Tristan Corbière

French symbolist and surrealistic poet and novelist. Suffering from ill health, (asthmatic bronchitis and rheumatism) he lived in solitude in Bretagne all of his youth. Later he moved to Paris and the artist milieu influenced him deeply. His poems, les amours jaunes, were published in 1873, but recognition came but a decade later, thanks to Paul Verlaine and his Poètes Maudits (cursed poets).

Corbière had his own unique style in writing. His view on literature was that it was in essence useless, a poet can only find truth in constant self-destruction. His most famous poems are: Le pardon de Sainte Anne and La Litanie du sommeil. Corbière was admired by T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.

He died at the age of 29 of tuberculosis.