Gustave Kahn
Encyclopedia
Gustave Kahn was a French
Symbolist
poet
and art critic.
Kahn was born in Metz
.
He claimed to have invented the term vers libre, or free verse
; he was in any case one of the first Europe
an exponents of the form. His principal publications include Les Palais nomades, 1887, Domaine de fée, 1895, and Le Livre d'images, 1897. Kahn also made a valuable contribution to the history of the movement with his book Symbolistes et décadents, 1902.
In addition to his poems, Kahn was a public intellectual
who wrote novel
s, plays, and literary criticism
. He played a key role in a number of periodicals, including La Vogue, La Revue Indépendante, La Revue Blanche and Le Mercure de France. He was also an art critic and collector who stayed current with developments in painting
and sculpture
until his death. He also played a role in a number of debates on public issues, including anarchism
, feminism
, socialism
, and Zionism
. Rimbaud
's poem Après le Deluge was published in the fifth issue of La Vogue.
Several of his poems were set to music by the composer Charles Loeffler.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Symbolist
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and art critic.
Kahn was born in Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
.
He claimed to have invented the term vers libre, or free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
; he was in any case one of the first Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an exponents of the form. His principal publications include Les Palais nomades, 1887, Domaine de fée, 1895, and Le Livre d'images, 1897. Kahn also made a valuable contribution to the history of the movement with his book Symbolistes et décadents, 1902.
In addition to his poems, Kahn was a public intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
who wrote novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, plays, and literary criticism
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
. He played a key role in a number of periodicals, including La Vogue, La Revue Indépendante, La Revue Blanche and Le Mercure de France. He was also an art critic and collector who stayed current with developments in painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
until his death. He also played a role in a number of debates on public issues, including anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, and Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
. Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
's poem Après le Deluge was published in the fifth issue of La Vogue.
Several of his poems were set to music by the composer Charles Loeffler.
Principal works
- Palais nomades (1887)
- Les Chansons d'amant (1891)
- Domaine de fée (1895)
- Le Roi fou (1896)
- La Pluie et le beau temps (1896)
- Limbes de lumières (1897)
- Le Livre d'images (1897)
- Premières poèmes (1897)
- Le Conte de l'or et du silence (1898)
- Les Petites Ames pressées (1898)
- Le Cirque solaire (1898)
- Les Fleurs de la passion (1900)
- L'Adultère sentimental (1902)
- Symbolistes et décadents (1902)
- Odes de la "Raison" (1902 réédité aux Editions du Fourneau 1995)
- Contes hollandais (1903)
- La Femme dans la caricature française (1907)
- Contes hollandais (deuxième série) (1908)
- La Pépinière du Luxembourg (1923)
- L'Aube enamourée (1925)
- Mourle (1925)
- Silhouettes littéraires (1925)
- La Childebert (1926)
- Contes juifs (1926 réédité chez "Les Introuvables" 1977)
- Images bibliques (1929)
- Terre d'Israël (1933)
Quotation
-
-
- Les Paons
-
- Se penchant vers les dahlias,
- Des paons cabraient des rosaces lunaires,
- L'assouplissement des branches vénère
- Son pâle visage aux mourants dahlias.
- Elle écoute au loin les brèves musiques
- Nuit claire aux ramures d'accords,
- Et la lassitude a bercé son corps
- Au rythme odorant des pures musiques.
- Les paons ont dressé la rampe ocellée
- Pour la descente de ses yeux vers le tapis
- De choses et de sens
- Qui va vers l'horizon, parure vermiculée
- De son corps alangui.
- En l'âme se tapit
- le flou désir molide récits et d'encens.