OEUVRES POETIQUES. LA VOLUPTE ET PIECES DIVERSES, PUBLIEES D'APRES LES MANUSCRITS

Aloysius Bertrand's ground-breaking collection of prose ballads was published in 1842, a year after his death at 34. Gaspard de la Nuit combines the haunting gothic imagery of Hoffman with the colorful romantic verve of Victor Hugo. In it, you will meet Scarbo the vampire dwarf, Ondine, the faerie princess of the waters, and an unforgettable assortment of lepers, alchemists, beggars, swordsmen and ghosts. Gaspard de la Nuit inspired Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, the Surrealist Movement and composer Maurice Ravel, who wrote a suite of virtuoso piano pieces patterned after it.

Aloysius Bertrand's classic text of poetic and fantastic literature is presented in an entirely new translation by renowned poet Donald Sidney-Fryer. This edition also includes an extensive introduction, 18 illustrations by Bertrand himself, a foreword by T.E.D. Klein and a cover by celebrated artist Gahan Wilson.

Extrait : "Deux ladres se lamentaient sous ma fenêtre, un chien hurlait dans le carrefour, et le grillon de mon foyer vaticinait tout bas. Mais bientôt mon oreille n'interrogea plus qu'un silence profond. Les lépreux étaient rentrés dans leur chenil, aux coups de Jacquemart qui battait sa femme. Le chien avait enfilé une venelle, devant les pertuisanes du guet enrouillé par la pluie et morfondu par la bise. "