Mallarmé is widely regarded as one of the most original and distinctively modern writers of the late nineteenth century. At the same time, his fame is accompanied by a certain notoriety, and his works are often thought of as unnecessarily complicated. In this study Malcolm Bowie shows that difficulty is of the essence in a number of Mallarmé's major works, notably 'Prose pour des Esseintes' and Un Coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard. He argues that the poems are difficult because they are concerned with complex metaphysical questions and with speculative states of mind. Their closely interwoven multiple meanings, their intricate word-play and sound-patterning invite us to read inventively on many levels at once. Professor Bowie discusses difficulty as a general critical problem, analyses several major poems in detail, and calls attention to a number of techniques for the analysis of verse. He directs the reader away from the question 'What does this poem mean?' and towards the quest
Baudelaire, Mallarmé and Valéry, three central poets of the modern French tradition, form a noble poetic lineage: Mallarmé proceeded from Baudelaire, Valéry from Mallarmé; yet each went his separate way and attained a high degree of originality. All three reflected deeply on the principles of poetic creation; all three sought to apply these principles in the practice of writing. The central theme of the eighteen papers collected here is the constant confrontation of theory and practice. The majority are close studies of individual poems, based on rigourous textual analysis, but placing each poem, implicitly or explicitly, in the total context of each poet's work as a whole. The impact of these poets on the development of modern poetry has been felt far beyond the frontiers of France; their writings are at the centre of more recent reflection on literature in genera, and poetry in particular, as the application of certain properties of language. Above all, their poems remain a constant
