Poetry
La Flûte à Siebel
Not translated into English
Max Waller · 1891
Synopsis
Twenty-seven short poems, from “P. P. C.” to “Sunday”, in which the poet moves from lament to joke: laments for Margot and for the drinks drunk, scenes of café and boulevard, lullaby, hotel of loves, exotic fans, the rain, the sea, silence and return. In a polished form in the manner of the Parnassians, the tone comes close to Heine, Laforgue and Verlaine.
Context
The collection was published in Brussels by Paul Lacomblez in 1891, two years after its author's death; the Encyclopædia Britannica dates it to 1887. Siebel was one of the author's youthful pseudonyms. A defender of crafted verse against free verse, he nevertheless writes here in a lighter vein. Literary histories remember him less for his books than for his role as publisher of the young Belgian writers of his generation.
Who it is for
A slim collection of short poems, easy to read separately; the text can be read freely online.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as his main collection, and as the only one of his books of verse that is remembered today.
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