Rollicking with Rimbaud

Back in high school, poems from Arthur Rimbaud's poetry collection, The Illuminations, were required reading when I took French. Oh to be fluent in the language of love, for I'm sure Romance must sound, well, more romantic in French, even with its callow ending. Although Victor Hugo called the teen genius an "infant Shakespeare," it wasn't until I watched Leonardo Di Caprio play Rimbaud in the film, Total Eclipse, that I began to understand him. From now until August lst, you can immerse yourself in Rimbaudmania, The Eternity of an Icon at the Galerie des Bibliothèques in Paris. Four basement-level rooms showcase 350 objects, including several original manuscripts and correspondence from the symbolist poet. Robert Mapplethorpe's photographic take on A Season In Hell and numerous portraits of the young poet by Picasso, Giacometti, Fernand Léger, and Jim Dine, show the indelible impression Rimbaud left before dying of cancer when he was 37. If you miss this exhibit, you can catch it again in the poet’s hometown, Charleville-Mézières (Champagne-Ardennes), September 15th - December 15th at the Musée Arthur Rimbaud.

Want a cash infusion to put this poetry in motion? Rimbaud, who drank heavily, will probably be laughing in the stars when I mention Folonari Wines is giving away $3,000 in their Easy-to-Enjoy Summer Sweepstakes. Pop that cork and enter.

Voilà - the link to Folonari's Easy to Enjoy Summer Sweepstakes.

http://www.folonariwines.com/promotions.html