Stèphane Mallarmè

Biography

Stèphane Mallarmè was born 1842 in Paris. He had a bad childhood that was hurt by the deaths of both his younger sister and mother. After his mother’s death he was shuttled between his father and maternal grandparents. Mallarmè's first literary influence was that of Charles Baudelaire whom he discovered in 1861. Later in an autobiographical letter to Paul Verlaine, Mallarmè described how he wanted to learn English so he could read the works of Edgar Allan Poe. He learned English in London exceeding well enough to earn a teaching certificate for English. It was in London that he married Marie Gerhard. Poe soon became Mallarmè's primary literary influence.

Works

• The Afternoon of a Faun
• The Tomb of Edgar Poe
• Saint

Works Cited

• Fowlie, Wallace. "A Poet's Life." Sewanee Review Vol. 103 Issue 2 (1995): 169-173.