Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Album de Vers Anciens (Classic Reprint): 1890-1900

Rate this book
Excerpt from Album de Vers 1890-1900

Presque tous ces petits poèmes, (ou d'autres qu'ils supposent, et qui leur ressemblent assez), ont été publiés entre 1890 et 1893, dans quelques revues dont la carrière ne s'est pas poursuivie jusqu'à nos jours.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

39 pages, Paperback

Published August 24, 2018

Loading...
Loading...

About the author

Paul Valéry

619 books477 followers
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry (October 30, 1871 - July 20, 1945 ) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher.

His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath. In addition to his fiction (poetry, drama and dialogues), he also wrote many essays and aphorisms on art, history, letters, music, and current events.

Valéry is best known as a poet, and is sometimes considered to be the last of the French Symbolists. But he published fewer than a hundred poems, and none that drew much attention. On the night of 4 October 1892, during a heavy storm, Paul Valéry entered an existential crisis, which made a big impact on his writing career. Around 1898, his writing activity even came to a near-standstill, due partly to the death of his mentor Stéphane Mallarmé and for nearly twenty years from that time on, Valery did not publish a single word until 1917, when he finally broke this 'Great Silence' with the publication of La Jeune Parque at forty-six years of age. This obscure but superbly musical masterpiece, of 512 alexandrine lines in rhyming pairs, had taken him four years to complete, and immediately secured his fame. It is esteemed by many in France as the greatest French poem of the 20th century.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
5 (22%)
4 stars
8 (36%)
3 stars
7 (31%)
2 stars
2 (9%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Pierre.
292 reviews7 followers
May 19, 2023

Letto per la challenge 7 libri in 7 giorni.

Raccolta di poesie giovanili del poeta francese Paul Valéry, edita nel 1920 (ma ristampata con alcune modifiche autoriali nei decenni successivi), Album di versi antichi mi ha ricordato una galleria di quadri preraffaeliti, che ci mostrano bellezze pallide e natura incontaminata in cui però si cela sempre un quid di inquietante.
Da questo punto di vista, ho preferito le poesie di argomento mitologico, anche perché quelle non legate a personaggi mi sono sembrate molto fumose, a tratti incomprensibili o comunque di difficile interpretazione, con poche eccezioni. Ho sentito di più l'influenza di Verlaine rispetto a quella di Mallarmé, maestro di Valéry, ma ciò potrebbe dipendere da una mia conoscenza parziale del secondo.

Dal punto di vista stilistico, abbondano le allitterazioni, le rime interne, i poliptoti e in generale le figure di suono, quindi consiglio la lettura in francese se conoscete questa lingua. Altra figura retorica spesso usata è quella della sinestesia, cara ai simbolisti, cui si associa anche un gusto per gli accostamenti improbabili di sostantivi e aggettivi o di soggetti e verbi.
Profile Image for Luke.
50 reviews9 followers
October 1, 2023
Air de Semiramis

« Existe! ... Sois enfin toi-même ! dit l'Aurore,
Ô grande âme, il est temps que tu formes un corps!
Hâte-toi de choisir un jour digne d'éclore,
Parmi tant d'autres feux, tes immortels trésors!

Remonte aux vrais regards ! Tire-toi de tes ombres,
Et comme du nageur; dans le plein de la mer,
Le talon tout puissant l'expulse des eaux sombres,
Toi, frappe au fond de l'être ! Interpelle ta chair;



Un feu distinct…

Un feu distinct m'habite, et je vois froidement
La violente vie illuminée entière ...
Je ne puis plus aimer seulement qu'en dormant
Ses actes gracieux mélangés de lumière.

Mes jours viennent la nuit me rendre des regards, Après le premier temps de sommeil malheureux;
Quand le malheur lui-même est dans le noir épars
Ils reviennent me vivre et me donner des yeux.

Que si leur joie éclate, un écho qui m'éveille
N'a rejeté qu'un mort sur ma rive de chair,
Et mon rire étranger suspend à mon oreille,

Comme à la vide conque un murmure de mer,
Le doute sur le bord d'une extrême merveille,
Si je suis, si je fus, si je dors ou je veille?
Profile Image for Riccardo.
316 reviews4 followers
May 30, 2021
"E dei suoi mille sguardi ora perfidi or soavi,
l'occhio mobile mischia ai bagliori del pericolo
l'acqua lieta e la danza infedele dell'onda."
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews