Rimbaud Fictions: Guillaume Meurice

Guillaume Meurice's novel Cosme (Flammarion, 2018) is a reinterpretation that transposes Rimbaud's poetic vision and mode of existence into the modern world. The novel traces Cosme's life as a parallel to Rimbaud's biography and poetics, re-examining the idea of ​​the "voyant" and the "alchemy of the verb" in a contemporary context.

Cosme is the son of Spanish immigrants, born and raised in Biarritz. Although he lacks academic degrees, including a high school diploma, he possesses extraordinary intelligence and a profound passion for words and poetry. His life is a turbulent journey, taking him from youthful delinquency in the Parisian suburbs to military service where he deciphered secret messages, and on to endless hours spent in chess clubs. A free spirit, a poet, and potentially a "seer" ("Voyant"), Cosme values ​​friendship and lives an existence oscillating between shared passions, profound solitude, vertigo, and a "long liberation of the senses." A central theme in Cosme's life is his persistent and almost obsessive search for the hidden meaning of Arthur Rimbaud's enigmatic poem "Voyelles," which he considers the "holy grail of French poetry." His methodical approach to poetry and his ability to recognize patterns and decipher codes (drawn in part from his experiences in chess and the military) allow him not only to interpret the poem but to "decode" it as an encrypted text and discover its ultimate truth. He is unwavering in his determination to uncover its secrets, even if this means taking unconventional paths and confronting social violence, homelessness, or the disregard for authority. Ultimately, Cosme is a self-taught alchemist of words who seeks to unlock the best-kept secret of French literature and ultimately describes himself as a "technician of poetic surfaces."

Rimbaud’s “Voyelles” at the center of the obsession

At the heart of this Rimbaud fiction lies Cosme's unwavering quest for the hidden meaning of Arthur Rimbaud's famous sonnet "Voyelles." For Cosme, this poem is not merely a literary work, but the "holy grail of French poetry," a mystical riddle that demands a clear and definitive "resolution," beyond any mere "interpretation" or "feeling." This distinction is crucial: Cosme understands poetry as a text to be deciphered, akin to a secret code, and not merely as a means of expressing subjective feelings. He is convinced that "Voyelles" is "encrypted," a conviction that shapes his methodology of "gathering clues" and "penetrating the text."

This conception of poetry as a precise, almost “algebraic” science can already be found in Victor Hugo’s dictum that “algebra is in music and music is in poetry.” Cosme himself, who composed sonnets of “subtle brutality” and “relentless precision,” imposed strict rules and “particular constraints” on himself, shaping his verses into “perfect rectangles” in which “uncertainty is excluded, imprecision abhorred.” His poems often contain acrostics or are holo-rhymes, “experiments that reverberate like an echo in a dry mountain.” This reflects Rimbaud’s own “alchemy of the verb,” the art of combinatorics and the ability to shape language, to “twist, distort, bend” it, in order to penetrate to a deeper, hidden truth. Cosme sees himself as an "architect, builder, word-cutter" whose work is a symphony that never ends, an endless game in which he outwits the traps he himself sets and overcomes the obstacles he has erected. Thus, the act of writing poetry becomes an intellectual challenge and a journey into the "depths," where the poem itself becomes a mystical object that will reveal its "latent birth."

Rimbaud as a principle of existence

Rimbaud's statement that the poet must become a "voyant," "through a long, immense, and deliberate unleashing of all the senses," forms the philosophical framework that permeates Cosme's entire existence. His life is a chain of transgressions and intense experiences that lead him to the margins of society and his own perception. From childhood onward, Cosme experiences a "sense of vertigo" and the "unleashing of all the senses," whether through his strange skin condition, which makes him outwardly "different" as a child, or through his later experiences, which repeatedly push him to his physical and mental limits.

Cosme rejects conventional paths and instead seeks the unconventional. His various jobs—from selling stolen cassettes at high school to trading electronics and working as a department store detective—can be understood in relation to Rimbaud's abandonment of poetry and embrace of commerce in Africa. For Cosme, these activities are often not merely a means of earning a living, but also opportunities to test the system, bend the rules, and play a kind of "game."

Even in extreme situations, Cosme displays extraordinary control over his senses and emotions. During an attack in a supermarket, when a man unjustly threatens him, he remains calm and composed. During a police chase, without his glasses and with impaired vision, he relies on his hearing and instincts. This ability to keep a cool head amidst chaos, to perceive his surroundings precisely, and to act strategically, mirrors Rimbaud's demand to "exhaust all poisons within oneself, to retain only the quintessences" and to become the "supreme scholar" who reaches the "unknown." Cosme himself describes his ability to transform pain and frustration into creative energy: "Every fear, every moment of doubt, every frustration is stored in an internal vial. Ice-cold essence. Future material for creation." This "internal distillation" is the essence of the verb's alchemy and leads to "pure creation."

A Life in Flux: Biographical Parallels and the Image of the Poet

The narrative of Cosme's life is interwoven with biographical parallels to Arthur Rimbaud. Cosme's childhood in Biarritz as the son of Spanish immigrants and his later, often unsettled phases of life—from juvenile delinquency in the suburbs to military service and his bohemian existence in Paris—paint the picture of a seeker who rejects conventions and constantly strives for new experiences. Rimbaud's own abrupt withdrawal from poetry and his turn to trade in Africa find, in a sense, an echo in Cosme's diverse, often precarious occupations. These "commercial" phases are not mere periods of stagnation for Cosme, but rather, like Rimbaud, allow him to "go deep" and explore the world in his own way.

The image of Rimbaud portrayed in the novel is that of a mystical, enigmatic genius who transcends his time. He is described as a "seer" whose poetry is not only provocative but also "symbolist" and "impressionistic." The novel emphasizes Rimbaud's "arrogant freedom and wild contempt for conventions," qualities that also characterize Cosme. Rimbaud is depicted as a "dark hero, brilliant creative force" whose early death and the many unanswered questions surrounding his existence ("What did he want to mean? Did he want to mean anything at all?") ​​only serve to enhance his legend. The notion that Rimbaud left the world a deeply hidden secret, which only a few can decipher, elevates him to an almost divine figure, the possessor of an "ultimate revelation."

Regarding Rimbaud's homosexuality, the sources provide no specific details or interpretations related to his poetic understanding or his life in the colonies. The text merely mentions "Paul V." (Verlaine) in passing in the context of copies of the "Voyelles" manuscript and references "Charles B." (Baudelaire) and "Emanuel S." (Swedenborg) as influences on Cosme's esoteric studies. The novel focuses on Cosme's heterosexual relationships and his personal search for meaning, without explicitly addressing Rimbaud's sexual orientation as an aspect of his artistic or existential path.

Literature as a guide and source of inspiration

The Rimbaud fiction is interwoven with a dense network of intertextual references that not only highlight Rimbaud's influence but also shape Cosme's own literary and philosophical development. Authors such as Georges Perec, with his ability to incorporate "gameplay" and structural constraints into his works, as in the novel... Disappearance without the letter "e" or in La Vie mode d'emploi, whose structure follows a chessboard pattern, Cosme served as inspiration for his own complex sonnets and hidden messages. Baudelaire, as the "chief" of poetry, whose Matches and the story The stolen letter Poe's work, which explores the concealment of a secret directly before the viewer's eyes, decisively shaped Cosme's thinking. The extreme experiences and radical poetics of Antonin Artaud also fascinated Cosme and nourished his own practice of "dérèglement des sens" as a poetic tool.

Alongside his literary exploration, chess is for Cosme a metaphor for life and poetry itself. It teaches him strategy, foresight, the acceptance of defeats as learning opportunities, and the importance of "blitz" games, where instinct triumphs over mere technique. For Cosme, chess is an "exorcism" and an intellectual "test of strength" that prepares him for deciphering Rimbaud's poem. The ability to "read" and "decipher" his opponent's game reflects his approach to poetry.

Didi, the leader of the suburban gang with whom Cosme occasionally collaborates, is another character who enriches Cosme's understanding of hidden meanings. Didi's drawings of monsters, "frighteningly precise" and "fascinatingly detailed," are for him "shields against death," a kind of inner defense mechanism in the face of personal tragedy. Cosme recognizes that Didi's art, like his own poetry, is a form of transforming pain into expression, further evidence of the "alchemy of the verb" hidden in everyday life.

The role of the "voyant" in the modern world

In Rimbaud's fiction, Cosme Olvera embodies the modern incarnation of the "voyant"—the seer. Although he has "no degree" and is "not even a high school graduate," he manages to recognize what countless scholars, poets, and scientists before him have overlooked. The novel portrays him as a "simple craftsman, traveling poet" who receives the "privilege of discovery" precisely because he is not blinded by academic blinders or established theories. He possesses a unique ability to "see differently," to look "behind the surface," and not to be guided by preconceived notions.

His "player's" mentality, his ability to "recognize weaknesses" and "penetrate prejudices," as well as his strategic thinking, developed in chess and his various, often illegal, "business dealings," enable him to find "irrefutable evidence" even in poetry. Cosme is the "investigator" who approaches the text with "details" as his sole obsession, in contrast to the "Illuminati" or "simple amateurs" who approach Rimbaud's poem with "dangerous certainties." The novel's ending positions him as the only chosen one who can unlock the "secret of French literature." This act of revelation is not the result of academic education, but of an inner calling and a way of life that emulates Rimbaud's "dérèglement des sens."

The Riddle of Existence and the Colonies of the Mind

Rimbaud's existence in the colonies is not morally judged in the novel, but rather presented as a biographical fact. In the Rimbaud narrative, it serves as a starting point for illuminating Cosme's own nomadic existence. He is a vagabond, constantly moving between new "territories": from Biarritz to Vitry-sur-Seine and on to Paris, through the "hot suburbs," military service, and various, often precarious, employment situations. These places are like "colonies of the mind" for him, where he tests his limits and forges his own identity.

Cosme's "business activities"—be they dealing in stolen cassettes or electronics, working as a temporary employee, sales representative, or department store detective, his time as a security guard, or his role as an intermediary in suburban crime—can be interpreted as a modern form of Rimbaud's commercial ventures in Africa. These phases are not dead ends for Cosme, but rather enable him to live a "life of abundance," granting him the freedom to practice his "alchemy of the verb." He refuses to be confined by the constraints of a conventional career, even turning down highly paid positions in order to pursue his "poetic destiny" and have "time" for his writing. His life becomes a permanent "interior exile," a "total immersion" in the search for deeper meaning, outside established structures.

Cosme's final discovery

The culmination of Cosme's Rimbaud fiction is his "illumination"—the discovery of the hidden code in "Voyelles." After years of obsessive searching and the "unleashing of all senses," he finds the "irrefutable version" of the interpretation. For Cosme, the "keys" to Rimbaud's poem lie not in an esoteric interpretation, but in a mathematically precise decoding: He discovers that the "number of the beast," the "six hundred sixty-six" (666), is hidden in the sonnet's exact character count, including spaces and punctuation, as well as in the threefold mention of the Latin "VI" (6) in the stanza with "vibrements divins des mers virides."

This discovery is further supported by the connection to the four horsemen of the apocalypse from the Book of Revelation (A, E, I, U – Black, White, Red, Green) and the "O" as "God" (Bleu, derived from the juron 'corbleu'), which Rimbaud artfully wove into the verses. For Cosme, this is the "irrefutable truth" that sweeps away "hundreds of speculations" and draws "a definitive line under all speculation." It is a "revelation" that only "those who can rely on their eyes" can recognize, a play on perception intended to convince even the most skeptical "witnesses."

The novel ends with Cosme's letter to Arthur Rimbaud, in which he announces his discovery and presents himself as the one who has fulfilled Rimbaud's commission to unveil the "latentes naissances" of vowels. Cosme strongly identifies with Rimbaud, not only as his successor but as his "Other." With the quotation "Je suis l'autre" from Rimbaud's famous "Lettre du Voyant," Cosme performs a symbolic takeover: he becomes the "perfect reader" and the embodiment of Rimbaud's poetic vision in the present day. He is the chosen one who could unlock "the best-kept secret of French literature" because, like Rimbaud, he viewed the world through the lens of the seer—not through academic qualifications, but through a life that itself became a "raisonné dérèglement de tous les sens." The publication of his own sonnet, "Vocalux Dei," structured as a "double" of "Voyelles" and whose hidden mechanisms only Rimbaud himself can fully grasp, underscores Cosme's claim to be Rimbaud's spiritual heir and to continue the alchemy of the verb in his own time. The concluding remark, that Rimbaud should contact the editors if he wishes to know their address, testifies to an ironic yet profound connection across time.