Product Description

This collection illuminates the uniquely fascinating era between 1820 and 1950 in French poetry – a time in which diverse aesthetic ideas conflicted and converged as poetic forms evolved at an astonishing pace. It includes generous selections from all the established giants – among them Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud and Breton – as well as works from a wide variety of less well-known poets such as Claudel and Cendrars, whose innovations proved vital to the progress of poetry in France. The significant literary schools of the time are also represented in sections focusing on such movements as Romanticism, Symbolism, Cubism and Surrealism. Eloquent and inspirational, this rich and exhilarating anthology reveals an era of exceptional vitality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50804 in Books
• Published on: 1992
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 896 pages

About the Author
William Rees grew up in Swansea and was educated at the Bishop Gore Grammar School. After graduating from U. C. W. Aberystwyth he continued his studies in French literature and theatre at the University of Exeter and then at St. Catherine's College, Oxford. Since 1975 he has taught French and Theatre Studies at Eton College, where he is a House Master.

Customer Reviews

Very good anthology!
Comprehensive anthology, with a presentation (short biography, main books, place in the French literary scene) of each of the poets, and a good translation of the poems - in prose, but attempting mostly successfully to convey the poetic content of the original poem.

Simply exquisite
You'll have a hard time trying to find a better introduction to French Poetry between 1820-1950 than William Rees' book. The poems are presented in its original French version and they are translated into prose. Rees doesn't bother with a cumbersome, most often inaccurate verse tranlation, which I find perfectly fine to respect the authenticity of the poets' intention. Here you will find the best poems of the best poets from the Romanticism onwards. A lovely book to carry on your strolls along Paris or to savour at home and daydream away.