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THE SYMBOLIST MOVEMENT
U, green. I regulated the form and the movement of every consonant, and, with instinctive rhythms, I flattered myself that I had invented a poetic language accessible, one day or another, to every shade of meaning. I reserved to myself the right of translation[1]
- ↑ Here is the famous sonnet, which must be taken, as it was meant, without undue seriousness, and yet as something more than a mere joke.
VOYELLES
A noir, E blanc, I rouge, U vert, O bleu, voyelles, Je dirai quelque jour vos naissances latentes. A, noir corset velu des mouches éclatantesQui bombillent autour des puanteurs cruelles,Golfe d'ombre; E, candeur des vapeurs et des tentes, Lance des glaciers fiers, rois blancs, frissons d'ombelles; I, pourpres, sang craché, rire des lèvres bellesDans la colère ou les ivresses pénitentes;U, cycles, vibrements divins des mers virides,Paix des pâtis semés d'animaux, paix des ridesQue l'alchemie imprime aux grands fronts studieux;O, suprême clairon plein de strideurs étranges,Silences traversés des mondes et des Anges;—O l'Oméga, rayon violet de Ses Yeux!Coincidence or origin, it has lately been pointed out that Rimbaud may formerly have seen an old A B C book in which the vowels are coloured for the most part as his are (A, black; E, white; I, red; O, blue; U, green). In the little illustrative pictures around them some are oddly in keeping with the image of Rimbaud.
