Two flaneurs, in parallel Paul Verlaine and Tristan Corbière

Although Verlaine and Corbière never met in real life, Corbière most probably read Les Poëmes saturniens. As for Verlaine, he discovered Les Amours jaunes almost ten years after this collection was published. Verlaine’s text for Les Poètes maudits shows that he sympathized with Corbière, and we can also trace memories of his reading in Parallèlement. However, the feature that is common to both poets is an art of flânerie, as an aesthetic gesture and as an existential attitude.