style which the page allows. We will. if need be, use 3 or 4 different
colours and 20 different ·typefaces on the same page. For example:
Italic for a series of similar and swift sensations. Bold for the imita
tion of heavy tones. and so on. A new conception of the typo
graphic/painterly page.
Free-Expression•orthography (Orthographe libre expressive)
The historical necessity of Free-Expression Orthography shows itself
in the continuous revolutions which have gradually freed the human
race from their chains and restrictions.
In actual fact the poets used to pour forth their drunken lyricism in a
series of rhythmic gasps, with tones and echoes. chimes and rhymes.
at pre-planned intervals (traditional prosody). Then they changed
with some freedom the breathing-spaces that the lungs of their pre
decessors had established.
- The poets later persuaded themselves that the varied moments of
their drunken lyricism had to express these peculiar rhythms. of un
expected and completely various lengths. with an absolute freedom
of accentuation. So they quite naturally invented free verse (vers
libre). but they still kept syntactical• order. so that their lyrical intox
ication could pour over their hearers by the logical channels of that
conventional period.
- Today we do not want the lyrical enchantment of words to coincide
with syntactical order. before it has been created by our own discov
eries. So we have Words in Freedom (Mots en liberte). In addition.
our lyrical power must be free to re-form words by abbreviation or
lengthening. to strengthen their middle or endings, while the number
of their vowels or consonants can be increased or reduced. That is
how we will keep the new orthography, which I call Free-Expression
Orthography (Orthographe expressive libre). This instinctive remodel
ling of words expresses our natural love of onomatopoeia. It matters
little if the transformed word is ambiguous. It coalesces better with
onomatopoeic•• comparisons or sounds. and allows us to reach
quickly onomatopoeic-psychic accord. the deep but abstract expres
sion of a discovery or a pure idea.
The illustration on p. 55 shows a poem from the above-mentioned book.
The types have not been chosen for formal-aesthetic. decorative reasons:
- Syntax =laws of sentence-making
•• Onomatopoeia = pamting m sound. 1mitatmg sound
