Stéphane Mallarmé was born in Paris in 1842, where he lived for much of his life, and where he died in 1898. He worked as an English teacher for many years. His early poetry was influenced by Baudelaire, and throughout his life he was centrally involved in the development of French symbolism though his close association with writers such as André Gide, Paul Valéry , and Paul Verlaine. He also had contacts with the artistic and musical world; most notably his poem L'après-midi d'un faune inspired Debussy's tone poem of the same title, and was illustrated by Manet.