The Penguin Book of French Poetry: 1820-1950
By (Author) William Rees
Edited by William Rees
Penguin Books Ltd
Penguin Classics
24th February 2005
24th February 2005
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
841.008
Paperback
896
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 38mm
598g
This collection illuminates the uniquely fascinating era between 1820 and 1950 in French poetry a time in which diverse aesthetic ideas conflicted and converged as poetic forms evolved at an astonishing pace. It includes generous selections from all the established giants among them Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud and Breton as well as works from a wide variety of less well-known poets such as Claudel and Cendrars, whose innovations proved vital to the progress of poetry in France. The significant literary schools of the time are also represented in sections focusing on such movements as Romanticism, Symbolism, Cubism and Surrealism. Eloquent and inspirational, this rich and exhilarating anthology reveals an era of exceptional vitality.
William Rees grew up in Swansea and was educated at the Bishop Gore Grammar School. After graduating from U. C. W. Aberystwyth he continued his studies in French literature and theatre at the University of Exeter and then at St. Catherine's College, Oxford. Since 1975 he has taught French and Theatre Studies at Eton College, where he is a House Master.