Rimbaud's Response to Plato: The 'Lettre du Voyant' and The Republic

1977-1978 Fall-Winter; 6(1-2): 104-07. Abstract In the "Lettre du voyant" of 15 May 1871, Rimbaud implicitly and explicitly assails Plato's Republic. Instead of banishing poets as Plato did, Rimbaud insists that they will be "citizens" in the republic of the future that he describes ("comme les poètes sont citoyens.") Rimbaud implies that the voyant, whose poetry "will be in the vanguard," is the one who may replace Plato's philosopher king as mankind's ruler and guide. The Republic is one of the most crucial texts that Rimbaud admires, criticizes and revises in his "Lettre du voyant."