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Ishani Datta

Prof. Akshay Kale

20th Century European Poetry

19th October 2023

Surrealist Concerns and Critiques

The avant-garde approach of Surrealist theory poses multiple philosophical avenues

of thought, challenging a myriad of pre-existing societal norms. Andre Breton’s approach was

constructed on the basis of automatic writing, a practice he pioneered to engage more

evocatively with the workings of the unconscious mind. Galvanized by Sigmund Freud’s

findings on Psychoanalysis, Breton used this technique to unearth deep-rooted thoughts and

desires, using poetry as a corresponding outlet. His works are evocative, provocative,

insightful, and bordering on existentialism of thought. Through this essay, I will delve into

the theories explored by Breton in his work, the validity of his arguments, and the overall

strength of his ideas as put forward via his poems.

Le Marquis de Sade has been written about a person with the same name, who is

hailed as a pioneer of the LGBTQ+ movement, for his explosive acts of subversion against

the homophobic and religious system of governance. The authenticity of the writing alludes

to the inner workings of Marquis de Sade’s mind, which seems to be riddled with obstructed

and repressed passion. The imagery of the poem follows the life of a man who lives inside

what seems to be a dormant volcano, which appears to metaphorically represent the historic

repression of sexuality, specifically homosexuality. His words suggest that Marquis de Sade

sees himself as a general sending orders to his soldiers that “open a breach in the moral

night” (Breton 122). The imagery represents the home of homophobic governance, the

church, wherein the soldiers are righteous crusaders against such injustice. Marquis de Sade
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was a polarizing figure for his time due to his eccentricity, and rather vocal expressions of

support for homosexuality. He deconstructs prevailing notions of heterosexuality as the norm,

by placing homosexual love on the same level as that of Adam and Eve. Breton writes “The

great cracking shadows the old rotten bark / Dissolve / Allowing me to love you / As the first

man loved the first woman / In complete freedom” (123). The construction of these lines

reveals the social illegality of homosexual love, juxtaposed by Marquis de Sade’s comparison

of it to the most primal and natural love known to human existence. This poem holds potent

relevance today, as there are multiple countries in the world that have legally criminalized

homosexuality.

Breton’s second poem Le Grande Secours Meurtrier (translation “Lethal Release”) is

an imaginative and exploratory of one of the pillar figures of Surrealism, the Count of

Lautreamont. This poem is a memorial to him, the ideas he created, as well as a glimpse into

the way he viewed humanity’s practices of treating every wound with ‘bandages’ (13). The

poem is driven forward by religious practice, as he talks about the Convulsionaries of the

Church, who would request being beaten with clubs and other weapons while experiencing

seizures to end their torment. This act of the Convulsionaries is expanded on, explaining that

“Seeking release by being stabbed with the point of a sword was called “le grand secours

meurtrier.” (Hopkins 126). This poem conveys valuable analogies about the fast-paced

industrialization of the world, as it places strong dampers on the once free human soul. The

commodification of humanity is explored through this poem through the lines “He presides

over doubly nocturnal rites intended to transpose the hearts of man and bird without fire”

(Breton 17). These lines communicate the ability of Lautreamont to alleviate the hearts of

human beings by making them as free as the hearts of birds. He is viewed as a powerful

visionary, one who has been portrayed “as a scientist who uses a magic wand to revitalize

humanity and as a wizard who uses magic spells to perform heart transplants.” (Hopkins
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127). The ideas he presents about the worries of industrialization are extremely relevant today

with the ever-increasing pull of capitalism, as it indoctrinates damaging idealisms of value

with material productivity, while internal values, morals and emotions are discarded.

Federico Garcia Lorca was one amongst Spain’s silver generation of poets, who wrote

landmark works on pain and mourning, while also displaying indirect allegiances to feminism

and equality. His poem Romance de la pena negra is a particularly evocative poem, exploring

themes of sexual assault, loss, pain, and mourning. The pillars of the poem are a gypsy named

Soledad Montoya and an unnamed Black woman, who appears to be reeling from a

tremendous loss. Lorca uses a stark juxtaposition of a calm dawn landscape against the sheer

magnitude of this woman’s pain, that context alludes to be a sexual assault. Lorca writes,

“Don’t remind me of the sea, for black pain thrusts its shoots through the lands of olive trees,

beneath the rustling leaves.” (19-23), possibly alluding to the graphic nature of the violence.

The line, “go bathe your body in the water of the larks, and give your heart a rest.” (36-38) is

a solemn end to what may be a very traumatic experience for this woman. Nature is

personified as a woman, specifically through water bodies such as rivers, as a place of purity

and healing. The magnitude of issues referred to in this poem is deep-rooted in today’s world

when it comes to sexual assault and safety from toxic patriarchy.

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Comparing Beckett and Lehman’s Translations of Apollinaire’s Zone

Guillaume Apollinaire is one of the most revered and translated poets of the early

twentieth century. His work opens a myriad of creative avenues into exploring the

complexities of identity, self-esteem, and also the waves of grief, exemplifying its dynamic

nature, and the impact it has on a person, using himself as a subject of understanding. The

poem The Zone is a detailed itinerary of his day in Paris, mapping out his journey, his

emotional responses, and the conversations it sparks on the nature of industrialization, the

extent to which it is beneficial, as well as destructive. The translations by Beckett and

Lehman are magnificently instrumental in bringing to life Apollinaire’s words for those who

cannot read French. However, upon reading and analysing both translations, I believe

Lehman’s translation resonates more with me in terms of my understanding of Apollinaire’s

goals through The Zone.

One of the main things that appeals to me from Lehman’s translation is its ability to

not only hold true to Apollinaire’s creative prowess, but also relay it in a simpler writing

style, making it almost identifiable as one written in recent years. “In the end you’ve had

enough of the ancient world” (Apollinaire 1), is in and of itself is able to communicate a

sense of the poem’s trajectory, following the poet’s journey through Paris, as his feelings

about the city rise and fall. The poem is “a manifesto whose confident assertiveness gradually

yields to despair (…) is occasioned by the poet-persona's loss of his childhood faith, which in

the course of the poem flickers toward extinction through a series of "intermittences du

cœur”” (Porter 285). The dynamically growing industrial landscape, coupled with a loss of

general creative spirit in the face of humanity’s mechanization, and reeling from the loss of

childhood faith has produced The Zone. Lehman’s translation is rooted in the cutthroat and

emotional nature of The Zone, while providing simple and compelling language to

substantiate the emotional stance.

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As the narrator continues his journey of Paris, he finds himself lost in the crowds of

people and buses, as an intense epiphany grips him. From context, he seems to be reeling

from the aftermaths of a failed love, or something related, as the narrator laments his

unworthiness of love. Both Lehman and Beckett approach it somewhat similarly; Beckett

writes “Anguish of love parching you within / As though you were never to be loved again”

(Apollinaire 3), while Lehman writes, “Love’s anguish grips you by the throat / As you were

fated never to be loved again” (Apollinaire 10). I resonate more strongly with Lehman’s

translation of this line, due to the complexity and sheer magnitude of the loss of faith and

unworthiness in love the narrator feels. The usage of ‘fated never to be loved again’ is

emotionally diverse, conveying the spectrum of emotions the narrator feels more strongly

compared to ‘as though you were never to be loved again’.

Finally, Lehman’s communication through the line “You almost died of grief that

day / You were Lazarus crazed by daylight / In the Jewish quarter the hands on the clocks go

backward” (Apollinaire 11) speaks volumes about the narrator’s supposed resurrection from

death, but is stuck in an eternal torture, as time passes by in reverse. The complexity of the

narrator’s grief and pain is described as an unending tortuous cycle of materiality and

mechanization. Beckett’s approach to this line “You look like Lazarus frantic in the daylight /

The hands of the clock in the Jewish quarter go to left from right / And you too live slowly

backwards” (Apollinaire 4) is a bit more complicated than Lehman’s and while impactful, is

unable to establish the same connection as Lehman’s.

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Somberness and Contemplation in George Trakl’s Horror and Rondel

George Trakl’s writing and literary exploration has placed him as one of the

forerunners of what would later come to be German Expressionism. His writing involves a

deep-rooted sense of somberness, introspection, and evocative unconscious thoughts. His

work has been particularly connotated to that of death and violence. His poem Horror is an

extremely descriptive and reflective piece, where the narrator feels almost disconnected from

himself, as if he views his body as apart from his soul.

Through Horror, Trakl creates vivid imageries of what seems to be a violent

metaphorical representation of night, where a strong wind ripped through the trees, while

dogs howled into the night (Trakl 29). The narrator is having some sort of mental episode,

where he says, “Yet suddenly: silence. A fever’s dull glow Sends poisonous flowers

blossoming from my mouth,” (Trakl 29), alluding to a potential fact that he is severely ill, and

his words poison those around him. The depravity of the way in which he describes himself is

borderline depressive, with a tremendous loss of self-esteem. The concluding lines of this

poem are particularly somber and violent as well. The narrator believes himself to be self-

destructive, as potentially responsible for killing himself metaphorically when he says “The

velvet curtain rustles quietly. The moon (…) I am alone with my murderer.” (Trakl 29). To

me, these lines are reminiscent of the moments right after a violent murder, where the wind

blows silently in a post-apocalyptic manner, and the corpse lies still. This poem is greatly

symbolic and is built on themes of somberness and violence.

The poem Rondel is a particularly interesting poem, especially since it is only 5 lines

long. It also has recurring themes as the night as a being of despair, tragedy, and violence.

The line “Gone is the gold of day” (Trakl 35) alludes to the coming of night as the antithesis

of day. Gold is associated with light, contextually positive, while the night is seen as the
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opposite. The references to rural life of a farmer and his flutes “dying out, / Evenings with

their blues and browns” potentially assert that darkness is an all-consuming being, where the

sound of the flutes is swallowed. Due to its short length, there is a prevailing paucity of

analysis that can be deduced. However, the repetition of the first line could be to lay

emphasis on the structure of life as a tortuous cycle of light and darkness, where the light is

fleeting. Ultimately both of these poems attest to the fact that the association of Trakl’s poems

with sombreness is justified.

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Works Cited

Apollinaire, Guillaume. “The Zone” pp.1-14, Translated by Beckett and Lehman.

Breton, Andre. “Le Marquis de Sade.” Conceiving Surrealism, pp. 122-125.

Breton Andre. “Le Grande Secours Meurtrier.” Conceiving Surrealism, pp. 125-126.

Lorca, Federico Garcia. “The Selected Poems of Federico Garcia Lorca Poems”. New

Directions Publishing, vol. 1010, 2005.

Porter, Laurence M. “The Fragmented Self of Apollinaire’s ‘Zone.’” L’Esprit Créateur, vol.

10, no. 4, 1970, pp. 285–95.

Trakl, George. “Poems and prose: A bilingual edition.” Northwestern University Press, 2005.