What do you think?
Rate this book
The Selected Poems
Book by Kulik, William
207 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1991
41 people want to read
About the author
Robert Desnos
138 books111 followersRobert Desnos (4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French surrealist poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement of his day.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 27, 2012
Robert Desnos is my favorite of the Surrealist Poets. His closest competitor for that title is Tristan Tzara, whom I count more as a Dadaist than a Surrealist.
February 19, 2020
I have had this book for 30 years and have just read it? Why did I take so long?! And this, with this cover anyway, is a co-translation with Carolyn Forche, but she seems to have disappeared from all the Goodreads information. Why? But I knew of Desnos. And I think I had known of his dismissal by Breton, but then everyone had been dismissed by Breton sooner or later. I knew of his heroism in the French Resistance and his death in the camps.
But I didn't know the poems, until I read this generous (180 page) selection. What joy! What happiness! The surrealists, despite their claims to humor, always seem so dour to me. So fundamentalist, almost, in their allegiance to a particular view of imagination. Not Desnos. Breton famously dismissed him as "narcissistic" or "solipsistic." But that is almost certainly because he enjoyed life, even in his automatic writing. And he didn't become a communist, when Breton insisted he become one.
I could find many examples of this world view that manifests itself in Desnos's surrealistic vision, but here's one from a poem entitled "In My Glass":
But what stroke of luck led you under my pen/
Because I will make of this desert
of this desert drunk in my glass
a fiery oasis
a countryside full of the whisper of springs and trees
a place of lawns and flowers
of juicy quartered fruits bleeding a perfumed blood
I'll fertilize this desert
with all the flowers of my immense love for life.
One thing I just read on line said he is the most popular of the surrealists. I don't think that's true in this country or in our language. And I think it should be. He was able to keep that joy even in to WWII, when he was doing the real and dangerous work that would lead to his death. Yes, right at the end, there are some angry propagandistic poems -- but then there probably should have been some in Paris in early 1944.
All praise to Robert Desnos!
But I didn't know the poems, until I read this generous (180 page) selection. What joy! What happiness! The surrealists, despite their claims to humor, always seem so dour to me. So fundamentalist, almost, in their allegiance to a particular view of imagination. Not Desnos. Breton famously dismissed him as "narcissistic" or "solipsistic." But that is almost certainly because he enjoyed life, even in his automatic writing. And he didn't become a communist, when Breton insisted he become one.
I could find many examples of this world view that manifests itself in Desnos's surrealistic vision, but here's one from a poem entitled "In My Glass":
But what stroke of luck led you under my pen/
Because I will make of this desert
of this desert drunk in my glass
a fiery oasis
a countryside full of the whisper of springs and trees
a place of lawns and flowers
of juicy quartered fruits bleeding a perfumed blood
I'll fertilize this desert
with all the flowers of my immense love for life.
One thing I just read on line said he is the most popular of the surrealists. I don't think that's true in this country or in our language. And I think it should be. He was able to keep that joy even in to WWII, when he was doing the real and dangerous work that would lead to his death. Yes, right at the end, there are some angry propagandistic poems -- but then there probably should have been some in Paris in early 1944.
All praise to Robert Desnos!
December 9, 2007
The Selected Poems of Robert Desnos--unfortunately long out-of-print, is the best gathering and translation of his work to date. Few poems are as moving as "The Voice of Robert Desnos." Other highlights include a touching critical introduction, as well as the deeply moving closing poem for Desnos's common law wife, Youki.
April 24, 2024
I've picked up the 1947 Desnos collection curated and translated by Adolf K., following Desnos's passing in a lazarett in Terezín, Czech Republic. It consists of post-mortem poems by numerous Czech poets and writers paying homage to him. Some of the poets only met him at the hospital. I stumbled upon this book at the Antique Book Shop in downtown Prague.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews