Paul Verlaine with Verlaine, Mallarmé, Rimbaud, Paul Valéry, Albert Samain and many others began to be referred to as "Symbolists." These poets would often share themes that parallel Schopenhauer's aesthetics and notions of will, fatality and unconscious forces, and used themes of sex (such as prostitutes), the city, irrational phenomena (delirium, dreams, narcotics, alcohol), and sometimes a vaguely medieval setting. In poetry, the symbolist procedure—as typified by Verlaine—was to use subtle suggestion instead of precise statement (rhetoric was banned) and to evoke moods and feelings through the magic of words and repeated sounds and the cadence of verse (musicality) and metrical innovation.
Poet Lore in translation the work of writers from Asia, South America, and the Middle East. In its early decades, the magazine featured poetry by such luminaries as Rabindranath Tagore, Frederic Mistral, Rainier Maria Rilke, Stephane Mallarmé, and Paul Verlaine. The first translation of Chekhov's "The Seagull" appeared in its pages. The Writer's Center, a literary non-profit based near Washington, DC, currently publishes "Poet Lore" in semi-annual installments, featuring poetry by established writers side by side with those just breaking into print. "Poet Lore" also publishes essays of interest to poets and readers, as well as reviews of new books of poetry.