I'm reveling in the description of the beloved Bibi from a site called Strange Flowers: "Bibi operated between Montmartre and the Latin Quarter, greeting anyone he encountered with extravagant musketeer gestures, a stranger to soap but a friend to all." There's a meme in there somewhere.
The talk of umbrella thieves has rather overshadowed the overall perfection of this piece. Rimbaud is a prime example of dirtbaggery and you tell his story with real exuberance. The Mérat anecdote and the French Press gag were both greatly appreciated here and made me laugh out loud!
The French press joke made me laugh harder than I could have expected. And to insist on being painted OUT of a painting because of dirtbaggery... I aspire to such fame and influence!
I am just here for Bibi-le-purée follow up story at this point. I mean, he could be the muse to French gastronomy (at least the one pre- nouvelle cuisine and pro potato purée loaded with butter).
One of my favorites of Van Morrison's songs is called "Torn Up a la Rimbaud", and I had to wonder why he gave it that title until I learned more about the two of them. Van has never gone so far as not bathing, collecting lice or getting into arguments with homosexual lovers (mainly because he's heterosexual), but the weird and inconsistent manner in which he has conducted his life and songwriting suggests he took at least some cues from what Arthur did.
And now I'll spend the day wondering how one saves up enough lice to throw at a priest. Did he have a reserved 'lice-only' pocket? Did he borrow from his equally filthy boyfriend? We'll never know...
Ah, what sweet relief after reading far too much about elections, nuclear war, and vaccines. Many, many moons ago i had a French boyfriend who put some of Verlaine's poems to music and sang, accompanying himself on the guitar. I am overjoyed that i knew nothing of his life or that some of the most beautiful ones could conceivably have been written to or about that slimey little dirtbag. That would have deflated my romantic heart most dreadfully and prematurely.😉
I really tried to get into Rimbaud when I was going through my teenage Jim Morrison phase, with mixed results. (And yes, I burned most of the notebooks I filled during that period of my life.) Maybe I should try him again as an adult and see what I would think now. Also, didn't he deal in slaves, as well as guns, after he gave up the poet thing? I always got the impression he wasn't terribly successful at either, but was active in both, though I could be off-base. Great read, as always.
I did not know the allegations of slave trade involvement! I've done some cursory poking around and it sounds like there are allegations but nothing concrete, although he definitely sold guns to slave traders and the arms-dealer business isn't exactly a moral high ground...
That's probably it then. I couldn't remember the specifics, only that I vaguely remembered something about it. But like you point out, whether he did it or not, we're talking about mere degrees of dirtbaggery with Rimbaud at that point anyway.
I laughed so hard reading this and I'm sorry to not have anything of interest to share re Bibi but I DID want to recommend the Roald Dahl short story "The Umbrella Man" which I think about all the time
A hilarious bio/ obituary on two obviously irritating and robustly disgusting people. What my question is “Even if he was reformed and boring, where did the money come from to pay for Rimbaud’s obviously expensive headstone?”
Have not even finished reading this post yet but am already st - I mean borrowing "a dramatic little gay weirdo who is book-smart and life-stupid" and just making it my bio everywhere (Kidding. I think.)
I'm reveling in the description of the beloved Bibi from a site called Strange Flowers: "Bibi operated between Montmartre and the Latin Quarter, greeting anyone he encountered with extravagant musketeer gestures, a stranger to soap but a friend to all." There's a meme in there somewhere.
what is it about this man that makes historians want to write the greatest sentences of all time?? his POWER
The talk of umbrella thieves has rather overshadowed the overall perfection of this piece. Rimbaud is a prime example of dirtbaggery and you tell his story with real exuberance. The Mérat anecdote and the French Press gag were both greatly appreciated here and made me laugh out loud!
The French press joke made me laugh harder than I could have expected. And to insist on being painted OUT of a painting because of dirtbaggery... I aspire to such fame and influence!
Holy fuck this was awesome....and I'm such a poser because I never aspired to the decadence of scumbaggery that these two beautiful souls bathed in.
Genuinely Laughed Out Loud reading the sentence about Bibi the umbrella thief - An icon, who is this diva!! etc
I am just here for Bibi-le-purée follow up story at this point. I mean, he could be the muse to French gastronomy (at least the one pre- nouvelle cuisine and pro potato purée loaded with butter).
The way all of that stuff happened and then he died after 16 years of nothing and he was still only THIRTY SEVEN
One of my favorites of Van Morrison's songs is called "Torn Up a la Rimbaud", and I had to wonder why he gave it that title until I learned more about the two of them. Van has never gone so far as not bathing, collecting lice or getting into arguments with homosexual lovers (mainly because he's heterosexual), but the weird and inconsistent manner in which he has conducted his life and songwriting suggests he took at least some cues from what Arthur did.
Fantastic! I couldn't stop reading.
And now I'll spend the day wondering how one saves up enough lice to throw at a priest. Did he have a reserved 'lice-only' pocket? Did he borrow from his equally filthy boyfriend? We'll never know...
I believe they train them in a type of special school, known as a “Liceum” or “lycée”.
I need you to know that I saw this comment and then said "booooooo" out loud to the empty room. bravo.
Ah, what sweet relief after reading far too much about elections, nuclear war, and vaccines. Many, many moons ago i had a French boyfriend who put some of Verlaine's poems to music and sang, accompanying himself on the guitar. I am overjoyed that i knew nothing of his life or that some of the most beautiful ones could conceivably have been written to or about that slimey little dirtbag. That would have deflated my romantic heart most dreadfully and prematurely.😉
I cannot EMPHASIZE ENOUGH how big a red flag it is for a guy to serenade his girlfriend with Verlaine poems!!!!!
LOL. In those days i lurched between red flags like a drunk downhill skier.
A like for the title alone. Bravo!
"Abthinthe maketh the heart grow fonder." Heh, heh. What do you think Bibi was pureeing?
I really tried to get into Rimbaud when I was going through my teenage Jim Morrison phase, with mixed results. (And yes, I burned most of the notebooks I filled during that period of my life.) Maybe I should try him again as an adult and see what I would think now. Also, didn't he deal in slaves, as well as guns, after he gave up the poet thing? I always got the impression he wasn't terribly successful at either, but was active in both, though I could be off-base. Great read, as always.
I did not know the allegations of slave trade involvement! I've done some cursory poking around and it sounds like there are allegations but nothing concrete, although he definitely sold guns to slave traders and the arms-dealer business isn't exactly a moral high ground...
That's probably it then. I couldn't remember the specifics, only that I vaguely remembered something about it. But like you point out, whether he did it or not, we're talking about mere degrees of dirtbaggery with Rimbaud at that point anyway.
This was a fantastic read, thank you!💕 New fan!
I laughed so hard reading this and I'm sorry to not have anything of interest to share re Bibi but I DID want to recommend the Roald Dahl short story "The Umbrella Man" which I think about all the time
A hilarious bio/ obituary on two obviously irritating and robustly disgusting people. What my question is “Even if he was reformed and boring, where did the money come from to pay for Rimbaud’s obviously expensive headstone?”
A good question, and the answer is probably connected to arms-dealer money unfortunately!
Have not even finished reading this post yet but am already st - I mean borrowing "a dramatic little gay weirdo who is book-smart and life-stupid" and just making it my bio everywhere (Kidding. I think.)
I take it back: my new bio is "noted homosexual and umbrella thief."
Also I did a literal spit-take at the French press thing (fortunately was outside and not near others at the time)
I have been tempted many times to create merch for this newsletter and "noted homosexual and umbrella thief" shirts would pop off, I fear
Happy to make a cross stitch pattern! 🤗😜❤️