How did Paul Verlaine describe the conflicting sides of his character and poetry?

Paul Verlaine openly acknowledged the parallel nature of both his character and his muse. This duality is most clearly reflected in his collection Parallèlement, which contains bohemian and erotic pieces that he considered technically equal to his more "respectable" works.1

Throughout his life, Verlaine struggled between these conflicting impulses. He experienced periods of sincere religious devotion, such as his return to Roman Catholicism in 1874, which inspired the poems in Sagesse. Conversely, he frequently relapsed into "drink and debauchery," leading a life that earned him the reputation of a poète maudit, or "accursed poet"—a term he himself popularized to describe writers dogged by misfortune and social alienation.123

Ultimately, Verlaine’s work captures this internal tension, blending moments of pure, musical lyricism with the raw, often painful realities of his personal odyssey.1