Paul Claudel Books

Set in a classical framework, this three-act play has maintained its significance throughout history. Alpha Editions has undertaken the task of preserving this work by republishing it in a modern, clear format, ensuring readability and accessibility for contemporary audiences. The book explores themes within Romance literatures, specifically drawing from French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese influences, making it a valuable addition to literary collections.

The collection features deeply resonant lyric poetry that blends earthly themes with spiritual reflection. Celebrated for its ecological and sacramental vision, Claudel's work stands alongside the likes of T. S. Eliot and Rainer Maria Rilke, showcasing its enduring relevance and artistic achievement in the twentieth century.

The complex nature of Paul Claudel's play, Break of Noon, is examined through a collaborative English-language edition edited by Anthony Rudolf. The text's instability, which troubled Claudel throughout his life, is explored in essays by David Furlong and John Naughton, alongside Susannah York's reflections on her translation experience. This collection highlights the differing perspectives on the play, echoing its multifaceted original versions. The work commemorates significant past productions, including one featuring notable actors Ben Kingsley and Annie Firbank.

«Es ist vielleicht das Eigenartigste an Claudels Dichtung, daß alle großen Szenen, in denen das individuelle Schicksal der Haupthelden eine Entwicklung erfährt, immer in eine ethnologische, geographische, astronomische Schau ausmünden, wie umgekehrt alle großpolitische und kosmische Überlegung immer an die individuellen Schicksale geknüpft bleibt. Denn Rodrigo ‹gehört zu denen, die sich nicht retten können, als indem sie das ganze Gewimmel miterlösen, das hinter ihnen von ihrer Gestalt geprägt wird›. ... So gibt es hier überhaupt kein individuelles Schicksal, das nicht zugleich sozial und welthistorisch wäre.»

'The poet makes himself a seer by a long, prodigious, and rational disordering of all the senses. . .' Rimbaud was sixteen when he made this famous declaration. By 1886, then thirty-two and an explorer, trader and slave-trader on the Red Sea, he had absolutely no interest in the fate or success of the poetry infused with mysticism, alchemy and magic that he had written in his teens. That same year, in Paris, Les Illuminations was being published as the work of 'the late' Arthur Rimbaud, first in a Symbolist periodical and then in book form, with an Introduction by his former lover, Verlaine. Seldom has a writer's vision of changing the world through words failed so spectacularly as did Rimbaud's. That failure turned him into an incomparable tragic poet: not only 'a wild undisciplined genius, a mystic philosopher and thinker, an inspired poet' but also, according to Enid Starkie, 'one of the most finished artists . . . a supreme master of prosody and style'. This Penguin Classic reproduces the text of the Pléiade edition, 1954, with selected letters and prose translations that have been highly acclaimed.

Cette édition constitue une événement. La pièce, qui date de 1906, est le chef-d'œuvre de Claudel. Il y a enclos, dans un style brûlant et poétique, mariage de Shakespeare et de Rimbaud, le bonheur et le drame de sa vie. Ysé a abandonné son mari pour vivre avec Mesa ; elle quitte ce dernier pour un troisième homme qui ne la comble pas. Les deux protagonistes sont liés l'un à l'autre. L'homme, épris d'absolu et de Dieu, ne peut ni être satisfait par la femme ni s'en arracher. La femme aime cet homme qui la dépasse et la mène à son malheur, jusqu'à ce que triomphe «l'Esprit vainqueur dans la transfiguration de Midi». Au texte original s'ajoutent des éléments nouveaux : deux versions inédites, antérieures au texte de 1906, écrites par Claudel au milieu du drame de la rupture et de l'abandon, et des lettres également inconnues, écrites par le poète au modèle réel d'Ysé (et de la Prouhèze du Soulier de satin).