Paul Verlaine quotes

Paul Verlaine was a French poet renowned for his influential role in the Symbolist movement. His lyrical and musical approach to verse deeply affected the evolution of French poetry. He is celebrated for works marked by emotional sensitivity and complex personal life. Here are 15 of his quotes:

I am the Empire at the end of the decadence.

Paul Verlaine

Here are fruits, flowers, leaves and branches, and here is my heart which beats only for you.

Paul Verlaine

White moon gleaming Among trees, From every branch Sound rising into Canopies.

Paul Verlaine

By far the worst pain Is not to understand Why without love or hate My heart's full of pain.

Paul Verlaine

You must let your poems ride their luck On the back of the sharp morning air Touched with the fragrance of mint and thyme... And everything else is LIT-RIT-CHER.

Paul Verlaine

The long sobs of The violins Of autumn Lay waste my heart With monotones Of boredom.

Paul Verlaine

And so I leave On cruel winds Squalling And gusting me Like a dead leaf Falling.

Paul Verlaine

Falling tears in my heart, Falling rain on the town. Why this long ache, A knife in my heart.

Paul Verlaine

Tears fall in my heart As tears fall on the town.

Paul Verlaine

Grip eloquence by the throat and squeeze It to death. And while you're about it You might corral that runaway, Rhyme, Or you'll get Rhyme Without End, Amen. Who will denounce that criminal, Rhyme? Tone-deaf children or crazed foreigners No doubt fashioned its paste jewellery, Tinplate on top, hollow underneath.

Paul Verlaine

Colour's forbidden, only Nuance!

Paul Verlaine

What have you done, you standing there In floods of tears? Tell me what you have done With your young life?

Paul Verlaine

Take eloquence and wring its neck.

Paul Verlaine