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How did Paul Verlaine express Catholic faith in Sagesse?
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Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine, detail from Un Coin de table, oil painting by Henri Fantin-Latour, 1872; in the Louvre, Paris.
In his collection Sagesse ("Wisdom"), published in 1880, Paul Verlaine expressed his Catholic faith through outstanding poetical reflections on simple Christianity.1
These poems, largely written between 1873 and 1878, emerged from a period of personal transformation following his imprisonment in Mons. During this time, the poet experienced a sincere return to Roman Catholicism, which was fostered by contrition, prison abstinence, and pious reading. Consequently, Sagesse serves as both a testament to this religious devotion and a record of his complex emotional odyssey.1