Stéphane Mallarmé

Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898), French poet, one of the originators of the symbolist movement. He was born in Paris and educated at the lycée in Sens. He taught English at the Lycée Fontanes, Paris, and translated literary works in English, notably the poems (1888) of the American poet Edgar Allan Poe. He used symbols to express truth through suggestion rather than by narration. His poetry and prose are characterized by musical quality, experimental grammar, and thought that is refined and allusive to the point of obscurity. His best-known poems are L'aprés-midi d'un faune (The Afternoon of a Faun, 1876), which inspired the prelude by the French composer Claude Debussy, and Hérodiade (1869). Among Mallarmé's other writings are the anthology Vers et prose (1893) and the volume of prose studies Divagations (Ramblings, 1897).

Mallarmé was noted for his conversation, which was as lucid as his writings were obscure. At his renowned Tuesday-night receptions at his home in Paris, his critical comments on literature, art, and music did much to stimulate the creative efforts of the French symbolist writers and the artists and composers of the impressionist school that developed late in the 19th century and emphasized spontaneity, as opposed to formality, of composition.