RIMBAUD, ran'bO, Jean Arthur, French poet and author : b. Charleville, in the Ardennes, 20 Oct. 1854; d. Marseilles, 10 Nov. 1891. He early displayed unusual. intelleetteP Ofts and an erratic temperament. Some of his verses written at the age of 15 are included in the collections of his works, and before he was 17 he had run away from home tree times, once being returned as a vagabond and twice because of want. At 17 he sent the poem (Le Bateau Vivre' to Verlaine at Paris and was warmly invited to visit that poet, who hailed him as a genius — recognition that is still vouchsafed him as the pioneer of the ((decadent" movement in France. He remained in Paris until 1872, dividing his time as the guest of Verlaine and of Theodore De Ban vine, served in the army of the Commune, and afterward left Paris with Verlaine. They traveled in England and Belgium for 13 months and then separated after violent quar rels in -which Verlaine twice attempted to kill the younger man. Rimbaud's (Une Saison en Enfer' (1873) detailed this friendship. It was written in prose and was the only work he ever published. He then
abandoned writing verse, although but 19, wandered through Germany and Italy and in 1875 disappeared. 1{e eventually settled at Harrar, Abyssinia, and became a trader in coffee, perfumes, gold and ivory. He amassed a great fortune, became a sort of chieftain among the natives and was engaged in intrigues with Menelek and the French government against Italy. He was forced to go to Europe in 1891 for a surgical operation upon his knee and he died in a hospital at Marseilles. Mean time, his friends supposing him dead, Verlaine hadpublished his poems 'Les Illuminations' (1886), including the famous sonnet attributing colors to the vowels, and these have had a great influence over younger French poets. A collection of his works, with a biography, was published by his brother-in-law, Paterne Bevrichoy, in 1879-98. Consult also (Lettres de Jean Arthur Rimbaud, t gypte, Arabie, Ethiopie' (1899) ; Moore, G.,