One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine : A Bilingual Edition

French poet Paul Verlaine, a major representative of the Symbolist Movement during the latter half of the nineteenth century, was one of the most gifted and prolific poets of his time. Norman Shapiro's superb translations display Verlaine's ability to transform into timeless verse the essence of everyday life and make evident the reasons for his renown in France and throughout the Western world. "Shapiro's skillfully rhymed formal translations are outstanding." St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Best Book of 1999" "Paul Verlaine's rich, stylized, widely-variable oeuvre can now be traced through his thirty years of published volumes, from 1866 to 1896, in a set of luminous new translations by Norman Shapiro. . . . [His] unique translations of this whimsical, agonized music are more than adequate to bring the multifarious Verlaine to a new generation of English speakers." Genevieve Abravanel, Harvard Review "Shapiro demonstrates his phenomenal ability to find new rhymes and always follows Verlaine's rhyme schemes." Carrol F. Coates, ATA Chronicle Contents 13 List of Illustrations 14 Preface 16 from Poèmes saturniens (1866) 20 Mon Rêve familier / My Familiar Dream 23 Marine / Seascape 25 Effet de nuit / Night Scene 27 Soleils couchants / Sunsets 29 Crépuscule du soir mystique / Mystical Evening Twilight 31 Promenade sentimentale / Sentimental Stroll 33 Chanson d’automne / Autumn Song 35 L’Heure du berger / The Shepherd’s Hour 37 Femme et chatte / Woman and Cat 39 Un Dahlia / A Dahlia 41 Nevermore / Nevermore 43 from Fêtes galantes (1869) 45 Clair de lune / Moonlight 47 Pantomime / Pantomime 49 Sur l’herbe / On the Grass 51 L’Allée / The Lane 53 À la promenade / Strolling 55 Les Ingénus / Innocents We 57 Cortège / Cortège 59 Les Coquillages / Seashells 61 Fantoches / Puppets 63 En bateau / Sailing 65 Le Faune / The Faun 67 Mandoline / Mandolin 69 À Clymène / For Clymène 71 Colombine / Colombine 73 L’Amour par terre / Love Cast Down 77 En sourdine / In Muted Tone 79 Colloque sentimental / Lovers’ Chat 81 from La Bonne Chanson (1870) 83 “Avant que tu ne t’en ailles...” / “Morning star, before you pale...” 85 “La lune blanche...” / “Among the trees...” 87 “Une Sainte en son auréole...” / “A Saint set in her stained-glass glow...” 89 “J’allais par des chemins perfides...” / “I used to wander aimlessly...” 91 from Romances sans paroles (1874) 93 “C’est l’extase langoureuse...” / “It’s the languorous ecstasy...” 95 “Il pleure dans mon coeur...” / “Like city’s rain, my heart...” 97 “Le piano que baise une main frêle...” / “Bright in the evening’s gray and pinkish blur...” 99 “Ô triste, triste était mon âme...” / “So sad my heart, so sad it was...” 101 “Dans l’interminable...” / “Covering the land...” 103 “L’ombre des arbres dans la rivière embrumée...” / “Reflections in the fogbound rivulet...” 107 Walcourt / Walcourt 109 Charleroi / Charleroi 111 Green / Green 115 Spleen / Spleen 117 Streets I / Streets I 119 Streets II / Streets II 121 from Sagesse (1881) 123 “Beauté des femmes, leur faiblesse, et ces mains pâles...” / “Beauty of women, weakness, pale soft skin...” 125 “Un grand sommeil noir...” / “A vast, black lethargy...” 127 “Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit...” / “Above the roof the sky is fair...” 129 “Le son du cor s’afflige vers les bois...” / “The horn’s sound in the wood sobs dolefully...” 131 “La bise se rue à travers...” / “The wind whips through the bushes, green...” 133 “L’échelonnement des haies...” / “The hedges billow like the sea’s...” 135 “La ‘grande ville’! Un tas criard de pierres blanches...” / “ ‘The city!’ Gaudy cluster of white stones...” 137 from Jadis et naguère (1884) 139 Pierrot / Pierrot 141 Le Squelette / The Skeleton 143 Art poétique / Ars Poetica 145 Allégorie / Allegory 149 Circonspection / Circumspection 151 Langueur / Languor 153 Prologue / Prologue 155 from Amour (1888) 157 “Ta voix grave et basse...” / “Your voice was deep and low...” 159 À Georges Verlaine / For Georges Verlaine 163 from Parallèlement (1889) 165 Allégorie / Allegory 167 Printemps / Spring 169 Été / Summer 171 À Mademoiselle *** / For Mademoiselle *** 173 Impression fausse / False Impression 177 Autre / Other 181 Tantalized / Tantalized 185 Le Dernier Dizain / The Last Stanza 187 À la manière de Paul Verlaine / In the Style of Paul Verlaine 189 Limbes / Limbo 191 Lombes / Loins 195 La Dernière Fête Galante / The Last “Fête Galante” 197 from Dédicaces (1890) 199 Souvenir de Manchester / Recollection of Manchester 201 À Edmond Lepelletier / For Edmond Lepelletier 203 À Arthur Rimbaud / For Arthur Rimbaud 205 À Bibi-Purée / For Bibi-Purée 207 from Bonheur (1891) 209 “Voix de Gabriel...” / “In Mary’s humble ear...” 211 from Chansons pour Elle (1891) 215 “Or, malgré ta cruauté...” / “Yes, despite your cruel excess...” 217 “Je suis plus pauvre que jamais...” / “I’m poorer than I’ve ever been...” 221 “Vrai, nous avons trop d’esprit...” / “True, we don’t know when to quit...” 223 “Es-tu brune ou blonde?...” / “Blonde? Brown? Which is your hair?...” 225 “Tu crois au marc de café...” / “You believe in superstitions...” 227 “Lorsque tu cherches tes puces...” / “Lover, when you look for lice...” 229 “J’ai rêvé de toi cette nuit...” / “I dreamed of you last night; and you...” 231 from Liturgies intimes (1892) 233 À Charles Baudelaire / For Charles Baudelaire 235 from Odes en son honneur (1893) 237 “Tu fus souvent cruelle...” / “You’ve often been unkind...” 239 “Riche ventre qui n’a jamais porté...” / “That firm-fleshed belly that has never borne...” 243 from “Le Livre posthume” (1893–1894) 247 Dernier espoir / Last Hope 249 from Épigrammes (1894) 251 “Quand nous irons, si je dois encor la voir...” / “When we go—if I see her yet again...” 253 “Grâce à toi je me vois de dos...” / “It’s thanks to you I see how I...” 255 Au bas d’un croquis (Siège de Paris) / Accompanying a Sketch (The Siege of Paris) 257 Sur un exemplaire des Fleurs du mal / On a Copy of Les Fleurs du mal 259 from Chair (1896) 261 Chanson pour elles / Song for the Ladies 263 Fog! / Fog! 265 from Invectives (1896) 267 Sonnet pour larmoyer / Sonnet to Weep Over 269 Chanson pour boire / A Drink Song 271 Autre chanson pour boire / Another Drink Song 273 Rêve / Dream 275 Réveil / Awakening 277 Mort! / Death 281 Quatrain / Quatrain 285 Notes 288 Acknowledgments 304 Index of Titles and First Lines 306

french Poet Paul Verlaine, A Major Representative Of The Symbolist Movement During The Latter Half Of The Nineteenth Century, Was One Of The Most Gifted And Prolific Poets Of His Time. Norman Shapiro's Superb Translations Display Verlaine's Ability To Transform Into Timeless Verse The Essence Of Everyday Life And Make Evident The Reasons For His Renown In France And Throughout The Western World.

harvard Review - Genevieve Abravanel

the Strength Of This Selection Lies Not Only In Its Sweep, But In Its Delicate Attention To Each Poem. Shapiro's Unique Translations Of This Whimsical, Agonized Music Are More Than Adequate To Bring The Multifarious Verlaine To New Generation Of English Speakers.

Whether, as a youth of twenty-two, Verlaine truly felt himself to have been born under the malevolent sign of Saturn, foreboding, this early in his life, of the dual nature of his conflicted personality, or whether this was only the aesthetic, self-indulgent posturing of an adulator of Baudelaire and his "flowers of evil," the fact is, his Poemes saturniens really have very little "saturnine" about them except for the volume's title and a brief self-conscious liminary poem. "French poet Paul Verlaine, a major representative of the Symbolist Movement during the latter half of the nineteenth century, was one of the most gifted and prolific poets of his time. Norman Shapiro's new translations display Verlaine's ability to transform into timeless verse the essence of everyday life and make evident the reasons for his renown in France and throughout the Western world."--Jacket Provides a representation of French poet Paul Verlaine's oeuvre. This selection includes a number of Verlaine's early works; poems from his middle period, which reflect his on-again, off-again conversion to Catholicism; and poems from his late period, when he fell prey to poverty and disease.