Wallace Fowlie provides an uncommonly well-written survey of French Symbolism by way of analyzing key poems in relation to the historical and literary contexts in which they were written.
The literary symbol, as it has been used since Baudelaire's time, has in Fowlie's view a closer relationship with the religious spirit of humanity than with any practical or didactic use. Symbolism has been a major focus of literary study since Baudelaire's Correspondances, which can be seen as a succinct manifesto. It has provided an aesthetic basis for works that have elements of both...
Wallace Fowlie provides an uncommonly well-written survey of French Symbolism by way of analyzing key poems in relation to the historical and liter...
"The selections are good and the translations are excellent." Germaine Bree, New York University Drawn from two centuries of French literature, these superb selections by ten great writers span a wide variety of styles, philosophies, and literary creeds. The stories reflect not only the beliefs of various literary schools, but the preoccupations of French civilization, atthe various times of their composition, with the metaphysical and psychological problems of man. Contents include Micromegas (Voltaire), La Messe de l'Athee (Honore de Balzac), La Legende de Saint Julien l'Hospitalier...
"The selections are good and the translations are excellent." Germaine Bree, New York University Drawn from two centuries of French literature, the...
"The poet makes himself into a visionary by a long derangement of all the senses."--Rimbaud
In 1968 Jim Morrison, founder and lead singer of the rock band the Doors, wrote to Wallace Fowlie, a scholar of French literature and a professor at Duke University. Morrison thanked Fowlie for producing an English translation of the complete poems of Rimbaud. He needed the translation, he said, because, "I don't read French that easily. . . . I am a rock singer and your book travels around with me." Fourteen years later, when Fowlie first heard the music of the Doors, he recognized the influence of...
"The poet makes himself into a visionary by a long derangement of all the senses."--Rimbaud
In 1968 Jim Morrison, founder and lead singer of the roc...