French poetry, as we have mentioned before, has been around since the medieval times. In fact, French poetry is known to be the earliest form of French literature. While it is interesting to discuss the roots of French poetry, let’s save the Medieval and Renaissance period for another page. For now, let’s fast forward to contemporary French poetry.
Contemporary French poetry is mainly divided into two: Dadaism and Surrealism. Between the two, Dadaism was the first one to materialize. It became an actuality in 1916 when poets showed their disregard of moral value and wrote about things as they were. In 1924, Surrealism came into existence. If Dadaism did not give importance to moral value, Surrealism paid no attention to reality.
Here is a list of notable contemporary French poets with some of their works.
André Breton
(1896-1966)
Always For the First Time
Less Time
Tournesol
Louis Aragon
(1897-1982)
The Libertine
Paris Peasant
Francis Ponge
(1899-1988)
The Voice of Things
The Pleasures of the Door
René Char
(1907-1988)
No Siege is Absolute
The Lords of Maussane
Yves Bonnefoy
(1923-Present)
Threats of the Witness
The Theatre of the Children
Philippe Jaccottet
(1925-Present)
Prodigal Water
Crystal and Smoked
Jacques Dupin
(1927-Present)
Outside
Idleness