Poetry of Revolution: Romanticism and National Projects

(Sean Pound) #1
By focusing on elements of the Haitian landscape, Durand reveals a distinct source of

poetic inspiration which Delorme and many of Durand’s contemporaries did not pursue.


These verses constitute a prelude of other poems to come. Poems about the flora and

fauna of Haiti are to be found primarily in the second book of Rires et Pleurs. In anticipation of


further analysis, one can already note that the descriptions of Haitian landscape serve as a sign of


national commitment. Durand’s nature poetry expands the tradition of an indigenous literature


as envisioned by the writers of L’Union and more thoroughly explores nature as a poetic theme,


begun by Ignace Nau. In the time in which Durand was writing, this geographical specificity is


even more paramount as Haiti is constantly a contested territory. The words tortueux and amer


with their negative connotations suggest that writing about nature will not always be celebratory.


By the poem’s end, Durand no longer speaks merely for other grateful students of

Delorme, but this collective voice is now posited as a national representative. Delorme is


addressed as a compatriot living away from his homeland. The book of poetry takes on added


significance, serving as a nostalgic reminder of Haiti to a friend in exile:


Les flots vous poussent loin de la rive chérie,
Mais de nos cœurs, ami, rien ne peut vous bannir.
Je vous offre ce livre, écho de la patrie,
Dont l’exil rend encore plus cher le souvenir. (41-44)

It is near the end of the “Dédicace” that Durand invokes the names of four Haitian writers

from the early nineteenth century. Sixty years after independence, he cites what he already sees


as the makings of a Haitian literary tradition. Besides the two early Romantic poets from the


1830s, Ignace Nau and Coriolan Ardouin, Durand also names Jules Milscent, founder of Haiti’s


first literary and political journal L’Abeille haytienne, and finally Boisrond Tonnerre, the author


of Haiti’s 1804 L’Acte d’indépendance d’Haïti. Durand’s mention of these Haitian writers

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