08-09-2011, 05:00 AM
Many thanks, Sid -- Morrison was indeed a fan of Rimbaud's poetry, though I think perhaps Mr Fowlie overstates old Jim's fascination with the translator himself 
The full stop is really something I envy -- Rimbaud was something of an enfant terrible, writing all his poetry and other creative endeavours before he reached 21, when he simply announced that he'd done all he could with it and stopped. I often sigh (when I'm in poet-in-garret mode) and wonder how much more useful and interesting my life might have been if I'd done the same... but then I remember that I wasn't famous as a teenager, nor did I have a wild homosexual affair with a fellow (married) poet, nor was I really what one could consider a libertine Still, maybe that can all be blamed on just not timing it right!
The full stop is really something I envy -- Rimbaud was something of an enfant terrible, writing all his poetry and other creative endeavours before he reached 21, when he simply announced that he'd done all he could with it and stopped. I often sigh (when I'm in poet-in-garret mode) and wonder how much more useful and interesting my life might have been if I'd done the same... but then I remember that I wasn't famous as a teenager, nor did I have a wild homosexual affair with a fellow (married) poet, nor was I really what one could consider a libertine
Still, maybe that can all be blamed on just not timing it right!
It could be worse