Stephane Mallarm illustration for the French Symbolist poet 's 'L'aprmidi d'un faune', 1876 ( The Afternoon of a Faun) by the French artist Edouard Manet. 19th Century drawing. 18 March 1842 - 9 September 1898. The poem formed the basis of Claude Debussy 's 'Prde 'aprmidi d'un faune' and Vaslav Nijinsky 's ballet L'aprmidi d'un faune.