The Evolution of Apollinaire's poetics

THE EVOLUTION OF APOLLINAIRE'S POETICS 1901-1914

BY

FRANCIS

J. CARMODY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES 1963·

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN MODERN PHILOLOGY ADVISORY EDITORS: ENRICO DENEGRI, GLEB STRUVE ,

R. N.

E. S.

A. OSWALD, J R., S. B. PUKNAT, J. WHITFIELD, M. A. ZEITLIN

MORBY, V.

WALPOLE, F.

Volume

70

Submitted April 2 7 , Issued May Price,

1962

3, 1963

$2.75

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND

Los ANGELES

CALIFORNIA

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON, ENGLAND

©

1963

BY THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS Introduction Present method of analysis. . . Existing analyses of Apollinaire 's poetics . The influences Versification . Word clusters I. The Narrative and Mythological Poems L'Ermite and Le Larron . Other poems . . . . . . . .

1 2 5 7 9 11 13 13 15

II. The Rhenish Poems . . . . . Heine 's influence in January, 1904 La Maison des morts . Countryside themes Gypsies . . . . .

20 21 22 23 27

III. The Reorientation of December, 1905 Salome . . . . . . . . Palais . . . . . . . . . . L'Emigrant de Landor Road . . Quatrains first published after 1906 .

30 30 33 36 38

IV. The Visions of 1 908 Lul de Faltenin . Onirocritique Le Brasier . . Les Fianrailles .

41 41 47 49 51

.

V. La Chanson du mal-aime

58

VI. The World of Machines . Verhaeren and Romains . Romains and Marinetti .

63 65 68

VII. Origins of the Poetics of Zone . The poem Cri . . . . . Futurist work available to Apollinaire . Le Voyageur and Les Collines . Triads of angel choruses. . . .

71 71 73 74 78

Contents

iv

VIII. The Genesis of Zone . The pathetic theme The " Femmes atroces" Expressionist themes in V endemiaire The aviation theme . . . . . . IX. Cubist and Futurist Aesthetics to May, 1913 . Futurist doctrines in Zone . . . .

X. Apollinaire's "Esthetique toute neuve " Les Fenetres . . . . . Les CoUines . . . . . . .

XI. The Last Prewar Experiments The poems published in 1913 The eight poems published in December, 1913 Les Soirees de Paris . . The new poems of 1914 . The ideograms .

XII. Conclusion

80 80 84 86 90 94 99 104 106 108 112 112 114 116 117 119 121

Bibliography

125

Chronological Index of Apollinaire's Poetry

127

Index .

130

. .

.

. . .

.

.

.

.

. . .

INTRODUCTION

A pOLLINAffiE'S THEMES, TECHNIQUES, AND THEORIES offer the most useful single reference for an understanding of the evolution of French poetry from symbolism to Dada and surrealism. Apollinaire left a substantial and varied body of verse, and the external information on it suffices to permit objective analysis. He collected a good part of his poems in two volumes, Alcools and Calligrammes, and the Edition de la Pleiade adds many others that he presumably esteem e d less, since he either left them in manuscript or did not reprint them from poetry re­ views, where they had first appeared. The year 1901 marks the earliest publication of poems by Apollinaire, and his enlistment in the French Army late in 1914 opens a period confused by circumstance and rich in projects the meaning of which is best understood as a function of postwar developments in art and poetry. Apollinaire 's wide appeal arises both from his readers' immediate and subjective reaetions to his verse, and from a study of his techniques ; but the revolutionary nature of these techniques becomes apparent only when one sets them in their place in the evolution of modern poetry. Many of his poems are experiments with novel materials or forms, representative of specific years of his career. His rare statements of doctrine, and our knowledge of his person, focus attention on his search for novelty for its own sake, and in several distinct successive manners. He appears to have made a veritable cult of newness and surprise, as if through an imperative need to reassure himself that his creative powers had not flagged. His love of jokes and quips helps to explain his constant and deliberate use of mysterious allusions, or enigmas, consisting of fragments of stories or juxtapositions of unlikely images. In this way, he symbolizes a rupture with tradition and eventually the beginnings of nonfigurative poetry. The materials for analysis of Apollinaire 's evolving techniques and preoccupations are of several types. About half of the poems of Alcools had been published some years before 1913 in poetry reviews,' and he revised some of them when gathering them for this volume. In a number of manuscripts, his preliminary versions bring attention to the kind of alterations he made, and to his working methods. His particular esteem for Les Fian9ailles, and his apparent abandonment of poetry immediately after its publication, suggest that this poem represents the culmination or point of perfection of a particular method. The fact GUILLAUME

'On pp. 127-129 below, I arrange more than eighty poems in order of date of publication, and note oth er texts at appropriate places.

[1 ]

2

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1 901-1914

that he spoke of the "esthetique toute neuve " of Les Fenetres, published soon after Zone, allows us to suppose that a new period opens at the beginning of 1913, and the work that follows leads rapidly to his concept of "surnaturalisme" and thence to his "surrealisme" and the "esprit nouveau," a course of development punctuated by explorations of prophetism. Finally, and most important, the thematic and verbal con­ tent of his poems follows a clear pattern that accords both with the evolution of his versification and with his use of certain sources. PRESENT METHOD OF ANALYSIS

By the term "esthetique" Apollinaire may have intended to refer to his personal view of reality, or to his appreciation of a new kind of beauty. The term " poetique, " however, suggests an approach quite different from that of aesthetics, since it allows examination of the act of creation rather than of the mere effect of a poem, and relates, in a single proposi­ tion, to the means of expression, the techniques, and the range of things, events, or gestures that arrest the poet's attention and lead him to use certain words and images. Apollinaire 's disciple , Pierre Reverdy, used this method in 1917 in a series of articles on the image and on the seat of emotion: Reverdy established a triple reference : the act of the creator, the emotional and technical content of the work of art, and the spectator's aesthetic reaction to it. Examination of the creative act, or the poetics, has the immense advantage of excluding all idea of judg­ ment and of values : we accept Apollinaire as a significant or a great poet, and say nothing more about genius, beauty, or inspiration. Thus, for example, Apollinaire's selection of certain poems for inclusion in Alcools, and his mysterious grouping of them, seem to be a purely aes­ thetic and subjective matter, while, in contrast, there are many obj ec­ tive things to be said about the eontents and the structure of those poems in Alcools that he called Rhenanes. The idea of approaching an imaginative work for its "poetics" takes clear form in 1894 in Valery's Introduction a la methode de Leonard de Vinci, and finds more practical applications about 1912 in the various futurist manifestos and, ultimately, in Reverdy's theory of 1917. To some extent, the surrealists were instrumental in putting an end to this current by introducing a Freudian idea and cultivating uncontrolled expression rather than conscious techniques and projects. Carried fur­ ther by critics, the doctrines of Freud havc tended to emphasize per­ sonal problems of an obsessional nature, and a good part of the study • See my Cubist Poetry, pp. 31-34, and the abridged treatment in "L'EstMtique de l'Esprit Nouveau," pp. 18-19 ( both identified in the Bibliography, p. 125 ) .

Introduction

3

of Apollinaire's work has concentrated on a search for autobiographical

allusions, and thus has placed undue stress on the effect on his art of the real events of his life and, counter to Reverdy's theory, has dealt with emotion on an anecdotal basis. It should be noted, meanwhile, that the surrealist interpretation ac­ tually relates to a collective rather than a personal subconscious, and in this way is in fact closer to the method of Carl Jung than to that of Freud. So far as poetics reveals general patterns of human thought, we may speak, with Jung, of phenomenology, that is, of the work of art as evidence of archetypal patterns, or of preexisting entities. How­ ever, so far as such entities are revealed by artists of recognized competency, not by untrained men in general, we confront a problem that Jung was in no position to discuss, that is, the particular experience needed for the creative act. Analyses of poetics, as defined above, has been illustrated in several recent books. In the five volumes of La Revelation d'Hermes Trismegiste ( Paris, 1949-1954 ) , Festugiere deals with the Pimander, a work that had a distinct influence on Apollinaire. Festugiere isolates hermetic, gnostic, and illuminist elements in this composite work by defining such terms as soul or knowledge according to several doctrines, but also, and primarily, according to the context in which such words appear ; and by this operation he proves that the Pimander has been altered or con­ taminated. This kind of textual criticism has no necessary relationship to philosophy, for it is merely an adjunct to semantics. Thus in Hera­ elite, ou l'homme entre les choses et les mots ( Paris, 1959 ) , Clemence Ramnoux examines the authenticity and meaning of the extant frag­ ments of Heraclitus and Empedocles according to such concepts as a system of contraries-as distinct, for example, from notions of dual­ ism--or a mere rhetoric of doublets, or a system of analogies. Centuries of research have given Festugiere and Ramnoux full assurance in their very delicate task, and Hermes and Heraclitus certainly reveal basic aspects of human aspirations in pure strains ; but there is no reason to doubt that this is also true of Apollinaire. Indeed the same semantic re­ finements can be applied to his poetry, which is a consistent and autono­ mous body of thought. The term phenomenology may also suggest a relationship to philos­ ophy, apparently confirmed by the background of one of our most im­ portant authorities, Gaston Bachelard. To the extent that he is a disciple of Jung,' he often speaks Jung 's language, which is also often identical The relationship of Bachelard's Poetique de l'espace (Paris, 1957) to Jung would call for extended comparisons with the latter's The Archetypes of the Collec· tive Unconscious and Psychology and Alchemy, in various languagee and revisions, from about 1930 to 1950. a

4

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

with that of Festugiere. Bachelard considers his own verbal analysis of the psychic content of poetic images-in Poetique de l'espace, for example-as phenomenological. The seeming contradiction of his tendency toward an aesthetic approach arises merely from his enthu­ siasm as a reader, whereas his real doctrine, and his correction of one of the gravest of Jung's errors, is fully expressed in a passage of Poe­ tique de la r ev erie :' "La lecture est une dimension du psychisme moderne ... 11 faut prendre Ie langage ecrit comme une realite psychique particuliere. " As an example of a practical application of the present method of analysis to a single poet one might cite Kurt Mautz's My tho­ logie und Gesellschaft im Expressionismus die Dichtung Georg Heyms ( Frankfurt am Main, 1961 ) , with its confrontation of words or abstrac­ tions in series of short contexts which determine Heym's preoccupations and define his thought. One cannot discuss a subject of this complexity in a direct fashion, for one must invoke simultaneously both the internal and the external evidence, each necessary to situate the other. The basic and irrevocable system of facts of present interest is the series of "prepublication" dates at which certain poems of Alcools first appeared in reviews, and we may examine these dates in the light of several hypotheses. It seems probable, for example, that a well-advised poet will not publish a poem until he considers it finished, and that in choosing to publish it he feels that it has something new and valid to offer. Hence the date of publica­ tion should represent the date of completion, not necessarily identical with the moment of original inspiration. From this point of view, a given poem by a poet who regularly revises his work may call for treat­ ment according to at least two distinct styles or techniques or sets of themes. Of the several elements of a poet's work the techniques are surely the most readily analyzed, and the mere visible effects of Apollinaire 's versification offer a vital criterion for dates. If we limit a preliminary example to his standard quatrains in twelve-syllable verse rhyming in ABBA or ABAB , and always containing a fair proportion of verses without caesura, we find his first attested irregularities in print in Salome, Palais, and L'Emigrant de Landor Road, all published at the end of 1905. In Salome, the last quatrain is extended by three short verses whose content has nothing to do with the principal subject of the poem, and in L'Emigrant the irregular verses are rich in a wholly new kind of personification of abstractions. Many or even most of the verses in these poems might have been conceived in 1903, but the internal , Paris, 1960, p. 22.

Introduction

5

evidence points in many spots to other writings of two years later, and we may reasonably speak of revisions made just before publication. A biographical approach simply cannot explain the most striking images of L'Emigrant, which clearly have no relationship to Apollinaire 's love for Annie Playdon. My hypothesis of multiple content of different dates is confirmed in other ways. If one classifies the three short verses appended to Salome as a triad, one notes equally surprising and aberrant themes or images, in triad form, in the flying Christ of Le Voyageur and in the triple chorus of angels in La Blanche Neige. Furthermore, in many such in­ stances, the thematic and verbal content peculiar and new to a given group of poems parallels the work of earlier poets so closely that we may speak of sources. Anticipating the coming analysis, I venture to present a brief display that correlates the prepublication dates with certain works that I shall establish as important sources in due time. I use only the best parallels, and abbreviate the dates ( "6-ii" for Feb­ ruary, 1906 ) , setting in italic those that represent poems in which new themes appear in striking irregularities of the versification : Thais: 2-xii, 3-viii Rimbaud's early verse : 2-xii, 3-viii Heine : 4-i, 4-vi, 5-iv, 6-ii, 7-viii Rhenish themes : 4-i, 4-vi, 5-vi, 6-ii, 7-viii, 7-xi, 9-ii, 9-v, 12-vii La Tentation de Saint Antoine: 5-iv Rimbaud's prose poems : 5-iv, 8-ii, 8-v, 8-xii Various works by Marinetti : 5-xi, 6-ii, 9-ii, 12-ix-xii, 13-i, 1 3-iv, 14-vii The Pimander: 7-xi, 8-iii, 8-vi

The distribution of these dates suggests that the critical moments in Apollinaire 's evolution are the end of 1905, the year 1908, and the autumn of 1912. EXISTING ANALYSES OF ApOLLINAffiE'S POETICS Very few of the host of books on Apollinaire need concern us here. Reminiscences of friends have given us amusing but often contradic­ tory anecdotes relating at times to his poetics, and works of this type were sifted for fact and fancy in Adema's biography." We must beware of these anecdotes, which may add no more than an illusory charm ; they may or may not be valid, they often lead to untenable theses, and they practically never constitute demonstrable fact. "Guillaume Apollinaire Ie Mal-.Aime,

Paris, 1952.

6

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

Formal research on Alcools opens with Breunig's article of 1952: in which he establishes the "prepublication" or "preoriginal" dates of the poems collected in that volume late in 1912. Breunig located many of the poems in reviews, and this vital line of investigation has been carried forward in the Edition de la PIeiade, of 1956: To the facts, Breunig added certain interpretations based for the most part on the hypothesis that each poem represents a single and definitive poetic act, and that each may be a number of years older than its first appearance in print. According to this hypothesis, which is supported by no evidence of any kind, Apollinaire was in the habit of selecting an old poem, for no ap­ parent reason, and having it published exactly as he had composed it years before. To the Rhenanes, for instance, as so defined in Alcools, Apollinaire appended dates of 1901 and 1902, but the separate poems were published-in small groups, and according to completely different classifications-from 1904 to 1913, and various other poems, printed in Alcools or elsewhere, might just as well have been so grouped. My inter­ pretation, based on the criteria and hypotheses mentioned earlier, dif­ fers radically from Breunig's. I argue that in most instances the date of publication corresponds to the first appearance of certain themes and technical devices, and that a given poem may, then, represent two distinct periods. The over-all state of Apollinaire studies four years after the pub­ lication of Breunig's article may be measured by the contents of the special issue of the Revue des sciences humaines· devoted to this poet. Most of the specialists are represented. Breunig reproduced and wrote a commentary on the manuscript of Lul de Faltenin. Mme Durry com­ pared Cors de chasse with certain verses of Verlaine and with a poem by Laforgue.· Warnier found possible models for Apollinaire's ideo­ grams in Rabanus Maurus, among the poets of Der Sturm, and in the work of the painter Larionow ; his comments on Les Fenetres and La Victoire do not concern sources or chronology. Decaudin spoke firmly for early composition of the poems,'" and the only positive reference to sources appears in a note signed "M. D.," presumably Michel Decaudin, stating that the influence of Maeterlinck's Serres chaudes on Apol­ linaire, "comme nous proposons de Ie montrer prochainement, est dans U

Breunig, "The Chronology of ApoIlinaire's A lcools"; see Bibliography, p. 1 25.

7 Oeuvres poetiques, with notes prepared by Marcel Adema and Michel Decaudin. •

•

No. 84 ( Oct.-Dec., 1956 ) , pp. 373-465.

Ibid., p. 392, that is, L'Hiver qui vient ( Poesies completes, Paris, 1894, pp. 235-

239 ) . I shall show that the parallels in Verhaeren are more convincing than those cited for Laforgue ( see below, pp. 26-27 ) . 1" Ib id ., p. 437 ; one notes further that Dooaudin is very skeptical about the use of sources.

Introduction

7

son oeuvre plus importante et plus durable qu'on ne Ie pense." Since in Decaudin's study of 19 60, Le Dossier d'Alcools," there is no further information on dates or influences, it is evident that there is still a grave lacuna in our objective knowledge of the poet's sources and methods of work. THE INFLUENCES The only work that has as yet named precise literary sources for Apol­ linaire 's poetry, and has developed them in a systematic and objective way, is Mme Durry 's Guillaume Apollinaire: Alcools, published in 1956.'" Having proved that one such source is Tha�s, Mme Durry for­ mulated several working hypotheses for her analytical study : "Apol­ linaire est influen�able ; il est un homme de l'instant . . . , capable d 'un veritable mimetisme."18 More important, Mme Durry understood the service that the sources miglit render : " Un vers semble mysterieux, presque incomprehensible, et puis, quand on sait d 'ou Ie poete est parti, tout s 'eclaire."" Rimbaud, Heine, France, and Verhaeren are invaluable references for the interpretation of a host of such mysterious verses. Of the many influences that have as yet received no real attention, that of Marinetti is the most important on account of the precise and recent dates that it establishes.'" The only extended treatment of futurist influence appears in Mme Moulin's book of 1952, in which, however, the influence is denied and the futurist movement is treated as something inferior : "Les principes du futurisme sont peu eIabores, surtout si on les compare it ceux du cubisme. ' ''6 I shall disprove both parts of this statement without in any way implying a judgment regarding the artistic merit of the creative work of the two schools. When Mme Moulin speaks of "la poesie futuriste d' Apollinaire," we must under­ stand, then, that she denies all influence, and merely admits a vaguely similar modernity. To my knowledge, the only other treatment of this matter appears in the catalogue of the Apollinaire exposition of 1960,17 to the effect that Marinetti's ideograms were written earlier than those of Apollinaire, with a cautionary remark that the latter are better, and in Decaudin 's admission of the same year that Apollinaire may have 11 Primarily a critical edition of the manuscripts, replacing Mme Moulin's edition of 1952. 12 Paris, Vol. I ( Vol. II has not yet appeared) . 18 Op. &it., p. 127. " Op. cit., p. 84. 13 For Marinetti's works, and their dates, see the Bibliography, p. 125. 16 Jeanine Moulin, (}uillaume Apollinaire : textes inedits, Geneva, 1 952, p. 120. 17 Exposition at Milan, Oct. 22 to Nov. 25, 1960, catalogue published by the Li­ brairie Franc;aise, Milan, pp. 27-28.

8

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

suppressed punctuation late in 1912 in imitation of Marinetti's mani­ festo of that year.18 The identification of sources necessarily requires great precaution ; it serves no purpose, for example, to speak broadly of the influence of Rimbaud or of Heine.'• A convincing demonstration calls for discussion of individual poems, of the nature of the words, themes, scenes, or stories borrowed, and of the kind of use to which they are put. In general, the most useful references appear in imaginative literature, though I shall have occasion to refer to the influence of such painters as Chagall and Delaunay.'" Among books of a technical nature of possible present in­ terest is Claude Chastelain's Martyrologe universel, examined by Mme Durry,21 and in fact far more suggestive than she states. One need merely open it to the passage on Apollinaire's birthday and read : "A Moncassin, Ie venerable Apollinaire. En Pologne, Sainte Salomee, Duchesse de Sandomir" ; or to the entries of August 26 and the follow­ ing days : " Saints Irenee et Abonde . . . ; la tete abattue . . . Saint Moise, Ethiopien, qui d'insigne voleur etant devenu un insigne anachorete, convertit plusieurs voleurs et les mena avec lui dans un monastere ... Decollation de Saint Jean-Baptiste, a qui Herode fit couper la tete. " We find in this book a large number of names and subjects o f immediate interest for study of Alcools, but it happens that they are better ex­ plained by recourse to Heine and Marinetti. Finally, although many details in Alcools are surely autobiographical, the verbal form they take is frequently more important for our purposes than the real event, and we may often maintain with reasonable assurance that the event was recalled years later under the influence of recent readings. Apollinaire heard and saw many things in the Rhineland in 1902, but he need not have set them down at the time. He probably heard a passing train, but all evidence points to Verhaeren's poetry as the motivation in the short verses of Automne malade. The poetics, as I define this term, deals with the manner in which the poet uses his sources. In the work of Apollinaire, the most striking images take the form of enigmas or cryptic fragments of scenes or nar­ rative that are usually only very slightly related to the main subject of " Decaudin, Le Dossier d'.Alcools, p. 40. 1. In my analyses I treat Rimbaud by periods, and hence, to some extent, according to separate and partial editions. For Heine, the Pages choisies of Paris, 1 899, is quite inadequate, while the O euvres completes of Paris, 1900, is more useful than the original German. I do not understand how Mme Moulin can claim (op. cit., p. 72) that Apollinaire had "une culture d'anthologie." '" I dealt with this topic in my studies of 1954 and 1955 (see Bibliography, p. 125 ) , and return to it below (in discussion of Le Voyageur, Les Fenetres, and various poems of 1913 ) . 21 Op. cit., p. 204.

Introduction

9

the poem in which they appear. The enigmas evolve according to a fairly clear pattern, from the gross vulgarity of Jarry, through the amused irony of Heine, to personifications and abstractions such as "mes pensees defenestrees," inspired by Marinetti. With the aid of several hundred examples of this kind, it is possible to document incisive hypotheses on the date of composition and the intention of the poet at specific periods. We may with some assurance claim that Apollinaire was amused while reading Heine, and sought to transmit his pleasure and no doubt to outdo his model. This he did by enhancing the enigmatic content of his source. In Nuit de noces, Heine said to his guests as they arrived, "au lieu de chapeau vous portez vos tetes a la main " ; Apollinaire revised this, in Palais, as "pendez vos tetes'aux pateres, " and we may further suppose that he was amused to use "pateres" in this sense rather than in the sense in which the word appears in Tha�s. We shall return several times to the evolution of the closing image in Zone, "soleil cou coupe, " which had been "soleil levant cou tranche" in the original ver­ sion of this poem, and had appeared years before, in Les Fianl}ailles, as II vit decapite sa tete est Ie soleil Et

la lune son cou tranche

The enigma is well documented in other forms, and its immediate source offers us a host of further comparable references. It derives from Marinetti's portrait of Sainte Pourriture in Le Roi Bombance : "Durant la nuit, je me visse au cou une lune ... , des l 'aurore je fixe sur mon cou un rouge solei! levant. " Clearly, the interplay has a relationship to Heine's fantasy cited above ; but the date of Le Roi Bombance sets a time limit on the image, and a movement from farce to abstractions is evident both in the nature of the enigma and in the role it plays in each poem. Aside from Le Roi Bombance, the most important information appears in the prepublication dates of Marinetti's La Ville charnelle, covering the full range of the years 1905 to 1908, and, for the following years, in his later poetry and his several futurist manifestos. VERSIFICATION

The most obvious evidence of changes in Apollinaire 's technique ap­ pears in his versification. Reprints of some poems show emendations, and certain effects point to interpolations, at times further identifiable in the manuscripts. For several verse patterns the chronology seems well established. The poems in eight-syllable verse show a minimum of irregularities, and for this reason, unfortunately, many of the Rhenish poems are the more difficult to date. The strophes in five verses offer three variants : the standard rhyme ABABA, used from 1907 to 1909 ;

10

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

the rarer ABAAB ( 3-xii ) and AABAB ( 9-v) ; and, in Les CoUines alone, a total lack of rhyme. None of the five-verse strophes in Le Bestiaire ( 8-vi ) are of the form ABABA. This evidence is important for the purpose of analyzing La Chanson du mal-aime, which is com­ monly treated as a poem of 1903, but which, according to my method, must be a synthesis and reworking of a mass of ideas of several dates reversified about 1907 and later. The most important variations appear in Apollinaire's twelve­ syllable verse, either in couplets or in quatrains. The early regular couplets of Passion ( 4-ii ) are varied in La Loreley ( 4-ii ) by the sporadic use of more than twelve syllables, found also in the quatrains of La Synagogue ( 4-i ) . In the early poems the sense carries on, whereas in the system of 1912, as in Zone, the couplets are often autonomous, and the two verses are bound together by a special system of syntactical devices of relatively unlyrical tone. Briefly, there are two systems of couplets, and both are quite distinct from quatrains. Apollinaire 's early quatrain form must be defined according to three traits : ( 1 ) the poem must rhyme throughout either in ABBA or in ABAB, ( 2 ) all verses must be in twelve syllables, and ( 3 ) a good pro­ portion of verses must have no stress on syllable 6. Any change of rhyme scheme within the poem indicates revision and, notably, the transposi­ tion of entire quatrains ; and verses divided into two equal hemistichs become the rule in 1912. Salome and Palais attest irregular syllable counts for the first time late in 1 905, and further disintegration appears soon afterward in L'Emigrant. It is strange that no one has considered the importance of these circumstances. Mario Roques drew no conclu­ sion from the fact that Salome not only contains the earliest example of short verses appended at the end of a poem otherwise in regular versification, but also that "Ie vocabulaire et Ie ton de cette fin ne sont pas moins surprenants que les idees, faits ou gestes, qu 'elle exprime. "" The facts noted above are of vital importance for an analysis and a dating of Le Printemps (not included in Alcools) , of Merlin, first pub­ lished in 1912, and of such poems as contain a few quatrains, notably Le Voyageur ( 12-ix ) . There is no proof that Apollinaire composed quatrains in the old pattern after 1906, though he may have revised earlier ones. A process of cutting and piecing together of older work explains Le Voyageur, and the pointless nature of this kind of pro­ cedure situates Le Printemps on a low artistic level, but, by inference, sets this operation at a moment of hesitation and of a kind of need to !!2 Mario Roqucs, "Guillaume Apollinaire

litterature fraru;aise

(Geneva,

et

les vieiIIcs chansons," in

1959, pp. 137-146 ) , p. 143.

Etudes de

Introduction

11

do something with accumulated unused verse. In final analysis, Merlin app ears to be a poem of 1905, published later with no revision of any kind, and for no apparent reason. WORD CLUSTERS The last basic criterion for analysis of the evolution of Apollinaire's poetics is his constant use of words and minor images that do not form integral parts of themes or stories. The sheer verbal value of the words is a reality, and illustrates the poet's perceptivity and curiosity as well as his working method. Mme Durry mentions "l'espece d 'erudition bizarre d'ou il tire . . . des mots qu'il met dans ses poemes pour Honner parfois, ou parce qu'ils Ie charment, ou lui rappellent un souvenir ... , collectionnant dans sa memoire, d 'ou il les tire au bon moment, tout un , amas heteroclite de pierres precieuses. ,.. One cannot explain why the words were chosen, but one can describe the way in which they were used during determinable periods. Apollinaire's poetics are particularly distinguished by groups of words that one may call clusters." Many poets are dominated for a cer­ tain time by a given verbal influence, but the mass of words is consider­ able, and their use thematic. Thus Rimbaud's disgust, sadism, and effete affectation, peculiar to 1871, lead to a particular synthesis in Le Bateau ivre, but the attitudes and images must be explained through variations around several scores of words. Furthermore, Rimbaud 's "noye pensif" is an integral part of the river scene, whereas Apollinaire 's "nageurs morts" is an autonomous and movable entity, an enigma composed of a thing and an act. "Pendez vos tHes aux pateres" and " Soleil cou coupe" are enigmas, and illustrate simultaneously a progression toward ab­ stractions and the workings of a word cluster that includes "tete­ pendre-couper-soleil. " The enigmas could be classified as a whole only in an elaborate concordance ; it will suffice, for our analysis, to find a number of them in Apollinaire 's sources. It is possible also to analyze Apollinaire 's images and enigmas through a word count constructed about the known dates. Pierre Guiraud's Index du vocabulaire du symbolisme" gives all the words of Alcools with page references. We find that the volume contains single examples of " accroupi-acteurs-agapes-aeroplane-amont-feves­ jaune, " and so on. The words have meaning, however, only if grouped 23

Op. cit., p. 130 . .. This method differs strongly from that of the surrealists, on which see my article "Eluard's Rupture with Surrealism," Pub lications of the Modern Language .Association, LXXVI ( Sept., 1961 ) , 442-443 . .. Partie 1 : .Alcools, Paris, 1953.

12

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1 914

according to some particular reference ; for instance, " agapes" and " feves" for an association with La Tentation or Tha�s. From another point of view, the frequency of classes of words may be of interest ; for example, the commonest adjectives of color in Alcools ( bleu, 12 ; v ert, 9 ; or, 7 ; rouge, 4 ; jaune, 1 ) , and the different frequency in Calligrammes. Rimbaud's verse brings attention to the possible importance of the sheer statistics ( noir, 56 ; bleu, 52 ; blanc, 39 ; vert, 34 ; rouge, 33 ; rose, 13 ; jaune, 1 1 ) ; thus we encounter a problem of perception and pref­ erence that are characteristic, perhaps, of a given place or time. It is sometimes possible, however, to follow the history of a given word. Jaune appears only once in Alcools, in a poem that is a prose text arranged to look like verse, La Maison des morts ( 7-viii ) , and once again before 1913 in another poem ( "pendu j aune et vert, " 12-v ) . The opening verse of Les Fenetres ( 13-i ) is, then, the more interesting : D u rouge a u vert tout I e jaune se meurt

Apollinaire names the three official futurist colors, so presented con­ stantly in the manifestos, where yellow tends to take first place. Furthermore, Marinetti's ideograms set "JAUNE JAUNE " in relief ; and Buzzi, in a poem to which I shall refer several times, imagines " il ragno suicida in giallo. " Apollinaire 's Les Fenetres ostensibly interprets the paintings by the same name created by Delaunay in the year 1912. Delaunay may indeed use reds, greens, and yellows, but the mauves are more significant, and Apollinaire mentions "violets" in another verse. We are discussing Delaunay's palette at the very height of the rivalry between cubists and futurists, and his next set of paintings, of turning disks and propellers, sets yellows in prominence even as it develops a strongly futurist con­ cept of force and motion. Apollinaire considered that his poem illus­ trated an "esthetique toute neuve , " and the word "jaune " is an essential factor in it. Finally, in Les Fenetres, Apollinaire develops a technique that leads toward the "poeme-conversation, " using detail from Marin­ etti's Le Monoplan du pape, in which he also found strongly thematic examples of " cortege" and "zone." Finally, Les Fenetres is related to the last strophes of Les Collines through the use of a rich cluster of words related to "il ragno suicida in giallo" and to Buzzi's poem : oranges, cords of light woven by spiders, the assassination of an or­ chestra director-abstractions rising from enigmas which have become less impish.

I. THE NARRATIVE AND MYTHOLOGI CAL POEMS L'ERMITE AND LE LARRON

( 2-xii ) AND LE LARRON ( 3-viii ) established a firm point of departure' for analysis of Apollinaire 's poetics. Mme Durry examined these poems in detail, and set Merlin et la vieille femme ( 12-vi ) with them as examples of a sustained narrative genre. With Avenir ( 3-v ) , Le Mendiant ( 5-iv ) , and L'Ignorance ( l4-vii ) , they define a rigid sys­ tem of versification : the quatrains rhyme in ABBA or ABAB, one or the other throughout, and the twelve syllables, usually divided into equal hemistichs, include a fair proportion of verses without caesura. The rhymes are often merely approximate, an effect that remains con­ stant. The problem is to determine the probable date of composition of Merlin and L'Ignorance by a close analysis of their contents in the light of their sources. In proving the influence of Tha'is on L'Ermite, Mme Durry found an objective method for determining dates, but did not apply it. She in­ terpreted Le Larron without locating its sources, and identified works used in Merlin but in no other poem. A fresh examination of Tha'is shows that Le Larron too is based on France 's novel, and the influence of Rimbaud, sensed rather than demonstrated by the critics, can be associated with specific periods of his work : Avenir, Le Larron, and Merlin echo Rimbaud's poetry of 1871 and before, while Le Mendiant and L'Ignorance depend on the prose poems, and also on La Tentation. Finally, we may speak of Le Mendiant and L'Ignorance as mythological, on account of similarities to Ovid. The versification of all these poems tends to establish the date of com­ position before the systematic disintegration of quatrains at the end of 1905, and, as already noted, there is no proof that Apollinaire composed in quatrains at all after 1907. The late date of publication of Merlin and L'Ignorance can be explained only by inference, but the exclusion of Le Mendiant from Alcools might suggest that the same subject had been treated more to the poet's satisfaction in L'Emigrant. Avenir is of little interest : I find in it no echoes from Tha'is, and the prophetism merely recalls the puerile optimism of Rimbaud's Le Forgeron, an early imita­ tive piece. L'ERMITE

1 The work published before L'Ermite (2-xi i) contains little of present interest, but one notes the absence of parallels with Thais, La Tentation, the Pimander, etc. The prepublication dates of L'Heresiarque et Cie offer several references : "Ie larron de droite--I e Paraclet-fiagellation" ( 2-iii) , "une fornarine mariee--Ie Hradschin" (2-vi ) , and an old "tzigane" ( 3-i ) .

[ 13 ]

14

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

It is necessary to keep La Tentation2 in mind for its influence on Apollinaire, on prose poems by Rimbaud known to Apollinaire, on Thais, and later on Marinetti. One can measure its importance in the evolution of French poetry through the praise lavished on it in 1884 by Huysmans and by Barres: and in 1905 by Gustave Kahn : "Le plus beau poeme fran<,;ais, une fois ceux d'Hugo comptes, de la fin du dix-neuvieme siecle. ''' For analysis of L'Ermite and Le Larron, we may best examine the sources by dividing Thais· into parts of special interest, and relating them to La Tentation: 6 ( A ) The desert and Paphnuce 's cabin (pp. 3-9 ) ; Flaubert begins with a long documentation, including the setting in Egypt, and the action proper begins at Anthony's cave ( T., p. 31 or p. 3 6 ) or at the arrival of the Queen of Sheba ( T. , p . 44 ) ; France created Paphnuce from identifiable pages in La Tentation ( e.g., T., pp. 1 6-17, 39, 42 ) . (B) The trip along the Nile to Alexandria ( Th., pp. 22-40 ) , the port ( pp. 52-55 ) , the theater ( pp. 59-61 ) , and the dialogue with Thai's ( especially pp. 124-125 ) ; these subjects do not derive from Flaubert. (0) The banquet ( Th., pp. 1 32 et seq. ) , with Thai's' lovers and various heretics ; Flaubert gives no such scene. ( D ) Stylopolis, rich in ridiculous situations ( "fritures-danseuses ventre nu-la tete aux cornes de vache-' Encore des tentations'-phallus eriges, " Th., pp. 240-245 ) ; Flaubert here suggested at most a few words. ( E ) The tombs, in which Paphnuce is tempted by the figures on the frescos ( Th., pp. 255-261 ) ; much of this is an imitation of La Tentation ( e.g., T., pp. 4, 44 et seq., etc. ) . Le Larron7 shows the same kind of influence as L'Ermite. The title might refer to Paphnuce, who steals Thai's, a precious fruit, from her admirers, and appears hateful to the crowd in burning her goods, and to the guests at the banquet ; one may read quatrains II to P in this light. The banquet appears in quatrain J ( "Les convives c 'etaient tant de couples d 'amants") , and in quatrain 0 we find a parody ( "Vous 2 In "Further Sources of La Tentation de Saint .t1ntoine," The Romanic Review, XXIX (Dec., 1958 ) , 278-292, I identify various works used by Flaubert, failing to note the Pimander (on which see below, p. 45 et seq. ) . a See my article "Le Decadisme," CahWrs de 1'.t1ssociation Internationale des Etudes Fran!(aises, 1 960, pp. 122, 124 . ., In Marinetti's Enquete internationale sur Ie vers libre, Milan, 1909, p. 23. 5 I quote the Calmann·Levy edition, Paris, 1921. " I quote the current Charpentier edition, Paris., s.d. 7 Signe (ll-iii) is related to Le Larron ("j'aime les fruits je deteste les fleurs"), to several Rhenanes of 1909 ("les mains d'amantes d'antan jonchent ton sol"), and to Le Mendiant ("une epouse me suit c'est mon ombre fatale"). L'.t1utomne et l'echo (s.d., Pleiade, p. 588 ) , in the exact versification of Le Larron, opens with the two quatrains of Signe, and adds seven more of a mythological type, with an echo from Thais ("un socle stylite"). According to my method, these poems belong to the period of Le Mendiant.

I. The Narrative and Mythological Poems

15

p arlerez d'amour quand il aura mange") of the dialogue in which ThaIs says, "Pourquoi ne m'aimais-tu pas tout a l 'heure ? " and Dorion answers, "Pare e que j 'etais a j eun" ( Th., p. 171 ) . In quatrain H, "la salle aux fresques" imitates the setting of the tombs, and " Au son des cinyres des Lydiennes nues" echoes "une jeune fille j ouait du cinnor" (Th., p. 256 ) . Paphnue e also saw paintings of "cuisiniers," and among them "d'autres plumaient des oies" (Th., p. 256 ) , a detail in Apol­ linaire's poem La Blanche N eige ( 13-iv ) . The "masques de theatre" appear in the dialogue with ThaIS (Th., p. 113 ) , and the "homme begue " is Moses (Th., pp. 124-125 ; cf. T., p . 8 1 ) . The correspondence includes a score of rather rare though isolated terms ( "Chaldee punique tri angle-Pallas-f?wes-Scythe" ) . The only possible echoes of La Tentation are "eucuphe " ( T., p. 209 ; cf. "Ie cilice et la cuculle," Th., p. 4 ) and a system of sophistries reminis­ cent of Flaubert's Devil, but there is no id entity of word. The Devil 's sophistries were in part inspired by the work attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, and I shall examine the relationship of this work to Le Larron in the analysis of Lul de Faltenin. ( 7-xi ) . L'Ermite differs from Le Larron in lack ing the most evident sophistries, and in its many echoes of Rimbaud's early verse. -

­

OTHER POEMS The relationship between Merlin and La Tentation can be established independently by a few contrasts with Tha�s. The first verse, "Le soleil ce j our-Ia s'etalait comme un ventre, " recalls both the opening of France 's novel ( " En ce temps-Ia") and the beginning of the main action of La Tentation ( " Par derriere . . . s'etale une ville " ) . The trip to Alex­ andria may be referred to in " suivant la berge du fieuve " ( cf. "il longea la berge," Th., p. 22 ) . For the "vieille sur une mule a chape verte " the only correspondences in France's novel are Thai's "sur un ane" ( Th., p. 206 ) and Paphnuce's vision of her as he "se frap pait la poitrine et disait ... " (Th., p. 13 ) . In contrast, the episode of the Queen of Sheba, which France imitated extensively ( Th., p. 257-262 ) , offers a very pre­ cise scene : " . . . des mulets et des femmes couvertes de voiles jaunes ... 'Ah! bel ermite ! mon coeur defaille ... Ris donc ... J e danse comme une abeille . , j ai tout quitte pour toi' " (T., p. 44-48 ) . L'Ignorance ( 14-vii ) uses the dialogue form of Le Larron, and de­ velops the myth of Icarus, told by Ovid (VIII. 218 et seq. ) : as Icarus and Dedalus fly by, "un pasteur ... qui les vit . . . La eire ayant fondu, l 'enfant n'agite plus que ses bras nus. " Apollinaire may well be using another source: "Mon pere m'apprit les detours du labyrinthe-les ..

'

16

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1 901-1914

ailes qu'un peu de cire fixe a mes epaules nues-un dieu choit dans la mer, un dieu nu. " However, a good part of the ornamentation has little to do with the legend, and is based on Flaubert 's vision of Vishnou and an unnamed Greek god. Following Flaubert we find ( in T., p. 233 ) : "Plus loin, emerge ant des nuages pales, sont les Dieux [cf. "J e vois un dieu oblong flotter ... entre les nues"] qu 'on adorait chez les Cimmeriens au dela meme de Thule" [ cf. "des sources du Nil aux brumes de Thule," and "la Cimmerie, " in Le Mendiant ] ; and ( also in T., p. 175 ) : " L 'enceinte des roches se change en une vallee. Un troupeau . . . Le pasteur qui les conduit observe un nuage [cf. "Un Patre : 'Je vois un dieu oblong flotter . . . Prions qu'il tombe ailleurs que dans notre vallee ' .. , 'Dieu, j e flotte entre les nues' ''] . . . La vallee devient une mer de lait [cf. "Un dieu choit dans la mer"] ... Sur Ie nombril [cf. Merlin : "nombril" ] du dieu une tige de lotus .. , et dans son calice parait un autre dieu it trois visages [cf. Le M endiant: "tricapite" ] ." Jarry 's play Haldernablou· gives us a further chronological reference for L'Ermite and Le Larron, since I find no other trace of it in Apol­ linaire's work. The influence on Le Larron is dispersed and fragmen­ tary, while for L'Ermite the play explains much of the first half and a detail at the end. I do not believe that Haldernablou is in any way re­ lated to Marinetti's Le Roi Bombance or to Les Mamelles de Tiresias of Apollinaire, except in a broad concept of the experimental theater, very different from that found in J arry's Ubu Roi. The strong homo­ sexual theme is one aspect of J arry's desire to shock, and echoes of it in Apollinaire are, then, primarily literary and surely not personal. Jarry's sources include Les Chants de Maldoror ( "crabes tourteaux, " Hald., p . 243 ; "mon ami I e Montevideen, " p. 245 ; "les Juifs Errants, " p. 246 ; and the irrational technique of the preface, pp. 221-224 ) and something on the order of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky ( "Tombant sous l 'hallali torve des cuivrares / Les cameIeons dans leurs glauques simarres / Sont des vrilles de vigne, " p. 244 ) . The parallels are concen­ trated at the opening of the play: "la pitie des passiflores" ( p . 226 ; cf. "la sainte cruaute des passiflores, " L'Erm., quat. W ) , "n 'aie pas trop d'apparitions cette nuit" ( p . 240 ) and "tu defies l'ascese" ( p. 238 ; cf. "trop de tentations," quat. A ) ; "j 'aurais fouette sa joue de mes cinq doigts" (p. 228 ; cf. "jeu du nombre illusoire des doigts, " quat. D ; and "flagellez les nuees, " quat. C ) ; "hors du sexe seul est l 'amour" ( p . 228 ; cf. "mon sexe est innocent, " quat. F ; "rna luxure meurt, " quat. S ; "nos • Oeuvres completes, IV, 1 73, dated 1894. I find several echoes in Onirocritique : "des animaux disscmblables s'accouplaient" ( cf. "ils ont viole la N orme," p. 222; "la betc avec laquelle on a fornique," p. 245), "une racine transparentc" ( cf. "la plainte des mandragores," p. 226).

I. The Narrative and Mythological Poems

17

baisers quintessencies, " quat. U ) ; "la tete de mort" ( p. 228 ) and "une tete de mort monumentale" ( p. 238 ; cf. "chef de morte," quat. B ) ; "clouee au mur comme une effraie par les ailes" (p. 2 3 9 ) and " hibou pendu par les griffes" ( p . 223 ; cf. "des hibous morts cloues it leur plafond, " quat. Q ) ; "au vol de corbeaux de ses signes trepasses" (p. 244, cf. "des corbeaux eployes comme des tildes , " quat. Q) ; "Ie mage releva sur sa tete et etendit sur ses bras ... sa robe ... souture " ( p . 222 ; cf. "jetez sur lui sa robe sans couture, " quat. G ) . In Le Larron we find "gestes socratiques " ( quat. C ) and "baisers fiorentins" ( quat. T ) , which echo many passages in J arry ( "je voudrais quelqu 'un qui ne fUt ni homme ni femme, " p. 228, " a qui un baiser fUt stupre demonial," p. 228, "Ablou, embrasse-moi," p. 233 ) ; "au hasard qui coule au sablier" ( quat. L ; cf. "les trois piliers du sa­ blier," p. 246, and "Ie sang coulant des sabliers," p . 226 ) ; "un triomphe p assait" ( quat. R; cf. "vos yeux de tromblon," p. 232 ) ; "triangle isocele" ( quat. S ; cf. " au triangle de ta toile isocele, " p. 242, and "ton crane isocele, " p. 229 ) ; "signe obscene" ( quat. U ; cf. "que les Indous appel­ lent Lingam, " p. 222 ) . Jarry's play also contains several relatively rare terms : "surnaturel" ( p . 228 ; cf. Apollinaire 's doctrine of 1913 ) , " Ixion" (p. 230 ; cf. the image in Zone ) , "mannequins" ( p . 234 ; cf. L 'E mi­ grant ) , and "disque allonge ( p . 244 ; cf. "feu oblong" and "la vue est oblongue" ) . Apollinaire 's use of Haldernablou, limited to L'Ermite and Le Lar­ ron, gives us no more than a negative chronological reference, but is of primary interest with respect to the background of Les Mamelles de Tiresias, and ",eakens excessive Freudian interpretations of Apol­ linaire 's reputed sexuality. Theses regarding this last point have not concocted sexual inversion as one of his preoccupations ; and, in my in­ terpretation, his sensualism is, in reality, but one aspect of his literary ambitions, another range of enigmas designed to surprise and shock and thus draw attention to himself. Le Mendiant ( 5-iv ) contains no echoes of Tha'is or La Tentation, other than "l'ombre cimmerienne" and "tricapite, " neither very prob­ ing. The subject of this poem may have been suggested by Ovid 's story of the descent of Orpheus to Hades ( X . 13 et seq. ) : "jusqu'au Styx ... , fendant la foule des fant6mes des morts ... , Ie peuple maussade des ombres. " In the same passage Ovid mentions "les trois cous du chien " ( cf. "tricapite" ) and "la roue d'Ixion" ( cf. Zone ) . Apulaeius also gives us the "chien aux trois tetes, " and is richer than Ovid in stating that Charon "donne une piece " ( cf. the " obole " for a beggar, in Le

18

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

M endiant ) to "un viellard mort, nageant a la surface" ( cf. "nageurs morts," in Le Mal-aime) . The theme of the beggar has been superimposed on the story of Orpheus. A comparison with L'Emigrant ( 6-ii ) brings attention to the departure of a woman for distant places ; the woman in question is pre­ sumably Annie, and the narrator ( Apollinaire ) stands frustrated on the shore or the quay. The symbol is rather common in our sources. Heine writes "je mendiais une pauvre aumone d'amour" ( O euvres com­ pletes, XIII, 63 ) and "pauvre comme un mendiant" ( XIII, 18 ) . In L'Ignorance, which immediately precedes L'Alchimie du verbe: Rim­ baud gives us "Ie meilleur des mendiants, fier de n'avoir ni pays ni amis ... Nous sommes des damnes ici-bas . . . II nous faut . . . de l'humilite pour aborder ... les elus," and, closer to Apollinaire : "Passant, je n'ai que ma douleur pour emouvoir. " In L'Alchimie we find, further, "Ma faiblesse me menait aux confins du monde et de la Cimmerie, patrie de l 'ombre " ( cf. Flaubert, as already quoted ; "dans l 'ombre cimmerienne, " in Ovid X I . 592 ; and "nuit cimmerienne" in Heine, XII, 127 ) . Even more suggestive are "comme un mendiant sur les quais" ( Les Illumina­ tions, no. XXII ) , a possible source for Marinetti's "Ie mendiant qui va Ie long des greves" ( Destruction , 1903, p. 74 ) , and "un matin it Londres" (Les Ill., no. XIX ) , a phrase that anticipates Apollinaire's exact situa­ tion in 1904. The parallels with L'Alchimie du verb e hardly suffice to prove Apol­ linaire 's use of this prose text of Rimbaud 's in 1905, but we shall return to the clear-cut influence which became evident three years later. Rimbaud's verse, in contrast, permits another critical approach to several earlier poems in Alcools. We may describe Rimbaud 's poetics during 1871 according to themes or concepts such as colored attitudes, affected buffoonery, and certain rhythms.'· Although Le Larron is no­ tably poor in these traits, L'Ermite offers incisive examples : "les aveux pourpres-autans bleus-splendides pilules-vulves de papesses-reves poupins-j 'ai beni [cf. "Ia tempete a beni" ] ; and Merlin, though it has fewer such examples ( "gestes blancs-j 'ai fait-Et j 'ai vieilli vois-tu" ; cf. "J'ai heurte savez-vous" ) , makes more intense use of Rimbaud's system of liquid celestial configurations ( "son geste fit crouler l'orgueil des cataclysmes" ; cf. ecroulements-figements" ) , and of several related ideas ( "flux menstruel" ; cf. "sang epanche tous les mois" ; "j eunes jours" ; cf. "j eunes mers-jeunes emois" ) . • I use the Oeuvres edited by Suzanne Bernard, Paris, 1960. ,. See my article "A Correlation of the Chronology and the Lexicon of Rimbaud's Verse," The French Review, XXXIII (Jan., 1960 ) , 249-254.

I. The Narrative and Mythological Poems

19

Mendiant is important for several images relating to actors and : theater the Le

Va-t'en vers Ie spectacle ou des acteurs feront Gemir les fe=es grace aux grimaces flebiles ... Va L'histrion tire la langue aux attentives J'attends que passe Thanatos et son troupeau

Aside from the last verse, the material above is difficult to associate with the main themes of the poem, but Apollinaire 's esteem for it is attested in several later pieces. We find in Lul ( 7-xi ) " Oiseaux tiriez aux mers 1& langue" as a kind of quip or enigma, and in Le Brasier ( 8-v ) "Ie troupeau de sphinx, " with no real context, and especially "Et voici Ie spectacle . . . Des acteurs inhumains . . . donnent des ordres aux hommes apprivoises, " equally cryptic. We are surely in the presence of an un­ identified source, and our only cue at this moment appears in the theme of gypsies in Automne ( 5-vi ) : "baladins-pres fleuris-anemone" ; these are all terms found i n Tha"is ( Th., pp. 7 , 8 1 ) , but they definitely suggest a more significant and immediate source. In this sense, Automne symbolizes a break from mythological materials and the introduction both of gypsies and of certain countryside colors into the Rhenanes. All evidence suggests that Merlin and L'Ignorance belong to the later years of Apollinaire's narrative period. The entire range of his earlier sources and themes disappears abruptly, attested for the last time in April, 1905. It is true that La Loreley and La Synagogue, composed in the preceding year, are distinctly Rhenish, and, as we shall see, establish the influence of Heine in 1904, but it is also true that those Rhenanes, far more numerous, that resemble Automne, did not appear in print until May, 1909, and that the influence of Heine on them is of a different kind. The nature of the reorientation that occurred in October, 1905, will become evident in an analysis of Palais and L'Emigrant, in which poems Heine's influence yields to that of Marinetti. One last point is rather remarkable : the only probable allusion to Annie that we have found appears in Le Mendian.t, published a year after her departure for America.

II. THE RHENISH POEMS Ix AUGUST, 1901, Apollinaire went to Cologne as tutor to Gabrielle de Milhau, whose family had vast estates in the Rhineland. His affair with "Linda la zezayante" had just come to an end, and the more important one with Annie Playdln was now about to begin. He and Annie were together in the Milhau home, where she taught Gabrielle English. As he followed the Milhaus to their various estates, he passed through Oberpleis to the villa of Neu Gluck. His love for Annie grew, but he was rebuffe d, and he returned to Paris in August, 1902, after further travel to Nuremberg and along the Rhine. Apollinaire surely wrote some verse at this time, and in publishing certain poems in later years he assigned to them plausible dates and place names. Nine poems of this general type were collected in Alcools as RhCnanes, and the group was dated at the end "Septembre 1901-mai 1902 . " Meanwhile, in May, 1909, Apollinaire published a group called Poemes rhCnans, differently constituted : both sets include Vent noc­ turne, Rhenane d'automne, and Les Sapins, but EUgie, La Vierge a La !leur de haricot a Cologne, and one of the two Crepuscule 's were dis­ carded, and such very different poems as La Synagogue and Les Femmes were added. Another Rhenish group appeared in 1911 in Florian-Parmentier's anthology,' surely with Apollinaire's assent and perhaps according to his own choice. Briefly, the RhCnanes was Apol­ linaire 's first project for a collection of pieces, but the content of the collection was in no sense fixed. One might argue that the choice in Alcools represents a sentimental retrospect conceived long after Annie had ceased to be Apollinaire's principal preoccupation. There has been some discussion of the influence of Heine on the Rhenish materials, but without demonstration or special attention to chronological matters. Orecchioni 's long study' of the themes reveals their strong Germanic character, but this critic, after naming a number of poems by Heine, concludes that there is no significant relationship ; some of his suggestions are valid, others are not. Mme Moulin" also cites Heine as a source : "Le Romancero lui a inspire les allusions aux nixes, aux fees et au vin du Rhin des Rhenanes. La Maison des morts reproduit une evocation empruntee aux Nocturnes : celIe des trepasses. " The in­ fluence is far more extensive than mere allusions or evocations. 1

Pleiade, p. 1 063.

• Revue des lettres modernes,

mentions

Vols. XIV-XIX, Mar.,

1955, to Jan., 1956. Orecchioni 59 and 62,

Junge Leiden for the "nixes," the end of Intermezzo, Lieder Traum bild 8, and Schclm von Bergen. 3 J. Moul in, Guil laume A p o llinaire : textes inedits, p. 75.

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II. The Rhenish Poems

21

HEINE 'S INFLUENCE IN JANUARY, 1904 The most striking and numerous echoes of Heine are found in La Synagogue ( 4-i ) , La Maison des morts ( 7-viii ) , and Salome ( 6-ii) , but a few details also appear in Les Femmes ( 4-i ) , Schinderhannes ( 4-vi) , Les Sapins ( 9-v) , Automne ( 5-vi ) , and Mai ( 6 -ii ) . Of all of these pieces, Salome alone has no thematic relationship to the Rhenanes. For La Synagogue, the most striking models are Disputation ( Heine, Oeuvres completes, XI II , 374 et seq. ) and La Princesse Sabbat ( X II I , 341 et seq. ) . The central theme of quatrain A ( "vont a la synagogue" ) is typical of Heine ("les anciens vont a la synagogue, " XII, 254 ; " fuyez la synagogue de malice," XIII, 379 ) , and the insults exchanged by Abraham and Ottomar need no other model than Disputation ( "la dis­ pute a commence-il exorcise lc rabbin, la maudite semence de Jacob­ Vous etes des viperes ... , crapauds venimcux-Ie fumier de tes injures, " XII I, 377-38 1 ) . One verse i n quatrain C ( "pendant I e sabbat o n ne doit pas fumer") quotes La Princesse Sab bat ( " fumer est defendu parce que c'est aujourd'hui Ie sabbat," XIII, 344 ) , and the child fathered perhaps by Abraham ( " Ottomar et Abraham aiment tous deux / Lia ... dont Ie ventre avance un peu " ) figures in Germania ( "Abraham a mis au monde avec Lea un marmot," XII, 239 ) . I n La Princesse Sabbat the Thora is mentioned ( XIII, 342 ) , and the monster of the Book of Job ( quat. E : "Feront gemir un Leviathan au fond du Rhin " ) appears next to a term for its voiee ("Ie grognement des petits cochons. Levia­ than s 'appelle Ie poisson qui fait sa demeure dans les profondeurs des mers, " XIII, 383 ) . Finally, the idea of setting a sentence in Hebrew at the end of La Synagogue probably derives from the use of this device in the same poem ( "Lecho Daudi Likras Kalle ... , ce joli chant de noce," XIII, 343 ) : Heine 's Disputation eomes to mind again in the episode of the Cos­ sacks in Le Mal-aime, and suggests that this section, presented typo­ graphically as an autonomous unit, belongs to the early period of farce and insult. We read in L e Mal-aime ( quat. X ) : Quel Belzebuth es·tu la-bas Nouni d'immondice et de fange Nous n'irons pas a. tes sabbats

We have here echoes of the diatribe of the Monk against the Rabbi : "Puisse toi-meme Ie Seigneur t'aneantir, toi, maudit et damne. J e puis braver tes diables . . . , Lucifer et Beizebuth" (X II I , 386 ) . Further, L. Breunig, in Le FUineur des deux rives, IV ( Dec., 1954 ) , 30-35, deciphered the Hebrew words used by Apollinaire, but not derived from Heine. •

22

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

"nous n'irons pas a tes sabbats" is an exact allusion to the Rabbi's pre­ ceding words : "Je danserai, et je frapperai de la cymbale." The possi­ bility that other phrases are echoes is at least plausible : "groin de cochon" ( cf. " VOllS etes des pourceaux," XIII, 379, and "Ie grognement des petits cochons," XIII, 383 ) , "plus criminel que Barrabas" ( "vous tuez Ie Seigneur," XIII, 378 ) , "nourri d'immondice" ( "vous etes des hyenes," XIII, 379 ) . I suggest, finally, that the reference to the Red Sea and Pharaoh in Le Mal-aime ( quat. B ) may correspond to the same source ( "Pharaon et toute son armee furent noyes dans la Mer Rouge, " XIII, 386 ) , and that the "poisson pourri" could well b e the Leviathan. Nothing in the episode of the Cossacks suggests any later themes. Les Femmes, published at the same time as La Synagogue, is a kind of "poeme-conversation" with bits of idle gossip set in italics. In quatrain I we read "Lise il faut attiser Ie poele qui s 'eteint, " which recalls Heine's "Ie foyer de la cheminee s'est eteint, vite, apportez-moi du feu" ( XII, 359 ) , and in quatrain D, "Kaethi tu n 'as pas bien rac­ commode ces bas" echoes "ta femme est-elle bonne menagere, et te raccommode-t-elle tes bas� " ( XII, 248 ) . Heine is fond of small talk in the home ( " Ie poisson est excellent, rna petite mere " ) , and hence his influence seems very probable. The evidence in Schinderhannes ( 4-vi ) is slighter. The name appears in Le Cimetiere, Apollinaire's principal source for La Maison des morts, and one thematic detail is found in A tta Troll ("moine, plus tard chef de brigands") , along with the "bonnet pointu" ( XII, 8 ) that I shall soon mention. Heine also imagines a woman for the bandit ( "elle etait voleuse, et lui filou ... ; elle se jetait sur Ie lit et riait, " XII, 161 ) . LA MAISON DES MORTS

A special problem is posed by La Maison des morts ( 7-viii ) and Rhe­ nane d'automne ( 9-v) , which treat in common a theme of corpses in a cemetery and use the same flat and nonrhythmic versification. The former piece was first published as a prose text, and we may suppose that Rhenane d'automne was also so conceived. Heine's influence on the latter poem is at least plausible : "les bons anes / Braillent hi han et se mettent a brouter les fleurs des couronnes mortuaires" recalls "ia ia" ( XIII, 409, 432 ) , and, in Atta Troll, "cette fete bruyante des morts echappes a la tombc. Halla et hourra ! . . . hennisscments de chevaux . . . , les vieilles filles . . . portaient des couronnes de fleurs" ( XII, 46 ) . The source, and the arrangement on the page, allow us to locate in La Maison des morts two interpolated passages. The poem opens with six verses unrelated to Heine and isolated by a blank line. Then seven

II. The Rhenish Poems

23

V'erses begin to narrate a story, and a second passage, separated by blank lines and unrelated to Heine, leads to a vision and then back to the story. Apollinaire may introduce another source later in the poem, but the point of departure will be evident if we follow Heine 's Le Cim etiere (XII, 153-156) and set fragments of La Maison des morts in brackets : Je venais chez rna maltresse, et je cheminais [Arrive a Munich] ... Et comme je passais dans Ie cimetiere [J'etais entre ... dans ce cimetiere ] , les tornbes me regar· dai ent [les yeux (of the dead) se rallurnerent ... , rnais leur visage ... ] ... Une forme sa dresse [les morts rn'accosterent] ( saying ) "Cher frere, je vous attends" [une morte assise sur un banc ... : "Je vous attendrai"] ... II s'assit sur la pierre turnulaire [assise sur un banc ] , et pin�a vivement les cordes d'une guitare [ danserent au son a.igre des cithares] ... Toutes les tombes s'ouvrirent [les morts m'accosterent ... Je les invitai a une promenade] '" La folie troupe tourbillonnait autour du menetrier [les couples ... danserent au son aigre des cithares] ... (a dead man speaks : ) "J'6tais un apprenti tailleur" ( cf. L'Emigrant ) . .. Schinderhannes ... Les esprits eclaterent d'un rire bruyant [Tous 6taient si gais ... C'etait a mourir de rire ] .

The opening verses of La Maison des morts offer a separable scene : " ... A l'intt'irieur de ses vitrines, pareilles a celles des boutiques de modes, au lieu de sourire debout, les mannequins grima<;aient pour l'eternite." We find the same material in two quatrains of L'Emigrant: " ... un tailleur ... venait de couper quelques tetes / De mannequins vetus comme il faut qu'on se vete " and "les annees / Regardaient la vitrine / Les mannequins victimes. " We shall see, in the discussion below, that these images are a fusion of details borrowed from Heine and from Marinetti, and that, in the form given above, they can hardly have been composed before the end of 1905. The other autonomous se­ quence in La Maison des morts ( "Soudain, rapide comme rna me­ moire . . . " ) is an integral element in Apollinaire's themes of 1908, and was inspired by Rimbaud and Hermes Trismegistus. The poem, before interpolation, used Heine in the manner found in Apollinaire's work of 1904. COUNTRYSIDE THEMES The quips and mystifications of 1 904 contrast strongly with the nos­ talgic and colorful themes of most of the Rhenanes. Apollinaire gives us pleasure parties in boats, folklore, scenery, and groups of passing gypsies ; one significant technique is the personification of trees. In Mai, for example, we find "en barque sur Ie Rhin-Ies dames regardaient du haut de la montagne, " the typical content of Atta Troll: "Entoure de sombres mont agnes . . . , et berce comme un reve--de belles dames s'y accoudent ... , regardent la place du marche" . . . Au milieu un ours

24

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics,

1 9 01-1914

et une ourse dansent au son de la musette ... Son [of the ourse ] vaillant conducteur, qui la tient a la chaine ... , porte un bonnet pointu ... II fut moine dans sa jeunesse, plus tard chef de brigands" ( XII, 7 ) . We establish again the parallels in Schinderhannes as well as in Atta Troll. Les Sapins ( 9-v) enriches the imagery of trees. Heine 's picture of "Les sap ins, couverts de manteau de deuil" ( XIII, 313 ) is very similar to Apollinaire's : "Les sap ins en bonnets pointus / De longues robes revetus. " An element of personification in "Le sapin avec ses doigts verts frappe aux vitraux" ( XIII, 106 ) reappears in "fetes de sap ins enneiges / Aux longues branches langoureuses. " The little scene " Au­ dessus murmure Ie vert sapin, et brille la lune doree . . . Deux etoiles bleues . . . , la guitare resonne . . . , la vieille chanson" ( XIII, 105 ) con­ tains the full musical setting of "Les sap ins beaux musiciens / Chantent des noels anciens" with, close by, the other terms "briller-etoiles­ Noels. " The landscape and the storm depicted as "la vieille montagne s'eveille" ( XIII, 1 1 1 ) , "l'ouragan . . . brisera bien des chenes" ( XIII, 246 ) , and "Ie vent fouettait les sapins qui hurlaient" ( XII, 33 ) are fused in the verses " Quand la montagne accouche / De temps en temps sous l 'ouragan / Un vieux sapin geint et se couche. " Vent nocturne ( 9-v ) adds "Ie fieuve prochain a grand'voix . . , / Les Elfes rire au vent, " echoing "les elfes ... , Ie bord du ruisseau" and "avec de bruyants eclats de rire" ( XII, 278 ) ; and for "Attys Attys Attys charm ant et debrailIe" we have a rich model in "Les belles jeunes filles . . . accourent en desordre, les cheveux fiottants, avec des cris de deuil, et Ie sein nu : 'Adonis ! Adonis ! ' La nuit tombe " ( XIII, 201 ) . Vent nocturne is exceptional among the Rhenanes in its old couplet form and in its mention of the Egyptian " gypaetes" and of the ancient cult of Atys. These associate it with La Tentation, in which special exotic names abound, and in which the death of Atys ( T., p. 202203 ) and of Adonis ( T., p . 204 ) lead to an extensive treatment of Cybele, Isis, and Venus ; here we find "coucoupha" ( T., p. 209 ) , "pateres" ( T., p. 2 11 ) , "la roue d'Ixion" ( T., p. 234 ) and "centaures" ( T., p. 234 ) , in suggestive fantasies. If Vent nocturne is truly repre­ sentative of 1 904 and earlier, in all detail, then another image can be attributed to Apollinaire's readings of that period : "une armee antique dont les lances . . . , " and we may attribute one quatrain of Le Voyageur ( l2-ix ) to the same kind of inspiration : .

Alors sans bruit sans qu'on put voir rien de vivant Contre Ie mont passe rent des ombres vivaces De profil ou soudain tourant leurs vagnes faces Et tenant l'ombre de leurs lances en avant

�

II. The Rhenish Poems

25

�.

rearried into the next quatrain in the unified tone of a story reminiscent f of Heine or even of Ossian ( "contre Ie mont perpendiculaire . . . ces � oIIlbres barbues pleuraient humainement") . ·

The date of the oldest attestation of this general range of themes and iInages is established by Automne ( 5-vi ) , very close in time to Le : Me ndiant ( 5-iv ) and to the period of strong parallels with Ovid and La Tentation. The song of Automne, "Le paysan chantonne / Une chanson d'amour et d'infidelite, " is that of Germania: "Elles chan tent ... l'amour et la fidelite d'autrefois" ( XIII, 225 ) ; and in Heine 's Alleluia (XIII, 425 ) the passage "Demain deja c 'est un froid d'automne" could have suggested "l'automne a fait mourir l 'ete, " and further, " et prairies et forets sont d 'un gris de brouillard" could have inspired the atmosphere of "dans Ie brouillard d'automne. " Finally, "C'est la glace qui se brise ... qui tenait notre coeur" contains the terms and context appropriate for "un coeur que l 'on brise . " The absence i n Heine o f Apollinaire 's many images identifying leaves and severed hands suggests the introduction of another reference, the poems of Verhaeren of about 1895,' which will be discussed in detail for the later themes of machines and cities. Heine's image "Le sapin avec ses doigts verts frappe aux vitraux" ( XIII, 106 ) does not explain Apol­ linaire's "squelettes de doigts" ( 2-xii ) , "mains coupees" ( 9-v ) , and "mains j onchent Ie sol" ( ll-iii) , nor his identification of "petales" with "ongles" ( 6-ii ) ; and his favorite neologism "feuilloler" illustrates a closely related idea." Association of these images with La Tentation is not convincing : "j 'ai donne mes mains-doigts coupes-chapelets de doigts" ; and Thats offers even less interesting associations : "mains mutilees-mains clouees. " In contrast, Verhaeren sees hands and leaves' almost exactly as does Apollinaire, as cut : ·

·

·

Et la ferme ... Comme des bras aux mains coupees, Croise ses poutres ( Verhaeren, Oeuvres, p. 93 )

or as lying on the ground : II est ainsi des pauvres mains, Comme feuilles sur les chemins, Co=e feuilles jaunes ct mortes, Devant la porte (p. 2 1 6 ) ' I limit all parallels to the Oeuvres published in Paris i n 1 9 1 2 , which contains Les Campagnes hallucinees ( 1893 ) , Les Villes tentaculaires ( 1895 ) , Les Douze mois ( 1 895 ) , and Les Visages de la vie ( 1899 ) , the last being of slight interest. " Decaudin, Le Dossier d'A lcools, p. 16, finds "feuilloler" in Le Roman de Durnart Ie Galois. • Cf. Maeterlinck's Serres chaudes : "les feuilles mortes de leurs fievres," p. 17, "les feuilles des douleurs passees," p. 66, "je me souviens de toutes les mains qui ont touche mes mains," p. 86, "ayez pitie des mains trop pales, p. 88, briefly no good parallels.

bi;"'",F:," :, : '

�,.: . " " " ... :"m

"

'

' J'Tu BtJoZutioft of Apollinaire's . . image in :_, s insistence on this

__

� ..

•

4 Poe tws, 1901-191

the only

.

rhymed passage in .

some partlc uI ar preoccupatlon, . d'automne ( 9-v) indicates � B:L IMIftGft6 ' d: somet h'mg Just d Iscovere of and very probably an interpolation

ees L'automne est plein de mains coup Non non ce Bont des feuilles mortes Ce Bont les mains des cheres mortes Ce Bont tes mains coupees

Indeed, this passage is the earliest attested appearance of the three terms "mains-feuilles-coupees" in a single image. In quatrain B of Signe ( l l-iii ) we find "les mains des amantes d'antan jonchent Ie sol," 8 and the themes ( e.g., "mon ombre fatale ") recall Le Mendiant and indicate work of about 1 904. Marie, first published in Alcools, includes the full image : Et tes mains feuilles de l'automne Que jonchent aussi nos aveux

and several other parallels set it at about the period of Le Pont Mira­ beau ( 12-ii ; e.g., "Le fieuve . . . s'ecoule ") and of La Blanche Neige, which I would date from the spring of 1912 ( compare the rhyme "neige : n 'ai-j e " ) . Nothing contradicts the hypothesis that the image was suggested by reading Verhaeren in 1908. The influence of Verhaeren is implied by a wide range of other images. Automne malade ( 13-iv) ends with a triad of pairs of short verses some­ what after the pattern of Salome or Le Voyageur or La Blanche Neige ( "Les feuilles / qu'on foule ... " ) , and corresponds neatly to "Au bruit d'un train lointain qui roule sur la ville" ( Verh., p. 122 ) . Further, Verhaeren's La Chasse or Octobre ( Verh., pp. 255-259 ) offers a number of very suitable models for poems in Alcools published from 1909 on : Dans les forets qui s'etiolent mille folies et babillardes folioles, langues j aunes, j onchent Ie gazon vert : Pete s'est tu, les brouillards Pont couvert.

Such elements of this scene as appear early in Alcools are found in better models in Heine, and the evidence is too slight to prove a definite association of Apollinaire's neologism "feuilloler" with "folioles. " In contrast, Verhaeren's invocations to " Autumne mure ! automne lasse " find close echoes in Automne malade ("Pauvre automne / Meurs en blancheur ... Et que j 'aime 0 saison ... Toutes leurs larmes en automne feuille a feuille ") . The theme of Automne malade and of Cors de chasse ( 13-iv ) appears in Verhaeren 's poem : •

C f. "des feuilles j aunes j onchant les dalles," Verh., p. 343.

II. The Rhenish Poems

27

La chasse passe et c'est l'eclair : et les feuilles, co=e arrachees ... par l'ouragan des chevauchees, volent, en tourbillons d'ailes mortes et de haillons : c'est l'automne, l'automne ardente et enivree

.A.pollinaire changes a few words ( "Automne malade et adore / Tu mourras quant l'ouragan ") , translates "la curee " to " les cerfs ont brame, " and adds personal memories to the scene : Les souvenirs sont cors de chasse Dont meurt Ie bruit parmi Ie vent

Verhaeren 's church symbol ( " les cloches sonnent et sonnent / pour les defunts et pour l'automne" ) has been recast according to Apollinaire's particular technique of associations of time and the past, richly illustrated in L'Emigrant ( 6-ii ) . All evidence suggests late introduc­ tion of the influence of Verhaeren and of the association of leaves with severed hands. GYPSIES

The most elusive theme in the Rhenanes relates to groups of passing gypsies, and calls for the identification of another source. The earliest evidence of the theme is Les Cloches ( 6-ii ) , in strict oetosyllabic quatrains : Mon beau tzigane mon amant Ecoute les cloches qui sonnent

based on a story element, and containing an allusion to the act "quand je passerai. " In Mai, which was published at the same time and com­ posed in the standard narrative quatrains, we find one strophe rhyming ABBBA, and can therefore reasonably assume that one verse was inter­ polated ; the three verses rhyming in B are rich in thematic terms : Un ours un singe un chien menes par des tziganes Suivaient une roulotte trainee par un ane Tandis que s'eloignait dans les vignes rhenanes

The rest of the poem gives us no more than a vague setting, with ladies in boats, the wind and vineyards, presented in Heine 's typical manner. In La Tzigane ( 7-xi ) we have "un ours" and meet a fortune teller. Briefly, the gypsies may well have been discovered by Apollinaire in February, 1906, at the moment at which he began to distintegrate the quatrain form by irregularities and interpolations, and specifically when he began to add new thematic material in such aberrant pas-

28

The Evo lution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

sages-a matter that we shall examine closely with reference to Salome and L'Emigrant. The best evidence regarding .Apollinaire 's gypsies is found in Sal­ timbanques and in Crepuscule. We may pass over the poem Saltim­ banques that is included in Alcools, in preference for a longer version, in roundel form, from which .Apollinaire merely selected twelve verses for his revision, and with this version we may compare the contents of Crepuscule, noting minor duplications in the roundel. .Another Crepus­ cule, published as a "poeme rhenan" in 1909, relates to Heine 's water sprites. The roundel was composed sometime before February, 1909, and its date could be determined only through a specific source or, by inference, through its contents. Two verses in Saltimbanques, Chaque arbre fruitier ... ils leur font signe La main du petit saltimbanque

find a good parallel in Heine 's Intermede lyrique : "une main blanche nous fait signe ... aux lueurs dorees du crepuscule ... on tous les arbres parlent" ( XIII, 84) , for the words, including .Apollinaire 's title " cre­ puscule," and the personification of trees. The resemblances to Heine cease, however, with this and one other parallel, in the short scene in his Histoires: "il rode dans Ie pays avec des comediens fardes. Dans les baraques de foire, il jouait .Arlequin" ( XIII, 268 ) . Verhaeren offers a few terms to identify the people ( "sorcieres," Verh., p. 52 ; "un char­ latan, sur un treteau ... hamcaux proches, " p. 62 ) , and for the setting and the act of departing ( "les lieues s'en vont autour des plaines, " p. 15 ; "les charrettes ... vers les hameaux," p. 16; "jardins-villages­ routes-crepusculaire, " p. 210 ) . Marinetti alone offers a model for "L 'aveugle berce un bel enfant'" ("en Ie ber�ant comme un enfant") , and this is in the poem in which he alludes to " ces j ongleurs de foire qui vont mangeant du feu" ( Les Terrasses de l'amour, 1903 ) . Rimbaud's Les Illuminations contains passing references to actors and gypsies without substantial context ( "une petit voiture-une troupe de petits eomediens en costumes, aper�us sur la route-bohemiens-j ongleurs­ sorciere---de s routes bordees de grilles" ) , and especially in the section labeled Scenes ( Ill., no. XXXI : "des boulevards de treteaux-ac­ compagnees de flute et de tambour") . There can be no question of the • The possible influence of Marinetti is confirmed further in Apollinaire's Sa/tim­ banques : "regarde grandir l'arlequin" ( cf. "Les revoila I grandissant a miracle ... de soubresaut en soubresaut," Les Terrasses ) . Furthermore, "l'aveugle berce un bel enfant" is lacking in the manuscript (Decaudin, p. 115 ) , but appears in Saltim­ banques (Decaudin, p. 147 ) , indicating revision about this very detail. The only parallel in Serres cha1U1es is "une musique de saltimbanques," p. 87.

II. The Rhenish Poems

29

influence of La Tentation ( "astrologues ... Chaldee '" mages, " T., p. 146 ) , or of Tha�s ( "baladin ... mimes, " Th., p. 7 ; "sorciers ... mages chaldeens, " Th., p. 105 ) , or of Baudelaire 's Bohemiens en voyage ( "la tribu prophetique-ses petits-des mamelles p�ndantes-chariots-Ie grillon les regarde passer") . Despite the many mysteries surrounding the date of composition of the Rh enan es, the evidence often points to a late period and to a con­ stant fusion of the old with the new. If, for example, Apollinaire read Heine's Oeuvres c ompl e tes of 1900, he may have conceived his Rhenish colors in the strophic prose of the French translation, and not in verse at all : La Maison des morts would then be an example of this technique. The earliest parallels illustrate Heine's buffoonish moments rather than his river parties and landscapes, and La Loreley depends on Brentano and is not thematically a Rhenane at all. The only evidence for early composition consists of the dates attached to the poems by Apollinaire himself, and his constant hesitations about which poems were Rhenish and which were not make them a very broad and eclectic group in con­ stant flux. We shall come at once to the poems of December, 1905, and in them find a kind of unity that establishes personifications and many particular words as vital elements of this moment, and suggests that the Rhenanes later echo this particular technique and its themes and concepts.

III. THE REORIEN TATIO N OF D E CEMB ER, 1905 A SUDDEN CHANGE in Apollinaire 's poetics is attested late in 1905 in three poems that move rapidly from the manner of Heine to that of Marinetti. Salome still recalls earlier work, except the short rhythms of its last ve rses ; Palais introduces a calculated contrast between vulgar farce and the dream ; and L'Emigrant de Landor Road creates a new kind of imagery in its system of personifications. Between these three poems and such mythological pieces as Le Mendiant and L'Ignorance the contrast is strong ; there is no relationship to any element in the Rhinanes that can be attributed to an earlier date by objective informa­ tion ; and the three poems surely mark a unit in that they were followed by a long silence of eighteen months, during the time of Apollinaire's fascination with erotic literature. The most visible innovation of December, 1905, is the introduction of irregularities of versification, wholly foreign to all work previously published except in the couplet form peculiar to La Synagogue and La Loreley. The irregularities are slight in Mai and Les Cloches ( 6-ii ) , stronger in Salome ( 6-ii ) and Palais ( 5-xi ) , and very marked in L'Emigrant, with its different rhymes and meters. Except in versifica­ tion, only two of these five poems-Palais and L 'Emigrant-rep resent innovations in the poetics. Much of the new material can be easily proven to derive from Marinetti, whose vocabulary and imagery it closely resembles ; the prepublication dates of La Ville charnelle take us back to February, 1905, and the play Le Roi Bombance to the late spring. SALOME

The subject of Salome could derive from a host of sources, from Gustave Moreau's paintings of 1875, from the dancing women in Tha"is, or from Flaubert's picture of the Queen of Sheba ; one might also recall several images in Apollinaire 's Merlin et la vieille femme. It is evident, how­ ever, that three of Heine 's poems give us ample models, even as they offer parallels for other poems in Alcools : part XXII of Germania ( Oeuvres completes, XII, 252-253 ) , part XIX of Atta Troll ( XII, 5253 ) , and Pomare ( XIII, 261-262 ) . I have found many significant de­ tails in the two cycles, and add Pomare for the word " trabans" in a particular context, for Heine uses it elsewhere several times. The relationship may be followed by quatrains : A: "je danserais mieux que les seraphins" ( " c 'est un des seraphins, " XII, 253 ; cf. " danserai-j e devant Ie trone du Seigneur, " XII, 2 6 ) . B and C : "Mon [ 30 ]

Ill.

The Reorientation of Decemb er,

1905

31

:eoeur battait ... quand je dansais ... une banderole destinee a flotter au bout de son baton . . . 0 roi Herode " ( " Pomare danse. C 'est la meme danse que la fiUe d'Herodias dansa un jour devant Ie roi juif Herode," XIII,

262 ; "ses cheveux flottent autour de sa tete ; il ressemble a Saint Jean­ B aptiste, " XII, 252 ) . D : " Prends eette tete " ("la femme d 'Herode . . . a demande la tete, " XII, 52 ; "elle lanee la tete dans les airs, " XII, 53 ; "Elle danse a me rendre fou. Je perds la tete," XIII, 262 ) . E : " Sire marchez devant trabants marchez derriere " ( " Hola ! trabans ! archers ! qu 'on coupe la tete au baptiseur ! " XIII, 262 ) . Salome is also based in part on an unidentified story of a " j oli fou du roi" and his "marotte, " a "Dauphin" and "lys, " and another dance "dans Ie fenouil. " The traditional songs discussed by Roques may ac­ count for the story, but the verses at the end, if they are interpolations, would represent a different influence : Jusqu'a l 'heure oft j 'aurai perdu ma jarretiere Le roi sa tabatiere L'infante son rosaire Le cure son breviaire

Heine 's "je perds la tete " would seem to set the long verse within the original conception, and the triad could be an improvisation and a qu ip that brought the poem up to date and motivated its publication. We shall find similar triads in Le Voyageur and La Blanche N eige. The echoes from Heine suggest that Salome might have been com­ posed in 1904 and modified before publication by the irregular meters at the end. Apollinaire 's method of the year 1 904 is implicit in various points of similarity with Tha"is, La Tentation, and Merlin. In this last poem, the theme of the dance is expressed in enigmatic quips ( "Le soleil en dansant remuait son nombril-eUe balla-mes tournoiments" ) reminiscent of Flaubert ("je danse comme une abeille, " T., p. 47 ) , and two details in Salome ( " son baton refleurit sur les bords du Jourdain­ nous creuserons un trou et l 'y enterrerons") echo the opening scene of Tha"is ( "les fleurs ... les batons, " Th., pp. 4---5 , "un lion venait creuser une fosse ... , il s'y couchait, " Th., p. 7 ) . L'Emigrant contains a few more parallels of this kind. The theme of decapitation calls for special attention, for references to the act itself and for the word " tete. " It is vain to argue that it was by mere chance that the word had not yet appeared in Alcools, and by mere chance that it assumed a major role in three poems published at the end of 1 905, and reappeared only once more before yielding to "soleil" and " orange." Apollinaire had the word constantly before him in the images in Tha"is and La Tentation that pleased him most ( "tetes

tics, T1&6 BvoZuoon of Apollinaire's Poe a igh� h �ve " ) . The word - tes de pore-j'ai coup� rna tete t& m1 de :ftmesChastelal � ; or of book the by or �, Salom 1901 -191 4

m

been suggested by the story of e r to afford an opportumty to th story might have been selected in ord is that the word "soleil " had fact ted rela and the word. Another this time, except in the two before imagery re's Apollinai n i no place of Les verses in Merlin. The words were joined in 1908 in the enigma F'ianfia�1les : n vit decapite sa tete est Ie solei! Et la lune son cou tranche.

us:

This image represents an experimental association of a group of words that I call a "cluster" ( "tete-soleil--cou-tranche" ) .· If we define a cluster of words as an ensemble representing an act ( "couper­ trancher-pendre ") done to certain things ( "feuilles-mains--cou­ tetes-soleil " ) , we may treat all combinations and alternates as experi­ mental images, and assume that the most recent examples pleased the poet most. The cluster most active in Alcools down to 1904 revolves about "pendre-saignant-mains-ventre, " and coincides with re­ peated use of " autan--choir-ululer-nu-cypres- s'etaler-chape­ oblong, " from several different sources. Thus in Tha¥s we find "mains mutilees-mains clouees, " and in La Tentation "decapite-j 'ai donne mes mains-j 'ai coupe rna tete-doigts coupes-chapelets de doigts." One might extend Apollinaire's constructions to include "narines rongees--crucifie-squelettes de doigts-stigmate sanglant des mains­ dresser les mains-Ies mains s'elevaient-mains enamourees. " " Tete " is added to such clusters in 1905, and at the same time we find the sun "brise" ; and in November, 1907, we find that "Ie soleil se gargarise. " Heine gives u s a few images for the sun ( " Ie soleil n 'est qu'une rouge trogne, " XII, 144 ; "Ie soleil est sa couronne, " XIII, 112 ; "il portait Ie soleil," XII, 133 ; and cf. "la lune comme une orange," XIII, 89 ) , but there is no association with "tete. " Thus these two words may be con­ sidered as plausible criteria for date and for sources. In the E dition de la Pleiade, Salome is interpreted as an expression of Apollinaire 's " ironie" hiding "la peine profonde que lui causa la conduite d'Annie a son egard" ( p. 1056 ) . This is of course possible, but regrets for Annie can be so generalized as to include at will almost any poem, and there is no real evidence of her except in Annie, in the name in Cors de chasse, and in the allusions to London in L'Emigrant and 1 "lntercalees dans l'an c'etaient des journees veuves," in L'Emigrant, recalls the term "aemeres" in the Martyro loge, see above, p. 8, n. 2 1 . • The term "cou" is of interest only when it accompanies "coupe" ; cf. "cou des cygnes" ( a-v) and "cou nu" ( 8-xii ) .

III. The Reorientation of December, 1905

33

Le Mal-aime. Furthermore, the irony can be explained, exactly as in La Synagogue, as a desire to amuse and mystify, and to establish con­

trasts between vulgarity or nonsense and certain kinds of lyrical grace. PALAIS

Palais ( 5-xi ) has dismayed critics in its synthesis of enigmas, vulgarity, and idealistic images. The theme of gluttonous eating, reminiscent of Schinderhannes, might derive from many sources, such as Apulaeius' scenes of robbers in their lairs, and Petronius' Fortunata plays some­ thing of the role of Madame Rosemonde, who seems to preside, but who more probably echoes "la Rose du Ratskeller de Breme " of Heine ( XII, 142 ) . Aside from one good parallel with Heine, the bulk of Palais derives directly from Marinetti's play Le Roi Bombance, and follows its date of publication rather closely." We shall ask why Apollinaire con­ sidered the poem worth printing at that time, or indeed at all. Regardless of its artistic value, Palais is an important clue to a new poetics. The source allows division into contrasting parts, and a manu­ script version of the poem explains simultaneously the replacement of " pensees et pensers" by "reveuses pensees, " the irregularities in the versification, and the omission, for awhile, of the three critical quatrains A, C, and E. The gastronomic sequence ( quatrains G-K ) follows a word of welcome to the guests, "pendez vos tetes aux pateres, " an idea imi­ tating Heine 's Nuit de noces ("Deja arrivent les invites ... Ah ! au lieu de chapeau vous portez vos tetes a la main," XIII, 8 ) ; we shall return to this quip in the discussion of L'Emigrant. No date can be surmised from this borrowing, since the poem also contains themes of the period of Le Mendiant ( "roi nu s'eleve-cypres-agapes [ Th., 249 ; T., p. 75 ] ­ pateres [ T., p . 211] " ) . Heine 's eating scenes do not, however, explain the verbal content of Palais ( "J 'entrai au salon ... , somptueux repas ; les convives ... , " XII, 151 ; "saucissons babillent dans la graisse," XII, 225 ; " dans Ie palais du roi flamboyaient les torches, " XII, 159) ; only one personification is suggestive ( "pensees qui s'eveillent, " XII, 258 ) . Two of Apollinaire 's images ( "Ie soleil miroir des roses s'est brise-des roses de la roseraie " ) recall Saadi, whose poetry is named by Heine in connection with the Rose of Bremen, but we shall find better parallels in Marinetti. Although Le Roi Bombance bears an "acheve d'imprimer" of June 20, 1905, it may not have appeared at that date, for letters from Marinetti's friends did not acknowledge it at once, and the reviews did not appear • The volume bears the date of .Tune 20, 1905, and was "sous presse" in February, according to a n o te in Mari n etti s review Poesia, but reactions to it were slow, and '

it may not haye been issued at once.

.,

TM lCtJoZutw-n of Apollinaire's

Poetics, 1901-1914

its boldness, and it is indeed a 'UDtil the winter. The critics extolled actu�l re��mblances, between signiftcant intermediary, regardless of M �rmettl s story �e!ls of the as. Ubu Boi and Les Mamelles de Tiresi Kmg, and the uprlSlng of the the against ons revolt of the three Marmit

ask him for food and later capture and eat him and his King's group, aided by the last draughts of wine drunk by the cannibals, escape through the latter's mouths, and the Affames are de­ fenestrated ( "Prenez ces cadavres et jetcz-les aux Etangs du Passe," Bomb ., p. 220 ) . Toward the end, Sainte Pourriture enters with her vampire and recites lyrical passages, and the Idiot, a poet, offers further lyrical intermezzos. The Saint is a synthesis of Flaubert. 's " la Mort" and "la Luxure" ( T., p. 270 et seq. ; cf. "Je suis la vie ... Je suis la mort ... Je suis Ie baiser, " pp. 258-259 ) and of his Queen of Sheba, and the vampire corresponds to the latter's Simorg-Anka ( T. , p. 53 et seq. ) , a kind of "coq d'or" borrowed from the Avesta. At night, the Saint changes her head from sun to moon, and here we find the immediate source of the enigma in Les Fian<;ailles. Apollinaire's title might derive from the Idiot's description of the "Manoir de l 'Impossible, " a "lpalais aux mille portes ... au bout d 'un promontoire maudit" facing the ocean ( Bomb., p. 78 ) ; this too is patterned on the Queen of Sheba episode : "J 'ai un pavillon sur un promontoire ... entre deux oceans" ( T., p. 54 ) . Rimbaud also borrowed from Flaubert one element in Promontoire ( Les Ill., text XXX ) . A most remarkable circumstance with regard to Palais is that if one replaces the word "pensees" by " Marmitons" or "Affames, " the likeness to the principal events of Le Roi Bombance becomes evident. The manu­ script version of Palais proves Apollinaire 's particular concern for this symbol. The origin of his "reveuses pensees" could well be the speeches of the Idiot, such as "une souple jeune femme vient visiter vos reves . . . J e vous conduirai vers elle ... , au Manoir de l 'Impossible " ( Bomb., pp. 80-8 1 ) and the very suggestive combination of ideas of "Nous sommes quelques-uns parmi les choisis, des Saints sur les cimes du monde, et nous communions, entre nous, par nos pensees qui vivent, immortelles" ( Bomb., p. 7 6 ) ; here we find Marinetti moving rapidly toward the " poete-phare " of Apollinaire 's Les CoUines. To return to the series of events of the play, " mes pensees et pensers, pieds nus vont en soiree " describes Estomacreux, the principal Affame, who has "enormes pieds nus" ( Bomb., p. 3 ) , and who goes to the palace in the evening to eat. Apollinaire's "pensees" arrive several times : "Les pensees des plates-bandes sortent de terre " was the original opening of the poem, and "on voit venir au fond du jardin mes pensees" represents Affames, who

men. The

III. The Reorientation of December, 1905

35

"la foule en marche dans Ie jardin" ( Bomb., p. 118 ) , that is, the Affames about to break in : "La nuit est tombee . . . Je viens ouvrir" ( Bomb., p. 117 ; cf. "pensees en marche, " quat. E of Palais; and " Toc toc entrez . . . Ie jour baisse, " quat. F ) . They eat the King and his men ( cf. "pensees e t pensers ouvraient la bouche, " quat. L ) . Estomacreux's last tankard of wine brings forth the King ( Bomb., p. 192 ; cf. "Le Roi cria j 'ai soif, " quat. L ) , and the corpses of the Affames are thrown from the window ("mes pensees de£enestrees, " quat. L ) . One other detail of a lyrical type, "Ie soleil miroir des roses s'est brise" ( quat. B ) might also derive from the play : "0 toi, beau front, noble plaine illimitee et rose . . . Ton front, a toi, a de grands vitrages, avec d'innombrables miroirs au plafond . . . C 'est derriere ton front que Ie soleH vient en villegiature" ( Bomb., p. 199 ) . This passage appears in a scene containing other parallels with Alcools, and the word "vitrage" constantly applies to the palace windows, through which the Affames return after their defenestration, and through which S ainte Pourriture enters. We recall the aberrant quatrain in L'Emigrant : A u dehors les annees Regardaient la vitrine Les mannequins victimes Et passaient enchainees

The " annees" are the Marmitons, the "mannequins" are the King and his men : "II enchaine rudement les trois Marmitons" ( Bomb., p. 213 ) ; "Les valets ouvrent et referment rapidement les vitrages pour lancer aux Etangs du Passe tous les cadavres" ( p . 223 ) ; "Le Pere Bedaine s'incline en passant devant les Marmitons enchaines" ( p . 235 ) ; "Les vitrages eclatent ... Estomacreux apparait, dans Ie grand cadre des vitrages" ( p . 246 ) ; and the King and his men are referred to as " Quel convoi funcbre de mannequins" ( p . 65 ) " A few other terms in Palais are borrowed from Le Roi Bombance : "sur les genoux du monarque . . . Madame Rosemonde roule ses petits yeux tout ronds" ( "la petite nonnain . . . sur les genoux de Culombre," Bomb., p . 140 ; and cf. "Le Couchant . . . sous ses genoux ... Les Maisonnettes se turent en roulant de gros yeux, " in Marinetti 's Le Folie des maisonnettes [ 5-iii ] ) , "une odeur de graillon " ("un gOflt de graillon, " B omb., p . 144 ) , " deux oeufs" ("Des oeufs ! " t o begin the orgy, p. 153 ) , • Personifications of this type in Serres chaudes are : "les roses des attentes mortes," p. 27 ; "ces troupeaux de mes desirs dans une serre," p. 29 ; "Voici d'anciens desirs qui passent," p. 41 ; "Je l'eleve sur mes pensees .. / Les feuilles des douleurs passees," p. 66 ; that is Marinetti's system, but with less verbal identity. Decaudin, Le Dossier d'A lcools, p. 210, notes in Baudelaire's Recueillement the image "Vois se pencher les dHuntes annees," but no other parallels. I find in Heine "les heures sont des paresseuses" ( XIII, 19) . .

36

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

"faisande" ( p . 245 ) , "Ie fade gout" ( "Ie meme gout fade, " p. 140 ) , "Mais nom de Dieu" (" Cre nom de Dieu, " p. 61, not used again until 1913, and then in imitations of Marinetti's ideograms ) . The word "mam­ mouths" appears in Marionetti's A mon Pegase ( 5-viii ) . The intimate relationship between the enigmatic symbols of Palais and those of L'Emigrant suggest that the two poems were intended as experiments in a single direction : that is, the superposition of a strong temporal symbol on a set of images. The personifications of time repre­ sent a purely literary project, though one might also suppose that they concern nostalgia for Annie, or for someone else, or for youth and better days. Apollinaire 's range of personifications constitutes one of the most important criteria for grouping his poems, and is of special value for analysis of Le Mal-aime. In a special concordance for this poem I shall mention further possible echoes from Le Roi Bombance. The most pressing problem, however, is the influence of Marinetti's poetry pub­ lished from 1902 until the end of 1905, and especially La Folie des maisonnettes and Les Terrasses de l'amour. L 'E MIGRANT DE LANDOR ROAD

L'Emigrant de Landor Road ( 6-ii ) takes up the theme of Le Mendiant in a very new manner, and this fact in itself leads to the conclusion that it could not possibly have been composed until late in 1905." The serious and mythological content of Le Mendiant yields to colorful and amusing images, far from the buffoonery of La Synagogue and even of Palais, yet the regrets for the " gien-aimee " seem secondary to a love of fantasy. There are so many new images in the poem that it is difficult to deter­ mine which of them represent the poet's "esthetique neuve." The enigma in quatrain J ("11 aurait voulu ce bouquet comme la gloire ... Et l'on tissait dans sa memoire / Une tapisserie sans fin / Qui figurait son his­ toire" ) might, for instance, reflect Apollinaire 's enthusiasm for a fine symbol for poetic creation borrowed almost intact from Heine 's picture of Firdusi, who, while awaiting the honors due him from the King, "devant son metier de tisserand de la pensee, tissait Ie tapis gigantesque de son poeme, dans lequel il entrelaga la chronique fabuleuse de sa patrie" ( XII, 284 ) . Further, following up the basic idea of Salome, Apollinaire may have discovered Heine 's Marie-Antoinette, with the ladies of the court, "debout, en robes de satin ... Ah ! si seulement eUes avaient des tetes ! " (XIII, 259 ) . The amused fantasy of the opening quatrain is, however, more com­ plex than the j ibe mentioned above. The initial sequence of La, Maison " Decaudin,

cal reasons.

op.

cit., p. 1 70, dates L'Emigrant early in 1904, merely for biographi­

Ill. The Reorientation of December, 1905

37

, des morts ( 7-viii ) presents a closely related scene : "A l'interieur des ses !vitrines, pareilles a celles des boutiques de modes, au lieu de sourire

debout, les mannequins grimac;aient pour l 'eternite. " Apollinaire may or may not have seen corpses, or even window models, behind glass, but his literary sources are clear : "Le chapeau a la main" ( cf. "au lieu de chapeau vous portez vos tetes, " in Heine 's Nuit de noces ) -" il entra chez un tailleur" ( cf. the "tailleur" in Heine 's Le Cimetiere ) -"venait de couper quelques tetes" ( Heine's Salome ) -"de mannequins ( cf. Le Boi Bombance ) vetus comme il faut qu 'on se vete " ( cf. "debout, en robes de satin, " in Marie-Antoinette ) . Apollinaire weaves his poem ac­ cording to the precept of Firdusi.6 Apollinaire's earlier personifications were far less bold ("trop d'Hoiles s 'enfuient-nues qui vous tendent de jolis culs-une yoix d' automne-Ie sol fouille de clairieres" ) . In Le Bestiaire ( 8-vi ) we find "Belles journees, souris du temps / V ous rengez peu a peu ma vie " ( PI., p. 13 ) and "mes vaisseaux chant ants se nomment les annees" (p. 2 7 ) . L'Emigrant is, throughout, more advanced. Quatrain M, which also appears in Le Printemps, contains a comparable personification : "Les yeux des squales . . . ont guette de loin .. . des cadavres de j ours ronges par les etoiles / Parmi Ie bruit des flots." This is not from Rimbaud. In Le Negrier, Heine gives us part of the scene : "Les requins flairent l 'odeur des cadavres . . . , et me regardent avec de grands yeux ... Des milliers d'etoiles regardent, toutes brillantes de desirs . . . Les vagues murmurent \Toluptueusement. Aucune voile ne flotte sur les mats du navire negrier" (XII, 346-348 ) . In Le Roi Bombance we have various "cadavres," and in Marinetti's La Fanfare des vagues ( 1902 ) "les cadavres petrifies de YOS amants, " said to the stars. The influence of Marinetti 's early verse on Apollinaire is difficult to demonstrate unless one considers simultaneously both L'Emigrant and Le Mal aime . Marinetti's Destructions, published in 1903, depends heavily on Rimbaud, whose proposition "s'extasier dans la destruction" (Ill., no. III ) explains Marinetti's title. In Les Terrasses de l'amour, from this volume of 1903, we have the exact theme and setting of L'Emigrant, in addition to a number of verbal correspondences ( " emi­ grant en silence-nos coeurs enchaines-l'envol de nos baisers") . The last verse, "Sauve-moi, beau Destin ! mon Destin bien-aime, " gives us the basic term of Le Mal-aime, and a personification of an abstraction ; I shall return to this influence in presenting the concordance of Le Mal-aime. -

6 Cf. in Serres chaudes, limon arne enclose sous verre ... , vitrages bleus," p. 81 ; "j'entrevis des brebis Ie long des quais," p. 3 1 ; "Ies transatlantiques siffient sur Ie canal," p. 45 i "des emigrants traversent un palais," p. 45.

38

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914 Q UATRAINS FIRST PUBLISHED

AFTER 1906

A complicated but essential demonstration must be made of the nature of all quatrains in twelve-syllable verse first published after L'Emi­ grant, or that Apollinaire left among his manuscripts. It cannot be proved that he abandoned this form in 1906, but the thematic evidence strongly suggests that he did, and there are certain incontestable facts that support the supposition, such as the transfer of single quatrains from poem to poem, with or without change of wording. The quatrains first published after 1906 appear in poems of four kinds : in the Rhenanes and related pieces, in narratives such as Merlin and L'Igno­ rance, in several potpourris such as Le Printemps and Les Adieux, and in free-verse pieces, especially Le Brasier ( 8-v ) , Les Fianyailles ( 8-xii ) , Le Voyageur ( 12-ix ) and Vendemiaire ( 12-xi ) . There are also a number of combinations of twelve-syllable verses rhyming in ABB or ABA that appear to be fragments of quatrains. Apollinaire 's new working method is evident in the poems published at the end of 1905. Salome was apparently a poem of regular form rhyming in ABAB, and in quatrains B and C one finds verses without caesura ; these, and quatrain D, may all have belonged to a single poem written in 1903 in the manner of Heine. Quatrain E, which rhymes in ABBA and has the three appended verses, is presumably new, but the source of the themes remains unknown. Similarly, Palais, which is also in ABAB and has some verses that lack caesura, is almost in the tradi­ tional form of 1903, and its dependence on Le Roi Bombance proves Apollinaire 's use of this form in 1905. L'Emigrant, according to the same tests, was an old poem rhyming in ABAB. Quatrains G and J attest the lack of caesura and the use of themes from L'Ermite and from Rimbaud 's early verse ( " intercalees dans l 'an " ; cf. " aemeres" in L'Ermite-" bateaux d 'enfants-immense floraison" ) . Quatrains E and 1, with caesura throughout, seem more recent because of the known parallels in Marinetti ("mannequins­ emigrants-longs baisers") . The minor irregularities do not, of course, prove recent composition, and in quatrain C we find the theme of shades of Le Mendiant, and in K the image of Firdusi, from Heine. Quatrain H seems new in its use of a realistic gesture ( " il posa sa valise ") and in the personification of time ( " cadavres de jours") . Briefly, so far as these matters are concerned, we may well have an old poem rhyming in ABAB and partly retouched. Other rhyme schemes in L'Emigrant should in principle prove the presence either of other old poems or of new work. Quatrain A, in

III. The Reorientation of December, 1 905

39

AABB, i s realistic and presumably recent ; quatrain B, i n ABBA, is clearly old, with its "ombres sans amour" of the Styx and "des mains vers Ie ciel, " as in L'Ermite, and such echoes of Rimbaud as "lacs de lumiere" and "quelquefois" as syllables 4 to 6 of both verses 4 ( " S 'envolaient quelquefois" ; cf. "Attiraient quelquefois les chercheurs de tresors, " in Le Larron, and " E t j 'ai vu quelquefois, " in Le Bateau ivre ) . Quatrain D, in ABBA, calls for references that we do not have ; and F , in ABBA and six-syllable verse, is based on Le Roi Bombance. Finally, quatrain L relates to a real source, either Rimbaud, Lautrea­ mont, or Marinetti ("poux-tisseuses-une sirene moderne ") . Briefly, L'Emigrant is a strong reworking of one or two poems or fragments very probably conceived about 1903. The process of fusion of fragments selected from several older poems characterizes Le Printemps, dated by Apollinaire as of 1902, but left in manuscript and not printed until 1951. Much of the thematic content of Le Printemps is clearly of later date than the rest, and I set its comple­ tion, though not that of any of its individual parts, between February, 1906, and May, 1908. The poem contains a regular quatrain, out of any kind of narrative context, but which appears in L'Emigrant with a functional purpose, and another quatrain in it was partly disintegrated when Apollinaire incorporated it into Le Brasier. This evidence, how­ ever fragile, is confirmed by the circumstance that between February, 1906, and November, 1907, Apollinaire published no verse, and this silence of twenty-one months can plausibly be interpreted as a flight from poetry and from the past. Le Printemps may, then, be a testament of former work gathered from manuscript fragments, without any unifying story or any contructive or new thought. I shall return to this hypothesis in analyzing Le Mal-aime. Quatrains A to C of Le Printemps reappear, slightly modified, at the opening of Les Fianyailles, which, like Le Brasier, must, then, be more recent. These three quatrains are definitely older than the remainder of Les Fianl)ailles, and we may suppose that they were attached to new materials as a symbol of the past, exactly as was the opening of Le Brasierj in both of the newer poems Apollinaire denounces his earlier imagery ( "Mes amis m'ont enfin avoue leur mepris ... " ) . Some quatrains in Les Fianl)ailles are also old ( " citronniers-coeurs suspendus­ cypres-sirenes-anemones" ) , while others might be relatively recent ( "Madone-colombes-feuilloler") . It hardly seems practical at the present moment to undertake a complete sorting of the quatrains of Le Printemps by date, but one might note the relationship to Mai ( 6-ii : fingernails compared to petals) , to ancient myth ( " naufrage solaire-

40

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

dieu mourir, " related to L'Ignorance or Ovid ) , to neosymbolist and countryside colors ( "jardins-citrons-villages lointains" ) , and to early enigmas ( "princesses nues-princesses a la nage" ) . The four strict quatrains in Le Voyageur ( 12-ix ) also illustrate older themes ("ombres-rives-cypres") , including an unidentified story of bearded warriors with lances seen against a dark mountain, the kind of legend one might expect to find in Heine, and related somehow to Apollinaire's Le Vent nocturne ( 9-v : "armee antique-lances" ) . Le V oyageur is also related to Les Fian9ailles, in the presence of the "matelots" ( also mentioned in Lul ) , who appear in a kind of refrain, once in three twelve-syllable verses rhyming in AAA.. The last example of old material is found in three quatrains in Vendemiaire, forming an almost independent section on sirens and rhyming in ABBA, A.B CC, and ABAB. Several critics have associated Le Voyageur with the earth­ quake disaster that occurred at Messina in 1908, without regard for the fact that the Strait enters into the story of Ulysses, or that the Strait and the grape harvest appear in different verse forms and thematic terms, or, indeed, that the harvest has no apparent relationship to a theme of disaster. The three quatrains are surely the oldest part of the poem, and we may say that they were adapted e.ven several times before integration in the pathetic manner of this late poem.

IV. THE VI SIONS OF 1908 FROM Lul de Faltenin ( 7-xi ) to Les Fiant;aillr;s ( 8-xii ) , Apollinaire

developed, in ever-growing intensity, a bold poetics of new forms and themes. The essential intermediary texts include Onirocritique, written in prose ( 8-ii ) , and the poems Pipe ( 8-iii) and Le Brasier ( 8-v) . Two statements prove that Apollinaire projected a new method in at least these three texts. He said of Le Brasier: "Mon meilleur poeme . . . Ils [these most recent verses] sont parents d'Onirocritique . . Je ne cherche qu'un lyrisme neuf et humaniste it la fois . " He also esteemed Les Fiant;ailles as "Ie plus nouveau et Ie plus lyrique, Ie plus profond " of the poems of Alcools.' This series of texts of late 1 907 and 1908 offers chronological informa­ tion of several vital kinds. Echoes of Heine, Thais, and La Tentation have all but disappeared. The influence of Rimbaud 's L'Alchimie du verbe, first attested in Onirocritique, is intensified in Le Brasier and Les Fiant;ailles, but is absent from Lul and Pipe. So far as the themes of Lul are related to L'Emigrant, they establish a reference for an analysis of Le Mal-aime. The eighteen months of poetic silence between L'Emi­ grant and Lul emphasizes the significance both of similarities and of differences between the more recent pieces. This silence coincides with Apollinaire 's enthusiasm for erotic literature, and we must look for traces of this new interest. Finally, Le Printemps and Les Adieux, poems of uncertain date, offer not only valuable palaeographic evidence, but a clear parallel to the poetic method of Le Mal-aime and hence a key to its meaning. The dating of the visionary poems themselves is very simple, and the evolution of form and content over a full year estab­ lishes excellent criteria for the interpretation of several works put into final form later. .

LUL DE F ALTENIN

The entire group of poems from Lul de Faltenin to Les Fiant;ailles may be associated with an exploration of dreams, but most of them deal, in fact, with far more complex notions related to gnostic doctrines of illumination and of the soul. The earliest trace of these concepts appears in a separable passage in La Maison des morts ( 7-viii ) as well as in Lul ( 7-xi ) and also, with certain additional elements, in Pipe ( 8-iii ) . Onirocritique ( 8-ii ) relates a simulated dream adventure from a narra­ tive rather than a psychic point of view, while Le Brasier constructs a complex revelation of fire and light. The absence of such material in Le Bestiaire ( 8-vi ) implies an earlier date of composition. 1

P16iade, pp.

1062 and 1069.

[ 41 ]

42

The Evo lutio n of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-19 14

Lur allows us to situate Apollinaire's interest in psychic matters before any trace of the influence of L'Alchimie du verbe. The tone of Lul contrasts strongly with the farce and fantasy of L'Emigrant and with the romantic colors of the Rhenanes. Lul is commonly interpreted as "d'inspiration manifestement erotique, " 8 but one need merely not try to read it in this light to realize how totally undemonstrable such a thesis is. One may also contrast it, from the erotic point of view, with the obvious allusions in Marinetti's La Grotte amoureuse, and with the portrayal, in L'Inutile Sagesse ( 5-vii ) , of the hostility of sirens ( "Garez-vous du sourire enjoleur des SirEmes") . Marinetti's poems just cited, and the remainder of La Ville charnelle, contain no other words, images, or acts that correspond to anything in Lulj and hence, accord­ ing to my method of analysis, they cannot be called sources. Lul recounts a descent to lower and hidden spaces, in images that Carl J ung would interpret as archetypes of the unconscious. The ex­ perience is far more profound than a mere dream adventure or a con­ catenation of unrelated acts of the type found in Onirocritique. The poet has begun his quest ( " Sirenes j 'ai rampe vers vos grottes") and is prepared ("J 'agite un feuillard " ) to attack the monsters ("leurs yeux etoiles bestiales" ) ; the descent begins ( " Sirenes enfin je descends ... Les degres sont glissants " ) , and he associates it with a change of psychic space ( "Je descends et Ie firmament I S'est change tres vite en meduse ") ; at the end he attains his goal (" Dans Ie nid des Sirenes loin I Du troupeau d'Hoiles oblongues" ) . The libido read into such passages by critics can be justified only by the presence of "LuI de Faltenin" among the seven swords in Le Mal­ aime. Despite the fact that Lul was retitled Fragment in 1908, t he re is no reason to suppose that it has any other relationship to Le Mal-aime than the name LuI, which in fact has exactly as little connection with either poem as does the title Pipe, unless this too is erotic. One might note that the name of another of the seven swords, " Sainte Fabeau, " appears in Onirocritique, associated with a tongue in a text quite free from phallic suggestions. One can imagine that "J 'agite un feuillard detleuri" might represent the frustration of "Ie mal-aime, " but it might just as well allude to the sword of King Bombance, or of Perseus descending to attack Medusa ( Ovid IV. 655 ) . The story of Lul revolves around sirens, grottos, medusas, and pre­ sumably underwater spaces! The grottos and the descent seem more • Breunig published the manuscript of lIul in the Revue des sciences humaines, No. 84 (Oct.-Dec., 1 956 ) , pp. 401-412, dated "5 novembre 1907," a final revision that illustrates the recent nature of its contents and rules out early dating. 8 Pleiade, p. 1059. Serres chaudes is particularly rich in psychic and dream images : "les serpents •

IV. The Visions of 1908

43

basic than the sirens, who are depicted as monsters. In La Fuite ( 5-vi ) , "un chant de sirene" and "les troupes de meduses violettes ... au fond des mers" are merely occasional images. In Le Printemps we find "les genies des grottes, " but no context. The quatrains in V endemiaire give us "Ie regard lumineux des sir?mes ... sur l'ecueil de Scylla, " which is not p articularly distinctive, and was perhaps suggested by Marinetti, who tells of flying over Messina and Etna. Verhaeren offers a fairly detailed context, with psychic colors, but develops no concept : La-bas, en des grottes, ou des yeux d'eau Voient scintiller de nageantes cuirasseli Et d'enormes fleurs rondes flotter, Co=e des lunes, qui se deplacent, .J'entends, sous leurs fluides rideaux, Les sirtmes violentes chanter '" Le corps baigne dans l'or, les Sirenes s'appellent (Verh., Oeuvres, p. 334 )

Verhaeren may well be the origin of certain elements in Marinetti's La Grotte amoureuse, and of the general theme, as it appears, for in­ stance, in A Claude Debussy, a poem by the futurist Paolo Buzzi ( 8xii ) : a colleague of Marinetti's. We shall return to Buzzi's poem in our examination of Vendemiaire; it seems to illustrate an illumination akin to theosophy. Buzzi interprets Debussy's music as he listens to it during a performance of PelUas et Melisande : udi=o .... fremere la capace urna del Teatro : entrammo nei mondi bassi.. .. so=ossi pel frenetico spasimo dei suoni .... E fu=o aIle grotte azzurre .... E Ie meduse frusciano .... e fanno bave piu luminose che .... il Scrpe Latteo .... Soave era l'amare dcntro Ie grotte azzurre

This text offers the richest parallels with Lul. It explains "la voie lactee" ( found also in Pip e ) , and Golaud 's sword is an object vital to the story. Buzzi does not mention the visit to the substructure of the castle, and Maeterlinck's play does not use the words we need for "les degres sont glissants : " The expression "je flambe" appears in different contexts in violets des reves," p. 23 ; "Ie mal des songes afilue," p. 51 ; "l'eau du songe qui s'eleve," p. 67. Maeterlinck uses spatial images ("mon ame enclose sous verre," p. 81 ; "les troupeaux de l'ame au fond d'une nuit d'eclipse," p. 85 ) , including grottos ("mes soeurs sont endormies au fond d'une grotte veneneuse," p. 21 ; "ils entrent a midi dans des grottes obscures," p. 60 ; "les sept filIes d'Orlamonde .. . / Arrivent aux grottes son ores, / Descendent alors," p. 108 ) . One could hardly interpret Serres chlllUdes as phallic ("des glaives bleus de mes luxures," p. 16 ; "un lys erige ... son ascension immobile," p. 26 ) . • I quote Buzzi entirely from Marinetti's anthology I Poeti futuristi, Milan, 1912.

44

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poe tics, 1901-1 914

La Loreley, and, with similar implications, in a quatrain of Les Fian­ �ailles ( "Templiers flamboyants je brUle parmi vous" for a march or for persecution ) , an d we recall the legend of Icarus in L'Ign.orance ( cf. Ovid II. 320 ) . The combin ation of flames and a descent in Le Brasier suggests a project and leads to a source : Je flambe dans Ie brasier ... Descendant des hauteurs 011 pense la lumiere ... L'avenir masque flambe en traversant les cieux

Buzzi's poem proposes a revelation through dreams : N oi vogliam selve di sogno : verdi intrichi, ramure su cui batteron milioni di soli

and the lights and music in the hall fuse in their vibration : L'orchestra vomitava globuli di metempsicosi

Pipe gives us further clues regarding a spiritual illumination : "J 'etais guide par la chouette" shows knowledge of the gnostic doctrines of a particular prototypal guide, not so named in our references, that leads the soul along "Ie chemin qui mfme aux etoiles," and Apollinaire sees himself walking with his "troupe" toward the "voie lactee." In this context, thc statement "j 'ecoutais ces choeurs rivaux" in Lul corre­ sponds to the "choeurs porphyrogenetes" in Pipe, that is, saints and poets " egares dans Ie firmament. " The strongly psychic elements in Lul recall the fact that in Le Printemps and in Le Dome de Cologne: of uncertain date, and in Le Bestiaire ( 8-vi ) , Apollinaire quoted three statements from the ancient Hermetica (" Comme dit Hermes Trismegiste dans son Pimandre " ) : "l'homme a cree les dieux-imaginer pour un homme c 'est creer-Ia voix que la lumiere fit entendre. " The two poems are patchworks of the type already discussed, and Le Bestiaire seems to have been composed during 1906: According to my criteria for versification, evidence of use of the Pimander is centered in this year, but I shall soon examine the possible traces of it in Le Larron. • Le Dome de Cologne was composed in February, 1902, according to the PIeiade edition, p. lix, but its irregular versification is of the type that Apollinaire used in 1912, and it contains images related to those in Zone ("dorures d'enseignes--Christ­ soleil" ) and in Calligrammes ("fils teIegraphiques-la tour Eiffel") . Three tercets echo Heine : "Kobbes" ( Oeuvres completes, XII, 383 ) , "des funkes" ("Funken," XII, 383 ) , "Drikkes" ( XII, 384 ) , "Marizibill" ( XII, 384 ) . The poem is a patchwork of the type of Le Printemps, but much more recent. 7 I base this conclusion on the versification, which includes amplifications of quatrains in five-verse strophes none of which rhyme in ABABA, and on the thematic content, related to LuI and not attested earlier ("Meduses, malheureuses t�tes") .

IV. The Visions of 1 908

45

The Pimander-that is, the hermetic books translated by Ficino in 1471-is the greatest of gnostic books, and had an immense influence . during the Renaissance. Louis Menard's French translation of 1867 was . used by Flaubert, and may have suggested to him, for example, the image of the Phoenix· and Anthony's ride through the cosmos, where we find "la voie lactee" and the Devil 's sophistries. Menard's version is in every way adequate to represent the doctrine: and Apollinaire seems to have had it in hand. In the preface, or in the text itself, he might have found "l'humanite a fait ses dieux. " The statement does not, how­ ever, represent the doctrine, but appears in Book II, the Asclepios, named for the disciple who asks his master, Hermes, for enlightenment. Hermes says to him : " Oui, les statues, Asclepios ; vois comme tu manques de foi. " Either Apollinaire was in turn very naive, or he gave us another enigma. The idea in Le Bestiaire derives from Book I of the Pimander, entitled the Poimandres: "un cri inarticule qui semblait la voix de la lumiere. " I have not located the third quotation. The most interesting books in the Pimander are : the Poimandres ( Book I ) , for the beauty of the spiritual revelation ; the Asclepios ( Book I I ) for the dialogue with Hermes ; and La Ole ( Book X) for the elaborate doctrine. The Asclepios was surely intended to edify, but it portrays a disciple asking stupid questions of his master, who answers with a system of absurd sophisms. This is the relationship between Anthony and the Devil, and the ride through the cosmos itself might derive from Book V ("Si tu pouvais avoir des ailes, voler dans l'air") . Typical sophistries, if read out of context, are "Ie monde est solide " (Book I I ) , "I 'intelligence est spherique " ( Book X ) , and " iI n 'y a pas de vide" ( Book IV ) . Apollinaire could well have had the Pimander in mind in composing Lul. The opening scene ("j 'ai rampe vers vos grottes-j 'ecoutais ces choeurs rivaux" ) recalls La Ole: "les ames rampantes passent dans les etres aquatiques-il y a deux choeurs de Dieux" ; and "je brUle" might derive from the same book : "je brUle-I'intelligence prend l'ame pour enveloppe, elle prend sa tunique de feu . " The relationship between the Pimander and Pipe is identical. The Poimandres gives us other interesting images. In saying "Je vis un spectacle" it anticipates Le Brasier ( " Et voici Ie spectacle " ) in an appropriate context, and the exhortation "Multipliez en multitude" proposes the concept that I shall discuss below ( e.g., "l'ombre se multi• "Je traverse les firmaments ... , la voie lactee ... , courbant mon corps selon sa forme ovale," La Premiere Tentation, Paris, 1929, pp. 155-156. • Hermetic literature includes many other works, not here in question, that I have classified in Arabic A stronomical and A strological Literature in Latin Translation, Berkeley, 19 55, pp. 5 2-69 .

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901 -191 4

46

pliait, " in Les Fiant;ailles ) . The seven "zones" traversed by the soul set a further word in an aviation scene . The Pimander establishe s a diffe rence between L'Ermite and Le Larron by bringing attention to the enigm as in the latter which are, i n effect, sophistries: " fruits tout ronds comme des ames" ("I 'intelligence est spherique, " Pim., Book X ) , "la triade est male" ( one of the gnostic points of contention ) , "la vue est oblongue" ( cf. "Ie monde est solide" ) , "contre lc feu l 'ombre prevaut" ( "un lumiere ... bientot descendirent des tenebres, " Book I ) , "les yeux des chouettes" ( cf. Pipe ) , and "ceux de ta secte adorent-ils un signe obscene" ( what heresy? ) . Since part of this material might derive from La Tentation and other works, the use of the Pimander in 1903 is not fully de monstrable There remains in Lul a substantial body of occasional images found also in further poems and deriving from other sources. I present these by strophes : .

A : "tiriez aux mers la langue" ; cf. "l'histrion tire la langue" in Le M endiant­

"leurs chevaux" ( of "les mers") ; cf. "Ie galop d'etoiles ... se mille au henissement male des centaures," in Le Brasier, quatrain B, and "les blancs coursiers de Poseidon bondissent" in Heine's La Mer du Nord (Oewvres completes, XII, 1 36 ) . See below, strophe 1. D : "les bateliers ont rame" ; this is a frequent image in Heine and Rimbaud, and cf. Le Mendiant and strophe G below-"mille et mille animaux charmes" ; cf. "betes nouvelles ... hommes apprivoises," in Le Brasier, theater scene, and perhaps the legend of Orpheus-"mes blessures bien-aimees" ; cf. Le Mal-aime and the influence of Marinetti. E : "leurs yeux Hoiles bestiales" ; cf. Le Mal-aime and the influence of Marinetti. G : "feuilloler" ; this neologism is found also in L'Emigrant, Les Fian�ailles, and Le Mal aime "matelots" ; also used in Les Fian�ailles and Le Voyageur "m a ts reverdissent," a phrase alluding, perhaps, to trees on a quay ( the setting of L'Emigrant f ) , and cf. "trois-mats" in Les Fian�ailles ; in 1908 the system of boats no longer relates to the Rhine : "paquebot" (Le Brasier) , "grands vaisseaux" (Le Brasier ) , "paquebot orphelin" (Le Voyageur) . H : "meduse" ; cf. "meduses, malheureuses tetes" (Le BesUaire ) -"je flambe atroce­ ment" ; cf. La Loreley, the Templars in Les Fia�ailles, and the legend of Icarus (Le Printemps, L'Ignorance, and "Un Icare .. je brUle au centre" in Les Fian(!ail­ -

-

-

_

les) .

I : "Ie nid des Sirenes" ; cf. "OU niche l'oiseau bleu" (Les Fian(!ailles) , "aux nids de colombes" (Les Fian(!ailles ) , and "Ie nid de mon courage" (Les Fian(!ailles ) ­ "loin d u troupeau d'etoiles oblongues," for a herd ("Ie troupeau d e sphinx-des centaures dans leurs haras," Le Brasier) , and the stars as horses ("Ie galop des etoiles," Le Brasier) ; both are reminiscent of Marinetti. See Le Mal-aime.

The basic importance and the serious purposes of Lul should be evi­ dent, despite the several enigmas in amusing colors. The thematic con­ tent is intimately related both to the poems L'Emigrant and Le

IV. The Visions of 1908

47

Mendiant and to the project of 1908, and is actually richer than the later pocms as a psychic experience. It is impossible to prove whether the experience was real or simulated, or, if real, what it was, but there is no sign of any specific autobiographical thought. Interpreted as a se arch for a new poetics, Lul would illustrate something of the artifice of Onirocritique, and, regardless of meaning and intent, it is one of the most useful keys for deciphering Le Mal-aime.

ONIROCRITIQUE The title of Onirocritique ( 8-ii ) surely relates to an exploration of dreams, and the work may well be one of the sources of the surrealist techniques of 1924, along with the very similar Chants de Maldoror, by Lautreamont.'o Onirocritique, a prose text, is a concatenation of dream adventures, including visions of self-multiplication ("je me vis au centuple") , and exploits a system of antirationality quite distinct from Apollinaire 's former and later fantasy of dislocations. The dream opens with an image of fire in the sky (" Les charbons du ciel etaient si proches ... Ils etaient sur Ie point de me brUler") , which we find again in Le Brasier ( " L 'avenir masque flambe en traversant les cieux" ) ; the legends of Icarus and of Phaeton have been left behind. The many acts and images could probably be associated with certain sources, the swords and the swimmers for example, but the main parallels suffice to demonstrate Apollinaire 's use of Rimbaud's L'Alchimie du verbe and of Lautreamont. The unity of Onirocritique depends on certain kinds of act set specifically in past time, after the style of Rimbaud in Une saison en enfer. Thus "J 'avalai des troupeaux basanes" echoes "J 'ai avale une fameuse gorgee de poison ... Je brUle" (Nuit d'enfer ) . Apollinaire re­ cites his poem about Orkenise, with a question and answer: "-Qu'emportes·tu de la ville f" "-J'y laisse mon coeur entier."

In the same way Rimbaud mentions his former and outmoded work : EJIe est retrouvee ! Quoi f L'eternite.

Apollinaire 's invocation "0 charretier" recalls Rimbaud 's "0 saisons, 0 chateaux, " and "Je maudissais les astres indignes" combines Rimbaud 's favorite word " maudire " with the abuse of the stars already noted. The sustained enumeration of disj ointed acts and scenes, in a consecu­ tive dream adventure, finds little precedent, however, in Rimbaud, but 10

I

cite Gracq's edition of Paris, 1947.

48

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

is standard in Les Ohants de Maldoror. The relationship to Lautreamont comes to mind in Apollinaire 's repeated refrain ( " eternites differentes de l'homme et de Ia femme" ) , which presents one of the themes of Vierge folle ("I 'amour est a reinventer" ) , a prose text based by Rimbaud on part 32 of Maldoror ( " V oici Ia folIe qui passe ... " ) . A refrain of similar kind constitutes the core of Lautreamont's "Vieil ocean" ( part 9 ) , where we read, in one strophe : "Vieil ocean, 0 grand celibataire ... Ta grandeur morale, image de l'infini, est immense ... comme l 'amour de la femme, comme la beaute divine de l 'oiseau, comme les meditations du poete ... " The parallels are striking : "Des pirates emmenerent neuf vaisseaux" recalls constant fighting on boats, and the brutality of a set of details can hardly leave any doubt : "Un sacrificateur desira etre immole au lieu de la victime. On lui ouvrit Ie ventre ... J e retrouvai sur Ie sol la tete faite d'une seule perle qui pleurait ... Le plus beau des hommes me prit a la gorge . . . A genoux, il me montra ses dents" is a close imitation of part 3 2 : "Maldoror s'est jete sur Ie corps de la j eune fille ... II indique au chien ... la place ou respire et hurle la victime souf­ frante, et se retire a l'ecart pour ne pas etre temoin de la rentree des dents pointues dans les veines roses ... De son ventre dechire, Ie sang coule ... Le sacrificateur s'aperQoit que la jeune fille est morte." Rim­ baud's sadism never arrives at this intensity ( " J 'ai assis la Beaute sur mes genoux ... Et je l'ai injuriee-Je serai oisif et brutal-J'ai fait Ie bond de la bete feroce" ) . Lautreamont's method is closely related to the presentation of Onirocritique. In part 59, at the end of the work, he writes : "Pour con­ struire mecaniquement la cervelle d 'un conte somnifere, il ne suffit pas de dissequer des betises et abrutir ... l 'intelligence du lecteur ... , il faut, en outre ... , Ie mettre ingenieusement dans l 'impossibilite somnambuli­ que de se mouvoir ... , inventer une poesie tout a fait en dehors de la marche ordinaire de la nature. " In Poesie, the preface to Maldoror, he speaks of his project as "epouvantements raisonnes" and "syllogismes demoralisateurs, " and classifies those who join his revolt as "ceux qui sont dans Ie dereglement. " He illustrates his method with the series of metamorphoses of the fish tail and the "crabe tourteau, " in a calm tone that contrasts with the brutality of Maldoror and other "dereglements de l 'alienation mentale. " Rimbaud gives us nothing comparable except his Vierge folle, in which the violence has been attenuated. The influ­ ence of Une saison en enfer on Onirocritique is real, but far less signifi­ cant than it was soon to be on Le Brasier and Les Fian�ailles.

IV. The Visions of 1908

49

LE BRASIER Le Brasier ( 8-v ) brings us back to the Pimander, and shows closer imi­ tation of L'Alchimie du verbe. The concept of illumination is stronger

than in the preceding pieces, and the system of contrasts between new and outmoded poetic manners follows Rimbaud's pattern of "J 'aimais les peintures idiotes ... , toiles de saltimbanques, enseignes . . . , la litte­ rature demodee ... , les contes de fees." In this vein, Apollinaire writes : J'ai jete dans Ie noble feu ... Ce passe, ces tHea de morts

alluding to the range of images of Thais, and his key image, "Descen­ dant des hauteurs ou pense la lumiere, " is already familiar from Lul and the Pimander. There seems to be no influence of Marinetti. We can establish a long series of parallels between Le Brasier and the prose poems of Rimbaud : '" "dans la plaine ont pousse des flammes" ( "Je voyais une mer de fiammes," Rimbaud, Oeuvres, p. 216 ) , "Je flambe dans Ie brasier a l 'ardeur adorable" ("Braises de satin, I Votre ardeur I Est Ie devoir, " p. 232 ; "les brasiers et les ecumes .. . , 0 Douceurs, " p. 292 ; "Enfin . . . , 0 raison, . . . je vecus, etincelle d'or et de lumiere, " p. 232 ; "Je brUle comme il faut, " p. 220 ) ; "Je suffis pour l'eternite a entretenir Ie feu de mes delices" ( " Je brUle comme il faut ... Plus tard, les delices, " p. 220 ; " Quoi? L'eternite, " p . 232 ) , "Puis Ie soleil revint ensoleiller les places I D 'une ville marine parue contremont" ("la cite enorme au ciel tache de feu ... Je vois au ciel des plages . . . Un grand vaisseau d'or, au-dessus de moi ... J 'ai essaye d 'inventer ... de nouveaux astres, " p. 240 ) , " Le galop soudain des etoiles" ("la priere galope, " p. 238 ) , "Voici Ie paquebot et rna vie renouvelee" ( "Je dus voyager ... Sur la mer . . . Le Bonheur . . . , rna vie serait toujours trop immense pour etre devouee a la force et a la beaute, " p. 233 ) . The parallels are ideological, but dispersed, and not of the precise and periodic form we shall find in Les FianQailles; Apollinaire must have reread his model several times. Le Brasier presents a theater in a city by the sea : 1 1 Oeuvres, Bernard edition, p. 230, alluding to Les Poetes de sept ans ("journaux iIlustres-il Iisait son roman" ) . 12 Mme Moulin's treatment o f the iruIuence o f Rimbaud ( Guillaume .t#.pollinaire : textes inedits, pp. 94-1 1 2 ) has nothing to offer regarding Le Brasier and misses the principal points in Les FianQailles. She gets no closer to the source than "certaines affin ites" and "une meme impression," and tends to center the parallels in Le Bateau itvre, whose relationship to L'Emigrant is very tenuous or nil. Most of Rimbaud's images here in question derive from La Tentation, from pictures of Anthony, of the Buddha, the basilisk, and the chimaera.

50

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914 Au dela de notre atmosphere s'eleve un theatre Que construisit Ie ver Zamir sans instrument Puis Ie soleil revint ensoleiller les places D'une ville marine apparue contremont Sur les toits se reposaient les colombes lasses Et Ie troupeau de sphinx regagne la sphingerie A petits pas II orra Ie chant du patre toute la vie La-haut Ie tMatre est bati avec Ie feu solide Comme les astres dont se nourrit Ie vide Et voici Ie spectacle Et pour toujours je suis assis dans un fauteuil Ma tHe mes genoux mes coudes vain pentacle Les flammes ont pousse sur moi comme des feuilles Des acteurs inhumains claires bHes nouvelles Donnent des ordres aux hommes apprivoises Terre o Dechiree que les fleuves ont reprisee

The only precedent in Apollinaire 's verse appears in Le Mendiant: Va-t-en vers Ie spectacle ou des acteurs feront Gemir les femmes grace aux grimaces flebiles ... Va l'histrion tire la langue aux attentives J'attends que passe Thanatos et son troupeau

and the only possible model among sources named to this point is the theater at Alexandria, as described in Tha"is : "Deja Ie theatre dressait devant eux son portique . . . et sa vaste muraille ronde, peuplee d 'innom­ brables statues ... , un etroit corridor au bout duquel s'etendait l'amphi­ theatre eblouissant de lumiere. Ils prirent leur place ... , ... escalier vel'S la scene, vide encore d 'acteurs. " France gives us a " ville marine" in intense light, but no more. We shall soon find better models in Ver­ haeren, Romains, and Buzzi."" Of interest, meanwhile, is the fact that Apollinaire 's theater scene is for the most part set in quatrains of rather archaic content. After the introductory verse, transcribed above, the quatrain rhyming in ABAB presents the worm Zamir as an architect, a figure that recalls both the labyrinth created by Dedalus in L'Ignorance, and the story of the ant that took the thread through the sea shell for him. The next quatrain, rhyming in AABB and irregular in scansion, is archaic in several 13 The earliest pausible influence of La Vie unanime ( 8-ii ) concerns echoes of La Caserne in Le Brasier (I return to others below, p. 67 ) : "sur une place jaune ou flanait Ie soleil" (cf. "Ie soleil revint ensoleiller les plaees," Le Brasier ) , ceil ecrivait

&Bais dana un fauteuil canne" (cf. "pour toujours je suis assis dans un fauteuil" ) , and "l'ordre clair" (cf. "donnent des ordres") .

IV. The Visions of 1908

51

terms : the sphinx ( mentioned in Le Larron ) ; the "troupeau" ( cf. " Thanatos et son troupeau," in Le Mendiant) ; the expression "a petits pas " ( as in Merlin ) ; the "patre " ( as in L'Ignorance ) ; the dead verb "il orra" ( cf. "un dieu choit," in L'Ignorance; " cherront, " in Le Larron, quat. V, and "l'absolu choit," in quat. Y ) ; and "Ie feu solide," meta­ p hysical and close to sophistry ( cf. "un dieu oblong" in L'Ignorance and "l 'absolu choit" in Le Larron ) . Another irregular quatrain rhyming in ABAB adds " vain pentacle, " of the order of " oblong" ("la vue est oblongue," Le Larron; "etoiles oblongues," LUl ) . Finally, three verses rhyming in ABB recall the theater scene in Le Mendiant ( " acteurs in­ humains" ; cf. "acteurs feront gemir les femmes"-"hommes appri­ voises" ; cf. " Thanatos et son troupeau") . One last point of interest regarding the versification of L.e Brasier concerns the five opening five-verse strophes and the theme that they propose, of a break with the past : "J'ai j ete ... ce passe. " Former themes are mentioned ( "ces tetes de morts" ; cf. "0 chef de morte, " in L'Ermite ) , but much of the material is new ("Le galop soudain des etoiles") . The point of interest is the fact that one can remove verse 3 from each stanza without destroying the context, and in this way create a series of five quatrains rhyming ABBA. This might be considered purely fortuitous were it not that the same operation cannot be prac­ ticed on Lul or Le Mal-aime, in which there is no visible trace of the expansion of quatrains by one added verse. LES FIANQAILLES

Les Fianr;ailles ( 8-xii) marks the end of Apollinaire 's poetics of psychic experienee in a gnostic reference of illumination, and contains the first traces of objects of the modern machine world. It is, in fact, his last ex­ periment of this kind before 1912, for the intervening poems either con­ sist of older work revised slightly in several ways, or reflect develop­ ments of older or personal thoughts in different kinds of versification. A manuscript of parts of Les Fianr;ailles allows a searching analysis of the relationship to L'Alchimie du verbe. I noted above the archaic nature of the first three quatrains ; they are followed by six substantial strophes in free verse, of which the first incorporates fragments of other quatrains, and five quatrains appear at the end. The manuscript contains fuller texts for four of the strophes, and echoes from Rimbaud are here particularly strong. The thematic content of the quatrains (" matelots - soleil - dragues - ballots - sirimes - trois-mats " ) relates them to Lul ( "sirimes-soleil-matelots-vergues-mats" ) , and qua-

52

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

train C ( "citrons---c oeurs-suspendus" ) recalls Le Brasier ( "nos coeurs pendent aux citronniers " ) . One of the autonomous passages in La Maison des morts ( 7-viii ) is closely related to Les FianQailles: Le ciel se peupla d'une apocalypse ... Et la terre plate a I'infini .. Se couvrit de mille mythologies immobiles ,

The relationship continues in several symbols. The older text mentions the "fianl;ailles" of a young student as he "passe une bague a l'annulaire de la jeune morte, " perhaps the poet's troth to the past. In the more recent poem, the idea could be a salute to, or a renunciation of, the former imagery that Apollinaire had based on Heine, the cemetery ("des croque-morts avec des bocks-Ies obres qui passaient" ) , and even the "apocalypse, " which was visible for only a moment, as a kind of promise for the future. Time is again fused with the vision of Le Brasier: "0 memoire" ( "rapide comme ma memoire" ) , "ciels mobiles" and "la divine mascarade" ( "Ie ciel se peupla ... de mille mythologies immobiles") , and "les ossements" ( " corps trepasses") . The idea of such retrospective contrasts, and of the finding of some­ thing new and better, could derive directly from L'Alchimie du verbe, and the pattern, added to verbal correspondences, establishes Rim­ baud's work as a source. Rimbaud's theory of progress in artistic ex­ pression is also attested in several parts of Les Illuminations, and represents an important criterion for dates of composition, especially if one examines it in the light of parallels with La Tentation." In L'Alchimie du verbe, Rimbaud lists pell-mell the subjects that formerly attracted him, but they are vague and cannot be related with assurance to specific pieces ( "toiles de saltimbanques, la litterature demodee­ republiques sans histoire-revolutions de moeurs") . He mentions Voyelles ( 1871 ) as distant, and then quotes Larme, Bonne pensee, and Chanson de la plus haute tou r-all of May, 1872. These illustrate his former "vieillerie poetique, " which he describes : "Je m'habituai a l'hallucination simple : je voyais une mosquee a la place d 'une usine, une ecole de tambours faite par des anges, des caleches sur les routes du ciel. " Such subjects are typical of parts of Les Illuminations, and establish contrasts with other parts. His statement "Je disais adieu au monde" has been taken as a final renunciation of poetry, but it obviously ,. I have studied this relationship in detail, and have found that Rimbaud used the passages published in 1857 in his poem Bonne pensee du matin ( May, 1872 ) , and that Une nuit de l'en/er is based almost entirely on Flaubert's portrayal of Anthony, the gymnosophist, and the Buddha.

53

IV. The Visions of 1908

relates to the poems of May, 1872, proof enough of the transitory meaning of " je disais. " The ensuing step ( " J 'aimai Ie desert, les vergers bruMs") might be interpreted, and cryptic allusions ( such as "General, s'il ariously v este un vieux canon" ) must have some relationship to certain ideas of r August, 1872, since they illustrate Fetes de la famine. The fourth step ("Enfin, 0 bonheur . . . , je vecus, etincelle d'or de la lumiere nature" ) relates to L'Eternite, of May, 1872-that is, o f a moment just de­ nounced-but this poem is exceptional in its particular vision ( "Braises de satin, / Votre ardeur") , namely, a doctrine of illumination ( "etin­ celle d'or-Ia mer melee au soleil ") . The last step involves violent images very suggestive of Nuit de l'enfer ("j 'ai aime un porc-Ia terreur venait") ; and as the crisis ends ( "Je dus voyager ... , je voyais se lever la croix consolatrice ... Le Bonheur ! " ) , the attainment traced in L'Alchimie du verbe is defined : " Cela s 'est passe. Je f>ais aujourd'hui saluer la beaute. " Several texts i n Les Illuminations illustrate the same and even further steps. "L 'hallucination simple " is described (Ill., no. XXXIX, and no. XLI, part 2 ) , and something new is added : "A present, l'inflec­ tion eternelle des moments et l 'infini des mathematiques me chassent par ce monde OU je subis tous les succes" ( Ill., no. XXXIX ) . The attain­ ment, whether real or symbolic, is in turn left behind : "Les calculs de cote, l'inevitable descente du ciel ... , Ie monde de l'esprit" (Ill., no. XLI, part 1 ) , and the idea corresponds perhaps with "Mais a present ... , tes calculs ... , tes impatiences, ne sont plus que votre danse" (Ill., no. XLI, part 2 ) . Although the nature of the final attainment is not clear, we may associate the new concept with the "depart dans l 'affection et Ie bruit neufs" ( Ill., no. VIII ) and "l'humanite fraternelle et discrete par l'univers sans images" (Ill., no. XLI, part 2 ) . Certain texts in Une saison en enfer seem also to relate to at least one of the later stages ( "travail nouveau-Ia sagesse nouvelle" ) ; and the final piece, Adieu, proposes completely new ideas in a rich new vocabulary : " clarte divine-Ia vision de la justice-Ies influx de vigueur-une ardente patience-posseder la verite dans une ame et un corps. " Rimbaud now denounces fantasy for its own sake ( "J'ai essaye d'inventer de nouvelles fleurs ... J 'ai cru acquerir des pouvoirs surnaturels-je do is enterrer mon imagination et mes souvenirs-je me suis rendu au sol .. , a la realite rugueuse" ) , but he still feels his solitude ( "Mais pas une main amie ! et ou puiser Ie secours�" ) . Adieu is also unique in Une saison in .

54

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1 914

presenting a panoramic scene ( "notre b arque el evee-I a

cite au ciel­

splendides villes ") .

The texts above fail to set in sequence two elements in Les Illumin a. tions-a desire for wisdom, and the e xt end ed panoramas. Rimbaud dis. tinguishes betwe en lrnowledge and wisdom : "La science est trop lent e.

Que la priere galope et que la lumiere gronde " ( Saison, VII ) , "la science ne va pas assez vite pour nous" ( Saison, VI ) . Further, "la sagesse ete rnelle" seems to correspond to "la sagesse de l'Orient, la patrie primi. tive" ( Saison, VI ) ; and hence "la sagesse nouvelle " of Matin ( Saison, VIII ) may refer to Christianity, but Rimbaud states that that of the East is superior. Rimbaud's "orientalism" needs further study, and it must suffice to associate various of its aspects, especially in Nuit de l'enfer ( Saison, III ) , with Flaubert's gymnosophist ( T., pp. 126-129 ) , with the Buddha ( T., pp. 182-184) , and with various glimpses of Saint Anthony : "je veux boire des poisons, me perdre dans les vapeurs, dans les reves" ( T., p. 226 ) ; "je bois du feu" ( p . 287 ) ; "une coupe de narcoti· que " ( p . 120) ; " cela me brule horriblement. Quels delices" (p. 43--44 ) ; " Ie feu coule dans mes veines. Qu'il brUle " ( p . 228) ; "mes entrailles se tordent" ( p. 26 ) ; "c 'etait l 'enfer" ( p . 30) ; "Ah, demon, va·t·en " (p. 27 ) ; and "je suis done maudit" ( p . 31 ) . Rimbaud 's panoramas also derive from La Tentation. Villes ( Ill., no. XIX ) draws upon Flaubert's presentation of Alexandria and of Nebuchadnezzar 's feast ( T., pp. 31--40 ) for practically all the architec­ tural detail and incidental terms ( "architectures-promontoire-ville neuve, montagnes it l'horizon-neige-constructions--candelabres­ terrasse-plate-forme-arcades--colosses" ) , and the other Villes ( Ill., no. XVII ) is based on a wide selection of images, including a goo d model for Rimbaud's title ( "plus de fetes sur les lacs, plus d 'illuminations dans mon delta, " T., p. 21 1 ) , in a passage from the prose poems that is rich in other detail of present interest ( " ecroulements-avalanches-Venus­ cortege [ of Cybele, T., p. 199] -Diane avec trois rangees de mamelles­ bacchantes- [the cavern of] Vulcain" ) . This survey of Rimbaud's doctrine offers a method for isolation of the influence of the Pimander. Menard 's version was used by Flaubert, but not by Ri mb aud , and the latter arrives at "illumination" not by means of gnostic intermediaries, but directly through the masochism of Anthony, the gymnosophist, and the Buddha. The doctrines also estab­ lish a basic difference between the vision of Apollinaire and that of Marinetti : the former shows no sign in 1908 of developing celestial architectures, except briefly in Le Brasier, whereas Marinetti had ex­ plored this subject extensively since 1903 . Apollinaire sought a new

IV. The Visions of 1908

55

t ics in L'Alchimie, while Marinetti searched for a brilliant system of ages in Les Illuminations, notably for his Les Terrasses de l'amour . vidence of Apollinaire 's acquaintance with Les Illuminations seems to limited to the word " calcu!. " We may now examine the manuscript of Les Fianyailles with respect I fto the range of Rimbaud's changes in ideology and technique, and can �us determine, perhaps, what part of them affected Apollinaire, and :in what way. I set in brackets the parts eliminated from the printed text, and draw attention to certain key words by italics: .

Mes amis ne craignez pas de m'avouer votre mepris [J'ai I'orgueil de me souvenir de mes souhaits glorieux Moi·meme, j 'ai tente de rythmer des poemes si grands que j 'ai dll les laisser inaehev�s Parce que mon souci de la perfection Depassait mon gollt meme et les forces d'un seul homme Mais j 'ai eu cette force ce gout et cette science Et je me suis endormi] Un ange a extermine pendant mon 80mmeil Les agneaux, les pasteurs des tristes bergeries De faux centurions emportaient Ie vinaigre Les gueux mal blesses par l'epurge dansaient [ Puis apres la fuite et la mort de mes verites poetiques J (J m'eveillai au bout de cinq ans une nuit citadine] Les becs de gaz pissaient leur Hamme au clair de lune ...

Apollinaire speaks of his earlier manner ("rythmer des pocmes" ) in one of Rimbaud's terms ( "rythmer l'action" ) , and finds an issue from it in a dream, as an angel destroys the old baggage. The poet awakens after five years, and discovers city life. If we take the statement literally, his sleep began late in 1902, that is, when he left Germany and was first separated from Annie ; in any event, the sleep seems not to relate to any change in his poetics, except perhaps his discovery of Heine, hardly important enough to treat in terms of this kind. One might compare the statement with the "sept ans d 'incroyables epreuves" mentioned in Les Collines ( str. Z ) : if, again, Apollinaire refers to 1902, the verse would have been composed in 1909, which is credible, given the influence, evi­ dent in the poem, of Marinetti 's manifesto of that year ; if, however, the verse was composed in 1913, which is equally credible, the " epreuves" would have begun in 1906, the year of silence that followed L'Emigrant. For the moment, the time intervals lend themselves to no incisive hypothesis. The parallelism with L'Alchimie depends on key words and verb tenses relating to the renunciation of past techniques and the discovery of better ones. Rimbaud writes:

56

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1 914

�

Depuis longtemps je me vantaia de poss6der tous les paysages possibles .. J'aima s . ;. . de saltimbanques, enseignes ..• , 1a litMrature demodee ... J mvental la

les toiles

..

rythmes .. . un verbe poetique-- ... Je m'habituai a mosquee a la place d'une usine .. . , l es mysUJres ... P'lJti.s, j'expliquai mes sophismes magiques avec l'hallu cina·

couleur des voyelles l ... avec des

l'hallucination simple : je voyais . .. une monstres, les

tion des mots I

We might add further detail, explaining Apollinaire 's sleep of a stated duration by Rimbaud's retrospect, "Je tombais dans des sommeils de plusieurs j ours," and explaining the verb in verse 3 of Les Fian,yailles by his "rythmer l 'action. " We have already noted that in Les Fiant;ailles Apollinaire achieved his first full synthesis of head and sun, in an enigma placed after the remains of a quatrain rhyming in ABBA, and presumably an interpola­ tion set here for no logical reason : II vit de capite sa tete est Ie solei! Et la lune son cou tranche

Apollinaire had two possible models for this image in Marinetti, one in the poem to Ferrari ( 6-i ) , based on the theme of "Ie couchant s'ecroule com me un trone ensanglante" (La Ville charnelle, p. 185) : car Ie soleil roule comme une tete coupee sur la foule echevelee

and the other-the more probable source--the portrayal of Sainte Pourriture in Le Roi Bombance: "Elle s'est visse sur son cou un soleil rouge comme tete de rechange " ( p. 249 ) , and again, "Durant les nuits, je me visse au eou une lune . . . , des l 'aurore je fixe sur mon cou un rouge soleil levant" ( p . 257 ) . Les Fiant;ailles offers the earliest date for the introduction of modernist things, in the verse "Les bees de gaz pissaient leur flamme au clair de lune. " Names of this class of man-made objects were common enough in nineteenth-century poetry, and one might argue that the use of such names here proves nothing. Several facts, however, cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence. In the first place, the other early attesta­ tion of machines appears at the end of Le Mal-aime, published in May, 1909, but, according to an anecdote, submitted several months before for publication. Further, L'Alchimie du verbe contains Apollinaire 's verb (" J e me trainais . it la pissotiere de l 'auberge " » and, more re­ markable, the manuscript of Les Fiant;ailles ( Pl., p. 1069 ) contains "les roses de l'electricite poussent," while in the edition the verb has become " s'ouvrent, " a change implying experimentation toward "pissaient. " In ..

[ � r

IV. The Visions of 1908

57

!these circumstances, "bees de gaz" may very well be a detail added at the

jast moment, that is, the innovation that made the poem " new. "

(I L es FianQailles was Apollinaire 's last visionary poem of the psychic � e. We can follow his project as he developed in Lul the fashionable grottos of Verhaeren's day in the light of the Pimander, then turned :momentarily to Lautreamont's manner and technique, to enrich the vision and the doctrine by a liberal use of L'Alchimie du verbe. Just as the experiment of 1905 preceded a long silence, so that of the last days of 1908 marked a break. The publication of Les FianQailles was followed by a rapid succession of Poemes rhenans, and by the unrelated Le Mal­ (lime-materials which he would have us believe he had composed by 1903. A different kind of illumination was to appear in Zone, to round off the poet 's first maj or volume, and our information during more than three years is limited to short occasional pieces, and to the poem for Salmon's wedding ( ll-xii ) . For this long interval we must turn to other kinds of writing, and establish with careful attention the machinist themes as they are illustrated in the work of Romains and Marinetti. The last poem of the earlier period, Le Mal-aime, can be set as a function of the coming silence.

·

V. LA CHANSON DU MAL-AIME ONE MAY SITUATE La Ohanson du mal-aime ( 9-v ) in one of several periods, according to the criteria selected. Its type of versification, con­ sisting of five-verse strophes rhyming in ABABA, is first attested in Lul ( 7-xi ) , and the date of introduction is confirmed by Le Bestiaire ( 8-vi ) , in which various quatrains have been expanded by the addition of one verse ; but in no earlier poem does one find the rhyme scheme ABAB A. Thematic tests confirm this initial detail, and point out parts characteristic of 1904, and other parts, more numerous, that are related to L'Emigrant. Finally, if, as I suppose, Le Mal-aime is specifically a retrospect and a summation of former work, constructed after the pattern of L' Alchimie du verbe, then it may be compared with L e Printemps, Adieux, and Le Dome de Oologne, which it obviously sur­ passes, and in which there is no trace of Rimbaud's work. Le Mal-aime cannot be used as a basis for dating other poems, but its contents con­ firm their themes and help us to demonstrate more sharply the influence of Marinetti at the end of 1905. T he intuitive reasoning that has been lavished on Le Mal-aime has yielded absolutely no information on its date of composition, and no light on the poetic method that it might illustrate. Apollinaire would have us believe that it was composed, in the form in which it was first published, in May, 1903, a year after his sojourn in the Rhineland. Some of its terms and images could represent that period, but to set the poem as we know it at such an early date requires that we totally ignore all kinds of chronological evidence, and that we take Apollinaire 's dating in general, as is true of his dating of the RMnanes, in a symbolic sense. Mme Moulin devotes five pages to meditations on certain strophes, and identifies the name " Sacontale" in Hindu literature. She assumes that Annie is the dominant preoccupation : " Ecrite en 1 903 et dediee au souvenir de l'infidele, La Ohanson du Mal-Aime fremit d'une tendresse inassouvie . . . Oeuvre jaillie d 'un trait, du miracle d 'une exaltation lyrique ininterrompue, la variete des images evite la monotonie que risqueraient d'engendrer cinquante-neuf strophes ecrites sur un meme rythme. '" To this purely intuitive approach, one could counter, by pure intuition, that Le Mal-aime is a catchall for odds and ends that Apol­ linaire had not been able to use elsewhere, a concatenation of proper names intended to give the impression of a vast erudition, a kind of testament of former "vieilleries poetiques, " that is, a receptacle of the type of Le Printemps. 1 J. Moulin, Guillawmc A pollina ire : tcxtes inedits,

[ 58 ]

p. 10.

V. La Chanson du mal-aime

59

S uch unity in Le Mal-aime as one may discuss obj ectively depends on obvious device, the repetition of two different strophes which appear at critical points and establish a dominant theme. Strophe M ( " voie lactee-nageurs morts" ) prepares us for an "Aubade" ( str. O-Q ) ; strophe S (" Chansons pour sirenes" ) reappears at the very end ( str. BF ) ; and the Cossack episode ( str. V-Z ) and that of the Seven Swords (str. AO-AV ) each immediately precede a repetition of strophe M. The sections isolated by the repeated strophes show no demonstrable rela­ tionship to Apollinaire 's work since 1905. The Aubade is a mock-serious parody of traditional songs, with an allusion to Mars and Venus caught by Vulcan ( Ovid IV. 171 ) , and the neologism "feuilloler" is the only other clue to the date. The Cossacks redevelop the sources of La Syna­ gogue, with selected insults and vulgarity ; other off-color detail includes the "cui de dame damascene" ( str. AN ) and the "baisers florentins" ( str. AB ) of the poet's early days. The Seven Swords may reflect the erotic p reoccupations of 1906 and 1907, and, briefly, none of this material is new in 1909. The remainder of the poem allows analysis only accord­ ing to the greater or lesser number of particular terms in a given sec­ tion, and this fact in itself is surprising. There are significant points of difference between Le Mal-aime and earlier work. One notes the absence of autumn colors and, except in the autonomous sections, of the buffoonery of Heine and of Le Roi Bom­ bance. There are several probable allusions to Annie ("Ie faux amour, " str. H ; "mon beau navire, " str. K ; and "celIe quc j 'ai perdue , " str. L ) , and her symbol Eurydice ( "tenebreuse epouse," str. AK ) . L'Emigrant comes to mind in these allusions, for the setting, and for such images as the personification of windows ( "Ies feux de ses fa<;ades--ou se lamentaient les fa<;ades " ) . The theme is no sooner presented, however, than we find disjointed bits of story, of Pharoah and Moses from Heine ( Oeuvres completes, XIII, 269 ) , and of fragments from many sources not here examined. The repeated strophes focus attention on two sets of images, in M, AA, and AW : V oie lactee Il soeur lumineuse an

Des blancs ruisseaux de Chanaan Et des corps blancs des amoureuses Nageurs morts suivrons-nous d'ahan Ton cours vers d'autres nebuleuses

and in S and BF :

Moi qui sais des lais pour lea reines Les complaintes de mea annees De!! hymnes d'esclave aux murenes La romance du mal·aime Et des chansons pour les sirloncM

60

The Evolution of Ap ollinaire's Poetics, 19 01-1 91 4

Setting aside certain story elements, we find in these strophes several echoes of the psychic studies, from Lul to Les Fian9ailles. The psychi c poems themselves, however, represent far more intense poetic experi­ ences than does the Le Mal-aime, in which the images are alm ost non thematic. Our best reference lies in the words, and in the presence of "voie lactee" in Pipe and of "bien-aime" in Lul. Even in these key strophes, however, we encounter enigmas of an old kind ; for example, in the "nageurs morts," for which the best model that I have found appears in Heine 's La Comtesse Palatine: "Ne vois-tu pas ces sept cadavres, qui nous suivent en nageant? . . . C 'etaient autrefois des chevaliers brillants de joie et d'amour" ( XII, 291 ) . It happens that the largest number of special terms and images in Le Mal-aime appear in almost identical contexts in the early verse of Marinetti, whose work can thereby be associated with other images in L'Emigrant. It is possible to demonstrate this influence by parallels in Les Terrasses de l'amour, included in Destruction, and I add to this a few earlier verses from La Fanfare des vagues, of 1902. The latter develops the central theme of La Conquete des etoiles, the volume in which it appears : ' Ah ! vous voila done demasquees, Etoiles ! Infames courtisanes aux seins turgides ... Prometteuses de nean t! Vous voila devan t moi a la portee de rna vengeance ! Oh rna joie ! Oh ! que je savoure l'ivresse effrenee ... Ce sont des pyramides ineandeseentes de eadavres ... Ce sont les cadavres petrifies de vos amants qui sont morts d'avoir bu votre baiser empoisonne !

Much of this imitates Rimbaud 's Les Illuminations: "Oh mon Bien ! Oh mon Beau ! Fanfare atroce" (Ill., no. XI ) , "Remis des vieilles fanfares d'heroisme, qui nous attaquent encore Ie coeur et la tete, loin des anciens assassins" (Ill., no. XXIX ) . Much also is new, and especially the per­ sonification of the stars as enemies, which is reminiscent of the monsters in Lul: " Leurs yeux etoiles bestiales. " We have here the best model for the image in L'Emigrant of " des cadavres de jours ronges par les Hoiles. " A few verses from Les Terrasses de l'amour will illustrate the kind of parallelism that we seek between Marinetti's work and Le Mal-aime, L'Emigrant, and Adieux ( I italicize the words of present interest ) : •I

cite I Pocti futuristi, p. 297.

V. La Chanson du mal-aime

61

Ce fut mon ame inassouvie qui s'abreuya de jail aux parapets, tres haut, parmi l'envol de nos baisers . . . e t Ie grand port a ux ma t s enchevetr�s ... Oh ! comment enchatner nos deux coeurs ivres deji de suivre la douce caravane des Etoiles nomades et leur trot braisillant sur les pentes du cieI ... au crepuscule ... �ur Ies cimes lointaines. Je me souviens de toi, clair visage argen te par la buee des larmes, beau lys epanoui dans Ie trefonds hideux de ma tristesse .. . Helas ! en d'autres bras ... l 'ennui d'un He rne ! voyage ... cherchant l'oubli dans la luxure aux pr ofondeu rs ... co=e un esclave sous la trique de la Mort ! ... r e j a i llissant hors de l'ecume ... tel un nageur lan� ... au ryt h me cadence de ces tribus d'Etailes �migrant en silence par les grands soirs d'ete ! ... Par-deli les balcons aeriens . . . mon coeur bondit, griffes au clair comme un dogue '" ... tels ces jongleurs de foire qui vont mangeant du feu '" Patres noy es dans les brumes du sair ! Chansons . .. qui dorlotez ... ce paysage ... I'n Ie ber((ant, comme un enfant au creux des linges t ransparents et suspendus ... re vois . . . la Nuit vorace ... grimper v e rs nos b ouches . . . devoreuse eternelle d ' esp oi r s et d'or solaire ! .. . S auve - moi , beau Destin I mon Destin bien-aim/!.

•

Marinetti leans heavily on Les Illuminations, but he creates a scene without precedent in this source, of the departure of a woman, and a lover left alone on the docks. The resemblances between Les Terrasses and Le Mendiant are slight, while those to L'Emigrant are basic ; the former poem may contain echoes from Rimbaud, but the latter illu­ strates the broader sweep of vision of Les Terrasses. The only reasonable way to present the parallels is in the form of a concordance, arranged by key terms, and limited to detail that relates to the particular com­ parison between the two poems of Marinetti of the one hand, and Le Mal-aime and L'Emigrant on the other ; to such terms I add a few others that confirm their importance. agenouillent, les quatre vents s' ( AT ) : "emigrants agenouilles," Emig., "6tudiant agenouille," M. des morts, "choeurs s'agenouillent," Pipe. annees, les complaintes de mes (Bl<' ) : "j e me souviens d'une autre annee" ( N ) , "Ies annees regardaient la vitrine," Emig. baisers mordus (AC ) : "baisers florentins" ( AB ) , "longs baisers," Emig., "pour l'eternel baiser," A dieux-"l'enyol de nos b a is ers, " Terr., "baiser empoisonne," Fanf.

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1 914

62

balcon de Paris (BD) -''balcols a�riens ," TefT. Terr. bateau partira ... ne reviendrai jamais (Emig . ) -"un �te rn el voyage," bien.aim�e, si tu ne fus pas (0) : "J'ai chanM ma j oi e bien-aimee" (N) , blessures bi en -aim ees," Lul-"mon De st in bien-aime," Terr.

"mea

bouches nuettes, v o s ( Lu l ) -"l a Nuit grimpe vers nos bouches," Terr. brume : "un soir de demi-brume a L ondres " ( A ) -"dans les brumes du

soir," TefT. claires douleurs (AO) -"clair visage," TefT., "griffe s au cl ai r," Terr. coeurs suspendus, nos ( Fian. ) -"enchainer n os deux coeurs," Terr., "Iinges BUS­ pendus," Terr. de�tin� il amn lis ( A G ) : "nos ilestins" ( AB ) , "douleur qui doubles les destins" (AR ) , "destine destins imp{m6trables" ( AY ) -"Mon beau Destin I mon Destin bien­ aime," Terr. dogue, fidele comme un ( U ) : "Ie s grands chi en s," A dieuz-"griffes au clair comme un d ogue," TefT. emigrants en pl euran t ( Emig.) -"emigrant en silence," Terr., cf. "des emigrants," Serres chaudes. enchainees, annees ( Emig . ) -"enchain er nos deux coeurs," Terr., cf. Palais. env ol ai ent mains s ' ( Emi.g. ) -"l'envol de nos baisers," Terr. esclave, des hymnes d' ( S, B F ) -" c omme un esclave," TefT. Moiles grelottantcs (A Y) : "etoiles bcstiale s, " Lul-"litoiles infames courtisanes aux seins turgides-litoiles sorcieres-etoiles mauditea----e t oiles dlimasquees," Fan/. ; see troupeau below. fat;ades se lamentaient ( D ) : sec personification of buildings below, pp . 68-69. fanfares ( of "c o qs" ) (AU ) -"fanfares, " Fan/. feuilloler ( P ) , LuI, Emig., Fian. griffes, tes ( Fian . ) -" griffes au clair," Terr. joie bi en -aime e ( N, AA ) : "Ma j oie ! " A diew.z;-"O ma j o ie," Fan/., "mon Destin bien-aimli," " s'abreuver de j oi e ," Terr. j oumees veuves ( A dieux ) : cf. "pensec�" in Palais, "annl'es" in Emig. mats et vergues reverdisscnt (Lul ) -"aux mats cnchevetrlis," Terr. n ageu r s morts ... vers d au t r es nebulpuHc s ( M, A \V ) , "dans ses yeux n age ai en t le� si renes" (AC ) , "Ie roi Iloye s'en revient en surnageant" ( B B ) : "mes yeux nagent loin de moi," Fian . 8 un nageur land; au rythme de ces tribus d'etoiles," TefT., and Heine, XII, 290. pont des Reviens-t-en, sur Ie (AD ) : "sur Ie pont du vaisseau," Emig. port d'automne aux fcuilles indecises, dans un ( Emig. ) : "tendaient vers Ie port leurs mains," Emig .-"Ie grand port aux mats enchevetres," Terr. rampant, qui me Buis en (AJ ) : "Sirenes j ' ai rampe vcrs vos grottes," LuI. ronges par les etoiles, cadavres de jour ( Emig. ) -"devoreuse d'cspoirs," Terr. souviens d'une autre annee, je me ( N ) , les Souviens-t-en ( AD ) , souviens t-en (AK ) : "un souvenir de moi," A di eux " je me souviens de toi," Terr. troupeau d'etoiles (LuI) : "traine d'Moiles" (AC ) , "ceux de ma troupe," Pipe, "Ie galop d es M oile s, " Bras.-"Ia caravane des etoiles-tribus d'etoiles-litoilcs nomades-une horde d'etoiles," Terr., "ces troupeaux de mes desirs-Ies troupeaux de l'ame," Serres chaudes_ Cf. "Thanatos et son troupeau," Mendiant. victimes en robe noire, tes ( A I ) : "les mannequins victimes," Emi,q., cf. cadavres. voie l act ee 0 soeur lumineuse ( M ) : "Ia voie lactec," Pipe. ,

'

-"

-

" Cf.

"Centuple. je

nn geant a la su rfa ce

,"

nag-eai vers un archi p el ," Onirocritique ; A pulae ius VI. 1 8 .

"

un

vieillard mort ...

VI. THE WORLD OF MACHINE S HARDLY HAD Apollinaire formulated his poetics of luminous visions than he was distracted by the world of machines and the pathos of city life. The theme first appears in scattered details interpolated at the last minute in Les Fian�ailles and Le Mal-aime, and in several minor pieces, and then, after three years of relative silence, in the powerful experi­ ments that lead from Le Voyageur to Zone. Once more, in December, 1912, Apollinaire shifted his interests, leaving the modern world for the "esthetique toute neuve" of Les Fenetres. The innovations over these years may be followed step by step by comparisons with Marinetti 's manifestos of 1909 and of 1912, with an intermediary reference in Le. Monoplan du pape, of December, 1911. From Le Mal-aime to Le Voyageur, Apollinaire published too little verse to allow a sure interpretation of his new poetic methods. He worked with rhythms, arranging La Maison des morts ( 9-vijix ) to look like a poem, and developed the elaborate and strict patterns of Le POll.t Mirabe uu ( l 2-ii ) , similar to those of A la sante ( dated 11-ix) and Un soir ( 1 3-iv ) . La Porte represents the exact poetics of 1901, but Annie is clearly relatively recent. The two poems richest in modern themes, 1 909 ( 13-iv) and Poeme lu au mariage d'Andre Salmon ( 1 1x/xii ) , pose again a grave problem of date : Apollinaire would have us believe that they were set in their definitive form in 1909, but their thematic content seems more recent. The machinist themes may be defined according to Jules Romains' later portrayal of things and events i n his novel Le 6 octobre, that is, of 1908 : threats of war, problems of mass living, and the recent exploits of the aviators Wright. In the poetry of the time, major themes of this kind took form about dynamic concepts of light rays and of mUltiplicity, perspectives and lines of force, and the "poete-phare " lighting thr world. Verhaeren had illustrated this entire range of ideas, and from his interpretations Romains and Marinetti developed La Vie unanim( and La Ville charnelle. Since Apollinaire seems to have used Verhaeren, knew Marinetti personally, and was aware of Romains' poem, we must. examine the entire scope of modernism and mach in ism in these writers down at least to 1 908. The machinist or technological elements in Apollinaire's work down to May, 1909, are extremely rare. In Les Fian�ailles the reference to multiplicity ( " l 'ombre enfin solide se multipliait" ) seems to belong to the concept more richly illustrated in Onirocritique, and relates perhaps to the Pimander. More important is the apparent allusion to the "poete.

[ 63 ]

64

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1 914

phare " ( "Prophetisons ensemble 0 grand maitre " ) , and especially t he sole example of utilitarian things, "les becs de gaz pissaient l('u1' flamme . " The "bees de gaz " are no doubt ban al ( cf. " autour des bees de gaz l 'air tout ('ntier s'allume, " in La Vie unanime, p. 3 1 ) , but the manu­ script of Les Fian�ailles attests revisions of the image and draws atten­ tion to Apollinaire 's particular interest in it. The only other attestation of machinism appears almost at the end of Le M al-aime: Soirs de Paris ivres de gi n Flambant de l'eleetricite Les tramways feux verts sur l'echin!' Musiquent au long des port ees De rails leur folie de machines

Les cafes gonfies de fumee Crient tout l 'amour de leur� tziganes De tous leurs siphons enrhumes

These ideas have absolutely no precedent,' and bear no relationship to the rest of the poem : artificial light, machines as living creatures ( "l 'echine " ) with human qualities ( " folie " ) , sounds and noises ( " siphons" ) and lines ( "portees") . The hypothesis of interpolation, already confirmed in visual presentation in La Maison des morts and Salome, i s here reaffirmed, as it is even more strikingly in Automne malade ( 13-iv ) and Un soir d'ete ( l4-vii ) , which contain the same kind of short verses ( " Un train / Qui roule . . . ") that echo the final verse of Verhaeren's Les Cathedrales ( "Au bruit d'un train lointain qui roule sur la ville, " O euvres, p. 122 ) , namely, words, them('s, and posi­ tion in the poem all producing the same effect, and implying use of the same method. We may apply the same tests to two other pieces. In 1909 the expres­ sion "J 'aimais Ie peuple habile des machines " and a further suggestion of multiplicity, " Oii naissaient chaque jour quelques etres nouveaux, " have no thematic relationship to the portrait of the lady with the tri­ colored face, except as experiments with futurist or cubist concepts. In the poem for Salmon one finds, besides an autonomous quatrain on Ophelia, such enigmas as "Ie solide espace" and "liberte vegetale" and, relating to factory workers, "ces mains travailleront demain pour nous tous. " These might be interpreted as prophetic notes, related to such ideas as "on renouvelle de monde" and "directeur du feu et des poctes," addressed to Salmon. The anecdote to the effect that the poem was im ­ provised on a bus must be regarded with extreme caution. , Trent" ans debollt ( late in 7-x ) offers the earliest attestati on of such material :

" t rai n-gares-gaz-cigares."

VI. The World of Machines

VERHAEREN AND ROMAINS

Among the poets whom Apollinaire might have imitated in 1908 and 1 909 is Jules Romains. An anecdote, of unknown date, indicates that he had heard some of Romains' work : Louis de Gonzague Frick recited "des passages de La Vie unanime; je sentais que Guillaume Apollinaire ne mordait pas a ces fruits . . . ; bientot il changea d'opinion.'· , Since Apollinaire could have found certain of Romains ' themes in Verhaeren, we must confront these poets, and in so doing also delimit the possiblt, influence of Marinetti. Echoes of Verhaeren permeate Romains' poems of 1904, L' Ame des hommes :3 "La ville enorme emplit l'horizon jusqu'aux bords-que gon­ flent vel'S Ie ciel-je suis reellement, je suis immensement-forces as­ sassines-mes usines-Ia matiere renait jumelle de l 'esprit-Ia detresse des gueux-faubourgs purulents-omnibus grin<;ant-une gare-Ies ponts . . . , leur echine " ; and Ode a la machine: "Reptile d 'acier noir ' " , metal decharne. " His later collectivism appears on occasion in personifi­ cations of abstractions of the type "Les Desirs attroupes comme des taureaux. " Eventually, someone will determine Romains ' evolution during the next four years by dating the contents of La Vie unanime; I have found five dates of prepublication: but the poems in question are weak in the kind of material that we are discussing, either by chance, or because the more powerful presentations are of later date ; indeed, the several parts of La Vie unanime differ greatly in thematic and con­ ceptual content. The social message in Verhaeren's Les Villes tentaculaires and related groups of poems: from 1893 to 1899, is an aspect of the "scientific poetry" that sought reassurance after the wave of helplessness provoked by Darwinism, and found a new support in science." Lines of force are adapted to a theme of a bond among men, and Verhaeren speaks of "une priere unanime " ( p . 155 ) , of "l'appel des forces unanimes" ( p . 300 ) , and o f "les flux unanimes des choses" ( p. 349 ) . The humani­ tarianism is less obvious if the images are removed from context, and the message may vary or disappear in imitations of Verhaeren 's words ' L e Flane ul' des deux rives, IV (Dec, 1954 ) , 19. " Paris : BibliotMque de la Societe des po�tes, 32 pages. ' ''A yant tous les nerfs . . . " (La Vie unan., p. 5 1 ) and "II ne bele pas . . . " (ibid., p. 53 ) in La Phalange ( 7-iii ) ; Espoir (that is, Demain ) in the same ( 7-ix ) ; Fondre (6-vii) and Fragment (6-x ) in Poesia. In this last ( B-vi ) Romains published the ensuing prose texts (e.g., Les Groupes dans la ville ) , and Fragment ( 6-x) is part of a little anthology of the "poeti dell'Abbaye," including A rc os, Duhamel, and others. • The Oeu vrrs are identified above, p. 25, note 5. C . . A. Fusil, La Poesie scientifique, Paris, 1912, analyzes the entire movement . o

66

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

and subjects. We may a ssume that Romains borrowed the basic term from Verh aeren, and reori ented it away from pathos and toward a sociological ideal : "Je suis l 'irruption des forces collectives" ( La Vie unanime, p. 148 ) integrates the poet into the mass of men and of modern dynamism. Romains calls thc crowd " l 'unanime " ( pp. 55, 144 ) , an d merges with it ( " moi unanime, " p . 131 ; "je suis un peu d'unanime, " p. 32 ) . In Verhaeren's work, man's escape from his condition is symbolized by identification with higher values through a process of multiplication : "l 'inquietude se transforme e n multitude" ( Verh. p . 135 ) , " desirs multiplies" ( p. 159 ) , "la force multipliee en bras" ( p. 194 ) , and "je sens bondir mon coeur multiplie " ( p . 300 ) . Romains expresses a similar idea as " il vecut tout l 'hiver entre les glaces pales / Qui Ie multipliait" ( La Vie unan., p. 64 ) and "Ie soleil multiplie " ( p . 227, of 7-ix ) , and we have already noted it in Onirocritique ("je me vis au centuple­ centuple, j e nageai vers un archipel-mes yeux multiplies") and in Les Fian!;ailles ( " l'ombre enfin solide se multipliait") . Other related express ions might include Verhaeren's "Engouffre-toi, mon coeur, en ces foules" ( p. 303 ) and Romains' "J e voudrais m'enfoncer ... dans la chaleur ressuscitante de la foule " (La Vie unan., p. 182 ) and, speaking of the city, " j e voudrais m'infuser en elle " ( p. 203 ) . Onirocritique may well show the influence of Romains, but the concept is very broad and the verbal correspondences elusive and vague. Romains gives us symbols of dynamic emanations ( "je suis l'irruption des forces collectives," La Vie unan., p. 148 ) and of actual bonds ( " ce passant se tient a moi par des milliers de cordes, " p. 3 1 ) , and in Dy­ namisme (ibid., pp. 79-1 15) he establishes atomic and electric rather than social interrelationships. Thus "la force des trams" ( p. 42 ) ac­ quires symbolic value in the form "je me sens a cheval sur des forces" ( p . 30) . Romains' expressions on occasion suggest theosophy ( " des effiuves en cercle emanent de mon corps, " p. 149 ) , but develop no con­ cept or theme. Verhaeren revolts against outworn customs and ways of thinking : Que t'importe les vieiIles sagesses ... Voici la violente et merveiIIeuse ivresse ... Un v as t e espoir, \·enu de l'inconnu ( Verh., p. 302 )

and Romains follows him ( "Nous en avons assez d'etre de simples hommes, des egoismes nains," ( La Vie unan., p. 216 ) . Verhaeren's call to arms' is that of the poet and prophet :

VI. The World of Machines

67

Flambeaux de delivrance et de salut, debout Dans l'atmosphere enorme oil. la revolte bout ; ... Vouloirs nets et nouveaux, consciences nouvelles Et l'espoir fou (Verh., p. 108)

while in Nous, Romains gives us a true manifesto and a more incisive c oncept: Des hommes sont debout et regardent Ie monde : C'est nous ... Nous sommes, a vingt ans, la fla=e qui pense . . . N ous allons vers demain ... Nous balayons Ie tas des tristesses pourries

(Le Vie unan., p. 212)

The synthesis of images, ideologies, and terms of Marinetti's mani­ festo of 1909, and thence of Apollinaire 's Les CoUines, is taking form. The last vital element is an association between the revolt and the machine, fonnulated in passing in Romains' La Caserne :' Alors dans Ie lointain une locomotive Enfonce un siffiement au ventre de l'espace. C'est Ie signal de la revolte ; l'ordre clair Que la force des trains lance aux forces des hommes ... (La Vie unan., p. 42)

Parts of these verses derive from Verhaeren's machines ( "comme un train qui s'ebranle et qui sort de la gare," Verh., p. 212, "un train s'ebranle immense et las," p. 105 ) or from his abstractions ( "la deli­ vrance de mon arne a la matiere," p. 171 ; "l'ame se serre ... et se delivre en cris, " p. 301 ) , but the fusion of elements has become more complete. Several poets of interest for an analysis of Alcools happen to have treated the theater more or less in the light of the concepts mentioned above. In Les Spectacles, Verhaeren portrays the beginning of a per­ formance : Le

rideau a'ouvre : et bruit clarta, rage, fracas, Splendeur l ( Verh., p. 133)

and in Le Theatre Romains gives us the same moment : Le rideau monte ; dans un brusque apaisement Vame totale se recueille ... Les membres et les nerfs et les muscles de tous Travaillent a. forger la grande joie unique (La Vie unan., p. 47)

The differences are manifest : Verhaeren is disgusted, and fulminates against the vulgar display of the music hall, whereas Romains develops 7

See above, p. 50, note 13.

68

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

his unanimist thesis ( "la salle existe," La Vie unan., p . 48) ; this thes is is, however, implicit in Verhaeren ("l'inquietude ... se trans forme en m ul­ titude, " Verh., p. 162 ) . Verhaeren notes that , after the play, "minuit sonne et la foule s'ecoule " ( p. 137 ) ; and Romains observes that "Ie theatre se croit triste soudain et desire pleurer" ( La Vie unan., p. 48 ) , with a personification to which we shall return. The theater, meanwhile, is also the seat of lines of force, which Ver­ haeren interprets in terms of the light ("les vols / Vers la beaute toujours plus claire . . . / Qui s'ouvre en fleurs d 'astres, " Verh., p. 13 5 ) and o f the music ("Et l 'orchestre se meurt o u brusquement halete / Et monte et s'enfle . . . / Des spasmes sourds sortent des violons ... / Mille desirs naissent, " pp. 136-137 ) . Romains is less impressed by the psychic effect than by the element of communication and personification ( "Des mots ... ondulent ... , ils j ettent un poudroiement de pensee irisee ... Le theatre fremit, " La Vie unan., pp. 47-48 ) . Verhaeren's images in­ clude terms which I shall discuss again in analyzing Les Fenetres and Les CoUines ("l 'orchestre se meurt-qui s'ouvre en fleurs") , and for which we may introduce an important intermediary, the futurist Paolo Buzzi, and his poem A Claude Debussy, already cited : the theosophical colors of his interpretation of a performance of Pellcas et Melisande ( "viviam, sommossi, / pel frenetico spasimo dei suoni, " Poeti, p . 140 ) seem to derive in large part from the detail just cited from Verhaeren. ROMAINS AND MARlNETTI

The differences between the work of Romains and that of Marinetti must be measured in the light of the common influence of Verhaeren, and with due consideration of the imagery that Marinetti had developed from Rimbaud. By 1903, in Le Demon de la vitesse," Marinetti was using occasional images of factories, stations, and hangars, and was comparing tracks to snakes. The prepublication dates of about half of the poems in La Ville charneUe allow us to follow his personifications of buildings ( in La Folie des maisonnettes, 5-iii ) , his portrait of the automobile (A mon Pegase, 5-viii) , and the rare echoes of Verhaeren 's pathetic themes ( 6-vi ) , never important in Marinetti 's work. Le Roi Bombance ( 5-vi ) stands apart from this evolution, and appealed t o Apollinaire for dif­ ferent reasons. Romains' poems of 1 904 must be confronted with Marinetti, but I do not believe there is any exchange of influences until 1907. It seems certain that Marinetti 's personifications of buildings predate comparable ones in the work of Romains, and may constitute a real •

Poeti, p. 130 : "hangars-gares-rails-train."

VI. The World of Machines

69

influence. La Folie des maisonnettes ( 5-iii ) offers the elaborate system of fantasy of the Little Houses under the guard of the Bell Tower, who are loved for a moment by the Setting Sun : Les

jeunes Maisonnettes du village sont tristes de prier tous les soirs SOlls l'oeil morne du Clocher noir ! ... Leurs yeux voraces de mendiantes affamees regardent les montagnes glorieuses ... Par un soir trouble, Ie Vieux Clocher perdit la route .. . Les mignonnes Maisonnettes descendirent aussitOt .. . elles entrent, toutes nues, dans l'eau pleine de ciel .,. Tout a. coup Ie Couchant licarlate apparut ... sur un cheval d'apotheose ... Le Couchant litreignit les belles Maisonnettes ... "Entin un long baiser, Seigneur ! " ...

Romains gives us many similar fantasies : "Le soleil aime la ville " (La Vie unan., p. 72 ) , "La ville chante. / Elle crie au Soleil : Vois, je suis bien contente" (p. 75 ) , " contentes de savior que Ie soleil les aime ... Les routes rampent pour depasser l 'horizon" ( p . 1 86 ) , " Les petites maisons restent effarouchees ... Elles ont peur" ( p. 197 ) , "Le soleil donne aux masures / Des pensees meilleures" ( p. 200 ) , "La caserne souffre" (p. 37 ) , "Ie theatre se croit triste" ( p . 48 ) , "Le soleil commence a lecher les vitraux" ( p . 5 7 ) , "que l 'elan total / Mette en marche toutes les maisons" ( p . 68 ) . Romains' personifications of factories rise naturally from the images given above and as elaborations of the figures in Verhaeren. When in L'Eglise Romains writes "Les jeunes usines ! Elles vivent tres fort" (La Vie unan., p. 58) we have Marinetti's manner ; when he adds "Elles fument plus haut que ne sonnent les cloches" the image leaves sensuality for contours, and when he concludes, "Elles font du soleil avec leurs machines" he moves toward the concept we will examine in Apollinaire's Vendemiaire ("Usines ... les ouvriers nus .. , fabriquent du reel a tant par heure " ) . Another concept concerns lines going off to infinity in perspective, a graphic problem that will be discussed as it arises formally in 1911. Marinetti 's portrait of the automobile dwells on the innate force of the machine and on a liberation from space : "Affame d 'horizons et de proies siderales ... Tu t'elances dans l 'Infini liberatcur ... Infini, qui m 'absorbcs avec joie ! " The image is still dominated by the attack against the stars : "J 'accepte la gageure . . . avec Vous, mes Etoiles ... Entin, je me detache et je vole ... dans Ie grand lit du ciel ! " Romains has similar visions ("je me sens a cheval sur des forces," La Vie unan., p. 30 ; "par dela l'hori-

70

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1 901-1 914

zon," p. 42 ; "dans u n desir brutal de galop," p . 67 ; "Ie present vibre dans les volants," p. 7 4 ; "freins de l'automobile," p. 84) , but introduc es stronger geometric references ( "A l'horizon oil s'enfoncent les fils," p . 166 ; "pour prolonger les rues," p. 185 ; "l'entonnoir de la rue," p . 19 ) . Both poets have left Verhaeren far behind, and an interchange of influ­ ences between them seems very plausible. Both poets, finally, develope d their poetics with different emphases early enough to assure us that Apollinaire might owe them something by the end of 1908.

VII. ORIGIN S OF THE POETIOS OF ZONE THE POEM CRr THE AUTUMN OF 1912 saw the creation of a series of poems often con­ sidered as Apollinaire 's masterpieces. The originality of Zone rises from the fusion of personal expression with the brilliant image of Christ set in contrast to pictures of humble people in the modern city. Vende­ miaire, more unified and tragic, portrays the pathos of man's condition in a world of machines, and in form and themes is in a way a companion piece for Zone. These poems are very exceptional in Apollinaire 's work ; in them, the man who both before and after their composition was en­ grossed with his own worries as a creator, looked at the world for a brief moment, and here applied his prophetic insight to a humanitarian theme once and for all. Pity and fraternity were not his permanent preoccupa­ tions ; he and Marinetti were the optimists, while Buzzi was the poet of tragedy. Critics have approached Zone and Vendemiaire from an intuitive point of view, and have located a few possible influences, of which the only one ever demonstrated is that of Les Paques a New York, by Blaise Cendrars.' The critics' meditations have taken the form of praise for Apollinaire 's absolute originality, or of suppositions regarding his in­ tentions and their relationship to his sentimental life. The word "zone," for example, lends itself to a variety of interpretations, none of which invoke any external information. We have, however, developed a rela­ tively sound knowledge of Apollinaire 's working methods, and can view his poems from Cortege ( 12-xi ) to Zone ( 12-xii ) as a series of experi­ ments comparable to the group from Palais to L'Emigrant and the group from Onirocritique to Les Fianr;ailles: a new idea, explored several times in rapid succession, leading to a solution, and then an im­ mediate turn to something different and even newer, that is, the poem Les Fenetres. Apollinaire 's new idea late in 1912 might have been less obscure had he not been working simultaneously on the construction of Alcools, his first major volume, the contents and arrangement of which were surely of the greatest importance in his eyes. After receiving proofs, in Novem­ ber, he published separately both Vendemiaire and Zonej the manu­ script versions of these poems illustrate his working methods and focus attention on separable parts, transpositions, and interpolations, as these may also be identified by other means. The initial idea seems to be rei Earlier discussions of this subject were resumed by Mme Durry, Guillawme Apomna-ire : A lcools, pp. 231-243.

[ 11 ]

72

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1 901-1914

lated to a poem entitled Cri, now lost, that Apollinaire brought back with him from London on August 12: It has been assumed that th is poem was a preliminary version of Zone, since the latter was entitle d Cri in the proofs ; and an anecdote tells us that Apollinaire read a poem called Zone to friends in October, but the nature of this poem is also unknown. It is true that Zone contains one cry ( " L 'aigle fond de l 'horizon e n poussant un grand cri, " v. 59 ) , but it appears in a passage absent from the principal manuscript, dealing with aviation, and based on Mari­ netti's Le Monoplan du pape ( II-xii ) : "une grappe d'aigles furibonds . .. raux] cris dechirants" ( Mon., p. 68) . The cry, meanwhile, is basi c and thematic in Cortege and in Vendemiaire, and, in contrast, is not at all so in Zone, even in the aviation section. Let us consider a new cluster of words : "eri-cortege--vendange--zone," all of functional and thematic nature in Marinetti's new poem. In Le Monoplan, the aviator tells of the danger of flights of birds and insects, and gives us a theme and several key words : Admire plut6t la splendeur de ee cortege de fiammeches qui fusent plus belles pue des hirondelles (p. 70) La mer ... s'envole ... vers rna bouche, en poussant ses cris bleus ". (p. 323 ) ce long cortege de sauterelles Adieu, cberes hirondelles ... je vais rever longtemps a votre eortege mordore ... belles fiammes ... dans la rose ronfiante de l'helice

(p. 66)

If the cry is really a theme of Vendemiaire, it has a double function, as the cry of cities and the cry of men , exactly as in Buzzi's Il Canto della CittO, di Mannheim: Lancio il mio grito d'entusiasmo ehe rombi dal ponte dell'Elba ad Altona .... Ie voci prossime d'Olanda e d'Inghilterra

(Poeti, p. 166 )

Here is a parallel for Apollinaire 's image "les villes du nord repondir­ ent." The pathetic cry is a function of the title, and is related to Ma­ rinetti 's scenes of butchery or of lava flowi n g down the sides of E tna : "Elles crevent parfois, rouges. Griserie des vendanges ! " ( Mon., p . 285 ) , and, i f one adds the word " grappes, " i t i s the leitmotif o f Vende­ miaire, " en grappes cramoisies dont les grains hurlent" (Mon., p. 1 04 ) . 2 PIeiade, p. lxvii. Concerning possible contacts in London note (dated July 1 1 , 1912 ) : "Londra non si occup?l, per tutto il mese di marzo, che dei pittori futuristi" (Poeti, p. 41 ) .

VII. Origins of the Poetics of Zone

73

Apollinaire may here utter a " cri de lassitude, '" but he found his word, and many other words, in poetic sources. Our last term, "zone," was suggested by the same source. It was standard in futurist theory ( "detruire Ie sentiment de la zone geo­ graphique," Marinetti, Les Mots en lib erte futuristes, p. 39, and "une zone de vie intense , " p. 40 ) , and is thematic in Le Monoplan, the action of which is situated " dans Ie ciel, " among " fuyantes zones d'espoirs dores" ( Mon. p. 240 ) and above "la mer ... ces zones d'emeraude" ( Mon. p. 294) . The meaning is not that of Rimbaud's "zone , " but of his "bandes" of colors, distances, and perspectives. FUTURIST WORK AVAILABLE TO ApOLLINAIRE It is essential to avoid a vague and general treatment of futurist influ­ ences, and to specify the exact poem or passage in which parallels ap­ pear. Apollinaire had at his disposal, at determinable dates, a certain body of work. By 1909, he could have read the first manifesto and three volumes of verse by Marinetti, and Buzzi 's Aeroplanij and, by the end of 1911, Marinetti's Le Monoplan du pape. By early September, 1912, he could have known I Poeti futuristi, an anthology prefaced by Mari­ netti's manifesto of May 11 and the "reponses " to obj ections, of August 1 1,' and containing several poems by Buzzi later collected as Versi liberi. A comparison between I Poeti futuristi and Alcools draws attention to facts that we have in part already noted. Marinetti reproduced various of his early poems, such as La Fanfare des vagues, Les Terrasses de l'amour, and La Folie des maisonnettesj he gave no part of his mani­ festo of 1909, but selected from Le Monoplan two chapters, "En volant sur Ie coeur de l'Italie" ( Mon. pp. 7-25 ; Poeti, pp. 351-362, in Italian translation ) and "Fonderie de la bataille" (Mon., pp 303-3 13 ; Poeti, pp. 327-332, in the original ) . From Buzzi's Aeroplani, Marinetti re­ produced Ditirambo napoletano ( Poeti, pp. 120-130 ) , Il Canto della filandiera ( Poeti, pp. 133-137 ) , and A Claude Debussy (Poeti, pp. 138-144 ) ; and he drew upon the forthcoming Versi liberi for two poems that I shall cite in discussing Vendemiaire : Al Porto d'Amburgo ( Poeti, pp. 166-169 ) and Il Canto della Citto, di Mannheim ( Poeti, pp. 173-176 ) . One further bibliographical problem concerns the texts of the mani­ festos. Those of May and August, 1912, were translated into Italian for I Poeti futuristi, and were included later in the complete collection 3 Pleiade, p. 1044.

• The date August 11 is given for the "reponses" in I Manifesti del futurismo, Florence, 1914, p. 103, but not in I Poeti futuristi j the first trace of the latter volume is a review in the Mercure de France of Sept. 1, 1912.

74

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

of I Manifesti del futurismo. In order to cite the originals, it is, then , necessary to use three volumes : Enqu8te internationale sur le vers libre, et manifeste du futurisme, by Marinetti, for the text of 1909 ; Les Mots en liberte: by Marinetti ( whieh will be cited below as Mar. ) , for the texts of May 11 ( pp. 13-26 ) and August ( pp. 27-33 ) , 1912, and that of May 11, 1913 ( pp . 35-80 ) , with its ideograms ( pp. 81-93 ) ; and I Mani­ festi, for the manifestos by Boccioni, Carra, and others, relating to painting and music. The range of parallels between Alcools and Le Monoplan proves in the first instance that the selections in I Poeti futuristi are insufficient for our present purposes. As for the lost poem Cri, completed by August 14, we can only imagine what its contents might have been, and, if Apollinaire then knew of Marinetti's manifesto of August 11, it may have been in London and through some personal contact. The exact date of I Poeti futuristi is unknown, but I assume that it appeared soon after the date of the "reponses, " which represent its most recent content. The most plausible supposition is that Apollinaire learned of Le Mono­ plan just before or in the course of his trip to London, and that the relationship with Cendrars' Les Paques has no bearing on this event. I merely state these suppositions as those that fit best into the evidence. LE VOYAGEUR AND LES COLLINES The earliest attested trace of Marinetti's influence in poems by Apol­ linaire first published in 1912 appears in Le Voyageur ( 12-ix ) , and the influence seems to be limited to the manifesto of 1909. Since Les Collines, first known in Calligrammes among poems of 1913 and 1914, is the only other poem by Apollinaire that reflects this source, we may treat its content here, and return to its more recent parts in the discus­ sion of Les Fen8tres. This presentation is awkward, but represents the only way of maintaining the chronology. I noted above that the verse in Les Collines alluding to "sept ans d'incroyables epreuves" might date plausibly either from 1909 or from 1913, and our only other clue to the date of the poem is the close correspondence between its last strophes and Les Fen8tres and Liens. The manifesto of 1909 must be read as an imaginative rather than a technical document. Like Apollinaire 's "Meditations esthetiques" on the cubist painters, it suggests very few concepts or technical devices, and expresses enthusiasm for new things in figurative and appreciative style. From this point of view, it is a fusion of recognizable sources, and, •

Les Mots en liberte futuristes, Milan, 1919 ; I believe that the date Aug. 11, 1912,

on p. 80, is an error.

VII. Origins of the Poetics of Zone

75

in the following excerpts, my italics will draw attention to the key terms : Nous avons veilla toute la nuit, mes amis et moi, sous des lampes de mosquee, . . . nous avons discuta aux frontieres extremes de la logique ... Un i=ense orgueil gonftait nos poi trines, a nous sentir deb out tous seuls, comme des phares ou co=e des senti· n.elles avancees, face a l'armee des etoiles ennemies ... Seuls avec les mecaniciens dans lea grands navires, seuls avec les no irs fant6mes . . . Et nous viola brusquement dis· traits par Ie roulement des enorrnes tramways a double etage, qui passent sursautants, barioles de lumieres, tels les hameaux en fete que Ie Po deborde ebranle tout a coup et deracine, pour les entrainer, sur les cascades et les rernous d'un deluge, jusqu'a la mer.

The concept of the "poete-phare" was implicit in the speeches of the Idiot in Le Roi Bombance ( "Nous sommes quelques-uns parmi les choisis ... sur les cimes du monde, et nous communions entre nous, " p. 76 ) , and Marinetti echoes other of his early terms in later parts of his first manifesto ( "Debout sur la cime du monde, nous lan<;ons ... " ) . We have noted the same idea in Romains, La Vie unanime ( "Des hommes Bont debout et regardent Ie monde ... Nous sommes, a vingt ans, Ia flamme qui pense ... Nous balayons Ie tas des tristesses pourries, " p. 212 ) , and one prototype in Verhaeren." It is quite possible that Romains recalled the idea to Marinetti, and suggested not only the general scope of the manifesto, but several further ideas, such as " les plus ages d'entre nous n 'ont pas encore trente ans, " and "la Mythologie et l 'Ideal mys­ tique sont surpasses, " and even the project of burning museums and libraries. It is clear that, regardless of any other similarities, Marinetti had in mind Baudelaire's poem Les Phares, for his own "phares , " and for such further models as " coeur gonfie d'orgueil-des fantomes puissants dans les crepuscules-un cri repete par mille sentinelles. " Nothing prevents our associating with the same source the key verses in Les CoUines: Certains hornrnes sont des collines Qui s'elilvent d'entre les ho=es Et voient au loin tout l'avenir

but the relationship with Marinetti is multiple, and other echoes of Baudelaire 's poem are limited to two verses in the final and more recent section of Les CoUines ( "Le bal tournoie au fond du temps ... Leur verse un champagne irreel" ) , and the image in Baudelaire ( "Qui versent la folie a ce bal tournoyant" ) finds other parallels in futurist poems. Marinetti may also have had Rimbaud in mind in creating certain •

Cf. "ees voyants ... s'erigent," Verhaeren, Oeuvres, p. 160.

76

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1 901-1914

images ( cf. "je voyais ... une mosquee a la place d 'une usine, " in L'Alchimie ) . The manifesto of 1 909 offers the best model I have found for the protracted image in the quatrains of Le Voyageur which I have already related to the general range of Heine's themes, without locating the source for the idea of an army of shades carrying lances. We find here the only other mention of the act "mourants roulaient vers l 'estuaire " ; and in strophe C of Les Collines, also unique in Apollinaire 's poetry to this date , we find the apparently related act "l'ouragan deracinc l 'arbre qui crie," which echoes the manifesto ( "les hameaux en fete que Ie Po '" deracine, pour les entrainer . . . jusqu 'a la mer") . Thc image also appears in Le Monoplan ( " Je suis un arbre revolte qui se deracine, " Mon., p. 9 ) . Marinetti continues : " II faudra ebranler les portes de la vie . . . Rien n ' egale Ia splendeur de l' ep e e rouge [ du soleil] ... dans nos tenebres ... La splendeur du monde s'est enrichie d'une beaute nouvelle .. , La poesie do it etre un assaut contre les forces inconnues ... " The first verse of Le Voyageur comes to mind : "Ouvre-moi la porte ou je f rappe." There is a good model for it in Verhaeren : -Ouvrez, les gens, ouvrez la porte, je frappe au seuil et a l'auvent, ouvrez, les gens, je suis Ie vent qui s'habille de feuilles mortes. ( Verh., p. 269 )

This, however, represents the only correspondence, and implies no ideology. In contrast, the manifesto also offers at this point minor de­ tails for Les Collines ( "une epee nue-splendeur" ) , and a model for the act "Nous trav ers ames des villes" in "Le grand balai de la folie . . . nous poussa a travers les rues." Marinetti gathers his machinist images in a long enumeration : "Nous chanterons les grandes foules agitees par Ie travail . . . ; la vibration nocturne des ... chantiers sous leurs violentes lunes electriquesj les gares . . . avaleuses de serpents qui fument ; les usines suspendues aux nuages par les ficelles de leurs fumees ; les ponts aux bonds de gym­ nastes ... , les paquebots fiairant l'horizon ; lcs locomotives ... qui piaffent sur les rails, tels d'enormes chevaux d'acier . . . " Much of the detail ap ­ pears in La Vie unanime, but a few key terms are peculiar to Marinetti. We read in Le Monoplan : "Phares ! pauvres pecheurs ... paquebots qui roulez par . , . les vallees de la mer . . . usines . . . que Ie cyclone a deraci n ees " ( Mon., pp. 1 8-19 ) , and we have, all told, the basic terms for a number of images in Les Collines ( " laissons sibiler les serpcnts-qui s 'avale")

77

VII. Origins of the Poetics of Zone

and especially in Le Voyageur ( "paquebot' orphelin vers les fievres futures-l'orphelinat des gares-sonneries electriques des gares") . Two verses in Le Voyageur establish the last parallels : Traineau d'un boucher regiment des rues sans nombre Cavalerie des ponts nuits livides de l'alcool

The first image has no counterpart in our sources, and might merely be a thing seen, or a subject found in Ohagall ; and the last image belongs to the broad theme of pathos which we shall consider soon. The other images find counterparts in a short passage from Fonderie de la bataille ( Mon., p. 309 ) in which also appear terms of basic importance in the earliest pieces of Calligrammes: La bataille me suggere la vision d'une fonderie immensurable. Ces villages flamboient comme de hauts fourneaux ! Cette cavalerie lancee a l'air de travailler comme une usine Dans les moules des collines les reginn ents chaufl'es au rouge ardent ... Tragique enchevHrement de tous les fils des vies tissecs ensemble ...

We have here the terms for the two images in Le Voyageur, other terms of the machinist theme, the title for Les CoUines, and the core of the poem Liens ( 13-iv : " cordes faites de cris-cordes tissees-tous les amoureux qu 'un seul lien a lies" ) . The parallels given above situate Le Voyageur on a comparative basis, and imply knowledge of Le Monoplan as well as of Marinetti 's manifesto of 1909. The fact that Fonderie de la bataille is included in I Poeti futuristi might be of importance, and, from a negative point of view, the dependence on other parts of Le Monoplan for similar scenes in Cortege and Vendemiaire tends to associate these works and establish a different and more recent interest. Les Collines is richer in the same early terms ( "collines-orgueil-sibiler-machines-aigles-profon­ deurs-univers-volonte-force-carnaval-serpent") , but also con­ tains what seems to be a more recent set of ideas best illustrated by Buzzi and situated chronologically by Les Fenetres, in which their use must be examined. Les Collines resembles Le Mal-aime in striking ways, and in this light may be interpreted as a rupture with the past and as a work associated from another point of view with the year 1909. These two poems have ' C f. in Le Brasier, earlier than all the examples above : "Ie paquebot de renouvelee. "

rna

vie

78

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

the same form, a long series of five-verse strophes dealing pell-mell with various subjects, and in the more recent text enumerating more directly certain past events ("Un vaisseau s'en vint dans Ie port-Une autre fois je mendiais-J 'ai traverse Ie ciel splendide ") . Both refer back to precise dates, and Les Collines specifically breaks with former times ("Et j e ne veux plus admirer / Ce gar<;on-J eunesse adieu") . On the one hand, Apollinaire echoes the excessive egotism of Rimbaud in his claim to particular prophetic insight ; on the other, the terms and con­ cepts are more elaborate and lyrical. A few verses from Buzzi will anticipate the analysis of this new intensity : i frastuoni degli altri Mondi che soli i Poeti ascoltano, soli fra gli uomini Prima di te .. . furono Ie ombre.... La poesia fu gustare i dolci veleni anemici deIl'anima .... Ora mi sento un nuovo sole sovra il cuore

(Poeti, p. 169)

.

TRIADS O F ANGEL

(Poeti, p. 105 )

CHORUSES

"L'Archange aux ailes radieuses, " in Les Collines, and Buzzi 's image "gli uomini volano come gli arcangeli" ( Poeti, p. 175 ) , focus attention on an image that associates La Blanche Neige with the present elabora­ tion of themes. Critics have meditated on the date of composition of the poem, and have, on occasion, attributed it to Apollinaire 's first years. According to my criteria, its versification must set it after 1905, and its use of variable rhythms of a basically strict kind would associate it with the period of Le Pont Mirabeau, or, in view of the irregular rhymes, even later. Its images are constructed about a number of words not used before, and it presents a unique scene : Les anges les anges dans Ie ciel L'un est vetu en officier L'un est vetu en cuisinier Et les autres chantent

One element in the poem recalls the frescos in the tombs in Tha"is: "On remarquait des cuisiniers ... , d 'autres plumaient des oies" ( Th., p. 256 ) , and Apollinaire adds that "Le cuisinier plume les oies." Another ele­ ment consists of the triads that we found attached to the end of Salome ( " Le roi sa tabatiere . . . ") and to the end of Automne malade ( "Les feuilles / Qu'on foule . . . " ) , and interpolated into Le Voyageur ( " Quelqu'un avait un furet ... " ) . This last poem comes closer to La Blanche Neige in the image "i! s'envolait un Christ " ; and two verses in Vende­ miaire ( vv . 143-144 ) give us further points of comparison :

VII. Origins of the Poetics of Zone

79

Les cites les destins et les astres qui chantent Les hommes a ge noux sur la rive du ciel

-that is, again, a triad, a song, and men in the sky. The entire range of detail in La Blanche Neige appears in Le Mono­ plan: Ce nuage elegant-blond enfant de choeur Il s'agenouille sur les gradins du ciel ... (Mon. p. 190 ) Ces trois nuees d'argent sont si vivantes ... QU'elles vont bientOt chanter . (Mon., p. 200) ..

... l'attelage melodieux des A nges. Tout est blanc . . Plumages de tendresse ... Mon monoplan Be mele au choeur des Seraphins .

( Mon., p. 211 )

We can add other terms from a chapter of the Monoplan already quoted, "Les Batteries de soleils" (Mon., pp. 87-99 ) : "des uniformes ... comme des nuages-chaque pierre est aureolee d 'angoisse j aune-Cependant Ie soleil se multiplie-Je vois vibrer les corps ourles des officiers, " and can locate, in a single work, sufficient models for "vetu en officier-bel officier couleur du ciel-te medaillera d'un beau soleil. " The rhyme " neige : n'ai-je, " found also in Marie, emphasizes the importance of a further rare word, found in Les F'enetres ("blanc de neige" ) and in Les eoUines ("il neige " ) , and also in Le Monoplan ( "la neige tombe," p. 230 ) . It would then seem, from various points of view, that La Blanche Neige was composed in 1912, and probably late in the year.

VIII. THE GENE SIS OF ZONE THE EVIDENCE to this point, and further information in the sources and the manuscripts, allows a division of Zone into four autonomous parts­ a presentation of man's fate, a vision of the Redeemer, a picture of Christ as an airplane, and a suggestion of a modernist doctrine not yet anticipated by Apollinaire in any way. In my interpretation, Cortege and Vendemiaire are experiments that may, in one way, lead toward Zone, but may, in another, leave it aside in the use of a combination of technical and visual effects that relate rather to the "esthetique toute neuve " of Les Fenetres. The most recent innovations in Zone assume, in fact, the doctrinal tone of a manifesto, attached to a composite poem of several distinct periods. THE PATHETIC THEME

The pathetic theme represents the simplest p art of the poem, and also the most exceptional. It is peculiar to Vendemiaire and to Liens, and is distinctly less typical of Apollinaire's innate optimism and love for fantasy and color, or of his pretension to special insight into abstract and higher values. The theme is far more characteristic of German poetry-for example, of " realistic expressionism" and one of its points of departure, Verhaeren-and it establishes a basic difference between Marinetti and Buzzi, the former more and more violent, the latter meditative and reflective. Buzzi's Ditirambo napoletano, of 1908, salutes the great poets of Naples and gives us a brief picture of poor people arriving in port ; Poveri and Dagli ospedali explore suffering at the same date. Four years later, in Il Mortorio di Bibia, the theme is more intense ( " Tetano 0 mazurka") , and the aviator sees Mannheim and Hamburg dominated by machines, not merely decorated or sym­ bolized by them. Marinetti in his plane thinks of tactical problems and delights in strafing soldiers or bombing boats. During the war, Apol­ linaire cried: "Comme c'est beau toutes ces fusees." 1 In Zone we find immigrants and the Savior ; in Vendemiaire the suffering is associated with laboring hands paid by the hour. Verhaeren portrayed men in a mechanized world: S ous les hangars tonnants et lourds, ... Des gens peinent loin du solei! : Morceaux de vie en l'enorme engrenage

( Verh , p. 101 ) .

and his images often appear in the semiprosaic alexandrines, with variable counts, of Zone : 1

M cTt'eillc de la guerre, Pleiade, p. 2 7 1.

[ 80 ]

81

VIII. The Genesis of Zone Leurs yeux sont devenus les yeux des machines

(Verh., p. 101)

Voici les travailleurs casses de peine, Aux six coups de marteaux des j ours de la semaine

( p. 119)

The "vers prosa'ique que pour la premiere fois Apollinaire emploie systematiquement" in Zone is not to be associated with La Synagogue: where the tone is set by jibe and insult, but with Verhaeren, who gives this rhythm in intimate association with pictures of Christ in the modern world : Dans les couvents, les chapelles et les eglises Les verrieres, ou les martyres sont assises, Jonchent Ie sol et s'emiettent comme du chaume ; Un Christ, exsangue et long comme un fantome, Est lacere et pend, t el un haillon de bois, Au dernier clou qui perce encor l'or de sa croix ; Le tabernacle, ardent et pur, ou sont les chremes, Est attaque, il. coups de poings et de blasphemes ...

( Verh., 1 7 2 )

and again : Et les vitraux, peuples de siecles rassembIes Devant Ie Christ-avec leurs papes immobiles Et leurs martyrs et leurs heros-semblent trembler A u bruit d'un train lointain qui roule sur la ville.

(p. 122 )

Here w e have the technique o f a good part o f Zone : rhymed couplets with a monotonous lilt, certain grammatical constructions such as "Est lacere" or initial verbs to introduce second verses of compound sen­ tences, and, if not in the verses above, at least in L'Ivresse ( Verh., p. 326 et seq. ) , long series of autonomous couplets, and large numbers of incisive six-syllable hemistichs: Cendrars' Les Paques Ii New York uses this technique and a compar­ able set of images, and offers more numerous parallels with Zone. It was composed, according to Cendrars, in April, 1912, and nothing suggests that the date is not exact or that the poem was revised before publication at the end of the year. We need merely compare it with Cendrars' Prose du transsiberien, published in January, 1913, to see the basic differences and the result of Cendrars' use in this new poem of the work both of Apollinaire and of Marinetti. Critics have long suspected that Apollinaire discovered Les Paques in October, 1 912, and hastily incorporated borrowings from it into • I protest against the statement in the Pleiade edition, p. 1043.

• A complete survey of the versification of Zone is needed to define the twelve·syl­ lable couplets and single verses and those in thirteen or more that can be read as twelve : thus the sequence in the Christ vision (Z., vv. 60--70 ) , of unknown source, might reveal some particular technique.

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

82

Zone. While to my mind this is not precisely true, it does seem to me that there is a clear debt. Mme Durry, who was of the same opinion , reproduced long series of verses to illustrate the parallelism,' but did not offer a decisive demonstration. I give here fewer verses, carefully selected, and with the key terms in italics. In the opening scene of Les paques· we read : 16

battait a grands coups les portes du monastere

and immediately afterward, a meditation : 21 22 27 28 32

Je ne Vous ai pas connu alors-ni maintenant. Je n'ai jamais prie quand j 'etais un petit enfant ... Je connais tous les Christs qui pendent dans les musees; Mais vous marchez, Seigneur, ce soir a mes cotes ... Et vos mains tout autour palpUent d'etincelles

In Zone, much of the same tone and terminology echoes the ideas and images above : 75 76 77 78 79 80

Tu entrerais dans un monastere Vous avez honte quand vous vous surprenez a dire une priMe Tu te moques de toi et comme Ie feu de l'Enfer ton rire petille Les etincelles de ton rire dorent Ie fond de ta vie C'est un tableau pendu dans un sombre musee Et quelquefois tu vas Ie regarder de pres

The correspondence is further attested by other verses, such as "la honte te retient / D'entrer dans une eglise" ( Z., v. 10) and "J'aurais voulu entrer, Seigneur, dans une eglise" ( Pdq., v. 157 ) . In Zone, the principal pictures of the poor are concentrated in a single passage : 121 122 123 129 130 133 134 135 136

Tu regardes les yeux pleins de larmes ces pauvres emigrants TIs croient en Dieu ils prient les femmes allaitent des enfants

Ils emplissent de leur odeur Ie hall de la gare Saint· Lazare ... Quelques·uns de ces emigrants restent ici et se logent Bue des Bosiers ou rue des Ecouffes dans des bouges ... n y a surtout des Juifs leurs femmes portent perruque Elies restent assises exsangues au fond des boutiques Tu es debout devant Ie zinc d'un bar crapuleux Tu prends un cafe a deux sous parmi les malheureux

The same material appears in very much the same order in Les Paques : 69 70

79

-----

Seigneur, la foule des pauvres pour qui vous fHes Ie Sacrifice Est ici, parquee, tassee, comme du betail, dans les hospices. Seigneur, dans les ghettos grouille la tourbe des Juifs.

G-uillaume .&pollinaire : .& lcoo1s, pp. 237-243. • I quote the Poesies completes, Paris, 1944.

•

83

VIII. The Genesis of Zone Ils viennent de Pologne ... Ils sont dans des boutiques sous des lampes de cuivre Seigneur, les humbles femmes ... . . . au fond des bouges, sur d'immondes sophas . . . Je voudrais Hre Vous pour aimer les prostitu6es ... Je descends les mauvaises marches d'un caN Et me voici, assis, devant un verre de thli.

80 83 89 90 91 131 132

..•

Dispersed echoes add to the resemblance : "bouge " and " exsangue" (paq., vv 167, 174 ) . The remaining examples concern verses peculiar to the manuscript" of Zone and establish the influence as having been a bit earlier, and presumably before some or all of the borrowings from Marinetti. I arrange them in the order of their occurrence in Les Paques: 74 Des Russes, des Bulgares, des Persans, des Mongols . . . .

80

Ils viennent de Pologne et sont tous fugitifs

Apollinaire develops a theme of Poland ( "grand royaume ") in greater detail ( e.g., "Ils viennent de Russie, de Roumanie, il y a des Polonais," Decaudin, p. 79 ) . 96 . .. pour aimer les prostitu6es ("de lamentables prostitu6es," ibid., p. 98 109 187 189

80) . Dcs vagabonds, des va-nu-pied, des receleurs ("Des maquereaux, des distributeurs de prospectus," p. 80 ) . . . . la lueur des b ecs de gaz ( " b ecs de gaz sont eteints," p. 81 ) . Les metropolitains roulent ( "vers Ie m6tropolitain," p. 81 ) . . .. du feu et des fumees ("les folies de ma vie et ces fumees," p. 77 ) .

Ditirambo napoletano offers fewer identities with Zone, but estab­ lishes a more intense pathos, and contains several details not found in Les paques. Near the port Buzzi finds a church ( Poeti, p. 120 et seq. ) : E Ie sirene, dal porto, cantilenavano .... Una campana tonante in cima d'una chiesa finiva a morir via negli echi dei sestieri

as in Zone: "La siri'me y gemit I Une cloche rageuse" ( Z., vv 19-20) . Both poets cross the city ( " caminava oramai" ) and find an ideal ( "10 ti cercai e ti vidi" ) , the shade of a poet associated with the Savior : .

Io m'inchiodai Poeta volontario per la vita, come un Cristo alla Croce .... .... Ie stelle facevano fochi d'artifizio .... Io ti sentiva resuscitato alto sui margini ....

The role of the poet is defined by his need or longing for purity and •

Published by Decaudin, whose pagination I note below.

84

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics,

1 9 01-1 914

renewal, and his act is set among brilliant lights and an extensive system of sounds abscnt from Les Paques and related to Apollinaire 's vision in Les Fenetres and the last part of Les Collines. In realistic colors, Buzz i also paints pitiful immigrants : Urlavano in porto Ie Sirene nunzianti l 'arrivo della umana carne . . . . Venivano, Ie o r d e di quei miserabili. . .

.

nei volti crostati d'echimosi e lividi d 'asfissie . . .

.

Mi facevano pieal perche ridevano d 'una follia ch'era saviezza . . . .

To explain " J 'ai une pitie immense pour ... une pauvre fille au rire hor­ rible " ( Z., vv. 142-143 ) , we need this combination of pity and laughter.' THE " FEM MES ATROCES "

The suppression of the words " de lamentables prostituees" and "des maquereaux" in Zone suggests that Apollinaire may have found the terms excessive. His feelings revolve, then, about a cluster of words such as "femmes-rire-atroce-pitie," with near synonyms ( "ex­ sangues" ) or special details ( "ventre" ) . The pity is implicit if the woman or her laugh is frightful. The element of sexuality in such an attitude is perhaps real, but cer­ tainly secondary, and Apollinaire 's pity goes to men as well, but as men. J.-P. Barrere, in his article "Apollinaire obscene et tendre , " states that sexuality is "Ie probleme peut-etre central" in Apollinaire's work. Ac­ cording to Barrere, "repondant au desir, la nature entiere se charge de formes erotiques." I fail to find phallic symbols throughout A lcools, and particularly in the metaphor "Nos cheminees it ciel ouvert engros­ sent les nuees, " as Barrere does." lIe applies his thesis to a sensualism of heavy drinking, and construes the "grappes" of Vendemiaire in this sense instead of considering the title of the poem and the theme of harvesting men, with wine as their blood. The sensualism, if any, lies in Apollinaire 's souree-Marinetti and his delight in brightly colored destruction. , The "innombrables 'passantes, filles d'un jour" eited by Barrere" include lists of girls' names, not necessarily real, the buffoonish joke of Lia's pregnancy in La Synagogue, and no doubt certain thoughts of sex. The only important passing women are, however, Marizibill and Rose­ monde, in the two poems of these names published in July, 1912 ; and 7

Cf., in Serres chaudcs ,' "Ayez pi tie de ceux qui sortent" and "Ayez pitie des

mains trop pilles," pp. B

•

74, 88.

Renl e des sciences h umaincs, No. 84, pp. 376, 381, 383. I bid., p. 375.

VIII. The Genesis of Zone

85

the only significant libido except in occasional enigmas appears in Merlin. We have traced Marizibill and Rosemonde back to Heine, but they may also represent girls actually seen by Apollinaire. In Le Dome de Cologne, in which Marizibill is named, we have a typical masculine joke ("les fesscs d'une demoiselle de Cologne ") , the echo of a story ( "Ie Palais de Rosemonde " ) , and an anecdote concerning an unidenti­ fied man who might be Apollinaire ( "Marizibill ... un rendez-vous avec son gros amant") . "Madame Rosemonde," in Palais, may sit on the lap of the adulterous monarch, but she fills no stated role. One can read " nous aimons les filles eperdues" in Le Printemps as one likes. Women attract men, and in bravado men may mock them, but sexuality of this kind is largely a social matter, and, more important, no theme of pity can be found. The two poems published in July, 1912, represent a new theme. In Rosemonde, the only precise statement is that Apollinaire followed a girl "un jour pendant plus de deux heures" at Amsterdam. Marizibill, in contrast, tells of a prostitute at Cologne brought there from Shanghai by a Jew, and ostensibly merely glimpsed by Apollinaire as she passed. The poem contains the words "bordel, " strong for our poet, and "maquereau, " deleted from Zone, and the parallels with Les Paques, besides the two examples of " Chinois" in the latter, include "puis buvait ... dans les brasseries borgnes" ( paq., vv. 131, 133, 138 ) . The evidence does not suffice to demonstrate an influence, but it is clear that by July Apollinaire was approaching a theme of women in a new light. The poem 1909 introduces stronger pathos. "La dame avait une robe " allows an initial supposition of sex, and " elle riait elle riait" adds a term that I consider vital.'o Four verses toward the end almost form a quatrain, rhyming ABBC, all in twelve syllables except the first, which can be so read : J'aimais les femmes atroces dans les quartiers enormes jour quelques @tres nouveaux Le fer etait leur sang la fla=e leur cerveau J'aimais j 'aimais Ie peuple habile des machines

ou naissaient chaque

The coincidences multiply. We find here two expressions deleted from the manuscript of Vendemiaire ("Ie peuple habile des machines-Ie fer etait leur sang") , plus an idea of pity and of multiplication by 10 In .A tta Troll, the portrait of Habonde (Heine, Oeuvres completes, XII, 50-5 1 ) , named b y Apollinaire i n Arbre ( sp,e below, p . 1 12 ) , includes fair parallels for "avait une robe" ( "un leger peignoir" ) , "sur l'epaule" ( "je n'ai j amais vu de pareilles epaules") , "elle riait" ( "elle n'aurait fait que rire") , "un visage aux couleurs de France" ( "un frais visage, rose et potele, comme en peint Greuze") .

86

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

machines. The parallels associate 1909 with the autumn of 1912, and in no way imply that Vendemiaire was composed in 1 909. After the deletion of "prostituees" and "maquereaux, " the pathos of Zone relates to poor women, and sexuality is no more implied than in pity for poor men. We find a "jeune fille laide" at Amsterdam who is to marry a student ( Z., v. 109 ) , a portrait of "la plus laide ... j 'ai une pitie immense pour les coutures de son ventre" (Z., vv. 139-142 ) , who may be a prostitute, and the two allusions "j 'humilie maintenant a nne pauvre fiUe au rire horrible " ( Z., v. 143 ) and " les femmes sont en­ sanglantees" ( Z., v. 81 ) . These cryptic images probably defy rational analysis, but the city name recalls Rosemonde, in which the girl is not ugly ; in Le Roi Bombance there is an " incision cesarienne" ( p . 202 ) and the expression "les soutures de mon ventre" ( p . 87 ) ; and for the bloody women we may note the scene of wholesale decapitation in Le Monoplan, part of Marinetti's grape-harvest fantasy. The absolutely exceptional nature of the theme in Apollinaire 's work, the numerous coincidences, and the strong verbal parallels, establish the range of parallels during the autumn as strangely similar both to Le Monoplan and to Les paques. EXPRESSIONIST

T HE MES IN VENDEMIAIRE

Far more than Zone, Vendemiaire reaches a cosmic rather than a realistic and anecdotal level. The material is more closely knit, and no such massive passages as the Christ visions can be isolated. The cosmism in Zone relates to a ride through the sky, and is in this sense comparable to the scenes created in La Tentation and the Pimander. Vendemiaire is divided into shorter strophes or sections, punctuated by cries or calls, and unified by a theme of a harvest of blood and such terms as "grappes" used in several kinds of image. The entire vision is seen from the air, and the humanitarianism attains its most concentrated form . We must interpret the "universelle ivrognerie" in this symbolic sense, allowing a pessimistic thought of general despair, but certainly exclud­ ing Apollinaire's "sensualism" and his " interest in liquor. " Various images in Liens ( 13-iv) illustrate the same idea of fraternity among men and nations, not even implicit in the other poems of this period. It is wholly unrealistic to insist, entirely on the basis of induction and an identification of Scylla and sirens with the Sicilian earthquake," that Vendemiaire was composed in 1909. The Strait of Messina was seen and sung by Marinetti and Buzzi, who flew over it, and in Le Monoplan, 11 In the Plliiade edition the dating is elliptical rather than categorical : "la forme politique, que rien ne nous force dans Vendemiaire it dater de la fin de 1912" ( PI., p. 1074 ) .

VIII. The Genesis of Zone

87

among the many references to the grape harvest, we find the destruction of the vineyards on the slopes of Etna. For a limited part of the thematic material, Verhaeren's La Revolte and Les Usines offer a point of departure. These poems present the machine age of laboring hands ( Vend., vv . 42-49 ) , in which connection cries and blood are not mentioned. Verhaeren gives us the hanging Christ that Cendrars could have imitated, and for Vendemiaire we have possible models for " nuees fameliques" and "nos mains innombrables" ( vv . 46, 73 ; cf. "des multitudes fameliques") ; " Ixion Ie createur oblique " ( v. 74 ; cf. " d'enormes tours obliquement dorees") ; "les clochers" (v. 30 ; cf. "toute la mort en des beffrois tonnants" ) ; "Ie long des quais" ( v. 10 ; cf. "Voici les docks") ; and "nos cheminees ... engros­ sent les nuees" ( v. 13 ; cf. "les brasiers des toits ... jusqu 'aux nuages, " or "la fumee ... s'envoler et balayer les grands cieux, " or, in Les Usines, " dresser leurs feux '" vers les nuages") . Les Usines contains " che­ minees" and "fabriques" ( v. 44 ) and "usines" (v. 47 ) , and the scene "aux carrefours '" les bars : Etains, cuivres ... D'ou luit l'alcool," recall­ ing the "nuits livides de l'alcool" in Le Voyageur. The theme of blood in La Revolte ( " C 'est la fete du sang-Ia seve humaine ") is incidental and in no way associated with a harvest, nor are the key words and themes of "vendange-vin-grappes-grains-pressoir-fleuves" implicit or stated. The most significant circumstance is that the best models for these terms appear several times in poems by Marinetti and Buzzi side by side with equally good models for the revolutionary imagery of Les Fenetres and the last part of Les CoUines. To some extent Apollinaire separated the two clusters of terms, but left them together in "un enfant regarde les fenetres s 'ouvrir / Et ces grappes de tetes ... s'offrir" (vv. 57-58 ) , and we may define the two levels of terms by the notion of rising smoke as cloth woven in the sky, from "usine" to "tisser la lumiere." The grape harvest appears frequently in Marinetti's poetry begin­ ning in 1903, and is enriched in Buzzi's aviation scenes ( " fu fatta vendemmia di stelle, " Poeti, p. 107 ) and in the acts of war (Poeti, p . 110) : Sogno una Bandiera diversa, tutta bianca da tingere ad una vendemmia di vene trucidate

Le Monoplan develops the theme in the scenes of carnage of lava on the slopes of Etna, first "cette mer de feu" ( Mon., p. 35 ) , then an "enorme pyramide de hurlements noirs" ( p . 37 ) , and finally "la vendange piHinee " (p. 3 9 ) that leads to the picture of bombed boats ( "trois cuirasses") that we shall note in analyzing Cortege. The volcano itself

88

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1 901-1 914

offers sufficient motivation for Apollinaire 's allusions to Sicily an d Scylla ("J'ai pour complice Ie detroit de Messine, " Mon., p. 45 ) . In this section of his work, Marinetti identifies himself with his plane ( p . 20 ) , and his plane with "un homme blanc, geant" ( p. 22 ) , and we soon find a "grappe d'aigles" ( p. 68 ) and "la splendeur de ce cortege " ( p. 70 ) . Hence Apollinaire's theme is modeled on "ce tumulte rouge de raisins ' " e n corolles d e vin, pour arroser les spectateurs" ( Mon., p. 39 ) , and, with­ out sexuality, "les femmes ensanglantees, " an echo of the wholesale decapitation of the women in "Les Batteries de soleils" ( Mon., p. 104 ) : Et par·dessus Ie parapet, en grappes cramoisies dont les grains hurlent ... C'est un ruisseIlement humain ... Ie jet puissant de la fontaine de sang ... sur l'immense campagne assoifi'ee qui la boit

The key term is "grappes, " used in Vendemiaire in this sense : Tous les grains ont muri pour cette soif terrible Mes grappes d'hommes forts saignants dans Ie pressoir Tu boiras a longs traits tout Ie sang de I 'Europe ( Vend., vv. 121-123 ) Les raisins de nos vignes on les a vendanges Et ces grappes de morts dont les grains aIlonges Ont la saveur du sang de la terre et du sel (vv.

68-70 )

Buzzi develops the same theme in Al Porto d'Amburgo ( Poeti, p. 167 : "tutti gli affamati. . .. Ie mense profuse di sciampagna . . . . l'ebbrezze musi­ cali . . . . del vasto grappolo umano, odor di misesria") . Apollinaire uses his key word in another sense : 12 Ces grappes de nos sens qu'enfanta Ie solei! Se sacrifient pour te desalterer trop avide merveille Nous t'apportons tous les cerveaux les cimetieres ( Vend., vv. 24-26 ) Un enfant regarde les fenetres s'ouvrir Et ces grappes de tHes a d'ivres oiseaux s'offrir

( vv. 5 7-58 )

imitating the many examples in Le Monoplan ( "grappes d'aigles, " p . 68 ; "des grappes succulentes de sons, " p. 248 ; " grappes de visages, " p. 340 ) . His " chants d'universelle ivrognerie " (v. 171 ) echo the symbolic inebriety of Marinetti's scene of the exploding casks ( Mon., p. 285 ) : EIles ere vent parfois, rouges. Griserie des vendanges I FoIles beuveries des victoires prochaines ! 12 In L 'Inut ile Sagesse ( 5-vii ) , Marinctti gives us "grappes de fillettes, " and, for Zone ( see below, p. 1 0 0 ) , "pe rroquets crierent. "

VIII. The Genesis of Zone

89

Apollinaire 's chorus of cities is more than a mere series of voices. Flying over Milan (Mon., pp. 161-166 ) , Marinetti sees "cheminees­ usines-fabriques-Ies ouvriers suants" and "trois cents mille ouvriers / ruissellement ... aux eclats metalliques. " He perceives the bond that j oins industry to the sky ( Mon., p. 109 ) : La Campagne romaine ... la vision d'une vaste usine electrique ... sous ses iIots cuivres chevelus d'etincelles

but Buzzi 's Il Canto di Mannheim is our best parallel for the tone, and includes images for Les FenCtres and Les CoUines ( Poeti, pp. 173-175 ) : o mio ccrvello

accenditi ai riverberi delle fornaci colore di porpora e d'oro ! . . Manufatturate i tabacchi per tutte Ie nuyole azzurre .... o musiche del canto e dell'orchestra a venire ! Lasciatemi tendere l'orecchio al brivido che assassina Ie anime e Ie sfere ! ... La notte e una stoffa imperiale trapunta di stelle ! Tessetela .... a fiumi, I'Idea sempre pia grande ! .

We have here various images used in verses 41-51 of Vendemiaire ( " cites-metalliques saints-usines-cheminees a ciel ouvert engrossent les nuees-manufactures-fabriques-tissaient un ciel nouveau­ ouvriers nus") , and Al Porto d'Amburgo adds others ( "maschi in lavoro--vapori di solfo--fumi---d elle ciminiere accese, degli uomini sudati," Poeti, p. 168 ) . Although death is intrinsic in Marinetti's j oyous wine press, it is not a futurist theme, and its importance in Vendemiaire must be otherwise explained. In the sections devoted to death ( vv. 26-27, 140-149 ) , the verbal correspondences are slight ( "cerveaux-cris," vv. 26-27 ; "papier tordu," v. 149 ; cf. "papiers douteux-voiles de papier, " Mon., pp. 167, 113 ; "forets de crucifix," v. 152 ; cf. "une emeute de croix-ces rangees de vignobles, " Mon., pp. 10, 301 ) . The voices of cities that punctuate Vendemiaire divide it into move­ ments. Marinetti adores "tous les cris expressifs de la vie violente" ( Mon., p. 24 ) , and we have noted the theme in Apollinaire 's Cortege. When Apollinaire writes "Et les villes du Nord repondirent gaiment " ( Vend., v. 3 9 ) we hear two cries, that of the aviator (Poeti, p. 166 ) Lancio il mio grito d'entusiasmo che rombi dal ponte deII'Elba ad Altona

90

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1 914

and that of northern places ( ibid. ) : Ie voci prossime d'OIanda e d'Inghilterra

One might note in passing that Romains' La Vie unanime contains only a very few images related to this combination of details ( "la ville vers Ie nord ... hommes pauvres et muscles," p. 153 ; "s'etirent vers Ie nord les fils teIegraphiques, " p . 165 ; "voila les gestes blancs que les villes se font ... elles echangent des signes, " p. 187 ) . The allusions to Sicily in Vendemiaire have been associated with the earthquake of 1908, and on this fragile evidence the poem is treated as if it had been composed in definitive form in 1909. The cry of "Et un rale infini qui venait de Sicile" ( v. 6 6 ) and a large number of images and words relate to Marinetti's vision of Etna and his meditations on Garibaldi and Italian national unity ; that is, unless one sets Vende­ miaire back far enough to claim that it is one of Marinetti's principal and enduring sources . .Apollinaire's theme ( vv. 77, 7 9, 8 1 ) Mais o u est I e regard lumineux des sirlmes ... n ne toumera plus sur l'�cueil de Scylla ... Le d�troit tout a coup avait chang6 de face

is an immediate echo of " les sirfmes laissant les perilleux detroits" ( Mon., p. 45 ) or of "la scorie umana di Scilla" (Poeti., p. 126 ) , and the sirens who say " adieu au gouffre" and fly "vers Ie brUlant soleil" ( vv . 88, 90 ) echo the Italian aviator's address to the " gouffres eventres" and his flight to action : "la guerre eclate I " ( Mon., pp. 71, 78 ) . THE .AVIATION THEME Setting aside for the moment the new modernism of posters and papers, to be discussed below, the most recent material in Zone is the image of Christ the airplane, a development of the flying Christ of Le Voyageur, and a fresh application of the key terms "cri--eortege-zone. " Cortege ( 12-xi ) is the earliest attestation of the full influence of Le Monoplan and of I Poeti futuristi. The manuscript fragments draw attention to several apparently autonomous parts and to several emendations. The sequence of verses 24 to 53 is free from all trace of futurist themes, with the sole exception of the image " l'odeur d'un petit chien" ( v. 3 6 ) , which replaces "la saveur du laurier" of the manuscript, used a few verses later and also in Les FianQailles. The emendation is pointed and voluntary, and is fully explained by the manifesto of May, 1912 ( " Ie paysage d'odeurs que perlloit un chien, " Mar. p . 2 1 ) . The date of com­ position of verses 24-53 is indeterminable, and nothing in them need be set after 1908.

VIII. The Genesis of Zone

91

Another manuscript fragment ( vv. 1-20) develops futurist themes ; the expression "hommes volants" w as deleted, and the image "au vol inverse" is not yet used. No manuscript contains the major futurist sequence ( vv. 52-64 ) , but one notes that the first two verses of the latter sequence (vv. 52-53 ) replace the last two of the manuscript, which have been crossed out as if in anticipation of this very "recollage. " Briefly, the manuscript evidence points t o certain materials as innova­ tions of late date. The title word "cortege" in no way suggests the thematic content of the fragments ; and it appears in the poem only once ( v. 60 ) , that is, in the futurist section among flights of birds ; we have noted the presence of the term in Le Monoplan ( " ce cortege de flammeches--ses cris ... ce long cortege--votre cortege mordore" ) . In the same section we find ( vv. 52-68 ) a precise scene unrelated to the principal themes of the poem : Les geants couverts d'algues passaient dans leurs villes Sous·marVnes ou les toUTS seules etaient des iles Et cette mer avec les clartes de ses pr% ndeUTs ... Le cortege passait et j 'y cherchais mon corps ... On me batit peu A peu comme on eleve une tour

which imitates Marinetti's view of the sea" beside Etna ( Mon., pp. 4041) : Des vagues emergent les quilles monstrueuses de trois cuirasses ... que l'insolence des profondeurs sons·marines a rejetes . . . A la surface ... larges tours d'acier ... Ceux·ci se nouent .,. en lIes fragiles

These are some Marinetti's favorite images. Having just bombed a sub­ marine, he cries ( Mon . , p. 298 ) , l'ai decapite. Son cou tranche boit goulllment toute la mer. Mais les algues Ie sufl'oquent

Je

Critics have admired the first image in Oortege: Oiseau tranquille au vol inverse oiseau Qui nidifie en l'air

Marinetti imagines himself as a bird, flying "sur mon aile droite" ( Mon., p. 272 ) and seeing how Sous mes pieds, a l'inverse la campagne prend la fuite to Cf., in Serres cha'Udes : "l'ombre for8ts sons· marines," p. 58.

des

grands

voiliers passe sur les dahlias des

92

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1 901-1914

We have a remarkable coincidence for Apollinaire 's one-winged birds, the "pihis" that he had long since forgotten, a play on the meaning of " inverse , " and a neologism " nidifier" rather like " immensifie it mille metres sous mes pieds" (Mon., p. 252 ) . Le Monoplan suggests a rational interpretation of " ce feu oblong" as the aviator's spotlight, of " mill e peuplades blanches" as the birds he meets in the many " corteges. " Briefly, the echoes include the title, the scene on the sea, the view from the air, an unusual bird, and a number of words not formerly present in Apollinaire 's poetry. This material represents Apollinaire 's new poetics immediately before the completion of Zone. The vision of Christ as an airplane may reasonably be interpreted as the outcome of the exploration of images in Cortege. Apollinaire was amused at Marinetti 's story, and exclaimed, "L'Europeen Ie plus moderne c 'est vous Pape Pie X" ( Z., v. 8 ) . In the chapter of Le Mono­ plan entitled "La Peche du Grand Phoque verni, " Marinetti stops "sur Rome" and imagines a "nuage elegant" as an "enfant de choeur" who "s'agenouille sur les gradins du ciel ... charge d 'allumer tous les cierges des constellations" (Mon.., pp. 108-109 ) ; I have associated this image with La Blanche N eige. Then, at the Vatican, he captures the Pope (Mon., p. 114 ) , "Ie Saint Pontife lui-meme" ( p. 119 ) , and flies through the sky. We shall find him later holding the Pope in his claws, for he and his plane are birds : "mes ailes blanches" ( p. 49 ) , "me voir tournoyer . . . comme un grand oiseau blanc, s i haut ... l 'air est paisible " (p. 198 ) . Apollinaire identifies Marinetti with Christ ("Et change en oiseau ce siecle comme Jesus dans l 'air, " Z., v. 44 ) ; indeed, the aviator says almost as much : "Mon monoplan a l 'air d 'un hom me blanc, geant ... , les bras grands-ouverts" ( Mon., p. 22 ) . Apollinaire's " premier aeroplane " (Z., v. 50) is one of "les premiers aeroplanes dans Ie ciel de Tripoli" ( Mar., p. 37 ) , and, furthermore, it is a "pihi" ( Z., v. 6 1 ) : " "me promener sur l'aile droite" ( Mon., p. 272 ) ; "j 'ai failli broyer mon aile" ( p . 69) , "je tombe sur mon aile droite " (p. 282 ) . "Les diables dans les abimes levent la tete pour Ie regarder" ( Z., v. 45 ) , just as "Pauvres pecheurs ... , levez la tete et regardez ! " (Mon., p. 18 ) . The "cortege " is a vital element in Zone ( vv. 54-56, 58-5 9 ) : Le ciel s'emplit alors de millions d'hirondelles A tire·d'aile viennent les corbeaux ... D'Afrique arrivent les ibis ... L'oiseau Roc ... Plane tenant dans les serres Ie crane d'Adam ... L'aigle fond de l'horizon en poussant un grand cri

Apollinaire has replaced Marinetti by a bird and the Pope by a skull (Mon., pp. 333-334) : 11

On the "pihis" see Decaudin, Le Dossier d'A lcools, p. 87.

VIII. The Genesis of Zone

93

J'enjambe d tire-d'aile votre grande armee en deroute ... Je ne suis qu'un oiseau venu de l'Italie je porte dans mes serres un corb eau effraye

Here again are the " corbeaux d 'Afrique " and the " armees ran gees en bataille" of Vendemiaire ( vv . 74, 152 ) , and another "cortege" and a " cri " (Mon., p. 220) : Et lea hirondelles '" qui dechirent en embrouillent leurs vols fantasquea, lea entendez-vous '

The aviation theme, and its relationship to Le Monoplan, allows a division of Les Collines into four distinct subj ects. The most recent of these is the series of still lifes at the end ( strophes AJ-AP ) , related to the "esthetique toute neuve " of Les Fenetres, which we shall examine in due time. The correspondence to Zone is peculiar to the first two strophes of Les Collines, that is, it appears in one of the places at which Apollinaire sometimes set his latest discoveries. The remainder of the poem deals with prophet ism and passing through the sky, without any allusion to aviation as such, and in this respect it represents the com­ bination of visions and ideas that we found in Le Brasier, that is, Rimbaud 's egocentricity as a seer, and gnostic experiences of the soul, to which Apollinaire has added a number of ideas found in the futurist manifesto of 1909. The parallels with Le Brasier could only be set forth firmly in a complex concordance, and I merely mention " sans instru­ ment" ( str. 0 ) as an echo of "Ie vers Zamir, " and "j 'ai plane si haut " ( str. T ) , and "j 'ai traverse Ie ciel splendide " ( str. AG) as referring to experiences perhaps colored by Le Monoplan but closely related to "Descendant des hauteurs ou pense la lumiere " in Le Brasier. The chronology can only be established by inference. The still Hfes fix the completion of Les Collines after the composition of Zone, and the other parallels indicate work undertaken in 1908 and enriched at the earliest in the following year, at the same time that certain parts of Le Voyageur were perhaps being written. It is clear that these sections are, however, more modern than Le Brasier, in that the older images and enigmas that were still being used in the poems of 1908 have disap­ peared ; and the versification, in unrhymed five-verse strophes, is also plausibly more recent than the ABABA pattern of Le Mal-aime. This last poem comes to mind in the need for a concordance to correlate the themes of Les Collines, fused far more closely than in most poems of Alcools. Finally, Les Collines may have been reworked for inclusion in Calligrammes as an experiment in prophecy, during explorations that characterize several poems of 1913 or 1914.

IX. CUBIST AND FUTURIST AE STHETICS TO MAY, 1913 MARINETTI'S MANIFESTO OF 1909 was primarily imaginative, and his poetics in Le Monoplan illustrate no other progress than a tendency to consecutive narrative and richer images. In May, 1912, he formulated a series of positive ideas regarding techniques, and added even more striking ones a year later. The painters and musicians, meanwhile, had issued several manifestos, each in turn more precise and specific, and a well-planned aesthetics was available beginning in 1911. The futurist theory concerns Apollinaire first with regard to his es­ says on cubist painting, then for the " esthHique toute neuve" of Les Fenetres and the last part of Les Oollines. An interesting double cur­ rent is established in this way, since the "esthHique toute neuve" leans heavily both on futurism and on the most recent work of Robert Delaunay. Apollinaire classified Delaunay according to a concept of " orphisme" announced on October 11, 1912, but left him as a minor and marginal figure in his book on Les Peintres cubistes; the other painter of present interest, Chagall, does not appear in this book, though he has as much right to as do Delaunay and Marie Laurencin. Apollinaire 's book, bearing the subtitle Meditations esthetiques, is primarily imaginative, as is Marinetti's manifesto of 1909, and con­ tains very few direct statements of doctrine, either conceptual or technicaL The lack of a true theory in no way diminishes the importance of the work, for Apollinaire championed the cause of several great painters against a hostile public. The sequence of studies begins in 1910, when the futurists published La Pittura futurista ( April 1 1 ) and Oontro Venezia passeista ( April 27) . In 1911, the musicians manifested on January 11 and March 29, and the painters on February 11, and in the following year La Scultura futurista appeared on April 11. The first traces of Apollinaire 's ideas appeared in his "Vie anecdotique" on October 16, 1911, and in "Du sujet dans la peinture moderne" in February, 1912. He collected and interpolated these and other writings on March 17, 1913, as Les Peintres cubistes. Briefly, the date of first attestation of his statements and ideas must be determined with the greatest care, given his propensity for revision, addition, and incorporation of new information from current sources. External evidence on the chronology of the new ideas must be sought in letters and other manuscript documents not as yet available. One key figure may well be Soffici, whom Apollinaire met in 1 903 and who [ 94 ]

IX. Cubist and Futurist Aesthetics to May, 1913

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founded La Voce in Florence on December 20, 1908, at the critical moment of reorientation: Soffici was a particular friend of the cubists, and presumably hostile to the futurists. Marinetti's frequent presence in Paris, and his desire to make his latest ideas known, allows for an element of oral transmission, and the nature of his lecture of February, 1 910, at the "Maison des etudiants, " should be determined, as well as the date of the meeting of Apollinaire and Carra in 1911. It is not neces­ sary to abandon this search and fall back on a system of ideas that were in the air ; it is not a question of honors or priority, but of interpreta­ tion of the concepts as they arise and their relationship to specific masterpieces. One of Marinetti's master concepts appears in 1909, in the image of the steering wheel " dont la tige ideale traverse la terre," and another concept is embodied in the constant insistence on motion and dynamic forces, "la beaute de la vitesse," and particularly on the plane and its propeller. The futurists were preoccupied in 1909 with light and all kinds of wave motion, often in combinations : "les ressacs multicolores et polyphoniques des revolutions dans les capitales modernes, la vibra­ tion nocturne des arsenaux. " Marinetti states that "Ie Temps et l 'Espace sont morts" and moves toward scientific relativism. These and other notions were elaborated by the painters in April, 1 910 (Manifesti, pp. 27-30 ) . Space is here interpreted as a " sensazione dinamica" and is illustrated by the geometric figure of a running horse : "non ha quattro gambe : ne ha venti e i loro movimenti sono triangolari. " Perspectives assume the form o f lines and lights : "una strada bagnata dalla pioggia e illuminata da globi elettrici s'inabissa fino al centro della terra. " Light rather than color is a basic element of their dynamism : "II moto e la luce distruggono la materialita dei corpi. " A concept of divisionism remains vague : " Questo naturalmente ci porta a concludere che non puo sussistere pittura senza divisionismo. II divisionismo .... deve essere un complementarismo congenito." The allusion could be to fracturing objects, but later statements involve Seurat and Signac. Two other statements are of interest, ( 1 ) that "10 spazio non esiste pili" ( Carra later replaces space by time ) , and ( 2 ) that "noi porremo 10 spettatore nel centro del quadro, " carried further in 1912 ( "10 spetta­ tore .... partecipera all'azione, " Manif., p . 65) . The idea that "i! volto umano e giallo, e rosso, e verde, e azzurro, e violetto" echoes, perhaps, fauvist techniques, names the favorite futurist colors, and recalls Apol­ linaire 's woman with the tricolored face in the poem 1 909; and in 1 A useful reference for the details mentioned here is Guido Bello's Modern Italian Painting, New York, 1958.

96

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1 914

Manifesti we have one of many possible models for the colors of L es F e netres ( " Du rouge au vert tout Ie jaune se meurt, " and, in another verse, " insondables violets") . The ideas formulated in the " Prefazione al Catalogo delle Esposi­ zioni, " on February, 1912, are very intimately related to Apollinaire 's theory in Les Peintres cubistes, collected essays published in March, 1913. Certain essays are richer than others in new concepts, and may represent the most recent parts ; the scientific reference applied to Picasso and Gris is of interest, and the analysis of Picabia and Ducha mp illustrates the eurrent debate on "subjects" and on the dismembering of obj ects. In discussing one such subj ect, Duchamp's "nus," Apollinaire says that he is writing in "automne 1912, " a detail added plausibly on account of the particular paintings named. In February, 1913, the futurists attacked cubist theory, and Apollinaire 's book contains some of the very material which they attacked. The actual priority of the theory is of less interest than the light it throws on the concepts, but the influence of Picabia on Apollinaire 's ideas seems significant, and it is known that Picabia was in London with the poet in August, when Cri was composed, and that he participated in some way in Zone two months later. The futurist concepts of 1910 find echoes in Apollinaire's essay on Metzinger's "technique dite du divisionnisme, " which, according to Signac, is "Ie melange optique des tons et des teintes" (Les Peintres cub., p. 45 ) ; Apollinaire also names Seurat, as if a secondary figure, and the term "simultaneisme" does not yet appear in either doctrine. Further, only a vague dynamic reference can be detected in Les Peintres cubistes, and this relates precisely to Picabia ( " qui me semble souhaiter un art de la mobilite, " p. 73 ) and Duchamp, whose colors are "determinecs par l 'energie d 'un petit nombre de lignes" ( p . 7 6 ) . The futurist concept of " linee-forze " and " fasci di linee " ( Manif., p. 65 ) was highly developed by 1912, but does not concern Apollinaire 's poetry, since in Liens the lines serve a theme of fraternity and in Les Fenetres they relate to a luminosity which might be interpreted as static. The term "perspective" had two mutually exclusive meanings in 1912, the one as an outworn device, and the other as lines leading to infinity. Apollinaire speaks strongly against a "trompe-l 'oeil en rac­ courci ou en perspective" ( Les Peintres cub., p . 26 ) , and, in discussing Leger, uses an emphatic and ironic tone, as if objecting to a rival group ( " truc miserable de la perspectivc . . . , ce moyen de tout rapetisser in­ evitablcment, " p. 69 ) , which could not be the futurists. In contrast, he seems to approve, in Picasso's art, "I 'immense lumiere des profondeurs "

IX. Cubist and Futurist Aesthetics to May, 1913

97

(p. 3 5 ) , and in his preface says cryptically that "Ia quatrieme dimen­ sion . . . est l'espace meme, Ia dimension de l'infini" (p. 18) . We have noted the importance of perspective of an "ideal" kind in the manifestos of 1 909 and 1910. The color concepts down to 1912 probably derive from fauvism. Again with reference to Picabia, Apollinaire states that the fauves had "transpose la lumiere en couleurs," and had thus made of color itself "la forme et la lumiere de ce qui est represente, " and he associates Delaunay with this "dimension ideale ": "la couleur dans cet art est saturee d'energie et ses extremites se continuent dans l'espace " (p. 70 ) . Less incisively, regarding Duchamp, Apollinaire speaks of "des formes et des couleurs collectives" and "1 'aspect flammiforme des couleurs" (p. 76) . We have noted the futurist concept of the multicolored face, and that "il moto e la luce distruggono la materialita dei corpi" ( 10-iv ) ; the futurists return to color, but in terms unrelated to Les Peintres cubistes: "Si possono inoltre notare nei nostri quadri, delle macchie, delle linee, delle zone di colore, che non corrispondono a nessuna realta rna .... preparano . . . . l'emozione dello spettatore" (Manit., p. 67 ) . The strongest interrelationship of doctrines concerns the "subj ect" in painting. The exchange of views might, for example, have risen from Apollinaire 's statement that "Ie sujet ne compte plus ou s'il compte c 'est a peine" ( Les Peintres cub., p. 13 ) ;' by this he might mean an outworn "moyen de plaire . " Regarding Picabia he says : "je lui conseille d'aborder franchement Ie suj et (poesie ) qui est l'essence des arts plastiques" (p. 73 ) , thus applying to the term subject another meaning. He seems, in any event, to find one such subject acceptable : "Duchamp est Ie seul peintre de l'ecole moderne qui se soucie aujourd 'hui ( automne 1912 ) de nu" ( p. 75 ) . The futurists protested in February, 1912. They opened the attack with an allusion to dynamism ("I cubisti... . si ac­ caniscono a dipingere l'immobile, " Manif., p. 61 ) , and refused to admit "che il soggetto in pittura ha un valore insignificante, " for painting " non puo esistere senza il punto di partenza. " They then denounce allegory, as if they had Delaunay's Ville de Paris in mind in three respects : "Dipingere fissando il modello in posa e un'assurdita ... , anche se il modello e tradotto nel quadro in forme lineari, sferiche 0 cubiche, " the further absurdity of the " oggetto che il modello tiene in mano 0 da quelli che gli sono disposti intorno, " and the nude : "Noi non vediamo alcuna differenza fra uno di quei nudi che si chiamano communemente artistichi, e una tavola d'anatomia" ( Manit., pp. 62-63 ) . • According to Marcel Ad6ma, Guillaume Apollinaire Ie Mal·aime, Paris, 1952, p. 148, this section was published in Les Soirees de Paris in February, 1912 ; Adema implies that Apollinaire's correspondence with Soffici at this time related to futurism, and he notes that Apollinaire discussed futurism in Le Petit Ble'U on Feb. 9, 1912.

98

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1 901-1914

Apollinaire proposes a concept of dislocations or disintegrations of real forms : "Imitant les plans pour representer les volumes, Pic asso donne des divers elements qui composent les objets une enumeration si complete et si aigue qu'ils ne prennent point figure d'obj et grace au travail des spectateurs qui, par force, en perc;oivent la simultaneite, mais en raison meme de leur arrangement" ( Les Peintres cub., p. 3 6 ) ; and, regarding Gris, he adds : "On utiliserait des objets dont l'arrange­ ment capricieux aurait un sens esthHique qui ne serait point niable " ( p . 62 ) . The idea, expressed in very elliptical terms, might be said to be in the process of formulation, and is a vital element in Apollinaire 's own techniques in Calligrammes; a striking parallel appears in Lautre­ amont's Poesie ( p. 2 57 ) : "Le veritable ordre ... marque mon objet par Ie desordre calligraphique. " Apollinaire mentions "la realite sci en­ tifique " of Picasso and Gris, giving as examples " constructions mHal­ liques des ingenieurs," namely, buildings, airplanes, and the like ( Les Peintres cub., p. 63 ) . This same set of ideas appears in the manifesto of February, 1912, on the same page as the discussion of the subject and of the nude : "La prospettiva com'e intesa .... val ore [di] un progetto d'ingengeria. La simultaneita degli stati d'animo nell'opera d'arte, ecco la meta ineb­ briante . . . . II che significa simultaneita d'ambiente, e quindi dislocazione e smembramento degli oggetti, sparpagliamento e fusione dei dettagli, liberati dana logica" ; the futurists add a concept of memory in stating, "che il quadro sia la sintesi di quello che si ricorda e di quello che si vede " (Manif., p . 63 ) , and presumably imply that the cubist technique is false : "La pittura futurista .... risolve la questione dei volumi nel quadro, opponendosi ana liquefazione degli oggetti, conseguenza fatale della visione impressionista" ( p . 68 ) . The entire range of ideas and terms must be defined, but the ideas and their interrelationship may be situated sufficiently for our present purposes. Several isolated details in Les Peintres cubistes relate to Apollinaire's poetics and to the elaborations made by Reverdy in 1917. In calling "perspective" a "trompe-l'oeil," Apollinaire says : "En representant la realite-conc;ue ou la realite-creee, Ie peintre peut donner l'apparence de trois dimensions, peut en quelque sorte cubiquer" ( Les Peintres cub., p. 26 ) ; the idea is vague, but one key word anticipates Reverdy's theory of the "image creee. " Further, "L 'aspect geometrique . . . venait de ce que la realite essentielle y etait rendue avec une grande purete et que l 'accident visuel et anecdotique y avait ete elimine" (p. 26) introduces other vital terms later used in Reverdy's presentation. In discussing Gris, Apollinaire names obj ects of an ephemeral kind that we shall soon

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examine with reference to Zone and Les Collines: "Ie papier peint aux murs d'une chambre, un chapeau haut de forme, Ie desordre des affiches sur un grand mur" (Les Peintres cub., p. 61 ) . Finally, Cendrars, in his poem Portrait ( 13-x ) , imagines Chagall painting with fish and churches, and thus parodies, in amused misinterpretation, Apollinaire's serious idea that "on peut peindre avec cc qu'on voudra, avec des pipes, des timbres-poste, des cartes postales ou a jouer" (Les Peintres cub., p. 38) . Carra's manifesto of August 11, 1913, appeared too late to be of use in our present project, and at spots may even show the influence of Apollinaire. Its principal innovation concerns "tutti i colori in movi­ mento sentiti nel tempo e non nello spazio, " the various examples of " l 'ellissi che turbina" and of "curve ellissoidi considerate comme rette in movimento" ( Manit., p. 155 ) , interesting concepts for an analysis of Delaunay's propellers of about the same time. For the further evolution of a color theory we may also note that "vi sono suoni, rumori e odori gialli, rossi, verdi, turchini, azzurri e violetti" ( p. 156 ) . FUTURIST DOCTRINES IN ZONE As we have already noted, critics are aware that Apollinaire made precipitate changes in Zone during December, 1912. The evidence found in the manuscript and the parallels with Les Paques tend to dissociate these changes from the pathetic theme, but it may nonetheless be true that Cendrars motivated them in a very different way-that is, in the direction of his La Prose du transsiberien. There are mysteries here that must await external evidence. In the first place, in his Poesies completes, Cendrars gives precise dates both of composition and of publication of his poems, but for Les Paques and La Prose he notes only the year of printing, though it appears that the actual dates for each were only a few weeks apart. La Prose was probably completed in De­ cember, and it would be natural for Apollinaire to know of it, if only because it was illustrated by color bands created by Sonia Delaunay in a technique she had used for Apollinaire.8 In the second place, La Prose shows a strong influence both of Apollinaire and of Marinetti, and in a way is far more advanced than Zone or even Les Fenetres, for the richness of application of Marinetti's most recent theory. Cendrars was far less secretive than Apollinaire, and made no attempt to hide his sources ; for example, in his typically jesting inversion of references, he proclaimed in September, 1 913, that "n n 'y a pas de futurisme / 3

On Apollinaire's personal relations to the Delaunays,

Berkeley, 1954, p. 24.

see

my Cubist Poetry,

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

100

II n 'y a pas de simultaneite, " and the month before, he had hailed his painter friend as "Delaunay Ie simultane. " The doctrinal statemcnts o f a new poetics appear i n Zone i n the form of typical interpolations, set near the beginning of the poem and in several places isolated by blank lines. The first twelve couplets presen t disconnected ideas pell-mell, whose number diminishes as the poet begins his walk through Paris. Mter four more couplets we find the Christ image, and then the aviation scene ; the remainder portrays the city, the poor, and a few recollections. The first verses recall the mani­ festo of 1909, or the project of L'Alchimie du verbe, or Verhaeren's revolt and Buzzi's statement of a search for something new : 1 3

A la fin tu es las de ce monde ancien ... Tu en as assez de vine dans l'antiquite grecque et romaine

Marinetti wrote in 1909 : "Nous voulons demolir les musees" and "une automobile ... est plus belle que la Victoire de Samothracc. " The aviation scene is anticipated ( " les hangars, " v. 6 ) , as is the theme of Le Monoplan ( " L 'Europeen Ie plus moderne c 'est vous Pape Pie X " ) , and we find a set of things seen or imagined during the walk, con­ centrated in a very few verses : 11 12 13 21 22

Tu lis les prospectus les catalogues les a.ffiches qui chantent tout haut Voila la poesie ce matin et pour la prose il y a les j ournaux II Y a les livraisons a 25 centimes pleines d'aventures policieres . . Les inscriptions des enseignes et des murailles Les plaques les avis a la fac;on des perropuets criaUent' .

To these we must add "II detient Ie record du monde pour la hauteur" ( Z., v. 41 ) , two details in the manuscript of Zone ( "des distributeurs de prospectus" and "hommes-sandwiches") , and a mention in Les Peintres cubistes of "Ie papier peint au murs d'une chambre, un chapeau haut de forme, Ie desordre des affiches sur un grand mur" (p. 6 1 ) ; and we may define a new modernist theme or concept of ephemeral but ever­ present and intriguing things. The concept and the entire range of these common objects are unattested in Apollinaire 's previous work, but appear in full force in Marinetti 's theory of May, 1912, and of May, 1913. A problem of chronology arises : may we allow for oral transmis­ sion, knowing Marinetti's propensity for communicating his new ideas? or were all these ideas, and the very unusual words involved, generally in the air? or did Marienetti, this one sole time, reorient his theory to some degree after reading Zone and La Prose'! A commentated list of Marinetti's principal technical devices will ' Cf.

"perroquets crierent," in Marinetti's L'Inutile 8agesse (5-vii) .

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allow a simultaneous presentation of all related detail in Apollinaire and Cendrars, and offer a few models for Reverdy's theory of 1917. Some of the parallels are very striking ; others represent plausible rela­ tionships for which no explanation has as yet been adduced. The scope of the theory also brings attention to the fact that Apollinaire 's " esthe­ tique toute neuve" is related in large part to futurist aesthetics rather than to Marinetti's poetics, and leads us to suppose that Les Fenetres is indeed more advanced than Zone. The first set of rcconunendations appears in the manifesto of May 11, 1912 : a ) "il faut employer Ie verbe A l'infinitif" (Mar., p. 13 ; reiterated in 13-v, Mar., p. 45 ) . We may also interpret the verse "Dormir" in La Prose as a semaphoric

word ; see below.

b ) "chaque substantif doit avoir son double," for example, "femme·rade" or "place­ entonnoir" (p. 14) . An imaginative compounding of nouns appears in Zone ( "hommes-sandwiches" ) , Liens ( "Araignees-Pontifes") , and Arbre ( "la Taupe­

Ariane" ) . c ) "plus de ponctuation" (p. 15 ; reiterated in 13-v ) . Apollinaire suppressed punctua­ tion in Vendemiaire and then throughout A lcools, and Cendrars uses very few signs in La Prose. d) "il Y a une gradation d'analogies de plus en plus vastes, des rapports de plus en

plus profonds bien que tr�s eloignes" (p. 15 ) . Reverdy develops the concept, using the same terms, in 1917. e ) "remplacer la psychologie de l'homme par l'obsession Jyrique de la matiere" (p. 20 ) . This idea, and the "mouvement de la matiere hors de l'intelligence" (p. 22 ) , may b e echoed i n Les Collines ( "si les machines s e prenaient enfin a penser-je me suis enfin detache de toutes choses naturelles" ) . f) "donner l a pesanteur ( faculte d e vol ) e t l'odeur ( faculte d'eparpillement) des objets ... , par exemple Ie paysage d'odeurs que perc;oit un chien" (p. 21 ) . This may explain the emendation in Cortege, discussed above.

In the "Reponses" of August 11, Marinetti adds only one detail of present interest : g) "Ie sentiment d'horreur que j'eprouve pour Ie substantif qui s'avance suivi de

son adjectif comme d'une traine ou d'un caniche. Parfois ce dernier est tenu en laisse par un adverbe elegant. Parfois Ie substantif porte un adjectif devant et un adverbe derriere, comme les deux pancartes d'un homme-sandwich" (p. 2 7 ) . The idea could well have been inspired b y Lautreamont's Poesie : "Ne flattez pas l� culte d'adjectifs tels que indescriptible, inenarrable, rutilant ... , qui mentent sans vergogne aux substantifs qu'ils defigurent : ils sont poursuivis par la lu­ bricite" ( p. 252 ) . Appollinaire used "ho=es-sandwiches" in the manuscript of Zone, and a part of the fantasy in A travers l'Europe (l4-iv ) : "une charmante cheminee tenant sa chienne en laisse."

The last manifesto, dated "Milan, 1 1 Aout 1912, " in Les Mots en liberte ( p. 80 ) , is more probably of May, 1913 :

102

The Evolution of Apollinail'e's Poetics,

1 901-1 914

h ) "Ia sensibilite futuriste," dealing with "Ie cinematographe et Ie grand quoti di en" and "Ie journal d'un sou," which offer "les aventures d 'une chasse dans Ie Con go" as one sits at home (p. 36 ) . The concept is strong in Zone : "prospectus" (Z., v. 1 1 ) ; "il y a les j ournaux" (Z., v. 1 2 ) ; and "Ies livraisons a 25 centimes plein es d'aventures policieres" (Z., v. 13 ) . The idea does not appear in Romains' La Vie unanime, in which objects of this kind are wholly incidental ("a I'Halage des marchands ... les revues et les livres," p. 206 ; "un j ournal qu'on deploie exh ale une rumeur," p. 197 ) . The concept is related to the "affiches" mentioned below. i) "l'homme multiplie par la machine" (p. 38 ) . Compare "Ie peuple habile des rna· chines" in 1909. j) "conception et amour du record" (p. 38 ) . Compare "il detient Ie record" (Z., v.

41 ) . k ) "usage semaphorique de l'adjectif ... comme les disques ou les signaux" (p. 44) , and "adjectifs-atmospMre ... isoles entre parentheses ou en marge" (p. 58 ) . One concept here concerns the objects named as they relate, for example, to railroads ; another is generalized to apply to single words, out of context and syntax, that form complete verses. I set the former below with the "affiches," and note the latter in Les Fenetres ( "Puits-Tours-Vancouver") and, far more frequently, in Cendrars ( "Bariole--E cossais," in La Prose ) . l ) "onomatopees" with such subtypes as "l'onomatopee analogique doum doum doum dowm" for "Ie bruit rotatif du soleil africain" (p. 45 ) . Apollinaire did not use onomatopoeia ( cf. "oua-oua" in Les Fenetres) until he began composing ideo· grams, but Cendrars uses many pseudo·words of this general type, and in La Prose imitates Marinetti's example, down to the italicization : "Le broun-roun-roun des roues / Chocs / Rebondissements." m) "Ia splendeur futuriste" of "Ies affiches lumineuses" (p. 55 ) . Rimbaud offers no concept, and Romains gives us only one related image ("Ies affiches me disent les mots," La Vie unan., p. 205 ) . In Zone we read "Ies affiches qui chantent" (Z., v. 1 1 ) and "Ies avis ... criaiIIent" ( Z., v. 22 ) . The concept may be broadened by in­ voking the details mentioned above, and concerns all kinds of announcements of ephemeral fact. Romains is interested in railways ( "Ies disques et les poteaux," La Vie unan., p. 165, "Ies signaux font de grands gestes," p. 168 ) , and his verse might explain certain terms in La Prose ( "signaux-poteaux grima�ants qui gesticulent-plaques tournantes") , but not the enumerations of cities (which also appear in Les Fenetres) nor, in general, Cendrars' printed matter ( "dans les journaux j aponais illustres-et voici les affiches, du rouge du vert") . Apol­ Hnaire mentions timetables in Lundi rue Christine ( "en consultant l'horaire-je partirai a 20 h. 27" ) , and various situations and things toward the end of Les Collines derive either from newspapcr reports or from moving pietures ( "une belIe femme assassinee-un chapeau haut de forme-j'ai tue Ie beau chef d'orchestre­ tous son t morts-l'ascenseur") . n) "l'analogie dessinee : fuMEER" (p. 62 ) , using letters of different sizes or fonts. Apollinaire imitates this procedure in his ideograms. 0) various formal ideograms ( pp. 81-93 ) , imitated by Apollinaire ( see below ) . Whatever earlier poets may have used these devices and images, or considered the concepts that they illustrate, they form integral p arts of Marinetti 's system and do not appear in the work of Apollinaire or Cendrars until the end of

1912.

The suppression of the punctuation

IX. Cubist and Futurist Aesthetics to May, 1913

103

needs no other explanation, and to look for models in Mallarme or Rouault is quite meaningless." Apollinaire alluded to his gesture in March, 1913 ("je ne l 'ai supprimee que parce qU'elle m'a paru inutile" ) ." The Edition de la Pleiade approaches the matter very cautiously: " n est possible que l 'exemple d e Cendrars o u d'autres n'ait pas H e etranger a sa determination, mais on aurait tort de n 'y voir qU'une volte-face irreflechie" ( p. 1040 ) . Apollinaire's "determination" was exactly a "volte-face, " whether meditated more than three months or not. T'o my knowledge, Decaudin alone is willing to admit Marinetti's influence on this point, but on no others. In similar fashion, Apollinaire 's modernist concept, as stated in Zone, has been associated with various models, but the connection has not been demonstrated. I cannot tell whether Mme Moulin attributes Apol­ linaire's new participation in the modern world to ideas borrowed from Rimbaud, or whether she merely senses a resemblance : "A l'exemple de Rimbaud, il s'eprend des reclames, dcs quotidiens, des romans populaires et des enseignes." T There are numerous parallels, but Rimbaud develops no doctrine. As I have noted above, Romains was more interested in railways than Marinetti, and Cendrars more than Apollinaire, but again the modernist concept calls for much more than a theme of this kind. Cendrars is of particular importance in the new modernism precisely because he applied the ideas both of Apollinaire and of Marinetti to a consistent project. In Les Piiques there is nothing more closely related to this kind of modernism than "de curieux chromos-les gratte-ciel­ cent mille toupies. " In contrast, La Prose shows the full range of ex­ perimental ideas of the moment. Cendrars salutes Apollinaire in quoting a verse from Les Fian(}ailles ( " Pardonnez-moi de ne plus con­ naitre l'ancien jeu des vers") , and probably imitates Les FenUres in his fantasy of "les affiches, du rouge du vert ... bref du jaune, / J aune la fiere couleur des romans de France. " From Marinetti he took his semaphoric words, his onomatopeia, and various ephemera, and his theme of endless imaginary travel ( "un voyage dans les mers du Sud" ) . In La Prose, futurism becomes F rench modernism ( "les locomotives en furie--sonneries electriques-plaques tournantes-gramophone--la voie ferree est une nouvelle geometrie--des semaphores" ) . His poetics advance in the 19 poemes elastiques, covering a period for which Apol­ linaire's new work offers no certain dates. " Jeanine Moulin, Guillaume A pollinaire : textes inedites, p. 90, suggests these men as the source. • Pleiade, p. 1040. T Mme Moulin, op. cit., p. 1 1 0-11 1 .

·

x. APOLLINAIRE ' S " E S THETIQUE

TOUTE NEUVE " ACCORDING TO AN ANECDOTE recorded by Andre Rouveyre, Apollinaire was very proud of Les Fenetres, and said that in it he had formulated "une esthetique toute neuve dont je n'ai de puis retrouve les ressorts. " With no more precise clue, we must seek all p ossible parallels and ask what elements were new as well as peculiar to this one poem, and then define Apollinaire 's poetics according to the apparent importance of the techniques and concepts, primarily of Les FenCtres ( 13-i ) , but with reference also to Liens ( 13-iv) and several poems of uncertain date, especially Les Collines. Les FenCtres may be called modernist in its use of proper names relating to travel ( "Paris Vancouver Hyeres" ) and to inhabitants of distant places ( " Turinaises-Capresses-Chabins") , but the other ephemera of newspapers and posters are lacking. The style is paratacti­ cal in the use of a few semaphoric words as complete verses ( "Tours­ Puits") , and, in another sense, in the use of various complete verses, in full syntax but wholly out of context ("Le pauvre j eune homme se mouchait dans sa cravate blanche " ) ; in this last device we find the earliest trace of such "poemes-conversations" as Lundi rue Christine ( 13-xii ) . Color and light, however, now illustrate a theme or concept far richer than that of 1908, and one may situate the new theme by means of clusters of words, such as " fenetre-s'ouvrir-fruit-orange­ soleil-araignee-tisser. " The final sequence in Les Collines is related to Les Fenetres in its inclusion of the concept of light and of the words used to express it ( "fruits-orange-feu d 'artifice-Ia lumiere se deploie " ) , but a dy­ namic reference appears ( " assassiner-chef d'orchestre-elle monte dans l'ascenseur") , and all suggestion of a conversational technique is lost in anecdotes and situations envisioned as brief scenes from moving pictures or from contemporary paintings. For example, there is only one still-life reference in Les Fenetres ( "Une vieille paire de chaussures jaunes devant la fenetre ") , but there are many in Les Col­ lines ( "chapeau-fruits-gants" ) . Finally, though the prophetism in Les Collines is strongly reminiscent of Rimbaud and hence of Apol­ linaire's work of 1908, the idea fits into a renewed preoccupation at­ tested, for example, in Sur les propheties ( l4-v ) . For the most part, Apollinaire 's poetry is dynamic rather than graphic ; that is, persons and things are portrayed in motion or for emotion, and contours, persons, or things of a static kind are rare. We

[ 104 ]

X. Apollinaire's UEstMtique toute neuve"

105

have already noted that the futurists criticized the strongly static tone of cubist painting, and we may, to some extent, interpret the cubists' guitars and bottles set in masses of angular facets as still Hfes. The traditional still life, of flowers or other small objects on tables, was in a sense reoriented by a special technique, and the range of objects was extended to include ephemera such as a bottle, a fish, or a newspaper. The principal apparent trace in Alcools of subjects borrowed from the graphic arts appears in the scene in Le Voyageur of the flying Christ, reminiscent of Chagall, and the triad of men rounded off by the group playing cards ; the dynamic element here is negligible. The most striking interior scenes in Alcools are that of Penelope in Le Mal-aime ( "Pres d 'un tapis") , a glass of wine in Nuit rhenane, and the "hiboux cloues a leur plafond" in L'Ermite. It is obvious that these are insignifi­ cant, however, if one turns to Zone, where static elements become sud­ denly important, and precisely in those verses that resemble Cendrars' Les Paques: " elles restent assises-tu es debout devant Ie zinc--e'est un tableau pendu dans un sombre musee. " Finally, in Zone, we find the earliest attestation of a real still life : Tu te sens heureux une rose est sur la table Et tu observes au lieu d'6crire ton conte en prose

We find the poet in the same position in Les Collines at the moment of his return from his visionary flight : Maintenant je suis a ma table ... Un chapeau haut de forme est sur Une table chargee de fruits

One may measure the effect of the rose in Zone by other images in­ volving the same flower. In Le Mal-aime it is in motion ("les roses qui feuiIlolent") and is a symbol for quality ( "une femme une rose morte") , while in Cortege the motion is secondary or irrelevant ( " chaque homme tenait une rose a la main") . The image in Zone has advanced beyond the principal basic elements of the poem toward the "esthetique toute neuve. " Another set o f new elements i n Calligrammes i s presented i n con­ centrated form in Liens. The title relates in part to a theme of bonds ex­ pressed in terms found in other poems, even as ApoIlinaire develops the theme from a humanitarian or fraternalistic point of view rem­ iniscent of Vendemiaire. A travers l'Europe ( l4-iv ) echoes Liens in one sense, and in another, like Tour ( 1914? ) , establishes a firm bond with the graphic arts. These poems may contain elements that represent the new aesthetics of Les Fenetres, even as they explore ideas that we

106

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

shall later find associated with Apollinaire 's next p oetics, the " esprit nouveau" and "surrealisme. " Apollinaire 's silence regarding his most recent ideas was only slightly attenuated when in 1914 he made a few statements. Qn January 15' he mentioned "nos amis les futuristes, " but in vague terms, and again pro­ posed to " renouveler l'inspiration. " His attitude regarding L'Antitra­ dition futuriste ( 13-iv) , during these months early in 1914, when he began composing ideograms, remains unknown. On June 152 he merely mentions Marinetti, but cites Romains' poem L'Eglise, of 1909: as a prototype for modern expression ; and in addition, he champions the painter Rousseau and the "symphonie recitee" of Barzun. We must consider Apollinaire 's mention of these poets as an aspect of his eclec­ ticism as the head of a school, not as a poet, and trace the development of his cordiality for the group of the "Abbaye" toward L'Esprit nouveau et les poetes, of 1917.' LES FENETRES The very tenuous relationship between Apollinaire 's poem and Delaunay's group of paintings called Les Fenetres appears in those verses in which certain subj ects and concepts are specified. If one ex­ amines the painter's earlier work, created before 1912, one finds pre­ cisely "Ie rideau" with an Eiffel Tower visible through the open window ; the verse " Tours" and the subject of the poem Tour ( 1914 1 ) relate, then, to p aintings of 1910 and 1911 more than to those of the summer of 1912. Apollinaire enumerates colors that could well have been used in the recent paintings, and gives us a valid appreciative image of Delaunay's creative act ( " les mains tissaient la lumiere " ) . The greater part of the poem, meanwhile, has no relationship to Delaunay, and it is quite possible that it was, in the main, composed without any thought of his work. One anecdote about the composition of Les Fenetres confirms this impression, in stating that three men improvised it verse by verse in a bar. Mme Moulin accepts this anecdote ( "Ne de bribes d 'une conversa­ tion entre Apollinaire, Rene Dupuy et Andre Billy") , and condemns the poem ( " ces vers qui provoquent auj ourd'hui tout au plus un sourire 1 Soir6es de Paris, 3° annee, p. 78 et seq. • Ibid.,

pp. 322-325. correctly, of Feb., 1908, in La Vie 'lIhIanime; the example offers no parallel of present interest, except, perhaps, "Les jeunes usines ! .,. Elles font du soleil avec leurs machines" and the terms "cables" and "fils" (p. 59 ) . ' See my "L'Esthiitique de l'Esprit nouveau," Le Flaneur des deux rives, Dec" 1 955, p. 20 ; I noted above ( p. 65) the little anthology of the "poeti dell'Abbaye" published by Marinetti. 3 More

x. Apollinaire's "Esthetique toute neuve"

107

amuse") . I protest on both counts: the strong literary background of the poem precludes any possibility of multiple authorship, except of a few isolated verses, and not only is it not devoid of taste and humor, but it is a revolutionary and farseeing manifesto of a new kind of art. The combination of terms for light and for various acts establishes a strong relationship between Les Fenetres and Les Oollines and two futurist poems, Buzzi 's Il Oanto della filandiera (Poeti, pp. 134-135 ) and " Les Moucherons politiciens" in Marinetti's Le Monoplan ( Mon., pp. 131-155 ) , which I have cited as one source for Vendemiaire. The images in the sources are, however, so typical of Buzzi and Marinetti, and so completely integrated by Apollinaire that analysis of them in­ volves repetitions and cross references which alone can explain the clusters of words and a variety of incidental details. "Les Moucherons" is a satirical colloquium of a group of men speak­ ing chaotically, and in this sense a kind of "poeme-conversation" related in over-all structure to Les Fenetres. One may isolate from the conversa­ tion such detachable statements as "n y a de tout la-dedans" ( Mon., p. 131 ; cf. " n y a un poeme a faire," Fen., v. 4 ) ; "Ouvrez done les fenetres" ( Mon., p. 139 ; cf. "voila que s'ouvre la fenetre, " Fen. v. 1 1 ) ; "Un chauffeur, son amant ! " (Mon., p. 150 ; cf. "Ie chauffeur, " CoU., str. AO ) ; "les fils criards du telephone" ( Mon., p. 131 ) , " casque tele­ phonique" ( p . 135 ) , and "un seul coup suffira" ( p . 151 ; cf. "Nous l'enverrons en message teIephonique, " Fen., v. 5 ) . This is Apollinaire's basic technique of disj ointed small talk : " on commencera a minuit­ Voila une jolie fille-Ie pauvre jeune homme se mouchait. " One o f the most striking details i s the first verse : "Du rouge au vert tout Ie jaune se meurt. " I have shown the unusual nature of these colors, and their relationship to futurist preferences. In Le Monoplan we find "larmes j aunes, rouges, vertes" ( Mon., p. 259) ; one of Marinetti 's ideograms is entitled JA UNE JA UNE ( Mar., p. 8 6 ) , and Buzzi gives us a "suicida in giallo. " The cluster of words relating to light is well represented in three verses of Les Fenetres: Tu soul(!,veras Ie rideau Et maintenant voila que s'ouvre la fenUre Araignees quand les mains tissaient la lumiere

We may add two others : La fenetre s'ouvre eo=e une orange Le beau fruit de la lumiere

and, from Les CoUines ( str. AL) :

108

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914 Une table chargee de fruita ... Et je �le pour mes amis L'orange dont la saveur est Un merveilleux feu d'artifice

and, further, from Liens : "Cordes tissees-Araignees-Pontifes_ d'autres liens plus tenus.'" We may document this broad cluster of words, representing several possible concepts, from Il Canto della filandiera (Poeti, p. 134 ) : Questa bava ch'io filo e la mia ragna . . . . 10 sono il ragno suicida in giallo . . .. Dalla fineatra aperta il giorno m'appare come una ruota pazza

We find, then, in a single plausible model, in four verses: a spider, its web, an act of violence or death, yellow, an open window, and some­ thing very like an orange. In "Les Moucherons" ( Mon., p. 135 ) the identities are less striking : l'i=ense toile d'araignee formee par les courants de bave electrique qui s'accrochent tres loin a tous les points de l'horizon

but the images suggest a p art of the theme of Liens ( " a travers l'Europe-Cables sous-marins") and of Tour ( " Au Nord au Sud") . I find only a distant parallel for Apollinaire 's curtain, in Buzzi's A Claude Debussy ( Poeti, p. 134 ) , where a concept of light is very strong : Sotto la finestra che un cuor di fiamma.... raccende legate quei tendini

o

Apollinaire 's double interpretation of the images from Le Monoplan was mentioned above in analysis of Vendemiaire, for example ( vv. 57-58 ) : Un enfant regarde les fenetres s'ouvrir Et les grappes de tetes a d'ivres oiseaux s'ofi'rir

and the theme of blood appears in "Les Moucherons," though it stronger in other parts of Le Monoplan.

IS

LES COLLINES In Les Fenetres, the cluster of terms related to light and weaving is primarily thematic, while in Les CoUines it is an integral part of a nar­ rative, reminiscent of Le Brasier in one sense, but entirely explained Cf. "corde--onde--legano," Poeti, p. 158 ; "cent mille metiers de tissage qui flambent ... tous les fils de nos vies tissees ensemble" (Mon., p. 311 ) . •

x.

Apollinaire 's "EsthUique toute neuve"

109

by Le Monoplan. The narrative opens with Apollinaire 's descent from a cosmic flight to his table, where he begins to compose his poem ( Coll., str. AJ ) as he contemplates various objects before him. In one flying scene, Marinetti imagines a mass of oranges ( Mon., p. 306 ) : Je vole par instants dans des zones intactes ... Largement Ie solei! deploie sa frondaison de nuages splendides, branches d'argent chargees d'oranges aveuglantes r

and in "Les Moucherons" he sees a similar mass below him as on a table ( Mon., p . 140 ) : Fcnetres et balcons sont pIe ins de deputes ... La place est vaste. Ce monument de general defunt s'est deja tout charge de fruits humains criards, beau surtout odorant sur la nappe eclatante

In Les CoUines, Apollinaire descends ( "Maintenant je suis a ma table, "

str. AJ ) and sees that Un chapeau haut de forme est sur Une table chargee de fruits Les gants sont morts pres d'une pomme Une dame se tord Ie cou Aupres d'un monsieur qui s'avale

We might note further "les haubans charges de fruits humains . . . , ils s'ouvrent" (Mon., p. 325 ) and "Ie paysage se tord" ( p. 260 ) . Apollinaire continues his enumeration of little scenes ( Coll., str. AL-AM ) : Le hal tournoie au fond du temps J'ai tue Ie beau chef d'orchestre Et je pele pour mes amis L'orange dont la saveur est Un merveilleux feu d'artifice Tous sont morts Ie maitre d'hotel Leur verse un champagne irreel Qui mousse comme un escargot Ou comme un cerveau de poete Tandis que chantait une rose

A new set of ideas begins to replace futurism at this point, and our last significant parallels, which appear in the work of Buzzi, relate to the material that we can rationally associate with the "esthetique toute neuve. " In Ditirambo napoletano (Poeti, p. 121 ) we find an ensemble of light, oranges, and a dance :

1 10

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914 .... Globavano gialle l'aranoie, a' m azzi . ... e davan luci d'aro .. .. in fasci di lampadario .... Pive e tamburi scandevano colpi di danze folli. Le donne ballavano ....

Further, Buzzi associates an orchestra with the act of killing, in three striking texts : j okingly in Fine di due gatti ( " Erano l 'orchestra .... Ii avrei uccisi, una notte," Poeti, p. 162 ) , ideologically in Il Canto di Mannheim (" orchestra a venire ... . assassina, " p. 174 ) , and emotionall y in Il Canto di Mannheim ( " ucciso ho il sentimento . . . . l 'orchestra di tutti i desideri") . Apollinaire seems to have synthesized his scene "Ie bal tournoie . . . leur verse un champagne . . . un cerveau de poete" from Buzzi ("0 mio cervello--orchestra a venire-assassina-cuor di poeta" and "sciampagna, " Poeti, p. 167 ) and Baudelaire 's Les Phares (" Qui verse la folie a ce bal tournoyant ") . The old and the new in the last part of Les CoUines are defined by two concepts, the concept of light and that of still lifes. The former attains its maximum, more intense than in Zone and perhaps than in Les Fenetres. The intensity may be measured by the terms "orange­ tisser, " as they leave " fenetre-s'ouvrir" behind, just as the latter had moved beyond the " grappes" of Vendemiaire. The new aesthetics of Les Fenetres cannot relate to printed ephemera, since the latter are basic in the special verses of Zone ( "prospectus-enseignes--hommes­ sandwiches" ) , and the semaphoric words ( " Tours-Vancouver") are not in question, since Apollinaire continues to use them and since he said of his new aesthetics that he did not find its secret again. Nor does the new aesthetics relate to the "poeme-conversation, " which was en­ riched in Lundi rue Christine. Briefly, the "esthetique toute neuve" must relate to oranges and the weaving of light. The last distinctive trait in Les CoUines is the still life, here more in­ tensely developed than in any other poem, before or after. Those images in the poem that make one think of the moving pictures may be called scenes,· and include motion from place to place ( "Ie bal tournoie-le chauffeur ... corne-elle monte dans l 'ascenseur" ) , while the still lifes name inert and small man-made obj ects ( "chapeau-gants-une table chargee de fruits") of the kind that Cendrars noted, in Portraits, in Ohagall 's studio (" bouteilles-sauce tomate-sardine ") , biographical elements in the painter's daily life. Two verses in Les CoUines seem to have been inspired by Ohagall, since the lady wringing her neck and • Cf. "un fantome s'est suicide," in Un 80ir ( 1 3-iv ) , which is terms, and is written in the versification typical of late 1912.

rich

in

machinist

X.

Apollinaire's "Esthetique toute neuve"

111

the man swallowing himself are fantasies very reminiscent of Le Saint Voiturier, in which we see Marc and Bella in almost such a posture. The still lifes and the transcriptions of paintings suggest that this sec­ tion of Les eollines dates from 1913, and probably from the following year, an d reflects the revelation of Chagall in A travers l'Europe ( l4-iv ) .

XI. THE LAS T PREWAR EXPERIMENT S

that the sixteen verse poems gathered in Calligrammes under the subtitle Ondes were composed before Apollinaire 's enlistment in the French Army, and even, perhaps, as early as May, 1914, the last date at which any of them were separately published. To them we must add eleven poems of !mown date of first publication, but not later in­ cluded in this volume. The substance of these poems is diffuse, and the only external comparison I have found for them is the 19 poemes elas­ tiques of Cendrars. The possible relationship to Cendrars, and the silence of Apollinaire from April to October, 1914, suggest a conven­ ient stopping point at the end of 1913, and Apollinaire's new preoccu­ pations as editor of Les Soirees de Paris are a sufficient explanation for several chronological facts. The success of Alcools and of Les Peintres cubistes, if only in inner circles, coincides with a search for friendly spirits that leads ultimately to L'Esprit nouveau et les poetes, of 1917. IT IS PROBABLE

THE POEMS PUBLISHED IN

1913

Veille and Rencontre ( 13-i ) contain no striking thematic terms, and Liens ( 13-iv ) belongs to the period of Zone and of Les Fenetres, and of the strong influence of the futurists free from parallels with Cendrars and echoes from Chagall. Arbre ( l3-iii ) is the earliest of the strictly postfuturist poems, and the first obvious salute to La Prose : Nous avions loue deux coupes dans Ie transsiberien Tour 8. tour nous dormions Ie voyageur en bijouterie et moi

hardly more than a copy of Cendrars ("je partis moi aussi pour ac­ compagner Ie voyageur en bijouterie " ) . The exchange of compliments had begun in La Prose and the quotation from Les Fian()ailles, and con­ tinued into 1914, especially in 19 poemes elastiques, in which Cendrars hailed the leader of the new school and " l'esprit nouveau. " Arbre introduces a new and unidentified source1 in the verse "Is­ pahan s'est fait un ciel de carreaux emailles de bleu," anticipating a poem that will be discussed below, and translates several graphic sub­ j ects from paintings : Un veau depouille pendu 8. Petal Un enfant Et cette banlieue de sable autour d'une pauvre ville au fond de Pest Un douanier se tenait 18. co=e un ange

The subjects might be identified in specific canvases, and one recalls Cendrars' statement in La Prose : "Comme mon ami Chagall je pour1I

noted above, p. 85, the points of similarity to 1909.

[ 112 ]

XI. The Last Prewar Experiments

113

rais faire une serie de tableaux dements." In a general way, Cendrars is more interested in the painter's act of creative frenzy, and Apol­ linaire in the things seen in the finished work. Thus the verses just cited from Arbre may be compared with Cendrars' picture of Chagall in his studio : Il

peint avec toutes les sales passions d'une petite ville juive Avec toute la sexualit6 exacerb6e de la province russe

Both approaches are basic in surrealist poetry-for example, in Eluard and Artaud-and the details in Arbre relate not so much to Apolli­ naire 's actual acquaintance with ChagaU as to his enthusiasm for Chagall 's work, apparently to some degree oriented by Cendrars. The transition from futurism to eclecticism may be illustrated by Apollinaire's manifesto of June 2 9, 1913, L'Antitradition futuriste. Critics tend to deplore this tract, on account of its obvious relationship to the work of Marinetti, or to dismiss it as inconsequential. If, how­ ever, one looks at it calmly, one can see the head of a school beginning to assume a broad-minded attitude. Those parts that merely imitate Marinetti's manifestos are of little interest except with respect to the ideograms of 1914, but Apollinaire salutes Delaunay, and nearby men­ tions " orphisme" ; he names Rubiner, a German expressionist, and Whitman, Poe, Brooklyn, skyscrapers, circuses, music halls, choreog­ raphy, and Dante, each term calling for a special study. His cordiality to Carco and Jouve is that of a man gathering friends and abandoning egocentric poses as a prophet and a visionary The current attitudes toward futurism are equivocal. In Crepite­ ments ( composed 13-ix) , Cendrars writes n n'y a pas n n'y a pas

de futurisme de simultaniiite

Since in Tours ( 13-viii ) he champions "Ie Simultane Delaunay, " his intention in both verses may be amused and ironical, or he may feel that both ideas have really been replaced by something more valid. In Hamac ( composed 13-xii ) , the word " Futuriste " is used semaphoric­ ally and out of context, and in Fantomas ( composed 14-iii ) he asserts that "Ie simultaneisme est passeiste, " adding Marinetti's term of op­ probrium exploited by Apollinaire in L'Antitradition ( "ABAS LEPo­ minir Alimine SSkorsusuotalo EIScraminir MEnigme" ) . We may pre­ sume that all such concepts have been surpassed by the doctrines of Apollinaire, " durant 12 ans seul poete de France " ( said in 13-xii ) , that is, by "l'esprit nouveau," which Cendrars here illustrates in "Ie premier poeme sans metaphores" (in 14-vii ) .

114

The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics,

1 901-1 914

THE EIGHT POEMS PUBLISHED IN DECEMBER,

1913

In Vers et Prose, no. XXXV ( Oct.-Dec., 1913 ) , Apollinaire published the poem Ispahan, and five others that the Edition de la PIeiade attrib­ utes categorically to earlier dates : Dans le jardin d' Anna ( "ecrit pendant l 'automne 1901, ce poeme est un madrigal adresse a Annic, " p. 1121 ) , Rolandseck ( "autre poeme rhenan," ibid. ) , La Grenouill ere ( perhaps of 1904, ibid. ) , Hyde Park ( probably of November, 1903, p. 1122 ) , and Montparnasse ( of 1911-19 12, ibid. ) ; none of these six poems was selected for Calligrammes. The supposed dates relate, as for the RhCnanes, to Apollinaire 's presence at certain places, not to any ob­ jective evidence ; and the situation is exactly that which we have already seen, that the poet's use of free verse forms simply is not attested by any document before 1905, and indeed not before 1913 so far as the short verses or wholly irregular lengths are concerned ; at best, we might claim that these poems had been composed in prose and rear­ ranged, after the fashion of La Maison des morts, to look like verse, but several of the poems are actually in formal verse with rhythms and rhymes. Furthermore, the new verse forms accompany hitherto unused the­ matic terms ( " ni les peintres ni Maupassant" in La Grenouillere; cf. "comme Madame Bovary-Rousseau, " in La Prose; "les faiseurs de re­ ligion-Ies cyclopes-les pipes s 'envolaient, " in Hyde Park ) ; Roland­ seck alone is reminiscent of Germany and of Heine, though " auto " re­ lates to mechanism and hence to 1909 ; and "effeuillaient les roses" may reflect the theme of gardens and of Ispahan. The fact that Dans ie jardin d'Anna contains several novelties and finds parallels in the poems of 1913, implies a new source. "La date . . . sur ce banc de pierre" corresponds to " il grava sur un banc . . . ces deux noms, " in Souvenir du douanier ( l4-iv) , and " j 'aurais ecrit des vers . . . sur vos seins" corresponds t o the bold concept, o f artistic value given by the creator's name, found again in Cendrars' Sur la robe ( composed 14-ii : " Et sur la hanche / La signature du pocte") . The situation re­ sembles that of La Maison de la mort, and details regarding clothes and food recall Heine ; the poem may, then, have been begun in 1901, but was very probably revised in 1913. Ispahan surely derives from some source dealing with roses, gardens, and "faiences bleues, " known to Apollinaire by March, 1913, and illus­ trates some persistent idea about beards and angels ( "la barbe rouge­ marchands barbus" ) found also in Montparnasse ( " ange barbu" ) and perhaps related to a detail in Arbre ("un douanier se tenait la comme

XI. The Last Prewar Experiments

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un ange " ) , that is, to a graphic image. The "morceaux de ciel" recall Arbre ( " Ispahan s'est fait un ciel de carreaux emailles ") , and A travers l'Europe ( " Un j our fait de morceaux mauves") , "les arts / Plas­ tiques / " imitates Cendrars for a semaphoric word and a new subject ( "dans un plaid / Bariole / ," La Prosej " l'art plastique, " La Tete ) ; and "Phonographe / Patarafes / La petite echoppe " is almost a parody of " Caramboles / Paraboles / La voie ferree" in La Prose, where one also finds a "gramophone." Montparnasse presents "un ange ... distribu­ ant des prospectus, " reminiscent of the most recent innovations in Zone, and an "ange barbu" for the image noted above in Ispahan, but for the most part the poem is weak in themes found in other poems ; it might well have been composed in 1911 and retouched two years later. Apollinaire also published at the same time as the six poems just examined two far more significant ones, later collected in Calligrammes. It again seems probable that Un fantome de nuees has a source, though it ostensibly presents a group of acrobats actually seen in Paris ; a vague parallel appears in La Prose ( " les saltimbanques de Jules Verne-un cirque ... en Flandres") . One might relate the subject to the music hall, or an occult or mystic experience, or an experiment in narration, and the poem resembles Le Musicien de Saint Merry ( l4-ii ) on these counts. Onomatopoeia ( "les glouglous les couacs" ) and the act of smoking ( "roulant une cigarette" ) are new and typical of this period ( cf. "je te ferai fumer," in Lundi rue Christine ) . Lundi rue Christine is probably the most typical representative of a category of "poemes-conversation," and is interpreted by Adema ( Guil­ laume Apollinaire le Mal-aime, p. 174 ) as "simultanisme pictural," though the graphic element might be considered as secondary to the series of acts. Visible obj ects devoid of motion, such as "trois becs de gaz allumes, " are rare, and smaller ones suggesting still-life techniques are limited to "des piles de soucoupes des fleurs un calendrier" and per­ haps "la bague en malachite. " Modernist ephemera are more impor­ tant ( "l'horaire-j ournaliste-Compagnie de navigation mixte--calen­ drier" ; cf. "La Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits," in La Prose ) , and include an idea of travel ( "A Smyrne a Naples en Tuni­ sie " ) . A "chef d 'orchestre" echoes Les Collines, and from Marinetti's manifestos Apollinaire probably imitated "Pim pam pim" ( cf. " pic pac poum, " Mar., p. 65 ) . Since Apollinaire borrowed a number of details from La Prose, and made no attempt to hide his source, we might hope to find traces of more recent poems by Cendrars. If we accept the dates of composition for the 19 poemes elastiques, we have two sets of references, and would

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The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

have to ask whether Apollinaire saw the poems in manuscript or in print ; meanwhile, the earlier dates at least attest the moment of first use of certain ideas within Cendrars' own work. He attributes Journal ( l4-iv) and Tour ( 13-vii i) to August, 1913, Crepitements ( 16-v ) to September, and Contrastes ( l4-i ) and Portraits I-II ( l4-ii ) to Oc­ tober. The plausible parallels are few and vague : in Portraits we find "Et sa porte s'ouvre comme un journal, " to compare with " 0 porte de l 'hotel un ange est devant toi / Distribuant des prospectus, " in Mont­ parnasse, "bouteilles vides . . . la fenetre est un almanach" for "des pil es de soucoupes des fleurs un calendrier" in Lundi rue Christine, and in Crepitements " toutes les montres sont mises a l 'heure" for "l 'heure que marque la pendule " in Lundi rue Christine, though a verse in La Prose suffices as a model ( " Tous les matins on met les montres a l 'heure ") . Briefly, even if there is an infiuence, it is too slight to serve any present purpose. LES SomEES DE PARIS

Les Soirees de Paris first appeared in February, 1912, under the joint editorship of five writers eager to satisfy their own need for an outlet for personal expression. A new series began on November 15, 1913, with Apollinaire and Ferat as editors, and the former tried to make it ultramodern : "J'ai cesse rna collaboration aux MaUres de l'Amour. Je reprends les Soirees de Paris pour en faire l'organe de la rarete." • The contents of Les Soirees concern Apollinaire as a critic and leader rather than as a creative writer, and relate to the evolution of his poetics only so far as the ideas are illustrated in his own verse. The somewhat similar ideas of his principal contributors, such as Max Jacob and Roch Grey, must be considered as different systems, and in general all of the ideas must have been methodically applied if they are to be treated as concepts. Thus the enthusiasm for the moving pic­ tures is evident, but traces of an influence in the poetry call for ob­ j ective documentation and specific correspondences, which we do not at yet have. Various articles in Les Soirees seem to reflect a group search rather than a personal groping for a method. We find excitement rising from the moving pictures ("Nous fumes surtout captives par les evolutions des Rouges et des Cow-Boys, " Les Soirees, p. 84 ) , and a little anthology of the British imagists, both in French and in the original ( pp. 366383 ) . The article "Devant l 'ideogramme d'Apollinaire " ( pp. 383-390, •

See my Cubist

Poetry,

Berkeley, 1 954, p. 17.

XI. The Last Prewar Experiments

117

dated 14-vi ) recognizes the influence of futurism and hails Lettre ocean as the first authentic example of a new poetic form. Albert Savi­ nio 's little play Chants de la mi-mort ( pp. 413-426 ) foreshadows Les Mamelles de Tiresias, unless one would set Apollinaire 's play in 1903 along with most of his other work merely because he assigns this date to it. No doctrine emerges from the fantasy of action of the " Societe des Amis de Fantomas" ( pp. 115-116, 402-408 ) ; and, all told, the ma­ terial offers no criteria of present interest. Apollinaire 's own theory is expressed in several texts. He returns to the term " orphisme " used in his discussion of Delaunay's work, late in 1912, and here adapted to a concept of faithfulness to nature ( pp. 78-79 ) : "Et pour renouveler l'inspiration, la rendre plus fraiche, plus vivante et plus orphique, je crois que Ie poete devra s'en rapporter a la nature, a la vie. S 'il se bornait meme, sans souci didactique, a noter Ie mystere qu'il voit ou qu'il entend, il s'habituerait a la vie comme l 'ont fait au dix-neuvieme siecle les romanciers ... La verite exterieure ... est l 'orphisme meme de l 'art. " We may wonder what this means. Apol­ linaire 's category of " orphic cubism" was extremely obscure, but the contrast with the scientific cubists, notably Picasso, suggests that in 1914 Apollinaire was eager to abandon the poetics he had been using until that time. One might also think of the act of Orpheus in its rela­ tionship to the story of Le Musicien de Saint Merry. The statement is absolutely new in introducing the nineteenth-century novel as a point of reference ; and in Nord-Sud ( 17-x ) Reverdy continues the same argument, citing the naturalists ( " lIs choisissaient l 'anecdote simple, banale, vulgaire ... " ) . THE NEW POEMS OF 1914 Apollinaire published only six poems in 1914, devoting his principal efforts to his ideograms, which are best analyzed as a group without reference to their respective dates. Le Musicien de Saint Merry ( l4-ii) , based on the story of a kind of Pied Piper, lends itself to various interpretations, but contains very little detail, since the source is still unknown, that we may apply to defining a poetic method. Passing allu­ sions, unrelated to the story proper, recall La Prose ( " a quelle heure un train partira-Iong train de marchandises") or work of 1913 ( "cheminees--tours") . A travers l'Europe ( l4-iv ) is, to my mind, the most significant poem from Les Fenetres written before Apollinaire 's enlistment. It is a fusion of futurist images, of which there is no other strong trace after Arbre except in Les CoUines and the ideograms, and of subjects borrowed

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The Evolution of ApoUinaire's Poetic s, 1 901-1914

from Ohagall's recent work. In his autobiography, Ohagall tells an anecdote that sets the composition of the poem on the day of Apolli­ naire 's visit to his studio in "la Ruche " : "Apollinaire s'assied. II rou gi t, enfie, sourit et murmure : 'surnaturel' ... Le len demain, je recevais un e lettre, un poeme dedie it moi ' Rodztag. ' " • If we may believe the anecdote, Apollinaire's shock would seem to imply that he had paid little attention to Ohagall's work until this moment sometime before April. Further, the term he used to qualify Ohagall's art is related to a doctrine of "surnaturalisme, " stated in vague terms in Les Soirees ( 13-v ) , and later associated with Les Mamelles de Tiresias, until it was replaced by "surrealisme." The latter word, as defined by Apollinaire 's preface to Les Mamelles, is related to Reverdy's concept of the "image creee" ; that is, to Marinetti's system of "analogies" of several types. So far as " surnaturalisme" is an element in Ohagall's painting, it would seem to be a fantasy of dislocations of real objects and the juxtaposition of unrelated ones, and perhaps the opposite, in some way, of "orphisme. " The allusions to Ohagall are numerous and direct. " T a maison ronde" is exactly "la Ruche" of Oendrar's Portrait; "un hareng" might be the sardine that Oendrars puts into the painter's hand as a brush even as he parodies an expression in Les Peintres cubistes, and the subjects of the paintings visible at the moment would be "un homme en l 'air-un veau qui regarde it travers Ie ventre de sa mere-Ie vieux se lave les pieds dans une cuvette-une voiture" and a still life : " deux anneaux d'or pres des sandales." Apollinaire 's consciousness of Ohagall here reaches its maximum, and the poem represents a new genre. The futurist strain in A travers l'Europe relates it to Liens, in which its title appears ( "sons de cloches it travers l'Europe" ) , and also recalls Le Monoplan ("ton biplan") and Marinetti's manifestos ("la charmante cheminee tenant sa chienne en laisse") . The rarity of such echoes from December, 1913, on, might suggest that parts of the poem are of earlier date, but Apollinaire refreshed his acquaintance with his source at the moment of composition of the ideograms, that is, early in 1914, unless, again, one cares to claim that the ideograms had been composed long since, perhaps even before those of Marinetti. The four remaining poems seem to represent Apollinaire 's last effort until the war, or may have been set up merely in order to provide copy for Les Soirees. The style of Souvenir du douanier ( l4-iv ) is very much that of Oendrars at this time. We find the act of cutting names into a bench, as in Dans le Jardin d'Anna, "deux rosiers, " perhaps related to •

See my "L'Esthetique de l'Esprit Nouveau," Le Flaneur des deux rives, Dec.,

1955, p. 16.

XI. The Last Prewar Experiments

119

the theme of Ispahan, a possible allusion to the moving pictures ( "la belle Americaine " ) , and a touch of the American scene in the name "Mississipi, " used earlier by Cendrars ( 13-viii ) . Heine's cemetery comes to mind ( " Ils se donnaient la main ... sur leurs tombeaux ... couronnes mortuaires" ) , as in La Maison des morts. The best parallels for the American woman and the orchestra appear in Les Collines, but the relationship stops with them. L'Anguille ( l4-v ) , rhyming in ABABA, but with irregular syllable counts, contains some slang ( " la craneuse-degueulade-chichi") and names of low-class men ("Bebert dit l 'Anguille" ) , recalling Cendrars ( 13-x) and Carco's pictures of Apaches. The poem 1 904 ( l4-v ) , also rhyming in ABABA, contains a slang expression ( " me ravigote ") , but is based primarily on Heine 's general themes ( "carnaval j 'ai revu ta trogne-Ia Kellnerine rousse") . Sur les propheties ( l4-v ) gathers anec­ dotes about women mediums, and ends with a powerful statement re­ garding the nature of the occult. The impression is similar to that made by the poems of December, 1913, of old work revised and modernized by means of added detail or new rhythms, and the important theme of the occult, probably very recent, finds no parallels to allow analysis of an objective kind. THE IDEOGRAMS The techniques that suggested the title Calligrammes are first attested on June 15, 1914, and represent a poetic method destined to enduring importance in Apollinaire's poetry of the war years. Critics have found various possible sources for the ideograms: and in the Edition de la Pleiade the example of Rodenbach and of Mallarme is still cited, though it is also stated that the futurists were interested in " compositions ideo­ grammatiques" ( pp. 1076-1077 ) . Adema evades the issue by an equivo­ cal turn of phrase : "Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Mallarme, utiliserent avant lui des dispositions typographiques nouvelles, Marinetti et les Futuristes avaient inaugure les 'mots en liberte' " ( p . 180 ) , replacing the name of the device by that of the book in which it was exposed. The contents of L'Antitradition futuriste prove that Apollinaire had seen Marinetti's ideograms, in the manifesto of May 11, by June 29 : in decomposing Marinetti's favorite term of opprobrium, "passeisme," he wrote "EIScraminir, " patterned on " croucracroucraruminer" in RAN RAN ( Mar., p. 89 ) . In principle, then, the ideograms first published in 1914 could have been composed a year before, and withheld, but the evidence that we have found throughout Apollinaire 's career suggests, J. Moulin, Guillaume Apollinawe: textes Vntdits, pp. 130-13I lists Rabelais, Theocritus, and the moving pictures, but with no examples or para ileIs. •

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The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

rather, that he did not think of the idea until shortly before publication of the texts. The basic theory of the ideogram concerns the graphic forms, of a broad still-life category, and adornment with a very precise routine of typographical effects, onomatopeia, and the "sensibilite numerique " and "splendeur geometrique " of Marinetti's rules and examples of May, 1913. In Calligrammes, the first ideogram, Paysage ( 14--viijviii ) , is composed of four configurations. Different fonts and several signs ( e.g. , " 0 a") are used, and an " analogie dessinee " based on Marinetti's "fuMEEER" ( Mar. , p. 62 ) was very plausibly oriented by the " colonnes de fumee" and the "spirales d '6tincelles" of Aeroplane bulgare ( Mar. , p. 83 ) . The Lettre d'une jolie femme Ii u n monsieur passeiste ( Mar., p. 8 1 ) is a sufficient model for Apollinaire 's Lettre-ocean: an arrangement in breadth like that of a post card, and the use of different fonts and of a mathematical sign ("4") . The title T S F, recalling " l'imagination sans fils" (Mar. , p. 23 ) , imitates the contour of Decagone de la sensibilite motrice ( Mar., p. 87 ) , of a wheel whose spokes bear words ; Apollinaire introduces the onomatopoeia " hou," which we shall soon encounter again, and the pseudo-words "ANOMO " and "ANORA " imitating the "verbalisation abstraite" of " angolo angoli angola" ( Mar. , p. 67 ) . Bonjour mon Frere Albert again uses the form of Le Decagone, sets the word "sirenes" at the hub of the wheel, and includes several signs ( such as " + 2") , and the onomatopoeia " 0 0 0 o--ou ou ou-cre cre " ( cf. " crou cra," Mar., p. 8 9 ) , and borrows from the manifesto the words "chaus­ sures" ( Mar., p. 81 ) , "a la creme" ( Mar., p. 9 1 ) , and the model for "gramophones" and "cablogramme." Thus far, Apollinaire's ideogralllB are pastiches of Marinetti's. At one point or another we may reasonably claim that the influence of Marinetti is incidental, and that Apollinaire has "done better. " La Cravate et la montre contains a "splendeur" ( "-") and the word "dantesque, " recalling "Dante" in L'Antitradition. Its graphic contours might be interpreted as an imitation of the "2 rondeurs suspendues" (Mar., p. 83 ) , or of the cubist triptych constructions of 1914 and later." Voyage, despite a few echoes ( " Dante-ce train qui meurt") , represents an autonomous style, and Coeur couronne et miroir is exactly a cubist triptych, free from any trace of futurist influence. • See Cubist Poetry, p. 8, fo r the definitions by Gleizes, who sets the triptychs after the war.

XII. CONCLUSION A STUDY OF THE EVOLUTION of Apollinaire 's poetics during the war years would require references that we do not yet have. In "L'Esthetique de l 'Esprit Nouveau" I gathered the only information of which I know, and applied it to an interpretation of a group project in which his role is contradictory and elusive ; to my conclusions I now add a few details regarding Ohagall and the background of Reverdy's theory of the " image creee." The elements in Vendemiaire that I called "expression­ ist" appear rather to be futurist, and the reservations I made in notes dictated to me by Albert-Birot and others seem to me evasive and tendentious. Finally, the influence of Whitman remains mysterious, and must be reexamined in the light of the influence of Verhaeren. Apollinaire made his last important statement of theory in a lecture on November 26, 1917, published a year later as L'Esprit nouveau et les poetes: The keynote of the lecture is moderation. Apollinaire lists the poetic devices that he considers excessive, "un lyrisme visuel, ... les imaginations grossieres des fabrications de films, ... les surencheres futuristes. " He denounces the very methods he had himself used in 1913 and was still using in 1917. He would encourage experimentation on social and linguistic problems, and yet he recommends as a model the principles of the futurists. He seems, in fact, to have very little idea of what he proposes to do, and is haunted by a desire both for lyricism and for modern techniques. His doctrine of " surprise " is apparently new, and might, then, have some relationship to his doctrine of "surrealisme " in Les Mamelles. Despite the lack of information on the kind of poetry Apollinaire sought to create, his prewar period is far easier to treat. From 1901 to 1914, his poetics changed and varied in a number of ways, but reflected certain enduring patterns. His project was far less to express inner feelings or allude to personal events than merely to create. One may by sheer intuition sense that sadness, nostalgia, phallicism, buffoonery, or geometric presentations all reflect his love for Annie, or his basic inner sensualism, but, since evidence is almost entirely lacking, such a sup­ position serves no purpose. Instead of indulging in an excessive applica­ tion of Freudian principles, one would do better to follow the approach of Jung, as reoriented by Bachelard: forgetting the frustrations and ecstasy and examining the conscious artistic expression of general human problems, or artistic expression for its own sake. 1

•

Mercure de France, no. 130, Dec. 1, 1918, pp. 380-381. G88ton Bachelard, Po6tique d e l'espace, Paris 1957, and Po6tique d e Za reverie,

,

Paris, 1 9 60, especially p. 22.

[ 121 ]

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The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

Exaggeration of the personal element in Apollinaire's poetry re sults also from the writings of his friends ; they have been eager to show him in an interesting light, if only on account of the unreasoned and violent academic condemnation of his work, but they have been rather too eager to glorify him, as if his real achievement were not enough. We must allow creative artists their excesses and even their prejudices, but critics must present and use facts, clearly and without constant evasion and ellipsis of detail and thought. Apollinaire 's so-called sensualism is male bravado calculated to get a laugh, and his libido in Lul is an almost complete desensualization of the libido of Marinetti in Les Grottes de l'amour, and in Le Larron of Jarry's indecencies in Haldernab lou. The enigmas in Palais are a probing example of the role of gross laughter in Apollinaire's poetry. The grossness is, as it were, purged by the personification of abstractions, and the term "enigma" begins to lose its pertinency. The expression " Soleil cou coupe" at the end of Zone may be vaguely enigmatic, but it is no longer buffoonish, and it illustrates an experiment with a cluster of words ; similarly, the sema­ phoric verses in Les Fenetres are not mystifications, but examples of a paratactical technique, and of a concept of reality as an ensemble of dispersed and commonplace events or words. A study of sources is justified if it throws light on enigmas or word clusters, or on some other fact such as the chronology, but not if it merely locates odd isolated details or turns to undemonstrable suppositions regarding Mallarme or Jarry. Value judgments have been the primary impediment to an objective study of Apollinaire 's poetics. It is no shame that he was an imitator, in constant need of words to express his revolutionary ideas on the nature of poetry. Since he had more to say in A lcools than did Maeter­ linck in Serres chaudes, he needed more stimuli. He is, furthermore, not the only great imitator, for Stendhal and Flaubert copied shamelessly and borrowed without acknowledgment, and Rimbaud took Lautrea­ mont's lesson to heart : "Le plagiat est necessaire. Le progres l 'im­ plique." Louis Aragon, another of the great offenders, is amused and prOUd : "Car j 'imite. Plusieurs personnes s'en sont scandalisees." · He names his sources for those who read, and gives us Rimbaud even as he develops a secret language of borrowed allusions : "Je tiens la clef de ces parades. " Apollinaire 's poetics may b e situated b y a series o f projects that he either did not care to define, or was unable to formulate with precision. 3 Les Yeux d'Elsa, New York, s.d., p. 9. I indicated the influence of A lcools on Aragon's war poetry in an article entitled "The Sources of Aragon's 'War Poetry," in Books A b road, Autumn, 1961, pp. 330-334.

Conclusion

123

The creator is not necessarily an effective theoretician, and a doctrine may have a wide influence entirely through imaginative texts. Apol­ linaire wrote down his experiments with word and image as they seemed to him to attain maturity, only to realize before long that he could do better ; then, having done his best, he abandoned the project for some­ thing new. There is, then, no continuity, but rather, a series of experi­ ments, and each maj or attainment is a decisive step forward. The element of continuity is illustrated by the techniques. Apol­ linaire 's work habits show us how he set about constructing a poem, and define his proj ects as volitional and literary. His practice of cutting and patching is one of the constant traits. He sometimes interpolates minor details into a completed poem, rounding it off and bringing it up to date immediately before publication. We can see the interpolations through the typographical effects that isolate them, or by shorter verses, or irregularities in the versification. At other times, Apollinaire attaches older material to a new poem, notably in the form of quatrains, and we may presume that he had a reason for doing this-to create con­ trasts, or use an image he had not yet been able to place. Since mechani­ cal devices of this kind regularly point to thematic material not yet attested in his poetry, they are a maj or key both to the poetics and to the chronology. Whether Apollinaire improved Salome by adding non­ sense verses at the end might be debated, but the fact that he added them is objective evidence. If, without evidence, one attributes most of his poetry to 1902, we no longer have any facts. One of Apollinaire 's most enduring practices was experimentation with clusters of words. His early enigmas are often off-color and buf­ foonish, but the emergence of " tete coupee" late in 1905 establishes a poetic method for the creation of images from a fluid group of words. The cluster "tete coupee " moved ahead to "soleil coupe, " and then, as the sun became an orange, to the weaving of light. Another cluster, relating to a wine press, moved from dying men to girls in the open window, and the open window became a portal of light and soon there­ after a series of still lifes with windows, oranges, tables, gloves, and hats. Symbolist imagery was set completely aside, and with his clusters Apol­ linaire distinguished himself incisively from the current that was mov­ ing toward surrealist imagery. Apollinaire's influence may be measured by the traits that we have found in his poetics. Despite the clear and rapid sequence of events recorded in Nord-Sud in 1917, one cannot maintain that Dada or early surrealism derive from A lcools or Calligrammes, for the basic sources lie in the work of Lautreamont and of Marinetti. Apollinaire served to

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The Evolution of Apollinaire's Poetics, 1901-1914

vulgarize these predecessors, acting as a catalyst, outdoing his models, using their techniques with force and finesse, giving them a r icher poetic value. There is a kind of regression in poetry after his death, as if he had exhausted the best, or was too great to imitate. Like Rimb au d, he was widely read, but it was not until the new occult poetry began to emerge, in 1937, that several of his poems were recognized in retrospect as a basic point of departure. The occult elements in his poetics of 1908 are in this sense more important than those in Zone, but the prophetic poems in the first section of Oalligrammes represent the achievement hailed by the later surrealists.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Adema, Marcel. Guillaume Apollinaire Ie Mal·aim6. Paris, 1952. Apollinaire, Guillaume. Oeuvres p06tiques. Collection de la Pleiade, Paris, 1956. Breunig, Leroy. "The Chronology of Apollinaire's A lcools," Publications of the Modern Language Association, LXVII (Dec. 1952 ) , 901-923. Carmody, Francis. "A Correlation of the Chronology and the Lexicon of Rimbaud's Verse," The French Review, XXXIII (.Tan., 1960 ) , 241-256. Cubist Poetry : The School of Apollinaire, 1912-1919. Berkeley, 1954. "L'EstMtique de l'Esprit Nouveau," Le Fllineur des deux rives, Dec., 1955, pp. 11-20. Cendrars, Blaise. P06sies completes. Paris, 1944. Decaudin, Michel. Le Dossier d'Alcools. Paris, 1960. Durry, Marie·.Teanne. Guillaume Apollinaire : A lcools. Paris, 1956. Flaubert, Gustave. La Tentation de Saint A ntoine. Paris, s.d. France, Anatole. Thais. Paris, 1921. Heine, Heinrich. Oeuvres completes. Paris, 1900. Jarry, Alfred. O euvres completes, Vol. IV. Monte Carlo, 1948. Lautreamont. Les Chants de Maldoror. Paris, 1941. Maeterlinck, Maurice. Serres chaudes. Brussels, 1900. Marinetti, Francesco. La Conquete des etoiles. Paris, 1 902. Le Roi Bombance. Paris, 1905. La Ville charnelle. Paris, 1908. --- Enquete internationale sur Ie vers libre. Milan, 1909 (with the manifesto of 1909 ) . Le Monoplan du pape. Paris, 1912. ---, editor. I Poeti futuristi (anthology) . Milan, 1912. --- Les Mots en liberU futuristes. Milan, 1919 (the manifestos of 1912 and 1913 ) . Menard, Louis. Hermes Trism6giste. Paris, 1867. Moulin, .Teanine. Guillaume A pollinaire : textes inedits. Geneva, 1952. Ovid, L. Publius Naso. Les M6tamorphoses, with French translation by .T. Chamonard. Paris, 1953. Rimbaud, Arthur. Oeuvres. Paris, 1960. Romains, .Tules. L'Ame des hommes. Paris, 1904. --- La Vie unanime. Paris, 1908. Verhaeren, Emile. Oeuvres. Paris, 1912. ---

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CHRONOLOGICAL INPEX OF APOLLINAIRE 'S POETRY [All titles published before November, 1914, arranged according to date of earliest publication, e.g., l-ix for September, 1 901 ; in parentheses, pagination in the Ph3iade edition ; in final position, pagination for the present study.]

1-ix 1-ix 2-v 2-xii 3-v 3-viii 3-xii 3-xii 4-i 4-i 4-ii 4-ii 4-vi 5-iv 5-vi 5-vi 5-xi 6-ii 6-ii 6-ii 6-ii ? ? ? 7-viii 7-x 7-xi 7-xi 7-xi 8-ii 8-iii 8-v 8-vi 8-xii 9-ii

Claire de lune ( 137 ) Ville et coeur ( 335 ) Elegie du voyageur ( 337 ) L'Ermite ( 100 ) , 13-15, 18 Avenir ( 560) , 13 Le Larron ( 91 ) , 13-15, 18 L' Adieu ( 8 5 ) L a Dame ( 127) L a Synagogue ( 113 ) , 21, 22, 84 Les Femmes ( 123 ) , 21, 22 La Loreley ( 1 15 ) , 29, 30 Passion ( 532 ) Schinderhannes ( 1 1 7 ) , 22 Le Mendiant ( 565 ) , 17-19 Automne ( 104 ) , 19, 25 La Fuite ( 649 ) , 43 Palais ( 61 ) , 33-36 Salome ( 86 ) , 30-33 L'Emigrant de Landor Road ( 105 ) , 18, 36-37 Mai ( 1 12) , 23 , 27 Les Cloches ( 114 ) , 27 Le Printemps ( 556 ) , 39-40, 58 Les Adieux ( 332) , 39 Le Dome de Cologne ( 538 ) , 44 La Maison des morts ( in prose, 66) , 22-23, 52 Trente ans deb out ( 650) Les Colchiques ( 60 ) Lul de Faltenin ( 97 ) , 41-47 La Tzigane ( 99 ) , 27 Onirocritique (371 ) , 41, 47-48, 66 Pipe ( 572 ) , 41, 42, 43 Le Brasier ( 108 ) , 38, 41, 49-5 1 , 93 Le Bestiaire ( 3 ) , 37, 41 Les Fianr;ailles ( 128 ) , 32, 38-40, 5 1-57, 64 Crepuscule ( 64 ) , 28 [ 127 ]

128

9-ii 9-iv 9-v 9-v 9-v 9-v 9-v 9-v 9-v 9-ix l l-iii l l-xii 12-ii 12-ii 12-v 12-vi 12-vii 12-vii 12-vii 12-ix 12-ix 12-ix 12-x 12-xi 12-xi 12-xii 12-xii 13-i 13-i 13-i 13-iii 13-iv 13-iv 13-vi 13-x 13-x 13-x 13-x 13-x 13-x

Index Saltimbanques ( 90 ) , 28 Le Depart ( 57 8 ) La Chanson du mal-aime ( 46 ) , 22, 58-62, 63-64 Le Vent nocturne ( 96 ) , 24 RhCnane d'automne ( 11 9 ) , 22, 26 Les Sapins ( 12 1 ) , 24 ElCgie ( 530) Crepuscule ( 533 ) , 28 La Vierge a la /leur de haricot ( 534) La Maison des morts ( in verse, 66 ) , 22-23, 52 Signe ( 125 ) , 26 Poeme lu au mariage d'Andre Salmon ( 83 ) , 63 Le Pont Mirabeau ( 45 ) , 63 Per te praesentit aruspex ( 340 ) L'Enfer ( 341 ) Merlin et la vieille femme ( 88 ) , 13, 15, 19, 85 Clotilde ( 73 ) Marizibill ( 77 ) , 85 Rosemonde ( 104 ) , 85, 86 Annie ( 65 ) , 63 Le Voyageur ( 78 ) , 24, 38, 74-78 Cors de chasse ( 148 ) , 26 Marie ( 8 1 ) Cortege ( 74) , 90-93 Vendemiaire ( 149 ) , 38, 43, 71-73, 85-90 Zone ( 39 ) , 71-73, 80-86, 92-93, 99-103 La Porte ( 87 ) Les Fenetres ( 1 68 ) , 104, 105, 106-108, 110 Veille ( 652 ) , 112 Rencontre ( 653 ) , 112 Arbre ( 178) , 112-113, 114-115 Liens ( 167 ) , 105 Alcools ( first printing of Chantre, La Blanche Neige, Un Soir, 1909, A la Sante and Hvtels ) , passim L'Antitradition futuriste, 113 Montparnasse ( 353 ) , 114, 115 Dans le Jardin d'Anna ( 347 ) , 1 14 Rolandseck ( 351 ) , 114 La Grenouillere ( 352 ) , 114 Hyde Park ( 354) , 114 Ispahan ( 349 ) , 114-115

Index

13-xii 13-xii 14-ii 14-iv 14-iv 14-v 14-v 14-v 14-vi 14-vii 14-vii 14-vii 14-vii 14-vii 18

Un fantome de nuees ( 193 ) , 115 Lundi rue Christine ( 180 ) , 115 Le Musicien de Saint Merry ( 188 ) , 117 A travers l'Europe ( 201 ) , 115, 117 Souvenir du Douanier, 1 18-119 Sur les propheties ( 186 ) , 119 1904 ( 35 5 ) , 119 L'Anguille ( 356) , 119 Lettre ocean ( 183 ) , 120 L'Ignorance ( 344 ) , 15-16, 19 Paysage ( 170 ) , 120 La Cravate et la montre ( 192 ) , 120 Coeur couronne et miroir ( 197 ) , 120 Voyage ( 198 ) , 120 Les Collines ( 171 ) , 74-79, 104, 108-111

129

INDEX OF NAME S [ Principal proper names and titles not included in chronological index.] Buzzi, 43, 73, 80, 83, 86-90, 107-110 Cendrars, 71, 81-84, 99-103, 112-113, 115-116, 118-1 19 Chagall, 1 10-1 11, 112-1 13, 118 Heine, 7, 8, 9, 20-29, 30-33, 3 6-38, 46, 59, 85 Hermes Trismegistus, 44-46 Jarry, 1 6-17 Laforgue, 6 Lautreamont, 47-48, 98 Maeterlinck, 6-7, 25 n. 7, 35 n. 4, 37 n. 6, 42 n. 4, 84 n. 7, 91 n. 13

Marinetti, 7-9, 68-70, 99-103 ; Le Roi Bombance, 30, 33-36, 75, 86 ; early verse, 37, 42, 50, 55, 60-62, 68-70, 87 ; manifestos, 73-74, 95, 1 1 9-120 ; Le Monoplan du pape, 72-74, 87-93, 107109 Reverdy, 2, 1 1 7 Rimbaud, 1 8 , 28, 4 1 , 47-49, 52-56 Romains, 65-70, 90, 106 La Tentation de Saint Antoine, 13-16, 24 Thais, 13-15, 50 Verhaeren, 25-27, 43, 65-68, 81, 87

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