Famous French poets

France is a country that is ahead of others. It was here that the first revolutions took place, and not only social, but also literary, which influenced the development of art in the whole world. French writers and poets sought unprecedented heights. It is also interesting that it was in France that the work of many geniuses was evaluated even during life. Today we will talk about the most important writers and poets of the XIX - early XX century, and also we will open the veil over the interesting moments of their lives.

Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885)

It is unlikely that other French poets can match the scope of Victor Hugo. A writer who was not afraid to raise acute social themes in his novels, and at the same time a romantic poet, he lived a long life full of creative successes. Hugo as a writer was not simply recognized during his lifetime - he got rich by doing this craft.

After the "Cathedral of the Notre Dame" his glory only increased. Are there many writers in the world who could live their own name for 4 years on the street ? At the 79th year of life (on the birthday of Victor Hugo), a triumphal arch was erected on Eylau Avenue - in fact, under the windows of the writer. Through her on that day passed 600,000 admirers of his talent. Soon the street was renamed to avenue Victor-Hugo.

After himself, Victor Marie Hugo left not only beautiful works and a great inheritance, 50,000 francs of which was bequeathed to the poor, but also a strange point in the will. He ordered the renaming of the capital of France - Paris - in Hugopolis. Actually, this is the only item that was not executed.

Theophile Gautier (1811-1872)

When Victor Hugo struggled with the classicist critique, Theophile Gautier was one of his most vivid and loyal supporters. French poets have received an excellent replenishment of their ranks: Gauthier not only flawlessly owned the technique of writing, but also opened a new era in the art of France, which later influenced the whole world.

Having withstood his first collection in the best traditions of the romantic style, Theophile Gautier at the same time ruled out of the verses traditional themes and changed the vector of poetry. He did not write about the beauty of nature, eternal love and politics. Moreover, the poet proclaimed the technical complexity of the verse as the most important component. This meant that his poems, while remaining romantic in form, were in fact not theirs - the feelings gave way to form.

In the last collection, "Enamels and cameos", which is considered the pinnacle of the work of Theophile Gautier, the manifesto of the "Parnassian school" - "Art" also entered. He proclaimed the principle of "art for the sake of art", which the French poets took unconditionally.

Arthur Rambo (1854-1891)

French poet Arthur Rimbaud inspired his life and poetry for more than one generation. In his youth he several times fled from home to Paris, where he met Paul Verlaine, sending him a poem "Drunken ship". The friendly connection between the poets very soon turned into a love affair. This is what caused Verlaine to leave the family.

During the lifetime of Rimbaud only 2 collections of poetry were published and separately - the debut verse "The Drunk Ship", which immediately brought him recognition. It is interesting that the poet's career was very short: he wrote all the poems at the age of 15 to 21 years. And after Arthur Rimbaud simply refused to write. Totally. And he became a trader, selling spices, weapons and ... people for the rest of his life.

Famous French poets Paul Eluard and Guillaume Apollinaire are recognized as successors to Arthur Rimbaud. His work and person inspired Henry Miller on the essay "The Time of the Killers", and Patti Smith constantly speaks about the poet and quotes his poems.

Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)

French poets of the late nineteenth century chose Paul Verlaine as their "king," but the king in him was not enough: a rowdy and a reveler, Verlaine described the unsightly side of life - dirt, darkness, sins and passions. One of the "fathers" of impressionism and symbolism in literature, the poet wrote poetry, the beauty of the sound of which can not convey any translation.

No matter how vicious the French poet was, Rimbaud played a huge role in his future destiny. After meeting young Arthur, Paul took him under his care. He searched the poet for housing, even for a while rented a room for him, although he was not wealthy. Their love affair lasted for several years: after Verlaine left the family, they traveled, drank and enjoyed as much as they could.

When Rimbaud decided to leave his lover, Verlaine shot his wrist. Although the victim refused the application, Paul Verlaine was sentenced to two years in prison. After that, he did not recover. Because of the impossibility to abandon the society of Arthur Rimbaud Verlaine was never able to return to his wife - she obtained a divorce and ruined him completely.

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918)

The son of a Polish aristocrat, born in Rome, Guillaume Apollinaire belongs to France. It was in Paris that he lived youth and mature years, until his death. Like other French poets of the time, Apollinaire sought new forms and opportunities, strove for shocking - and succeeded in this.

After the publication of prose works in the spirit of deliberate immorality and a mini-collection of poetry Bestiary, or the cortege of Orpheus, published in 1911, Guillaume Apollinaire publishes the first full-fledged poetic collection of Alcohol (1913), which immediately attracted attention to the lack of grammar, Baroque images and swings of tone.

The collection of the "Caligram" went even further - all the verses that were included in this collection were written in an amazing way: the lines of the works are arranged in different silhouettes. The view of the reader is a woman in a hat, a pigeon that flies above the fountain, a vase of flowers ... This form conveyed the essence of the verse. The method, by the way, is far from new - to give the poems the form was started by the English in the XVII century, but at that moment Apollinaire anticipated the appearance of the "automatic writing", which the Surrealists loved so much.

The term "surrealism" belongs precisely to Guillaume Apollinaire. He appeared after the production of his "Surrealist drama" "The Sisters of Tiresias" in 1917. A circle of poets with him, led by this time, began to be called surrealists.

André Breton (1896-1966)

For Andre Breton, the meeting with Guillaume Apollinaire became a landmark. It happened on the front, in the hospital where the young André, a doctor by training, served as a medic. Apollinaire received a concussion (a fragment of the projectile hit the head), after which he did not recover.

Since 1916, Andre Breton has been actively involved in the work of the poetic avant-garde. He meets Louis Aragon, Philippe Supo, Tristan Tzara, Paul Eluard, reveals the poetry of Lautraemont. In 1919, after the death of Apollinaire, the epatage poets begin to organize themselves around Andre Breton. Also this year, a joint work with Philippe Soupo, entitled "Magnetic fields", written according to the method of "automatic writing", is published.

Since 1924, after the proclamation of the first Manifesto of Surrealism, André Breton became the head of the movement. In his house on Fontaine Avenue, the Bureau of Surreal Studies opens, magazines are being published. This was the beginning of a truly international movement-similar offices began to open in many cities around the world.

French communist poet André Breton actively campaigned his supporters to join the Communist Party. He believed in the ideals of communism so much that he even received a meeting with Leon Trotsky in Mexico (although at that time he was already expelled from the Communist Party).

Louis Aragon (1897-1982)

A faithful companion and comrade of Apollinaire, Louis Aragon was for André Breton right-handed. French poet, communist until his last breath, in 1920 Aragon released the first collection of poems "Fireworks", written in the style of surrealism and Dada.

After the poet's entry into the Communist Party in 1927, together with Breton, his work is transformed. He in some way becomes the "voice of the party", and in 1931 he is prosecuted for the poem "The Red Front", imbued with a dangerous spirit of incitement.

Peru, Louis Aragon also belongs to the "History of the USSR". He upheld the ideals of communism for the rest of his life, although his recent works returned a little to the traditions of realism, not painted in "red."