Selected Poetry and Prose of Évariste Parny: In English Translation, with French Text
- Editor: Françoise Lionnet
- Translators: Peter Low, Blake Smith
- Pages: 336
- Published: 2018
- ISBN: 9781603293624 (Paperback)
“Ultimately, the book underlines Parny’s significant role in francophone literary history; however, it is also a useful addition to the bookshelves of students of history, postcolonialism, gender studies, world literature, musicology, and even translation studies.”
—The French Review
Praised by Voltaire and admired by Pushkin, Évariste Parny (1753–1814) was born on the island of Reunion, which is east of Madagascar, and educated in France. His life as a soldier and government administrator allowed him to travel to Brazil, Africa, and India. Though from the periphery of France’s colonial empire, he ultimately became a member of the Académie Française. Despite his reaching that pinnacle of respectability, some of his poetry was banned after his death.
This edition includes poems from the Poésies érotiques and Élégies, which established Parny’s reputation; the Chansons madécasses (“Madagascar Songs”), which were influential in the development of the prose poem; five of his published letters, written in a mixture of prose and verse; the narrative poem Le voyage de Céline; and selections from his sardonic, anticlerical later poetry. A substantial introduction discusses Parny’s poetry in connection with its literary context and the themes of gender, race, and postcoloniality.
Acknowledgments (x)
Introduction (i)
Translators’ Note (xi)
Note on the Texts (xvii)
I. Poésies érotiques / Erotic Poems (2)
Poems Published in 1778
À Éléonore / To Éléonore (2)
Le lendemain / The Day After (6)
Billet / Love Letter (8)
La discrétion / Discretion (10)
La frayeur / The Fright (12)
Le bouquet de l’amour / The Bouquet of Love (14)
Souvenir / Memory (16)
Au gazon foulé par Éléonore / To the Lawn on Which Éléonore Stepped (18)
Fragment d’Alcée, poète grec / Fragment from a Greek Poet (20)
Madrigal / Madrigal (24)
Ma retraite / My Retreat (24)
Vers gravés sur un myrte / Lines Carved on a Myrtle Tree (28)
Le remède dangereux / The Dangerous Remedy (30)
Le refroidissement / On Her Cooling (32)
À un myrte / To a Myrtle Tree (32)
Le songe / The Dream (34)
Ma mort / My Death (36)
Poems Published after 1778
Les imprécations / The Curses (40)
Projet de solitude / Plan for Solitude (42)
Les paradis / Heavens (44)
Le revenant / The Returning Ghost (52)
Billet / Love Letter (56)
Élégie / Elegy (56)
Dépit / Rejected (60)
Il est trop tard / It’s Too Late (62)
Retour à Éléonore / Return to Éléonore (64)
Le raccommodement / Getting Back Together (70)
Les serments / Sworn Oaths (70)
Le voyage manqué / The Voyage Not Taken (74)
Sur la maladie d’Éléonore / On Éléonore’s Illness (76)
Le cabinet de toilette / Her Dressing Room (78)
L’absence / Absence (80)
L’impatience / Impatience (82)
Réflexion amoureuse / Amorous Reflection (84)
Délire / Delirium (84)
Les adieux / Farewell (90)
II. Élégies (1784) / Elegies (92)
Élégie II / Elegy 2 (92)
Élégie VI / Elegy 6 (94)
Élégie VII / Elegy 7 (100)
Élégie XI / Elegy 11 (104)
Élégie XII / Elegy 12 (104)
Élégie XIII / Elegy 13 (106)
III. Chansons madécasses (1787) / Songs of Madagascar (110)
Avertissement / Preface (110)
Chanson première / Song 1 (112)
Chanson II / Song 2 (112)
Chanson III / Song 3 (112)
Chanson IV / Song 4 (114)
Chanson V / Song 5 (116)
Chanson VI / Song 6 (118)
Chanson VII / Song 7 (118)
Chanson VIII / Song 8 (120)
Chanson IX / Song 9 (120)
Chanson X / Song 10 (122)
Chanson XI / Song 11 (124)
Chanson XII / Song 12 (126)
IV. Lettres / Letters (130)
Lettre I: À mon frère / Letter 1: To my brother (130)
Lettre II: À Bertin / Letter 2: To Bertin (146)
Lettre III: À Bertin / Letter 3: To Bertin (150)
Lettre IV: À M. Pinczon du Sel / Letter 4: To Mr. Pinczon du Sel (174)
Lettre V: À mon frère / Letter 5: To my brother (180)
V. Le voyage de Céline (1806) / The Voyage of Celine (196)
VI. Poèmes de circonstance et d’inspiration satirique / Occasional and Satirical Pieces (236)
Épître aux insurgents / Letter to the American Insurgents (1777) (236)
Dialogue / Dialogue with Cupid (240)
Épitaphe / Epitaph (240)
Le vaisseau Le Vengeur / The Warship Le Vengeur (242)
À ces messieurs / To Those Gentlemen (248)
Vers sur la mort d’une jeune fille / Lines on the Death of a Girl (248)
Je suis assis... la chanson d’Éric / I’m Sitting . . . Eric’s Song (250)
Deux inscriptions / Two Inscriptions (252)
La guerre des dieux, chant 9 / War of the Gods, canto 9 (252)
“The introductory material, the content of Parny’s writings, and the translations and notes are accessible and readable. It was a pleasure to read this volume.”
—Doris Kadish, University of Georgia
