SOURCE: A review of “Pantomime”, in The Explicator, Vol. 34, No., May, 1976, p. 71.

In the following essay, Whitmore discusses the irony of Verlaine's character studies in the poem “Pantomime.”

In “Pantomime,” the second of Paul Verlaine's Fêtes galantes (1869), we are shown four sharply etched vignettes of stock characters from the commedia dell'arte, each performing in a miniature scene. In general, commentators treat these skits as if they were appropriate for their respective personages. But what is particularly revealing and yet requires detailed explication is the distinct irony behind Verlaine's choices. For here what each player does contrasts markedly with the traditional personality evolved for his role by the Italian comedy, especially as it had developed in France.

Divergency is a keynote of “Pantomime,” objectified by the clean and separate focus in which each scene is presented. Normally, the members of a commedia troupe improvised in concert. Yet here...