The Drunken Boat and Other Poems From The French of Arthur Rimbaud. ( American Version by Eric Greinke)
I am sad to say that I never have read Rimbaud, so Eric Greinke's translation of Arthur Rimbaud's "The Drunken Boat," was my formal introduction to the poet. And it seems that the late Ed Hogan, founder of Somerville's "Aspect," magazine and a noted small press publisher; opines in a blurb on the back cover that: " The Drunken Boat," is wild and lovely and the poet's most vivid expression of his desire to find a life of total freedom." Now, I don't know French, so I really can't comment on the translation. I can only comment about what Greinke puts on my plate. If Greinke's intention was to portray the poet at his best then I have to assume based on what I read that he achieved this. The images are lovely, lush and luxuriant. Rimbaud comes across as an artist in love with love, with art; in love with the romantic notion of the poet trying to free himself from convention. In the title poem "The Drunken Boat,' Rimbaud uses the open sea as a metaphor for the freedom he seeks: " I've known the skies of light,& watersprouts &waves;/ I've known the dark before the rising wings of day;/ & sometimes in the twilight I have seen/ What other men have only dreamed they've seen./ I've seen the sun descend, strange with mystic signs/ Flashing violet arms like an actor/ In an antique tragedy,/ Tonal waters escaping in simmering mists…" And then the poet declares his allegiance to artistic freedom as opposed to the tyrannies of nationalism: " I cannot, bathed in your languors, O waves/ Follow the cotton carrier's wake,/ nor salute the bridges of pride & flags,/ Nor pass the prison's hulking, horrid shape!"
And for all you bohemes out there; here is Rimbaud's "Bohemian Life," that might just strike a chord: " So I'm walking along, hands in torn-out pockets, & my coat is really looking perfect/ Under the Romantic Sky/ I'm a slave/ To my dreams of splendid love!" The poems here can only be described as rich: with both metaphor, and music. Greinke has produced an accessible and evocative piece of work.
Doug Holder/ Ibbetson Update/ June 2005/ Somerville, Mass.
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