Paul Eluard

I do not know French. I have read only a few of Eluard's poems, primarily from Beckett's translations and then probably from a pdf I downloaded that was for free from poem hunter or some such place, That had some of the same poems done by a different translator and new ones. It was basically more of the same stuff. Eluard has been called a Surrealist but he is more Romantic and lyrical, according to me. I find his poems bittersweet,especially if one is in the shock of going through a time of experiencing the trauma of a love that goes very deep which one does not yet know the end of. You both fear and anticipate it because it can turn out well or ill. http://rosannadelpiano.perso.sfr.fr/Images/Paul%20Eluard.jpg That is what he looked like. The poem that comes to mind is L’amoureuse She is standing on my lids And her hair is in my hair She has the colour of my eye She has the body of my hand In my shade she is engulfed As a stone against the sky She will never close her eyes And she does not let me sleep And her dreams in the bright day Make the suns evaporate And me laugh cry and laugh Speak when I have nothing to say [translated by Samuel Beckett] This is so simple and lyrical that it needs no explication except perhaps to say that one is reminded of Neruda. But Scarcely Disfigured goes deeper. Scarcely Disfigured Farewell Sadness / Greeting Sadness / Thou art inscribed in the lines of the ceiling / Thou art inscribed in the eyes that I love / Thou art not altogether want / For the poorest of lips denounce thee / Smiling / Greeting sadness / Love of the bodies that are lovable / Mightiness of the bodies that arelovable / Starts up a bodiless beast / Head of hope defeated / Sadness countenance of beauty Paul Eluard / Translated by Samuel Beckett This is great poetry , of course in a line like "the poorest of lips denounce thee." I do not write here as a critic but as a poet and a lover, in this post. Why I remembered Eluard and sit here writing this post, when I should be going to work is because he inspires me, though I have only read him haltingly in French, and in these translations. This is my tribute poem to two fine poets Eluard and Beckett inspired by my own experiences of love and sadness. The first two lines are taken directly from Eluard into my own poem. Hello sadness Good day to you You are not caused by anyone outside In this matter I have been a paltry God I make you appear in the eyes of the ones I love As a poet I praise you, falsely You come from inside me as talons of love And leave scratches on the bodies of the ones I love They are more than scarcely disfigured now I could say they too created sorrow for me, or for themselves, but won't. Now we drown in the un-bridged planets of grief But sadness, I only wanted to stop hurting others and bid you what you so richly deserve The spirit of farewell and then I'd stay with my love.