In September 1871, Paul Verlaine, a poet, young but already established in Paris, received a letter from the provinces containing eight extraordinary poems by one Arthur Rimbaud. He wrote back at once, saying: "My dear great soul, come to us, you are summoned, you are expected." What follows is their story directly taken from their letters and poetry. While Verlaine was a great poet, Rimbaud was a genius, a revolutionary. His poems from age sixteen...