Poetry
Capital of Pain
Capitale de la douleur
Paul Eluard · 1926
Synopsis
Four sets of poems, with no story and no imposed order. Often very short pieces stand alongside love poems, among them the one that begins “La courbe de tes yeux”, and a gallery of painter friends, Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Picasso, André Masson, Paul Klee, Georges Braque and Joan Miró, each greeted with a poem.
Context
The volume appeared from Gallimard in 1926. It partly reprises earlier booklets, Répétitions, published in 1922 with illustrations by Max Ernst, and Mourir de ne pas mourir, published in 1924, to which are added Les Petits Justes and some Nouveaux poèmes dedicated to Gala. The collection was first to be called L'Art d'être malheureux. It alternates free verse, alexandrines and prose poems.
Who it is for
Short, detachable pieces, several of which run to only two lines. The four sections tell no story and can be taken in any order.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English under the title Capital of Pain by Mary Ann Caws, Patricia Terry and Nancy Kline, the collection was published by Black Widow Press in 2006.
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