Oscar Wilde
Playwright, writer, and bon viveur (1854-1900) "A glass of absinthe is as poetical as anything in the world. What difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset?" Known for his amazing wit and scandalous lifestyle, Wilde was another famous absinthe fan. He was the great aesthete, glorifying beauty for beauty's sake in a series of sparkling plays, poems, fairy tales and essays. In his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, a young man is corrupted by sensual indulgence and moral indifference. But Wilde's lifestyle became too much for Victorian sensibilities, and he was imprisoned in 1895 for conducting a homosexual affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. His two great poems, 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' and 'De Profundis' were inspired by this experience in prison. On his release, Wilde moved to France, his peacock spirit dulled by imprisonment and the rejection from a society that had previously thrilled to his dazzling talent and personality. Still, his spirit wasn't entirely crushed. Legend has it that his dying words were, "Either that wallpaper goes or I do". I'll drink to that. Charles Baudelaire
Poet (1821 - 1867) "One must be drunk always" On reflection, probably not the most sensible thing to say - and something best avoided if your job involves heavy machinery or sharp scissors. Baudelaire was in fact a moody, rebellious genius. Along with Ernest Dowson, Stéphane Mallarmé and Paul Verlaine he made up the poetic group The Decadents. His work Les Fleurs du Mal (1857) led to him being prosecuted for obscenity and blasphemy. Now of course it is recognized as a masterpiece. Baudelaire moved briefly to Belgium, but with his health debilitated by syphilis and an excess of opium, he died in poverty and destitution. Only about 60 mourners attended his funeral, one of them his great friend Manet. Apparently, such was his drug and absinthe intake, most people assumed that he had already died. If he'd just kept to the occasional Saturday night out with friends. Charles Cros
Inventor, poet, physicist, chemist, painter and musician (1842-1888) The original 20 a day man - absinthes that is. His prodigious thirst for the emerald nectar made him a regular at some of the most well known absinthe cafés in Paris. Along with his other callings, Cros is generally recognized as the inventor of the phonograph, a device he called a Paréophone. But lacking financial resources, he was unable to patent his device before Thomas Edison and others developed the idea and started production (I'm thinking patent lawsuit). Cros was also acknowledged for developing certain color photography processes and an automatic telegraph. How he had the time or clarity of vision to follow his many talents is anybody's guess. Ernest Dowson
Poet (1867- 1900) "Absinthe makes the Tart grow fonder" The original absinthe spin-doctor was always good for a quote. He was one of the best known of the Decadents, an absinthian and, unusually for the time, an Englishman. He clearly understood the romantic properties of the green spirit: "Whiskey and beer are for fools", he once said; "absinthe has the power of the magicians; it can wipe out or renew the past, and annul or foretell the future". His poems were delicate and musical, as these lines from Absinthia Taetra demonstrate: 'The man let the water trickle gently into his glass, and as the green clouded, a mist fell from his mind'.
Ernest Hemingway
Author (1899-1961) "Got tight last night on absinthe. Did knife tricks." References to absinthe appear in many of Hemingway's famous writings, including 'Death In The Afternoon' and 'For Whom The Bell Tolls'. He was a great absinthe fan and a bad drunk, given his love of guns and knives. Rebel that he was, Hemingway drank absinthe long after it was made illegal in most parts of the world. In Spain, he would have a few before running with the bulls in Pamplona, while it is also rumored that he managed to have a few bottles around him while living in the United States. Hemingway committed suicide in 1961 - leaving more absinthe for the rest of us at least. Alfred Jarry
Poet and playwright (1873-1907) "Anti-alcoholics are unfortunates in the grip of water, that terrible poison, so corrosive that out of all substances it has been chosen for washing and scouring, and a drop of water added to a clear liquid like Absinthe, muddles it." The French playwright admitted using absinthe to fuse together dreams and reality, art and life. Somewhat eccentric, he was renowned for drinking absinthe neat, and his devotion to the spirit was such that he even painted himself green. How touching! While Jarry considered his less well known 'Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, pataphysician' to be his greatest work, he will always be remembered for his absurdist play, Ubu roi, and its grotesque central character, Pere Ubu. The play outraged traditional French audiences, and earned Jarry a cult status within Bohemia. Arthur Rimbaud
Poet (1855-1891) "There is a drinking place I prefer: long live L'Academie d'Absomphe [sic], in spite of the ill temper of the waiters". The poet Arthur Rimbaud arrived in Paris as a destitute 16 year old, but he had already responsible for an impressive body of work. He soon fell in with Paul Verlaine and the two became lovers, drinking absinthe and playing cruel games on each other. Rimbaud finally broke off with Verlaine after a particularly messy incident in which Verlaine shot Rimbaud and was sent to prison. Rimbaud gave up absinthe and spent the latter years of his life in the Dutch army were he was involved in colonization and gun running. Although he stopped writing early on in life he is recognized as one of France's greatest poets. He died alone, possibly from cancer or syphilis. And I bet he wished he'd had an absinthe close by. Paul Marie Verlaine
Poet (1844-1896) "[In] Paris where the beer is awful, it was upon absinthe that I threw myself, absinthe day and night". Verlaine sung the praises of absinthe in his youth, and damned absinthe on his deathbed. He consorted with prostitutes and men while drinking, to the dismay of his young wife, and for a time the younger poet Rimbaud was his constant companion, both platonically and sexually. But the guilt he felt about the relationship only pushed Verlaine into further bouts of violent intoxication. In his autumnal years he was poverty-stricken and alone, and while despising other forms of drinking he still embraced absinthe. Even while he cursed the drink on his deathbed, his friends were said to be hiding bottles of the green stuff under his pillow. Emile Zola
Novelist and critic (1840-1902) "Boche had known a joiner who had stripped himself stark naked in the Rue Saint-Martin and died doing the polka - he was an absinthe drinker". The above quote comes from 'L'Assomoir', Zola's book on alcoholism that contains a good few pearls about absinthe. However much of his work actually revels in the joys of the green fairy and Nana, the story of a high-class hooker, is partly responsible for absinthe's reputation as an aphrodisiac. Why not give it a try yourself? It's cheaper than Viagra.
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