February 28, 1865

 

February 28, 1865

Arthur Symons (February 28, 1865 to January 22, 1945), was a British poet, though he is perhaps remembered best for his literary history, The Symbolist Movement in Literature (1899). He is a haunting poet of the modern city, catching its dangerous, complex beauty in works that first introduced the imagery of the urban underworld into English poetry. (I think I wrote that last sentence.) We note the details Symons included in his letters, (Arthur Symons: selected letters, 1880-1935):

It was a great pleasure to visit the shop of Leon Vanier [in the Latin Quarter], the "decadent" publisher, where we saw photographs of Verlaine, Villiers, etc, and bought some books and papers. Of course there was a cat in the establishment...

Elsewhere Symons wrote this about his experiences: "Born under the influence of passionate and perverse stars, my life has been utterly unlike that of any man I have ever known."