Apollinaire's calligrams («Le Pont Mirabeau» was recorded by Apollinaire in 1913) Apollinaire & André Rouveyre

Apollinaire's calligram

Apollinaire's calligram

Apollinaire's calligram

Apollinaire's calligram

Apollinaire's calligram

Apollinaire's calligram

Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine Et nos amours Faut-il qu'il m'en souvienne La joie venait toujours après la peine. Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure Les jours s'en vont je demeure Les mains dans les mains restons face à face Tandis que sous Le pont de nos bras passe Des éternels regards l'onde si lasse Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure Les jours s'en vont je demeure L'amour s'en va comme cette eau courante L'amour s'en va Comme la vie est lente Et comme l'Espérance est violente Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure Les jours s'en vont je demeure Passent les jours et passent les semaines Ni temps passé Ni les amours reviennent Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure Les jours s'en vont je demeure Guillaume Apollinaire («Alcools»)

Le Pont Mirabeau was recorded by Apollinaire in 1913 and appears courtesy of the Archives de Parole, Collection Phonothèque Nationale - Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Born in Rome and educated in France, he published his first writings under the name Apollinaire in the "Revue Blanche" of 1902. Met Max Jacob and Picasso in 1905 and frequented the artistic and literary circles of the Bateau-Lavoir and Montmarte. He published novels and stories as well as much influential art criticism, being one of the first to champion the Cubist painters. In 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by a former associate of his, he was arrested for alleged complicity. He was soon cleared, though the affair caused a scandal that left its mark on him. His books of verse "Alcools" (1913) and "Calligrammes" (1918) established him as the leading French poet of his day. Volunteering in 1914, he suffered a serious head wound in 1916 and was invalided out. In 1918 he died in Paris, a victim of the great influenza epidemic of that year. Since he was first and foremost an ally and supporter of the Cubists, Apolinaire's relations with Futurism were as complex as relations between Cubism itself and the Italian movement. However, Apollinaire would remain a great influence on almost all the poets of both Dada and Surrealism, it even being Apollinaire himself who coined the word "surrealist" to describe his play "Les Mamelles de Tiresias" in 1917. http://www.ubu.com/sound/app.html

http://www.pawlowski.new.fr [email_address] * A Calligram is a subtle mix of drawing and writing. Poet Guillaume Apollinaire invented this word in 1918.