“Chanson de la plus haute tour” and “Enfance III” Two Instances of a Rimbaldian Theory of Materialism

This paper explores how we might understand Rimbaud’s evocation of a ”materialist future/time to-come” by resituating it within the context of the poet’s May 15 1871 letter to Demeny. It argues that this syntagma is distinct from usages of the term “materialist” in the 19th century. The paper advances through a close reading of “Chanson de la plus haute tour” and “Enfance III” by way of illustrating the stakes of this figural-metaphoric understanding of “materialism” in Rimbaud.