Éloges

by Saint-John Perse

«On sait que Saint-John Perse, d'une vieille famille bourguignonne par les hommes et bretonne par les femmes, est né et a passé ses premières années à Saint-Léger-les-Feuilles, une petite île située près de la Guadeloupe. Éloges, dont l'édition originale parut en 1924, évoque les souvenirs d'enfance du poète ("Enfance mon amour", ces trois mots reviennent souvent, tel un leit motiv, dans ces pages frémissantes). C'est la vie aux Antilles, la mer ("la mer, entre les îles, est rose de luxure"), la plantation, les domestiques ("Et je n'ai pas connu toutes leurs voix, et je n'ai pas connu toutes les femmes, tous les hommes qui servaient dans la haute demeure – de bois ; mais pour longtemps encore j'ai mémoire – des faces insonores, couleur de papaye et d'ennui, qui s'arrêtaient derrière nos chaises comme des astres morts"), les fleurs, le port encombré de produits coloniaux, c'est son enfance choyéé, heureuse, attentive aux grandes joies et aux petites peines, qu'il fait revivre en des strophes savantes, chargées de suc, où les mots soigneusement choisis forment un précieux tissu d'images somptueuses.»
Bulletin NRF n° 15, sept. 1948.

Genres: Poetry, France, Nobel Prize, French Literature

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Works of French poet and diplomat Alexis Saint-Léger Léger under pen name of Saint-John Perse include Anabase (1924) and Chronique (1960); he won the Nobel Prize of 1960 for literature.

He came from an old Bourguignon family, which settled in the Antilles in the 17th century and returned at the end of the 19th century.

Perse studied law at Bordeaux and, after private studies in political science, went into the service in 1914. A brilliant career ensued. He served first in the embassy at Peking. People published his work chiefly under the pseudonyms. After various reflections on the impressions of his childhood, he wrote in China. An epic puzzled many critics and gave rise to the suggestion that an Asian ably understands it better than by a westerner.

He later in the foreign office held top positions under Aristide Briand as its administrative head.

He left for the United States in 1940, and the regime at Vichy deprived him of his citizenship and possessions. From 1941 to 1945, he served as adviser to the Library of Congress. After the war, he resumed not his career and in 1950 retired officially with the title of ambassador. He made the United States his permanent residence.

After he settled in the United States, he wrote much of his work. Exil (Exile) (1942) fully masters man, merge, imagery, and diction.
* Poème l'Etrangère (Poem to a Foreign Lady), 1943;
* Pluies (Rains) (1943);
* Neiges (Snows) (1944);
* Vents (Winds) (1946) of war and peace blow well within and outside man;
* In Amers (Seamarks) (1957), the sea redounds as an image of the timelessness of man.
His abstract epic followed.

People awarded him "for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time."

Reviews

[Deni · Rating 4 out of 5]

chat con el amigo que me prestó el libro:

lukitas
leí st-john perse
es genial
por momentos me deja afuera
no tanto por su retórica q me es cara y cercana
sino por sus imágenes
los elementos que elige retratar
a veces simplemente los desconozco
y me siento un lector parcial
me sucede con muchos poemas, utiliza minerales y enumera referencias q me son muy difíciles de localizar
más allá de eso
estuve husmeando sus elogios en francés
además de haber leído la traducción q es impecable
y es impecable
no me sorprende q haya sido un preferido de eliot
me gustaría tener más datos de su biografía
deja ver mucho de su experiencia vital
pero a la vez la oculta un poco
es excesivamente lírico
para bien
la gloria de los reyes tiene mejor título q poemas igual
pero los elogios y nieves son amigos de las alturas
de hecho esta cita
mi sino es errar entre las más viejas capas del lenguaje, entre los más altos filos fonéticos: hasta lenguas muy íntegras y parsimoniosas
#level

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am giving this volume four stars in recognition of the brilliant work of Louise Varèse (née McCutchteon) who brilliantly renders into English the ethereal verse of Saint-John Perse. The French originals are presented alongside Varèse's transaltion which greatly contributes to the success of the publication. Readers who have taken French for one or two terms at university should be able to follow Perse's poems after having read Varèse's versions.

GR Readers unable to read French may wonder if indeed Perse's style was so similar to that of T S Eliot. My opinion as a native speaker of both langauges is that it does indeed. In this charming collection of reminisces, Perse describes a happy childhood in Guadeloupe with remarkable delicacy.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

And everything was glimmering realms and frontiers of
lights. And herds climbed, the cows smelled of cane syrup
. . . My limbs grow
and wax heavy, nourished with age! I remember the tears
on a day too beautiful in too much fright, in too much
fright! . . . and the white sky, O silence! which flamed like
a fevered gaze . . . I weep, how I
weep in the hollow of old gentle hands . . .
Oh! it is a pure sob that will not be comforted, oh! it is
only that, already rocking my forehead like a big morning
star.

[Greg Fanoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobel Prize Project
Year: 1960
Winner: Saint-John Perse (Alexis Leger)

Review: Although I am always skeptical of poetry in translation, there are beautiful, uplifting poems here. These are nice for a pick me up. Plus the book is really short (half the length of the 112 pages it says here, as it is a bilingual edition) and it is available for free on archive.org. My favorites were the title poem, a nice tribute to nostalgia, and Pictures for Crusoe, a beautiful ode to simple living.

Verdict: There is nothing here that screams Nobel, but I'm going to be charitable and assume something is lost in translation. Plus, this is his first collection, perhaps his later poems are more substantial. This is someone to explore more. It's a shame he is so little read today.

[Lamar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece of world literature.
Learning to read St. John Perse/Leger Leger, was and is something that
is a process and in that process I grow closer to the beauty of the things unseen from one perspective, I grow into the graced places where seeing is not one event, no more than thought is an event, we grow into the world.

[Willem M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

staat altijd voor het grijpen… af en toe kijk ik erin om me eraan te bedwelmen… echte onbewoondeilandtitel…

[Laurens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Saint-John Perse´s writing style, his prose poetry is quite a new experience for me. However, the first poem has two very problematic lines on black people...

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most influential books I've ever read - a mythic journey that speaks volumes.