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Paul Eluard
Paul Eluard was a highly influential French poet, considered one of the leading figures of Surrealism and a prominent voice in 20th-century French literature. His poetry, characterized by its lyrical beauty, emotional intensity, and profound exploration of love, freedom, and social justice, evolved through various phases, from early Symbolist influences to his engagement with Surrealism and later, with the Resistance movement. Eluard's work is marked by its accessible yet deeply evocative language, its celebration of the everyday, and its unwavering humanism. He is celebrated for his ability to translate complex emotions and political ideals into powerful and enduring poetic expressions, making him a beloved and critically acclaimed figure.
The Deaf and Blind
Do we reach the sea with clocks
In our pockets, with the noise of the sea
In the sea, or are we the carriers
Of a purer and more silent water?
The water rubbing against our hands sharpens knives.
The warriors have found their weapons in the waves
And the sound of their blows is like
The rocks that smash the boats at night.
It is the storm and the thunder. Why not the silence
Of the flood, for we have dreamt within us
Space for the greatest silence and we breathe
Like the wind over terrible seas, like the wind
That creeps slowly over every horizon.
