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Rimbaud's Systematic Derangement of the Senses

Read How can poet's use Rimbaud's "Systematic Derangement of the Senses" to enrich their own poetry?

by Arthur Rimbaud

The first task of the man who wants to be a poet is to study his own awareness of himself, in its entirety; he seeks out his soul, he inspects it, he tests it, he learns it. As soon as he knows it, he must cultivate it! . . . --But the problem is to make the soul into a monster, like the compachicos, you know? Think of a man grafting warts onto his face and growing them there.

I say you have to be a visionary, make yourself a visionary.

All forms of love, of suffering, of madness; he searches himself, he exhausts within himself all poisons and preserves their quintessence's.

A Poet makes himself a visionary through a long, boundless, and systematized disorganization of all the senses. All forms of love, of suffering, of madness; he searches himself, he exhausts within himself all poisons and preserves their quintessence's. Unspeakable torment, where he will need the greatest faith, a superhuman strength, where he becomes among all men the great invalid, the great criminal, the great accursed--and the Supreme Scientist!

When the eternal slavery of Women is destroyed, when she lives for herself and through herself, when man--up till now abominable--will have set her free, she will be a poet as well! Woman will discover the unknown! Will her world of ideas differ from ours? She will discover strange things, unfathomable, repulsive, delightful; we will accept and understand them.


How can poet's use Rimbaud's 'Systematic Derangement of the Senses' to enrich their own poetry?

Arthur Rimbaud's concept of the "systematic derangement of the senses" is a technique for breaking free from conventional ways of perceiving and experiencing the world. By intentionally disrupting the normal functioning of the senses, Rimbaud believed that poets could access new and previously unimaginable realms of experience and expression.

Poets can use Rimbaud's idea of the systematic derangement of the senses in a number of ways to enrich their own poetry, such as:

💡Experiment with different forms of sensory overload. Rimbaud's concept of the systematic derangement of the senses involves intentionally overwhelming the senses in order to break free from conventional ways of perceiving and experiencing the world. Poets can experiment with using intense sensory stimuli, such as loud noises, bright lights, or strong smells, in their poetry to create a sense of disorientation and disruption.

💡Play with the relationships between different senses. Rimbaud's concept involves disrupting the normal functioning of the senses, and one way to do this is to play with the relationships between different senses. For example, a poet could use a sound to evoke a visual image, or use a taste to evoke a tactile sensation. By playing with these relationships, poets can create new and unexpected connections between different senses, and in doing so, create new and unexpected meanings in their poetry.

💡Explore the limits of language. Rimbaud's concept of the systematic derangement of the senses involves breaking free from conventional ways of experiencing the world, and one way to do this is to explore the limits of language. Poets can experiment with using unconventional syntax, word choice, and rhyme schemes in their poetry, as well as using non-verbal elements, such as sound effects or visual elements, to create new and unique ways of expressing meaning.

Rimbaud's concept of the systematic derangement of the senses can be a powerful tool for poets looking to break free from conventional forms and expressions, and to access new and previously unimaginable realms of experience and expression in their poetry.