SOURCE: “1884–85: Verlaine's Influence and Les Deliquescences d're Floupette,” in Paul Verlaine and the Decadence, 1882–90, Manchester University Press, 1974, pp. 81–98.

In the following essay, Stephan examines Verlaine's influence on the movement of young Decadent poets.

As Verlaine receives favourable treatment in critical articles, verse appearing in magazines reveals his influence on younger poets. The earliest instance we have been able to find is Guy-Valvor's (Georges André Vayssière) ‘Raquettes et volants’, which appeared in Lutèce on 7–14 September 1883. Guy-Valvor describes two girls playing badminton: oblivious to love, they are unaware that one day they will be the rackets and their lovers, ‘les pauvres coeurs torturés’, the shuttlecocks they hit back and forth. It is obvious that his poem copies Verlaine's ‘La Chanson des ingénues’:¹ both contrast the frivolity of young girls with their amorous maturity when they have grown into women, both use similar language and identical form...