Symbolism Nicole Lally Rachel Donlan Brooke Armknecht

What is the symbolism literary movement Definition: a loosely organized literary and artistic movement that originated with a group of French poets in the late 1850 to about 1900 Help to spread painting and the theatre and influenced the European and American literatures of the 20th century by being a transition between realism and modernism

symbolist poets Symbolist illustrated personal states of consciousness using metaphorical language to symbolize from an eternal sense of life that they believed started from the five senses They tried to write about man’s inner life and illustrate the mystery of existence through use of metaphors and images that helped pass along what the poet was thinking and hint at the dark reality

What does it represent Represented the poets reaction to both realism and naturalism in literature which both thrived to represent nature and human society through objective reality

how they (the poets) influenced The symbolist began the use of musical language, free verse, and changed the form of a prose poem to a more modern poem

StÉphane mallarmé Born on March 18th, 1842, in Paris and died September 19th, 1898, in Valvins He was a French poet and a leader of the Symbolist Movement in poetry His mom died when he was 5 in August 1847, his younger sister Maria died in 1857, and his father died in 1863 Because of his tragic childhood, he expressed his longing for family through his poetry where he tried to turn away from reality and searched for another world He acquired English in 1863 in London and became a school teacher for Provincial schools and then later in Paris

authors influence on time period His early poems were influenced by Charles Baudelaire, who wrote about escaping reality, which Mallarmé could relate to But, Baudelaire’s theme of escape was emotional and sensual and Mallarmé was more intellectual and he wanted to analyze the real world its relationships with reality He devoted the rest of his life to putting his theory, that nothing lies beyond reality and in that nothingness lies perfect forms, into practice and what he called his Grand Oeuvre (great work)

poem Distress I don’t come to conquer your flesh tonight, O beast In whom are the sins of the race, nor to stir In your foul tresses a mournful tempest Beneath the fatal boredom my kisses pour: A heavy sleep without those dreams that creep Under curtains alien to remorse, I ask of your bed, Sleep you can savour after your dark deceits, You who know more of Nothingness than the dead. For Vice, gnawing this inborn nobleness of mine Marked me, like you, with its sterility, But shroud-haunted, pale, destroyed, I flee While that heart no tooth of any crime Can wound lives in your breast of stone, Frightened of dying while I sleep alone.

questions Which one is a simile in the poem? In your foul tresses a mournful tempest Marked me, like you, with its sterility, While that heart no tooth of any crime Under curtains alien to remorse 2. Which theme is present in the poem? Fear of death Remorse Escaping reality no obvious theme

questions part 2 3. Which words show imagery in this stanza… For Vice, gnawing this inborn nobleness of mine Marked me, like you, with its sterility, But shroud-haunted, pale, destroyed, I flee vice; nobleness gnawing; pale pale; sterility destroyed; gnawing

questions part 3 4. The symbolist period began with… use of musical language, free verse, and changed the form of a prose poem to a more modern poem use of musical language, free verse, and emotional compassion free verse, dark language, and escape from reality use of musical language, escape from reality, and dark language

questions part 4 5. What does Mallarmé not imply within the poem? escape from reality emotional darkness living in a life of happiness what he wishes his life

works cited Chadwick, Charles. "Stephane Mallarme." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016. Mallarme, Stephane.”Stéphane Mallarmé." Distress. ADKline.design, Web. 26 Sept. 2016. "Movement Origin." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, Web. 26 Sept. 2016.