Paul Verlaine in Coulommes, Ardennes (08)

Malval, Coulommes, Ardennes. This is the property Verlaine's mother Stéphanie bought from the Létinois family in July 1883*, a few months after the death of Verlaine's beloved young friend Lucien Létinois. Here Verlaine went wild, drinking in excess and paying the male youth of Coulommes for sexual practices. Locals accused him of leading the young men of the village to prostitution and drink. He also used to beat his mother in drunken rage, once forcing her to flee the house. It was the Belgian Dave family that cajoled Stéphanie to report him to the police, and he was tried in Vouziers where he spent a few months in prison for his violent excesses.

*The date on the sign is a few years out.

My Paul Verlaine posts:
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Paul Verlaine in Batignolles Cemetery
Rimbaud and Verlaine in Camden Town
Paul Verlaine in Coulommes, Ardennes

Paul Verlaine in Juniville, Ardennes