French poet Stefan Mallarme: biography, creativity, photo

Stefan Mallarme is an outstanding poet and writer from France who lived in the 19th century. He is the head of the symbolist school. Do you know what else Stefan Mallarme is known for? The short biography presented in this article will allow you to learn more about it.

Origin, period of study

The future poet was born in Paris on March 18, 1842. His father was Numa Mallarme, who worked at the Office of Property Affairs. When Stefan was 5 years old, he lost his mother, after which his parents took her up. Stefan Mallarme was a receptive child. He studied first in a religious boarding house in Oteia (in 1853), and then, since 1853, attended the lyceum of Sans. Training in the latter turned out to be excruciating for the future poet. He became even more conscious of his loneliness after his 13-year-old sister Maria died in 1857. Bachelor's degree, Mallarme received in 1860. His father wanted Stefan to become an official, but Mallarme refused this career. Even then he felt that he would become a poet.

Two sides of life Mallarme

For several months in 1862, Stefan was in London. Here he improved his English. Returning to France in 1863, he became an English teacher at the Tournon Lyceum. Since then, Stephen's life has divided into two parts. He was forced to teach for a small salary to provide for his family, first in Turnon, then in Besancon (1866-67), in Avignon (until 1871), in Paris (until 1894). The other side of his life was poetic creativity.

The first works, acquaintance with the representatives of the Parnassus school

By the period 1862-64 years. Include the first youthful verses of this author. They show the influence of Edgar Poe and Charles Baudelaire. In 1864, Stephan Mallarme met with Coutell Mendes, Frederic Mistral, M.V. De Lille-Adana. It is known that he was carried away by the poetry of the founder of the Parnassian school, Theophile Gautier, and began to write works in her spirit.

Soon, in 1865, appeared his poem called "Afternoon rest of the Faun". Mallarme presented this work to the court of T. de Banville, who was one of the leaders of the Parnassus School. This poem is a sensual and refined eclogue. The pagan joy of being permeates the whole work.

Parnassian period of creativity

May 12, 1866, the first publication of Mallarme (10 poems published in "Modern Parnassus") was held. This fact meant that the Parnassians recognized him. Then came the years of searching for new ways of expressing one's poetic personality (1868-73). Mallarme in the late 1860s wrote a fantastic fairy tale, which he called "Igitur, or Elbenon's Madness." However, it was published only in 1926. In addition, he began to work on "Herodias," a drama in verse. This work, unfortunately, has not been completed. His fragment was printed in 1871 in the second edition of the collection Contemporary Parnassus.

Mallarme is a decadent, new works

In the early 1870s, Mallarme separated himself from the Parnassians and joined the decadents. In 1872 he wrote "Funeral Toast", dedicated to the death of T. Gauthier. This work marked the transition of Stefan to a new poetics. Acquaintance with A. Rimbaud refers to 1872, with E. Manet - by 1873, with Emile Zola - by 1874. Stefan Mallarme began collaborating with a magazine called "Artistic and literary revival". Here in 1874 Stefan published the translation of the poem by E. Poe "The Crow". Illustrations for her fulfilled E. Manet. Also Mallarme collaborated with the Journal of the New World. Here he published a number of articles and essays. The publishing house of A. Lemerra in 1874 refused to accept the publication of the work of Mallarme "Afternoon rest of the faun". Only in 1876 it was printed. In the same year, the poet wrote a sonnet entitled "The Tomb of Edgar Poe". And in the next, 1877, a school textbook appeared, authored by Mallarme. He was called "English words". A textbook on mythology was published in 1880 ("The Ancient Gods"). It is an adaptation of the book. Cox.

Literary Tuesdays, fame

Malarme began to organize his "literary Tuesdays" since 1880. They passed in his apartment on Rome Street. In the "literary Tuesdays" participated Saint-Paul Ru, Gustave Kahn, Paul Claudel, Henri de Regnier, André Gide, Paul Valerie and Pierre Luis. The French poet Stefan Mallarme became known in literary circles. This contributed much to P. Verlaine, who ranked him among the so-called "damned poets" (in 1884 Verlaine wrote the eponymous essay). Also the popularity of Mallarme was promoted by J.-C. Huysmans. In his novel called "On the contrary", created in 1884, this writer conducted a thorough analysis of the early poems of Stefan by the mouths of Dez Essent, his protagonist.

Mallarme is the head of the Symbolists

By the mid-80s of the 19th century Mallarme was considered the leader among the decadent poets, who in 1886 began to call themselves "Symbolists". His collection, entitled "Poems of Stefan Mallarme" appeared in 1887, and in the next - translations of poems created by E. Po. Simultaneously, along with "dark" symbolist verses, Stefan created small in volume and understandable poems on various occasions. They were published only in 1920 ("Verses on the occasion").

last years of life

In 1894, the author of interest to us published a collection of poems in prose and poetry. Then he left the service, deciding to devote his life entirely to poetry. Mallarme set out to create a perfect, universal book in which a unique and comprehensive explanation of the world would be given. After the death of Verlaine, which occurred in 1896, Stefan was elected "prince of poets". The publication of his experimental poem entitled "Luck will never abolish the case" refers to 1897. The product in form is one long phrase, punctuation marks are absent. It was printed with a staircase, while using a font of different sizes. The poem was placed on a spread of two pages. Then, in 1897, Mallarme published a series of articles ("Music and Literature," "The Crisis of Poetry," etc.). Their common name is "Bredni". In these works the author expressed his thoughts that literature is going through decline, that it is required to restore its former sacral value. Mallarme Stefan, whose biography and work remains relevant, died September 9, 1898 in Paris. The bulk of his texts, as well as correspondence, were published only after his death.

Value and features of creativity Mallarme

It must be said that the poet Stefan Mallarme, whose photo you find in this article, appeared in French literature at the time when the need for new poetic forms and the exhaustion of the old ones became evident. He led the movement of symbolism, in which the new artistic thinking took shape theoretically, which acted with the reforms of the language of poetry and paved the way for modern literature in France.

Mallarme radically rethought the question of the purpose of poetry. He believed that she should not teach or describe. There must be something superreal in it. According to Mallarme, poetry is the transmission of a hidden meaning through the use of human language. It gives our life authenticity. The poet is an intermediary between the world of people and secrets imprisoned in the universe. He can lift the veil that conceals the transcendent, by using words-symbols. It is behind them that another reality, which Stefan Mallarme wanted to convey to us, is guessed. His work shows that he succeeded.