Poems of Andre Breton: A Bilingual Anthology

Andre Breton (1896-1966) was the founder of Surrealism and a major leader of the avant-garde movement in France following World War I. Breton is internationally famous for his many prose works, including the "Manifestoes of Surrealism" and the novel "Nadja". Breton's poetry- imaginative, alive with the bizarre and striking images that are characteristic of Surrealism in the visual arts- is increasingly finding a wider audience that has come to appreciate his poetry as a witness to an influential movement and as an achievement unto itself. This exceptional volume brings together the most comprehensive selection of poems by Breton available in English. Here, in a bilingual French-English format are 73 poems representing all styles and stages of the writer's career. Introductory essays by the editors describe the significant themes and stylistic features of Breton's work, including the Surrealist concept of "convulsive beauty" and the practice of automatic writing. The book also includes extensive text-clarifying notes, a useful chronology of the poet's life, and a selected bibliography.