Paul Verlaine

Romances sans paroles is Verlaine's 1874 collection, written during and after his turbulent relationship with Arthur Rimbaud. The title means Songs without Words, and the poems are famous for musical rhythm, atmosphere, and blurred emotion.

In 1873, Verlaine shot and wounded Rimbaud in Brussels during a crisis in their relationship. Verlaine was imprisoned afterward, and that episode became central to the legend around both French poets.

Verlaine's poetry often works through suggestion, sound, mood, and musical phrasing rather than direct statement. His 1884 book Les Poetes maudits helped define the idea of the cursed poet and shaped Symbolist literary culture.

The phrase comes from Verlaine's poem Art poetique, where he argues for musicality as the core of poetry. It fits the delicate rhythms and half-tones of collections such as Romances sans paroles.