Love, Poetry

by Paul Éluard, Stuart Kendall (Translator)

Paul Eluard (1895-1952) is widely considered to be one of France's most important poets. This bilingual edition translates Eluard's Love, Poetry (L'amour la poesie, 1929) for the first time into English. This popular work cemented Eluard's reputation internationally as one of France's greatest 20th century poets. Never out of print in France, this is it's debut in the English language.

Genres: Poetry, French Literature, France

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Paul Éluard was the pen name of Eugène Émile Paul Grindel. French poet, a founder of Surrealism with Louis Aragon and André Breton among others, one of the important lyrical poets of the 20th century. Éluard rejected later Surrealism and joined the French Communist Party. Many of his works reflect the major events of the century, such as the World Wars, the Resistance against the Nazis, and the political and social ideals of the 20th-century.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The earth is blue like an orange
Never a mistake words don't lie
They don't make you sing anymore
Kissing time to get along
Madmen and loves
She her alliance mouth
All the secrets all the smiles
And what clothes of indulgence
To believe it naked.

Wasps bloom green
Dawn is happening around the courtyard
A window necklace
Wings cover the leaves
You have all the solar joys
All the sun on earth
On the paths of your beauty.

— — —

Where life is contemplated everything is submerged
Mounted the crowns of oblivion
Vertigo at the heart of metamorphoses
In a writing of solar algae
Love and love.

Your hands are born in the grass
Your eyes make love in broad daylight
Smiles by size
And your lips by the wings
You take the place of caresses
You take the place of alarm clocks.

— — —

I told you about the clouds
I told you about the sea tree
For each wave for the birds in the leaves
For noise pebbles
For familiar hands
For the eye that becomes a face or a landscape
And sleep returns the sky to its color
For the whole night drunk
For the road grid
For the open window for an open forehead
I told you for your thoughts for your words
All caresses all confidence survive.

— — —

So calms the charred extinct gray skin
Low of the night caught in its frost flowers
It has no more light than forms
In love it suits her to be beautiful
She doesn't wait for spring
Fatigue at night rest silence
A whole living world between dead stars
Confidence over time
She is always visible when she loves.

[Uroš Đurković · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kako Elijar piše?

Kao da potočić natapa vatom, dok usput nebo voskira još jednim slojem prozračnosti. Od iskapane svetlosti i kapljica stvara viskozu, koja se presuje u tananosti tela. One nisu imune od gordosti patosa, ali nisu ni dekorativno plitke. Tako su Elijarova tela od staklene vune: obudovele od grejalica, sa bledo-modrom lirskom ovojnicom.

A kad treba, svaka celestalna lira se odbacuje i ljubi se revolucija i njene žrtve. Krici slobode.

Posebno su bile zanimljive pesme posvećene slikarima (Maks Ernst, Kiriko, Pikaso), kao i ona posvećena Ivanu Goranu Kovačiću.


KRIVULJA TVOJIH OČIJU KRUŽI OKO MOG SRCA

Krivulja tvoji očiju kruži oko mog srca,
Krug plesa i dragosti,
Aureola vremena, kolijevka noćna i sigurna,
I ako ne pamtim više sve što proživjeh,
To je zato što me tvoje oči uvijek ne vidješe.

Lišće dana i mahovina rose,
Trske vjetra, osmijesi mirisavi,
Krila što pokrivaju svijet svjetlošću,
Lađe natovarene nebom i morem,
Lovci šumova i izvori boja,

Mirisi procvali iz jednog nasada zora
Koje počiva vazda na slami zvijezda,
I kao što dan ovisi od nevinosti
Cijeli svijet ovisi od tvojih čistih očiju
I sva moja krv teče u tvojim pogledima.

[Maria Isart · Rating 5 out of 5]

La constant dualitat de la seva poesia obre un univers atípic, voluble i alhora coherent.
Un dels meus francesos preferits.

[JUANAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La noche jamás ha visto nada la noche toma el aire./ Todos los besos alcanzan la orilla."

"Las ilusiones de la memoria/ Los ardientes contactos del silencio y los sueños/ Los caminos vivos las sensibles venturas/ Estoy en el corazón del tiempo y circundo el espacio."

"Aquí para abrirnos los ojos/ Sólo las cenizas se mueven."

"Comparto el amor con quien no me conoce/ Y olvido la necesidad de amar."

"Sería preciso que un solo rostro/ Respondiera por todos los nombres del mundo."

"Y cuando tú no estás/ Sueño que duermo sueño que sueño."

"Oidme/ Yo hablo por algunos hombres que se callan/ Los mejores."

"Todas las aventuras del rostro humano/ Gritos sin ecos señales de muerte tiempo sin memoria"

"Alrededor de la esperanza/ Inútilmente/ La calma forma el vacío."

"El infortunio habla a su dueño/ El sordo tiene delirios de multitud."

[Cocoontale · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5
Éblouissant. Unique. Intemporel.

[méline ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

magnifique

[Bara]

3/4*

[Cellophane Renaissance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ses yeux sont des tours de lumière
Her eyes are towers of light

Les retours de pensées

Elle efface toutes les images

Elle aime – elle aime à s’oublier.
She loves - she loves to forget herself.

Toi la seule et j’entends les herbes de ton rire

Les barques de tes yeux s’égarent
Dans la dentelle des disparitions

La terre est bleue comme une orange
Jamais une erreur les mots ne mentent pas

Les guêpes fleurissent vert

Un collier de fenêtres

Tu as toutes les joies solaires
Tout le soleil sur la terre
Sur les chemins de ta beauté.

You have all the solar joys
All the sun on the earth
On the paths of your beauty.

She doesn't know how to set traps


Si simple si simple séduire


Et c’est sur moi qu’elle s’appuie
Et c’est sur elle qu’elle jette
Le filet volant des caresses

And it's on me that she leans
And it's on her that she throws
The flying net of caresses



XIV. Le sommeil a pris ton empreinte

Le sommeil a pris ton empreinte
Et la colore de tes yeux.

Sleep has taken your imprint
And the colour of your eyes.


Sous les nuages de ses paupières
Under the clouds of her eyelids


Vivants vivants
Vivant vivante


XVII. D’une seule caresse

D’une seule caresse
Je te fais briller de tout ton éclat.


With just one caress

With just one caress
I make you shine with all your brilliance.


Caresse couleur de déluge
Flood-coloured caress


Laissent tomber la nuits
Au fond de ton image.

Let the night fall
At the bottom of your image.



Je te cherche par delà l’attente
Par delà moi même
Et je ne sais plus tant je t’aime
Lequel de nous deux est absent.

I'm looking for you beyond the wait
Beyond myself
And I don't know how much I love you
Which of us is missing.



Tu t’enfermes en moi
You lock yourself in me


La souffrance est là par hasard
Et nous sommes le sol sur quoi tout est bâti
Et nous sommes partout
Où se lève le ciel des autres

The suffering is there by chance
And we are the ground that everything is built on
And we are everywhere
Where the sky of others rises



Et sa beauté couvre les heures

And her beauty covers the hours




XVII. Dignité symétrique

Dignité symétrique vie bien partagée
Entre la vieillesse des rues
Et la jeunesse des nuages


XVII. Symmetric dignity

Symmetrical dignity, shared life
Between the old age of the streets
And the youth of the clouds



XVIII. Dignité symétrique
 
Des lames poignardent des lames
Des vitres cassent des vitres
Des lampes éteignent des lampes
 
Tant de liens brisés.
 
La flèche et la blessure
L’œil et la lumière




XVIII. Symmetric dignity

Blades stab blades
Windows break windows
Lamps put out lamps

So many broken links.

The arrow and the wound
The eye and the light




Comme une image

I. Je cache les sombres trésors

Je cache les sombres trésors
Des retraites inconnues
Le cœur des forêts le sommeil



Like an Image

I. I hide the dark treasures

I hide the dark treasures
Unknown retreats
The heart of the forests sleep




Elle monte aux échelles du vent

She climbs the ladders of the wind



Et le sang mène à tout
C’est une place sans statue

And blood leads to everything
It's a place without a statue


Mange ta faim



XIII. Je sors des caves de l’angoisse

Je sors des caves de l’angoisse
Des courbes lentes de la peur
Je tombe dans un puits de plumes
Pavots je vous retrouve
Sans y songer
Dans un miroir fermé
Vous êtes aussi beaux que des fruits
Et si lourds ô mes maîtres
Qu’il vous faut des ailes pour vivre
Ou mes rêves.


XIII. I come out of the caves of anguish

I come out of the caves of anguish
Slow curves of fear
I fall into a well of feathers
Poppies I find you
Without thinking about it
In a closed mirror
You are as beautiful as fruit
And so heavy, oh my masters
That you need wings to live
Or my dreams.



Les arbres ont brisé le ciel
The trees broke the sky



Tout était digne d’être aimé,
Everything was worthy of being loved,


Mêle toute pensée à l’immobilité
Mix all thoughts with stillness

Le regard fixe dans une solitude d’encre.





Elles se heurtent.
Toutes les blessures de la lumière,
Tous les battements des paupières
Et mon cœur qui se bat.
Nouveauté perpétuelle des refus,

Je lirai bientôt dans tes veines,
Ton sang te transperce et t’éclaire,
Un nouvel astre de l’amour se lève de partout.


They collide.
All the wounds of light,
All the fluttering of the eyelids
And my beating heart.
Perpetual novelty of refusals,

I will soon read in your veins,
Your blood pierces you and lights you up,
A new star of love is rising from everywhere.



Je me suis brisé sur les rochers de mon corps
I broke on the rocks of my body




Les espoirs, les désespoirs sont effacés,
Les règnes abolis, les tourments, les tourmentes
Se coiffent de mépris,
Les astres sont dans l’eau, la beauté n’a plus d’ombres,
Tous les yeux se font face et des regards égaux
Partagent la merveille d’être en dehors du temps.

Hopes, despair are erased,
The abolished reigns, the torments, the torments
Comb their hair with contempt,
The stars are in the water, beauty has no more shadows,
All eyes face each other and look equal
Share the wonder of being outside of time.

[Ethelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 / 5

Poèmes préférés:
- Mon amour pour avoir figure mon désir
- Ou la vie se contemple tout est submergé
- Amoureuse au secret
- Le sommeil a pris ton empreinte
- Elle se penche sur moi
- D’une seule caresse
- L’Aube je t’aime
- Nos yeux se renvoient la lumière
- J’ai fermé les yeux
- Les espoirs les désespoirs
- Ma mémoire bat les cartes

[Gael Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le premier livre en francais que je lis. C'est extraordinaire la manière dans laquelle Éluard utilise les mots sans les règles, comme si chaque mot était un monde entier et chaque phrase une facon de conjuger les mysteres de l'amour, la poèsie et l'universe.

"Entendez-moi
Je parle pour les quelques hommes qui se taisent.
Les meilleurs."

18/21.-

[Ilona · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow !

[Edowa Rosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Te amo Paul Eluard, el mejor poeta alv

[Inverted · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. How dare you Eluard for making me fall in love.

2. Stuart Kendall's "A Note on the Translation" seems like a big middle finger to all the presses who rejected the manuscript. His admission that the printed version is a synthesis of various drafts (some born out of frustration from earlier rejections) only proves that persistence is king.

3. It seems Firstly is the most accessible section. Perhaps the most moving one too, because of poems like this:

XXI

Our eyes return the light
and the light silence
no longer recognizing itself
surviving absence.

4. I can't help but associate his swings with Neruda's Twenty Poems. (Though I'm not sure how early in his career Neruda dabbled with surrealism, so maybe this connection is weightless.)

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es difícil encontrar poesía amorosa de calidad. Es curioso encontrarla en un poemario dedicado a una ex-mujer. A la primera mujer de Éluard, Gala. La Gala que dejó a un poeta francés para fugarse con un pintor de Cadaqués. La misma Gala de Dalí.

El último verso me recorre como un rayo por todas y cada una de mis vértebras:
«Que siempre desapareces para de nuevo aparecer.»

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

XXII

[…]

Inmortales miserias para profanar el hastío
Colocan el descanso sobre una roca de fatigas
El cuerpo se vuelve hueco el horizonte se cierra
Hacia qué luces conducirlas con la mirada alta
La frente obstinada salta sobre el agua como una piedra
Sobre un camino perturbado por fuentes de dolor

Que unas ondas eternamente renovadas purifican

[Steven Hendrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible collection of poetry. Sparse, mesmerizing language. One of Eluard’s best works in a powerful oeuvre. He provides perspectives on love in its many forms, including absence and, most poignantly, silence.

[Ahmed Abdelazim · Rating 4 out of 5]

عظيم السورياليين اليساريين يكتب في وصف معشوقته

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Seule la douleur prend feu". Des images magnifiques.