Jung, alchemy and Arthur Rimbaud’s voyelles

Abstract

Obscurum per obscurius, ignotum per ignotius, "the obscure by the more obscure, the unknown by the more unknown."2 That was how alchemists explained their work, but it is a saying that could be equally well applied to Rimbaud' s poem Voyelles which has confounded and frustrated critics for years. While Voyelles will doubtless always remain an enigmatic poem, this article will attempt to elucidate one aspect of the poem, its strong psychological foundation. The approach used will be based on the theories of C.G. Jung. A Jungian interpretation is especially interesting when applied to Voyelles because Rimbaud chose alchemical imagery to form the basic structure of the poem.3 Alchemy also held a special interest for lung, who saw in its symbolism "psychic processes expressed in pseudo-chemicallanguage."4 The psychic process Jung was talking about was one he termed "the individuation process."