Symbolist Poetry Movement: The Symbolist Movement

Symbolism was a movement that occurred at the end of the 19^th century that originated in French poetry and art. Poets focused on their own existence and also explored various groups and countries for inspiration. They used their poems to express deep feelings and their poems gave life to the sensations of everyday subjects. Symbolists rejected conventions and gave their poems individuality. Naturalism and Realism are movements that had come before that Symbolism rebelled from. Those movements were very literal in everyday reality while Symbolism tried to capture the spirituality within. Charles Baudelaire was the earliest Symbolist poet. Baudelaire expressed the sorrow in his life through many of his poems. The work of Edgar Allan Poe influenced the movement. Baudelaire admired him and translated his work into French. An important aspect of Symbolist poems is their sound. The poets focused on the language and symbols when creating their poems. Many such as Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Verlaine had been writing in Symbolist style, but the term was established in 1885 by Jean Moréas. He wrote the Symbolist Manifesto and believed that poets should aim to find truth that could be found indirectly through poems. Symbolist poets argued to be seen as a new group. In the mid 1880s there was criticism that they were connected with the Decadent movement. This is what brought on Moréas’s Manifesto that defended the movement. The Symbolist poets were outside society and often lead tragic lives. Many turned to isolation, drugs, alcohol, and prostitution. By the end of the 19^th century the Movement waned with the death of leading poets, such as Mallarmé. The Symbolist movement did not last long in France; however, it greatly influenced the rest of the world. A few French poets, such as Paul Valéry and Paul Claudel, continued to use Symbolist style in their work. Beyond France Symbolism was also prevalent in Spain, Germany, America, and Eastern Europe. Symbolism loosened the constrictions on poetry at the time and allowed freer thought. The movement spanned countries as well as art forms and captured change in thought that was beginning at that time.