Saint-John Perse (Saint-John Perse)

May 31, 1887, Mr.. - September 20, 1975
French poet and diplomat, Saint-John Perse (real name Rene Marie Alexis Saint-Lц?ger) was born on a small island not far from the family of Guadeloupe, West Indies. His father, Amadi Saint-Leger, a lawyer, was a native of Burgundy, where his ancestors had left in the late XVII century.; His mother, nee Francoise Rene Dormoy, came from a family of planters and naval officers.
who lived in the Antilles with the XVII century. The only boy in the family, Leger went to school in Pointe-ц?-Pitre (Guadeloupe), and in 1899. with his family for material reasons he returned to France and lived in by. After graduating University of Bordeaux, a young man preparing for a diplomatic career in 1914. delivers the relevant examinations.
The first volume of poems of the poet 'Eclogite' ( 'Eloges') appeared in 1910. and drew the attention of authorities such as Andre Gide and Jacques Riviц?re. A career diplomat, he is published under the pseudonym Saint-John Perse. In the 20-ies. He wrote little, but among the works of this time - a famous epic poem 'Anabasis' ( 'Anabase', 1924), translated in 1930. English language mc. Eliot. This poem was written during the poet's five-year stay in Beijing, where he worked at the French Embassy. In China, St. ZH.P. and spent his vacation, sailing on the South China Sea and traveling on horseback across the Gobi Desert. Conceived in an abandoned temple Taoist examination, . near Beijing, . This poem, . whose action unfolds in the vast deserts of Asia, . tells the story of man's loneliness (the leader of a nomadic tribe) during his travels to distant lands, . and in the hidden corners of human soul,
. Arthur Nold, an expert on creativity S.-ZH.P., called the 'Anabasis' 'one of the most stringent and at the same time mysterious poems S.-ZH.P.'. In the preface to his translation of Eliot wrote: 'Let the reader at first did not think about the meaning crush him in memory images of the poem. They are digested only when taken together '.
After returning to Paris in 1921. St. ZH.P. was immediately sent to Washington for the International Conference on Disarmament, where he met with French Prime Minister and head of the French delegation, Aristide Briand, with whom he established close friendships. In 1933. St. ZH.P. appointed Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry in the rank of ambassador, . in the prewar years, opposes the policy of 'appeasement' of Hitler, . What annoys right-wing political circles, . under which the Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud in 1940, . shortly before the occupation of France, . signed an order on the resignation of St. ZH.P,
. In June of that year the poet at the last minute through England and Canada runs from France to the United States, where he lives in voluntary exile until the end of the war. Government 'Vichy' deprived of his nationality, the rank of ambassador and all awards. Washington St. ZH.P. had a modest adviser in the library of Congress.
. 'Prince of Friendship' ( 'Amide du prince', 1924), only one, not counting the 'Anabasis', a major poem, created during the diplomatic service and later became a book 'Ecologists and other poems'
. ( 'Eloges and Other Poems'). Manuscripts and drafts of the poet were confiscated and probably destroyed by the Gestapo, the raid in the Paris apartment S.-ZH.P.
Once in the United States, St. ZH.P. re-writes a lot. During the war and postwar years of his pen leave the poem 'Exile' ( 'Exil', 1942), 'Betry' ( 'Vents', 1946), 'Landmarks' ( 'Amers', 1957), 'Chronicle' ( 'Chronique', 1959), 'The Birds' ( 'Oiseaux', 1962). Much of what was written during his stay in the diplomatic service had remained unpublished, so all the literary heritage of St. ZH.P. fits in seven small books.
In 1960, Mr.. St. ZH.P. was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 'for the hills and imagery, which means poetry reflect the circumstances of our time'. In his Nobel lecture the poet spoke of the similarity between poetry and science. 'Poetry - it is not only knowledge, but life itself, life in its entirety, - said S.-ZH.P. - The poet lived in the soul of a cave man and will live in the human soul of the atomic age, for poetry - an integral feature of humanity ... Thanks to the commitment of all things the poet gives us the idea of permanence and unity of being '. In the atomic century, concluded S.-ZH.P., 'the poet enough to be sick conscience of his time'.
After the war, the poet returned to citizenship and all the awards, and in 1957,. he comes home. While constantly St ZH.P. still lived in Washington, part of the year so be sure spent in France, at his villa in Gien, along with his wife, an American, born Dorothy Milborn Russell, whom he married in 1958. The poet was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor, Order of the Bath, Grand Cross of the British Empire. St. ZH.P. died in 1975
St. ZH.P. among the most original poets of XX century., characterized by bold and at the same time, the allegorical imagery. 'His poetic footsteps - wrote Arthur NцІdl - slow and ceremonies, language - literature and very different from the language of everyday communication ... All the time felt that he wanted not just good to express my thoughts, but to express it as best as possible '.
. S.-ZH.P. who identifies the poet with the forces of nature, often compared to Walt Whitman, but his aristocratic poetics has nothing to do with the poetics of Whitman
. Reviewing 'Winds', English poet and critic Stephen Spender calls it a work of 'a great poem about America', and most of St. ZH.P. 'grand poet, the Old Testament narrator who write about contemporary issues ...'. 'In his poetic vision given generalized images of nature, morality and religion in their historical perspective'.
In the 20-ies. St. ZH.P. was a group of writers, Paul Valц?ry, Paul Claudel, and other writers, grouped around the journal 'New French Review' ( 'Nouvelle Revue francaise'). After the death of C. Claudel-ZH.P. with greater success than anyone else, continued the tradition of prose poems.
'St. ZH.P. - A poet of unusual strength and skill '- Philip Toynbee wrote, and the Mexican poet Octavio Paz pointed out that' in the way [modern poet] contains more truth than the so-called historical documents. Anyone who wants to know what happened in the first half of this century, it is best not leaf through old newspapers and turn to the leading poets ... One of these poets could be S.-ZH.P... His language, inexhaustible source of images, sonorous and precise rhythm superb ...'.
Not all critics appreciate creativity St. ZH.P. as high. American poet and critic Howard Nemerow observes: 'Directions' - this is not only great, but not even a good poem'. In another review of the 'Landmarks' John Syardi wrote:' The Persians, of course, tremendous ear for music, but I doubt that this poem will have the enthusiasm of English readers in the original and the translation. Pers too static ... action too stretched '. Syardi refers to a review H.U. Auden, in which the English poet asserts that St. ZH.P. deserves the Nobel Prize. "Oden also said static Perse - continues Syardi - but does not attach any importance to this. Oden, perhaps, human. I do not know what could have Persa cut, but cut very much want. "
In a review of Auden, which appeared in The New York Times Review beech '(' New York Times Book Review ') on July 27, 1958, contains the following assessment of creativity St ZH.P. in general: 'When paginate poem S.-ZH.P., then come to the conclusion that each of them - part of a vast canvas of poetic. He is one of those fortunate poets who soon discovered his muse and his poetic language '.