The French Revolution in the eighteenth century finally collapsed after the defeat at the battle of Waterloo, while there was a considerable influence in the mindset of the public, and many good artists were born under the slogan of freedom and began to express the true feelings through art. The music of Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was deeply influenced by symbolism and impressionist painting, and had always been able to try all kinds of harmony effects and break through the creative ideas of Wagner's traditional composing techniques, making him the founding of French music and laying he foundation for modernist music in the twentieth century.

This study summarizes the nineteenth century symbolism, the poet Paul Verlaine’s (1844-1896) biography and Debussy composition style, meanwhile explores the interpretations of the first four songs - C'est l'extase langoureuse, Il pleure dans mon cœur, L'Ombre des Arbres, Chevaux de bois in the art song Ariettes Oubliées (1888).From this article can be found Verlaine loves to use blooming colors shadows and other abstract forms to symbolize the melancholy and wandering state of mind, while Debussy gave them an excellent phonological tone, in cooperation with Verlaine’s symbol of poetry, combining music, painting, drama and other forms of art to capture the light and shadow in between the notes,showing a hazy, dark but elegant beauty. Counterintuitive harmony can depict more perfectly the poetic image in the auditory sense., with the piano illuminating the ambience, it is more vivid and charming.For the audience, there’s double enjoyments in the senses of visual and auditory, creating the unique style of impressionist music.