The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry

Gisèle Prassinos 1920–

istanbul, turkey

P

rassinos was born in Turkey to Greek parents who moved the family to

France in 1922. André Breton and Paul Éluard discovered her poetry in

1934 when it first appeared in the Surrealist journal Minotaure. The two

declared that her works at the age of fourteen proved the e≈cacy of automatic

writing. They dubbed her the ‘‘ambiguous schoolgirl.’’ Éluard praised the poet

for her childlike ethics, her imagination, and her ability to create moments of

purity in the face of centuries of rationalization. Principal works: Une demande

en mariage, 1935; La Sauterelle arthritique (preface by Éluard), 1935; Le Feu ma-

niaque (preface by Éluard), 1939; Trouver sans chercher, 1975.

Apostle Qualities

Reading and singing are good, while speaking is just minutes.
I spoke and my honest self moaned.
I seldom played and I finished badly.
Because the end is the end of something, when I see I exist, I’ll say: ‘‘Snow
started to fall this morning.’’
I saw things very clearly while the sky was looking at me.
And, among these damp mists, I surmised that between the two of them there
were only songs.
Then, in wondrous spirits, I ran whistling toward the farm, and my heart
more worthy than the dust shouted under your steps.
But, since I’ve not seen an apostle, I won’t be able to leave here. So, in an
unparalleled eagerness, my simple and nonchalant soul said these words:
‘‘How sweet vanilla is!’’
—mary ann caws

Loving Poem

In the shadow of the gleaming carpet, ah! why, tender inspired one, have you
sorted out the intimate fibers of my heart? haven’t you ever surprised the in-
stinctive and foreign blinking of the central corporation of my soul? so do you
think that faithful morality is a secret that we particularly su√er from?
Will my health-giving gazes never again collapse under the arid influence of
your somber eyes?