Collected Poems in English and French

By Samuel Beckett

1961

First Published

3.86

Average Rating

203

Number of Pages

6H12M

Audio Length

One of the most important playwrights and novelists of the twentieth century, Samuel Beckett was also an accomplished poet and translator. Collected Poems in English and French is a complete collection of all the poetry by the Nobel Prize-winning writer, including his poetry written originally in English and French, as well as his translations of major French poets such as Paul Eluard, Arthur Rimbaud, and Guillaume Appollinaire. The English poems include Whoroscope, his first published verse, as well as the thirteen poems first published in 1935 as Echo’s Bones and Other Preipitates. In addition, there are the dozen poems in French that Beckett wrote in 1938 and 1939, his first creative work in that language; three of these are accompanied by Beckett’s own English translations. Among the translations are those of eight Eluard poems, The Drunken Boat by Rimbaud, Zone by Apollinaire, and nine maxims by Chamfort. From his original work to his translations, Beckett’s genius and masterful use of language are on display throughout this collection.

Avg Rating

3.86

Number of Ratings

495

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Author

Samuel Beckett

Author · 95 books

Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in France for most of his adult life. He wrote in both English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour. Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced by James Joyce, he is considered one of the last modernists. As an inspiration to many later writers, he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He is one of the key writers in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd". His work became increasingly minimalist in his later career. Beckett was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation". In 1984 he was elected Saoi of Aosdána.