Echoing the play *Verlaine in Prison*, this lecture explores an intimate side of Paul Verlaine: his relationships with the women who shaped his life and inspired his work. Amid passion, dependence, tenderness, and torment, these female figures—from Mathilde Mauté to other, more discreet presences—shed new light on the poet’s sensibility and the tensions that run through his writing.

The lecture is presented by Nicolas Ducimetière, a specialist in rare books and cultural history, renowned for the clarity and liveliness of his presentations. An accessible and enlightening opportunity to delve deeper, to better understand the man behind the poet, and to extend the experience of the play.