with the "other lives" of men. Whether or not this is a formal statement of belief in reincarnation is unclear. It may be one of the more vivid products of Rimbaud's drug use.

[edit] References in popular culture

The book was featured in one Law & Order episode where it plays a vital part in solving the murder crime. It also featured in the 1983 movie Eddie and the Cruisers, giving a very brief account of Rimbaud's life as an artist is given (albeit without any mention of the affair with Paul Verlaine or other pertinent historical details).

The book was referenced in the Felt song, "Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow" from their 1984 album, The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories, with the lyric "you're reading from A Season in Hell but you don't know what it's about". Peruvian Rock Band La Liga del Sueño used part of the "Bad Blood" section as lyrics in the eponymous song "Mala Sangre" featured in their album "Mundo Cachina".

The metal band called The Ocean released a song called Une Saison en Enfer on the 2006 album called Aeolian. The Ocean

The art world curator and fundraiser Bette Porter, a fictional character on The L Word, references a piece of artwork titled "A Season in Hell," supposedly one of the most important pieces of the last half-century, during a board meeting with her museum in Season 2 of the series.

[edit] Trivia

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During one of her lengthy hospitalizations in Switzerland, Zelda Fitzgerald translated Une Saison en Enfer. Earlier Zelda had learned French on her own, by buying a French dictionary and painstakingly reading Raymond Radiguet's Le Bal du Comte d'Orgal.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Robb 2000, p. 201

[edit] References

[edit] Availability online

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