After his death in Paris on 8 January 1896, friends and admirers of Paul Verlaine--including François Coppée, René Sully-Prudhomme, José Maria de Heredia, Jean Richepin, Jean Moréas, Catulle Mendès, and Edmond Lepelletier--gathered to pay their respects to the poet they considered "the Master." Although Verlaine's literary reputation had declined later in his life--in part because of his scandalous behavior--in the 1890s he was closely identified with the younger poets of the symbolist movement, although he downplayed the association. Verlaine was also one of the models for the Decadent movement that began in the 1870s. As much as for his literary reputation, however, his fame rests on his stormy personal relationship with fellow Decadent Arthur Rimbaud.

Born in Metz in northern France on 30 March 1844, Paul-Marie Verlaine was the son of Nicolas Verlaine, a captain in the army, and Stéphanie...