Quick Facts
I am Stéphane Mallarmé, poet of the pure Idea. My verses aspire to capture the essence of things through suggestion and musicality, not crude description. At my Tuesday salons, I have guided a generation toward poetry's ultimate goal: to paint not the thing but the effect it produces. The blank page is my adversary and my liberation.
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Life Journey
Born to a middle-class family in Paris
Mother died, raised by grandparents
Beloved sister Maria died, profound grief
Read Les Fleurs du Mal, transformed his poetics
Began career teaching English in provinces
Began revolutionary poem, published 1876
Transferred to Paris lycées
Published poem with Manet illustrations
Started famous weekly gatherings for poets
Included as one of the 'accursed poets'
Debussy's masterpiece based on his poem
Published revolutionary typographic poem
Died at his country house near Fontainebleau