Content area
Abstract
Andre Frenaud, born in Burgundy, France, in 1907, began writing poetry in 1938. His reputation as a French poet was established in 1943, with the publication of his first collection, Les Rois mages.
The introduction of this study gives an overview of the literature on Frenaud, and places him firmly within the tradition of French poetry since Baudelaire and Rimbaud.
The first chapter shows how poetry which, at the time was often considered inspired by the poet's experience as a prisoner of war, expressed, in fact, preoccupations of long standing which found appropriate expression in images sometimes drawn from the war experience.
Chapter two explores the philosophical aspects of this poetry which, during the vogue of existentialism, expressed concerns that seemed to ally it more closely to existentialist causes than is poetically justified.
Chapter three demonstrates how Frenaud's poety springs from the concentrate and the specific to expand into a mythic and heroic dimension, renewing the myths of the Roi Mage and the wandering knight, and creating new versions of the Quest.
Chapter four examines Frenaud's concept of the poet as it is to be found in his poetry. The poet is at once a prisoner, a philosopher, and a Roi Mage, seeking a Grail which is, finally, poetry itself.
Chapter five discusses the poetry from a formal viewpoint. Frenaud uses a great variety of poetic forms in his search for an adequate expression of the inexpressible.
The conclusion, after summarizing the study undertaken, concludes that Frenaud, despite the pessimism expressed in his poetry, succeeds in his poetic quest.
