Paul Verlaine

Paul Verlaine was a French poet whose musical, finely shaded verse helped shape the Symbolist movement. His major collections include *Poèmes saturniens* (1866), *Romances sans paroles* (1874), and *Sagesse* (1880), while his critical anthology *Les Poètes maudits* (1884) introduced readers to several important contemporary poets. Born in Metz in 1844, Verlaine died in Paris in 1896.