---
title: "3 Decadence Quotes By Paul Verlaine"
description: "3 Decadence quotes by Paul Verlaine. Plus more from Paul Verlaine and more Decadence sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/paul-verlaine-18175_precious-stones_i-like-the-word-decadent-all-shimmering_1518131.jpg"
---

> [“I like the word ‘decadent,’ all shimmering with purple and gold … it throws out the brilliance of flames and the gleam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/i-like-the-word-decadent-all-shimmering-with-purple-and-gold-it/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/paul-verlaine-18175_precious-stones_i-like-the-word-decadent-all-shimmering_1518131.jpg)

> [I am the Empire at the end of the decadence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/i-am-the-empire-at-the-end-of-the-decadence/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/paul-verlaine-18175_decadence_i-am-the-empire-at-the-end-of-the-decade_1903206.jpg)

> [I love this word decadence, all shimmering in purple and gold. It suggests the subtle thoughts of ultimate civilization, a high literary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/i-love-this-word-decadence-all-shimmering-in-purple-and-gold-it/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/paul-verlaine-18175_army_i-love-this-word-decadence-all-shimmerin_2185403.jpg)

## Other authors on Decadence

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-basia-16607.jpg) Jean Lorrain 16 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/jean-lorrain/)
- [Bernard Capes 10 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/bernard-capes/)
- [Jennifer Birkett 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/jennifer-birkett/)
- [Asti Hustvedt 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/asti-hustvedt/)

## More by Paul Verlaine

> [A poem is really a kind of machine for producing the poetic state by means of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/a-poem-is-really-a-kind-of-machine-for-producing-the-poetic-state-by/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [A flat black bug, that is London.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/a-flat-black-bug-that-is-london/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [Music before all else, and for that choose the irregular, which is vaguer and melts better into the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/music-before-all-else-and-for-that-choose-the-irregular-which-is/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [Tears fall in my heart like the rain on the town.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/tears-fall-in-my-heart-like-the-rain-on-the-town/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [Take eloquence and wring its neck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/take-eloquence-and-wring-its-neck/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [Prends l'e loquence et tords-lui son cou! Take eloquence and break its neck!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/prends-l-e-loquence-et-tords-lui-son-cou-take-eloquence-and-break-its/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [Tears fall in my heart As tears fall on the town.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/tears-fall-in-my-heart-as-tears-fall-on-the-town/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [“MANDOLINE.   The courtly serenaders,    The beauteous listeners, Sit idling 'neath the branches    A balmy zephyr stirs.   It's Tircis and Aminta,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/mandoline-the-courtly-serenaders-the-beauteous-listeners-sit-idling/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [“Of its persistent, artless strain: Naught so can soothe a soul's own pain, As making glad another soul!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/of-its-persistent-artless-strain-naught-so-can-soothe-a-soul-s-own/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [London, black as crows and noisy as ducks, prudish with all the vices in evidence, everlastingly drunk, in spite of ridiculous laws about drunkenness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/london-black-as-crows-and-noisy-as-ducks-prudish-with-all-the-vices/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [“Rumour has a hundred mouths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/rumour-has-a-hundred-mouths/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [“II pleure dans mon coeur Comme il pleut sur la ville. Nơi tim đây nức nở, như thành phố mưa rơi...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/ii-pleure-dans-mon-coeur-comme-il-pleut-sur-la-ville-n-i-tim-y-n-c-n/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [“O'ER THE WOOD'S BROW   O'er the wood's brow,    Pale, the moon stares; In every bough    Wandering airs Faintly suspire. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/o-er-the-wood-s-brow-o-er-the-wood-s-brow-pale-the-moon-stares-in/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [“Tears are shed in my heart like the rain on the town. ( Il pleure dans mon coeur Comme il pleut sur la ville. )”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/tears-are-shed-in-my-heart-like-the-rain-on-the-town-il-pleure-dans/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

> [Here are fruits, flowers, leaves and branches, and here is my heart which beats only for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/here-are-fruits-flowers-leaves-and-branches-and-here-is-my-heart/)

[Paul Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-verlaine/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/paul-verlaine/#itemlist",
            "name": "3 Decadence Quotes By Paul Verlaine",
            "numberOfItems": 3,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“I like the word ‘decadent,’ all shimmering with purple and gold … it throws out the brilliance of flames and the gleam of precious stones. It is made up of carnal spirit and unhappy flesh and of all the violent splendors of the Lower Empire; it conjures up the paint of the courtesans, the sports of the circus, the breath of the tamers of animals, the bounding of wild beasts, the collapse among the flames of races exhausted by the power of feeling, to the invading sound of enemy trumpets. The decadence is Sardanapalus lighting the fire in the midst of his women, it is Seneca declaiming poetry as he opens his veins, it is Petronius masking his agony with flowers.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Verlaine"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/i-like-the-word-decadent-all-shimmering-with-purple-and-gold-it/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/paul-verlaine-18175_precious-stones_i-like-the-word-decadent-all-shimmering_1518131.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/paul-verlaine-18175_precious-stones_i-like-the-word-decadent-all-shimmering_1518131.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/paul-verlaine-18175_precious-stones_i-like-the-word-decadent-all-shimmering_1518131.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I like the word ‘decadent,’ all shimmering with purple and gold … it throws out the brilliance of flames and…” — Paul Verlaine",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I am the Empire at the end of the decadence.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Verlaine"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/i-am-the-empire-at-the-end-of-the-decadence/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/paul-verlaine-18175_decadence_i-am-the-empire-at-the-end-of-the-decade_1903206.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/paul-verlaine-18175_decadence_i-am-the-empire-at-the-end-of-the-decade_1903206.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/paul-verlaine-18175_decadence_i-am-the-empire-at-the-end-of-the-decade_1903206.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I am the Empire at the end of the decadence.” — Paul Verlaine",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I love this word decadence, all shimmering in purple and gold. It suggests the subtle thoughts of ultimate civilization, a high literary culture, a soul capable of intense pleasures. It throws off bursts of fire and the sparkle of precious stones. It is redolent of the rouge of courtesans, the games of the circus, the panting of the gladiators, the spring of wild beasts, the consuming in flames of races exhausted by their capacity for sensation, as the tramp of an invading army sounds.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Verlaine"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-verlaine/i-love-this-word-decadence-all-shimmering-in-purple-and-gold-it/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/paul-verlaine-18175_army_i-love-this-word-decadence-all-shimmerin_2185403.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/paul-verlaine-18175_army_i-love-this-word-decadence-all-shimmerin_2185403.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/paul-verlaine-18175_army_i-love-this-word-decadence-all-shimmerin_2185403.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I love this word decadence, all shimmering in purple and gold. It suggests the subtle thoughts of ultimate…” — Paul Verlaine",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/paul-verlaine/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/paul-verlaine/",
            "name": "Decadence Quotes by Paul Verlaine",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/paul-verlaine/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/paul-verlaine-18175_precious-stones_i-like-the-word-decadent-all-shimmering_1518131.jpg"
            },
            "description": "3 Decadence quotes by Paul Verlaine. Plus more from Paul Verlaine and more Decadence sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/paul-verlaine/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/paul-verlaine/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Decadence",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Paul Verlaine",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/paul-verlaine/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
