33 Sonnets of the Resistance & Other Poems

by Jean Cassou, Timothy Ades (Translator)

Jean Cassou wrote the thirty-three sonnets which Aragon admired so much and which form the first part of this collection in a Vichy prison between December 1941 and February 1942, in the dark, half a sonnet per night, committed to memory and only written down when a few days before his provisional release he was allowed some books, a pencil and some sheets of paper. Through his fine and thoughtful translation of these sonnets and a selection of Cassou's later poems, Timothy Ades gives us the opportunity of discovering an unfamiliar - and now historical - poetic voice.

Genres: Poetry

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Jean Cassou (9 July 1897 – 15 January 1986) was a French writer, art critic, poet, member of the French Resistance during World War II and the first Director of the Musée national d'Art moderne in Paris.

Reviews

[ninon · Rating 5 out of 5]

j ai ADORE allooooooo pardon mais c est génial

[Solange]

Je m'essaie de plus en plus à la poésie et j'ai beaucoup aimé ce recueil de poésie ! Un bon nombre des trente-trois sonnets m'ont particulièrement touché ! Je me rends compte que j'aime beaucoup les poèmes qui riment, le style classique. Concernant Trente-trois sonnets, je suis surtout admirative du fait que Jean Cassou ait écrit ces sonnets de mémoire, alors qu'il était en prison pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. C'est un excellent poète et j'aurai adoré pouvoir l'étudier en cours !

[Ada · Rating 1 out of 5]

Evoked nothing in me

[Paul Cassedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short, but very beautiful book. Simple language, easy to read in French. Includes also the text of a lecture on Michaelangelo's famous sculpture.