Symbolist Poets (Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé)

1. Baudelaire wrote about finding beauty in evil and ugliness. How does this aesthetic challenge traditional poetic values?

2. Verlaine advocated for "music above all else" in poetry. How do these poets create musical effects in French, and what is lost in translation?

3. Rimbaud abandoned poetry at nineteen. What does his trajectory suggest about the relationship between youth, rebellion, and art?

4. Mallarmé's difficulty is legendary. Is obscurity a failure of communication or a valid artistic strategy?

5. How did these poets' unconventional lives (addiction, scandal, poverty) relate to their aesthetic innovations?