This concise biography of Stephane Mallarme (1842 98) blends an account of the poet s life with a detailed analysis of his evolving poetic theory and practice. A poet on this earth must be uniquely a poet, he declared at the age of twenty-two but what is a poet s life and what isa poet s function? In his poems and prose statements and by the example of his life, Mallarme provided answers to these questions.

In Stephane Mallarme, Roger Pearson explores the relationship among Mallarme s life, his philosophy, and his writing. To Mallarme, being a poet consists of a...