Page "Paul Verlaine" Paragraph 27

Among the admirers of Verlaine's work was the Russian language poet and novelist Boris Pasternak.

Pasternak went so far as to translate much of Verlaine's verse into Russian.

According to Pasternak's mistress and muse, Olga Ivinskaya, Whenever Leonidovich was provided with literal versions of things which echoed his own thoughts or feelings, it made all the difference and he worked feverishly, turning them into masterpieces.

I remember his translating Paul Verlaine in a burst of enthusiasm like this -- L ' Art poétique was after all an expression of his own beliefs about poetry.