Lyric Spells: The Poet as Magus from Chateaubriand to Mallarmé

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this article I examine some aspects of the relationship between poetry and magic within the context of nineteenth-century French literature and culture. I focus on Mallarmé's ‘Magie' and use his comparison of lyric verse with magic spells to frame a broader investigation of the poet as magus, beginning with Chateaubriand's account of divine ‘magic' in his Génie du christianisme and Staël's depiction of the natural ‘magic' of enthousiasme in Corinne. I then contest Paul Bénichou’s presentation of Lamartine, Hugo, and Vigny as magi before showing the greater relevance of this analogy to an understanding of Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Mallarmé.