Earthlight (Clair de Terre): Poems

By André Breton

Book Overview

Best known in the United States as the mastermind of the Surrealist movement and as the author of Nadja, Andr Breton has always enjoyed in Europe the reputation of being a brilliant poet as well. Bill Zavatsky's and Zack Rogow's award winning translation of Breton's Earthlight (Clair de terre) introduces the English-language audience to the delights--and complexities--of Breton's amazing poetry. Written to friends and fellow Surrealists such as Pablo Picasso, Tristan Tzara, Robert Desnos, Francis Picabia, Pierre Reverdy, and Max Ernst, the poems in the collection date from 1919 to 1936, spanning Breton's involvement with Dadaism and his founding of Surrealism. Winner of the 1993 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize, this new edition has been extensively revised and is now issued in a bilingual French-English format.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0996007938
• ISBN13: 9780996007931
• Release Date: January 2017
• Publisher: Black Widow Press
• Length: 386 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Jeeze, just about my favorite book on the planet.

I bought the Sun and Moon edition back in 1995 and I read it to bits. It went everywhere with me. As I write this, the Green Integer edition is in my backpack. I love these poems. I don't care if they make sense or not. They are an example of how the overflowing abundance of things will pour through us if we allow it; just pure poetic freedom. I love lines like, "Tomorrow you'll lie to the days when you were young// To the great firefly days when you were young" or "Against evil spells, what good is this little bluish dog with its body trapped in a solenoid of black glass?" If you want pithy philosophizing, these poems are not for you, but if you want to ride the flux of real life, give em a spin.

Transports the reader into a brilliant world of the surreal

Toiled over by Zavatsky and Rogow, this book provides the reader a peek into the window of the surreal. The images that Breton creates are brilliant and pulsating, and completely accessible. At times I laughed out loud, other times I wanted to cry, Breton was speaking so close to my heart and mind. I highly recommend it especially on trains and planes.