Women/men

Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) wrote three secret collections of verse, of which "Femmes" and "Hombres" remained almost unobtainable even in France until the 1970s. These strangely unrespectable poems celebrate the pleasures of sex, with women and men respectively, in loving detail - reversing the old view of Verlaine as a limp impressionist. Alistair Elliot's metrical translations brilliantly echo the vigour, good humour and skill of the originals, which accompany them in this bilingual edition.

ISBN	085646368X	Pages	160
ISBN13	9780856463686 (What's this?)	Volumes	1
Publisher	Anvil Press Poetry	Weight (grammes)	186
Imprint	Anvil Press Poetry	Language	English & French
Format	Paperback	Published in	London
Publication date	31 Jan 2004	Previous ISBN	9780856460869
Translator	Alistair Elliot	Height (mm)	197
Library of Congress	PQ2463	Width (mm)	130
DEWEY	841.8	Spine width (mm)	13
DEWEY edition	DC21	Academic level	General

		Openers		19
		To the one they call cold		23
		Foursome		27
		Triolets for a virtue in excuse for mine being small		29
		Royal tastes		33
		Girls I		35
		Girls II		39
		To Madame		45
		Anointed vessel		47
		High romance		51
		Low scene		55
		A note to Lily		57
		For Rita		61
		At the dance		65
		Surrender		69
		Treats		73
		The way the ladies ride		77
		Paying tribute		81
		A brief moral		83
		'Now, poet, don't be sacrilegious ...'		87
		A thousand and three		91
		Acornesque I		95
		Acornesque II		97
		On a statue		101
		Meeting		103
		'Climb on, as women do to ride ...'		107
		'Climb on, as women do to ride ...'		111
		'A crumb or two of shit and cheese ...'		111
		'He's an awkward bedfellow and I love to keep ...'		115
		'As women, surely, gain so much ...'		117
		'Even without presenting arms ...'		121
		'In that cafe crowded with fools we stood ...'		125
		More...

'...in Verlaine's clandestine collections of erotic verse, Mr Elliot succeeds marvellously. The French poet's exuberant wit, sensuality, and technical - or pyrotechnical - brilliance evoke the same virtues in the translator. The poems are obscene, blasphemous, joyful celebrations of carnal love, with man or woman; hymns to the body... These are astonishing, beautiful poems, astonishingly and beautifully rendered.'D M Thomas, Times Literary Supplement

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Femmes/hombres

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