Francis Jammes
Encyclopedia
Francis Jammes was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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...
. Coming from an ancient family, he spent most of his life in his native region of Béarn
Béarn
Béarn is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Basque provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the...
and the Basque Country
Northern Basque Country
The French Basque Country or Northern Basque Country situated within the western part of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques constitutes the north-eastern part of the Basque Country....
and his poems are known for their lyricism and for singing the pleasures of a humble country life (donkeys, maidens). His later poetry remained lyrical, but also included a strong religious element brought on by his conversion to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
.
Biography
He was a mediocre student and failed his baccalauréatBaccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
with a zero for French.
The young author's first poems began to be read in Parisian literary circles around 1895, and they were appreciated for their fresh tone which broke considerably from 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...
tendencies of the period. Jammes fraternised with other writers, including André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
(with whom he travelled to Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
in 1896), Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé , whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.-Biography:Stéphane...
and Henri de Régnier
Henri de Régnier
Henri François Joseph de Régnier was a French symbolist poet, considered one of the most important of France during the early 20th century....
. His most famous collection of poems -- De l'angélus de l'aube à l'angélus du soir ("From morning Angelus to evening Angelus") -- appeared in 1897 in the Mercure de France
Mercure de France
The Mercure de France was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group....
; Le Deuil des Primevères ("The Mourning of Primulas") (1901) was also well received. While working up to that point as a notary's clerk, the author was thenceforth able to live from his writings. In 1905 Francis Jammes, influenced by the poet Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism.-Life:...
with whom he became close, "converted" to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
(in actuality a return to being a practising Catholic) and his poetry became more austere and occasionally more dogmatic.
In the eyes of Parisian literary circles, Francis Jammes was generally considered a solitary provincial who chose to live a life of retreat in his mountainous Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
, and his poems never became entirely fashionable. The author sought nomination to the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
several times, but was never elected.
Jammes was the original author of Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
's song La Prière ("The Prayer"). The lyrics were taken from the poem Les Mystères douloureux ("The Agonies of Christ") published in the collection L'Église habillée de feuilles (The Church Clothed in Leaves") (1906); Brassens changed some of the words to make the text more rhythmic.
Jammes was known to have an ardent passion for field sports, especially game hunting. He travelled all over Northern Africa in pursuit of exotic game, but was known to have also been a believer in the conservation of endangered species.
Thirteen poems from his cycle Tristesses ("Sorrows"), were set to music by composer Lili Boulanger
Lili Boulanger
Lili Boulanger was a French composer, the younger sister of the noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger.-Early years:A Parisian-born child prodigy, who was good at piano...
in 1914 under the title Clairières dans le ciel ("Clearings in the Sky") a title Jammes had given to an assorted collection of poetry of which Tristesses was a part. The all cycle was composed for soprano, flute and piano by Michel Bosc
Michel Bosc
Michel Bosc is a classical French composer born in Paris in 1963. With various influences, his music has tackled registers as diverse as symphonic, chamber of vocal music, sacred music, theatre music and orchestrations....
.
Poetry
Each year links to its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:- 18911891 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .- Events :* The Rhymers Club gathered at the Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street, London, 1891–93, including John Davidson, Ernest Dowson, W.B...
: Six Sonnets - 18921892 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* William Butler Yeats founds the Irish Literary Society in Dublin....
: Vers, also 18931893 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* William Wilfred Campbell, The Dread Voyage Poems. Toronto: William Briggs.* Bliss Carman, Low Tide at Grand Pré...
and 18941894 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Yellow Book, published 1894–97... - 18951895 in poetry* February 18 — John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, father of Oscar Wilde's lover, leaves a calling card at one of Wilde's London clubs, the Albermarle. On the back of it he writes "For Oscar Wilde posing as a Somdomite"...
: Un jour - 18971897 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Jean Blewett, Heart Songs...
: La Naissance du poète ("The Birth of the Poet") - 18981898 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-The "Generation of '98" in Spain:...
: Quatorze prières - 18981898 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-The "Generation of '98" in Spain:...
: De l'Angélus de l'aube à l'Angélus du soir ("From the Morning Prayer to the Evening Prayer") - 18991899 in poetry— Opening lines of Rudyard Kipling's White Man's Burden, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
: Le Poète et l'oiseau ("The Poet and the Bird") - 18991899 in poetry— Opening lines of Rudyard Kipling's White Man's Burden, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
: La Jeune Fille nue - 19001900 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* In February, Myōjō , a monthly literary magazine, begins publication in Japan. between February 1900 and November 1908...
–19011901 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* a small plaque is set on the Statue of Liberty to display Emma Lazarus' 1883 poem, "The New Colossus"...
: Le Triomphe de la vie - 19011901 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* a small plaque is set on the Statue of Liberty to display Emma Lazarus' 1883 poem, "The New Colossus"...
: Le Deuil des primevères - 19021902 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Hilda Doolittle meets and befriends Ezra Pound* Times Literary Supplement begins publication-Canada:* James B...
–19061906 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Jean Blewett, The Cornflower and Other Poems* Helena Coleman, Songs and Sonnets...
: Clairières dans le ciel - 19051905 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Ezra Pound presents Hilda Doolittle with a sheaf of love poems with the collective title Hilda's Book...
: Tristesses - 19061906 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Jean Blewett, The Cornflower and Other Poems* Helena Coleman, Songs and Sonnets...
: Clairières dans le Ciel - 19061906 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Jean Blewett, The Cornflower and Other Poems* Helena Coleman, Songs and Sonnets...
: L'Eglise habillée de feuilles - 19061906 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Jean Blewett, The Cornflower and Other Poems* Helena Coleman, Songs and Sonnets...
: Le Triomphe de la vie - 19081908 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Ezra Pound leaves America for Europe...
: Poèmes mesurés - 19081908 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Ezra Pound leaves America for Europe...
: Rayons de miel, Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Occident - 19111911 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Britain establishes six copyright libraries to which copies of all books published in the country must be sent: Bodleian Library ; British Library ; National Library of Scotland ; National Library of...
–19121912 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore takes a sheaf of his translated works to England, where they impress William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Bridges, Ernest Rhys, Thomas Sturge Moore, and others...
: Les Géorgiques chrétiennes ("Christian Georgics"), three volumes - 19131913 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 8—Harold Monro founds the Poetry Bookshop in London...
: Feuilles dans le vent - 19161916 in poetry-- Closing lines of "Easter 1916" by William Butler Yeats, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
: Cinq prières pour le temps de la guerre, Paris: Librairie de l'Art catholique - 19191919 in poetry—From A Prayer for My Daughter by W. B. Yeats, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Two paintings by E. E...
: La Vierge et les sonnets, Paris: Mercure de France - 19211921 in poetry— Wilfred Owen, concluding lines of Dulce et Decorum Est, published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
: Épitaphes, Paris: Librairie de l'Art catholic - 19211921 in poetry— Wilfred Owen, concluding lines of Dulce et Decorum Est, published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
: Le Tombeau de Jean de la Fontaine, Paris: Mercure de France - 19221922 in poetry— Opening lines from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry established...
, 19231923 in poetry-- From Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", first published this year in his collection New HampshireNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
, 19241924 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 10 — Ezra Pound leaves Paris permanently and moves to Rapallo, Italy...
, 19251925 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* T. S. Eliot joins the publishing house of Faber & Gwyer, leaves Lloyds bank....
, Livres des quatrains - 19231923 in poetry-- From Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", first published this year in his collection New HampshireNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
: La Brebis égarée - 19231923 in poetry-- From Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", first published this year in his collection New HampshireNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
–19251925 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* T. S. Eliot joins the publishing house of Faber & Gwyer, leaves Lloyds bank....
Les Quatrains, in four volumes - 19251925 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* T. S. Eliot joins the publishing house of Faber & Gwyer, leaves Lloyds bank....
: Brindilles pour rallumer la foi, Paris: Éditions Spes - 19261926 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The remains of English war poet Isaac Rosenberg, killed in World War I at the age of 28 and originally buried in a mass grave, are re-interred at Bailleul Road East Cemetery, Plot V, St...
: Ma France poétique, Paris: Mercure de France - 19281928 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Russian poets Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky found OBERIU , an avant-garde grouping of Russian post-Futurist poets in the 1920s-1930s* American poets Charles Reznikoff, George Oppen and Louis...
: Diane - 19311931 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Louis Zukofsky edits the February issue of Poetry magazine. The issue eventually will be recognized as the founding document of the Objectivist poets...
: L'Arc-en-ciel des amours, Paris: Bloud et Gay - 19351935 in poetryLinks to nations or nationalities point to articles with information on that nation's poetry or literature. For example, United Kingdom links to English poetry and Indian links to Indian poetry.-Events:* Canada -- Charles G.D...
: Alouette - 19351935 in poetryLinks to nations or nationalities point to articles with information on that nation's poetry or literature. For example, United Kingdom links to English poetry and Indian links to Indian poetry.-Events:* Canada -- Charles G.D...
: De tout temps à jamais, Paris: Gallimard - 19361936 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* James Laughlin founds New Directions Publishers in New York, which published many modern poets for the first time;...
: Sources, Paris: Le Divan - 19431943 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* September 12 – Abraham Sutzkever, a Polish Jew writing poetry in Yiddish, escapes the Vilna Ghetto with his wife and hides in the forests. Sutzkever and fellow Yiddish poet Shmerke...
: Elégies et poésies diverses - 19461946 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* W. H. Auden becomes a U.S. citizen...
: La Grâce
Prose
Each year links to its corresponding "[year] in literature" article:- 18991899 in literatureThe year 1899 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Edgar Rice Burroughs begins working in his father's business.*Rainer Maria Rilke travels to Moscow to meet Leo Tolstoy....
: Clara d'Ellébeuse; ou, L'Histoire d'une ancienne jeune fille - 19011901 in literatureThe year 1901 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* First Nobel Prize for Literature awarded, to French poet Sully Prudhomme; many are outraged when Leo Tolstoy does not win...
: Almaïde d'Etremont; ou, L'Histoire d'une jeune fille passionée - 19031903 in literatureThe year 1903 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* October 24 - Mark Twain moves to Florence.* The first Goncourt Prize for French literature is awarded to John Antoine Nau....
: Le Roman du lièvre - 19041904 in literatureThe year 1904 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* January - Mark Twain begins dictating his autobiography.* 16 June - "Bloomsday": the day on which the action of James Joyce's novel Ulysses takes place in Dublin....
: Pomme d'Anis; ou, L'Histoire d'une jeune fille infirme - 19061906 in literatureThe year 1906 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* December 24 - Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio program, a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech, broadcasts....
: Pensée des jardins - 19101910 in literatureThe year 1910 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*April - Halley's comet reappears , and Mark Twain dies on April 21, 1910, the day following the comet's perihelion. In his biography, Twain had written, "I came in with Halley's comet in 1835. It's coming again...
: Ma fille Bernadette - 19161916 in literatureThe year 1916 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The Journal of Negro History is founded by Carter Godwin Woodson, the father of "Black History" and "Negro History Week."...
: Le Rosaire au soleil, Paris: Mercure de France - 19181918 in literatureThe year 1918 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The 2nd annual Pulitzer Prizes are awarded.* Author Hall Caine made a KBE.*Robert Graves marries Nancy Nicholson...
: Monsieur le Curé d'Ozeron - 19191919 in literatureThe year 1919 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Winifred Holtby and Vera Brittain return to Somerville College, Oxford, to complete their education following war service.*Two paintings by E. E...
: Une vierge, Paris: Édouard-Joseph - 19191919 in literatureThe year 1919 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Winifred Holtby and Vera Brittain return to Somerville College, Oxford, to complete their education following war service.*Two paintings by E. E...
: Le Noël de mes enfants, Paris: Édouard-Joseph - 19191919 in literatureThe year 1919 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Winifred Holtby and Vera Brittain return to Somerville College, Oxford, to complete their education following war service.*Two paintings by E. E...
: La Rose à Marie, Paris: Édouard-Joseph - 19201920 in literatureThe year 1920 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Agatha Christie publishes her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, introducing the long-running character detective, Hercule Poirot....
: Le Poète rustique, Paris: Mercure de France - 19211921 in literatureThe year 1921 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Edgar Rice Burroughs – Tarzan the Terrible*James Branch Cabell – Figures of Earth*Hall Caine – The Master of Man*Willa Cather – Alexander's Bridge...
: Le Bon Dieu chez les enfants - 19211921 in literatureThe year 1921 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Edgar Rice Burroughs – Tarzan the Terrible*James Branch Cabell – Figures of Earth*Hall Caine – The Master of Man*Willa Cather – Alexander's Bridge...
: De l'âge divin à l'âge ingrat, the first of three volumes of his memoirs, followed by L'Amour, les muses et la chasse, 19221922 in poetry— Opening lines from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry established...
; Les Caprices du poète, 19231923 in poetry-- From Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", first published this year in his collection New HampshireNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:... - 19211921 in literatureThe year 1921 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Edgar Rice Burroughs – Tarzan the Terrible*James Branch Cabell – Figures of Earth*Hall Caine – The Master of Man*Willa Cather – Alexander's Bridge...
: Le Livre de saint Joseph, Paris: Plon-Nourrit - 19221922 in literatureThe year 1922 in literature involved some significant events and new books.Under the current U.S. copyright law, all works published before January 1, 1923 with a proper copyright notice entered the public domain no later than 75 years from the date of the copyright...
: Le Poète et l'inspiration, Nîmes, France: Gomès - 19231923 in literatureThe year 1923 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey makes his first appearance in print....
: Cloches pour deux mariages, Paris: Mercure de France - 19251925 in literatureThe year 1925 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* April: F Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway meet in the Dingo Bar on rue Delambre, in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France shortly after the publication of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and shortly before...
: Les Robinsons basques - 19261926 in literatureThe year 1926 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is founded in Middlebury, Vermont....
: Trente-six femmes, Paris: Mercure de France - 19261926 in literatureThe year 1926 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is founded in Middlebury, Vermont....
: Basses-Pyrénées, Paris: Émile-Paul - 19271927 in literatureThe year 1927 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Random House, book publishers, is founded in New York City by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer.-New books:*James Boyd - Marching On...
: Lavigerie - 19281928 in literatureThe year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....
: Janot-poète - 19281928 in literatureThe year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....
: Les Nuits qui me chantent - 19281928 in literatureThe year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....
: La Divine Douleur - 19301930 in literatureThe year 1930 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 6 - The first literary character licensing agreement is signed by A. A. Milne, granting Stephen Slesinger U.S...
: Champétreries et méditations - 19301930 in literatureThe year 1930 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 6 - The first literary character licensing agreement is signed by A. A. Milne, granting Stephen Slesinger U.S...
: Leçons poétiques, Paris: Mercure de France - 19321932 in literatureThe year 1932 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*E. V. Knox replaces Sir Owen Seaman as editor of Punch magazine.*Samuel Beckett's first novel, Dream of Fair to Middling Women, is rejected by several publishers....
: L'Antigyde; ou, Elie de Nacre - 19341934 in literatureThe year 1934 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Flash Gordon comic strip is published.*Boris Pasternak and Korney Chukovsky are among those present at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers....
: Le Crucifix du poète, Paris: M. deHartoy - 19361936 in literatureThe year 1936 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Life magazine is first published.* The Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature is established in the UK.-New books:...
: Le Pèlerin de Lourdes, Paris: Gallimard - 19381938 in literatureThe year 1938 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The trilogy, U.S.A. by John Dos Passos, is published containing his three novels The 42nd Parallel , 1919 , and The Big Money ....
: La Légende de l'aile; ou, Marie-Elisabeth - 19411941 in literatureThe year 1941 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Frank Herbert marries Flora Parkinson.*F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished work, The Last Tycoon, is edited and published by Edmund Wilson.-New books:...
: Saint Louis; ou, L'Esprit de la Croisade, Paris: F. Sorlot