Symbolist Poetry, 1851-1920

In "The Valentines" Germain Nouveau - still a relatively unknown contributor to modern French literature, but one considered by Andre Breton to have been a pioneer of surrealism - displays his originality by means of a form of intellectual pointillism, benign irony, a playful parody of Parnassian images, and frequent introduction of a shocking "gros mot".

This text examines the composition of the poems which marked the climax of Nouveau's literary life and explores it as an expression of the poet's joy in living and in loving an object worthy of existence.

The volume includes both English and French renditions of Nouveau's poems.