ARAGON, Louis (1897-1982)

ARAGON, Louis (1897-1982)

Autograph poem: Sans mot dire
N.p.n.d [late 1919], 1 p. in-8°
Typographical annotations

Beautiful poem from Aragon’s first collection: Feu de joie, published in 1920

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SANS MOT DIRE

« Soir de tilleul Été
On parle bas aux portes
Tout le monde écoute mes pas
les coups de mon cœur sur l’asphalte

Ma douleur ne vous regarde pas

Œillère de la nuit Nudité
Le chemin qui mène à la mer
me conduit au fond de moi-même
À deux doigts de ma perte

Polypiers de la souffrance
Algues Coraux Mes seuls amis

Dans l’ombre on ne saurait voir l’objet de mes plaintes
Une trop noire perfidie
L’INTRIGUE Air connu
Cette racine est souveraine
GUÉRIT TOUTE AFFECTION »

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Sans mot dire is one of the twenty-three poems that make up Aragon’s first collection of poetry, Feu de joie, published in 1920 by Sans Pareil. This work, which was part of a movement close to Dadaism, was, according to Alain Jouffroy, part of the “preparations for surrealism”, alongside André Breton’s collection, Mont de piété, published the previous year.
Lautréamont and Rimbaud were at the time Aragon’s poetic masters. They would have a decisive influence on him in the composition of the collection, whose poems are those of a youth in revolt, seeking to “repoetize” everyday life by talking about this daily life. Aragon leaves little room for traditional versification and shows an attachment to alliterations and assonances within free verse.

Our manuscript is, in all likelihood, the one used for publication before the printing of the first set of proofs. Note the typographical annotations of the editor in grease pencil indicating in the left margin the pagination “[pages] 42 [and] 43” and with a horizontal line the page change. The only variation that can be observed here is the absence of parentheses before and after “Known air”, which will appear on the text published in 1920.