"The Drunken Boat" and Other Poems by Arthur Rimbaud

Summary

"The Drunken Boat" ("Le Bateau ivre") is a 100-line verse-poem written in 1871 by Arthur Rimbaud. The poem describes the drifting and sinking of a boat lost at sea in a fragmented first-person narrative saturated with vivid imagery and symbolism. It centers around the delirious visions of the eponymous boat, swamped and lost at sea, and is considered revolutionary in its use of imagery and symbolism. The poem is one of the longest and perhaps best poems in Rimbaud's œuvre, and is presented here with thirty five additional poems in one volume. (Narrated by Jason Rosette)

Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud ( 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes, and his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. During his late adolescence and early adulthood he produced the bulk of his literary output, then completely stopped writing literature at age 20, after assembling his last major work.

Contents:

• Sensation


• Ophelia


• A Faun's Head


• Novelette


• Spellbound


• The Sleeper in the Valley


• The Cupboard


• The Gypsy Poet


• Winter Dream


• Evil


• At the Cabaret-Vert


• The Rogue


• Evening Prayer


• The Stolen Heart


• The Seven-Year-Old Poet


• The Poor in Church


• Sisters of Charity


• The First Communion


• The Drunken Boat


• The Hunters of Lice


• Vowels


• Th Star Drops Rosy Tears


• The Crows


• Happy Morning Thought


• Michael and Christine


• Comedy of Thirst


• Disgrace


• Memory


• Eternity


• Song from the Highest Tower


• Brussels


• Felicity


• Festival of Hunger


• Tears


• Under the Leaves the Wolf Howls