Paul
Éluard

Portrait of Paul
Eluard by Salvador Dali, 1929
pseudonym
of Eugène Grindel
born Dec.
14, 1895, Saint-Denis, Paris, Fr.
died Nov. 18, 1952, Charenton-le-Pont
French poet, one of the founders of the
Surrealist movement and one of the important
lyrical poets of the 20th century.
In 1919
Éluard made the acquaintance of the
Surrealist poets André Breton, Philippe
Soupault, and Louis Aragon, with whom he
remained in close association until 1938.
Experiments with new verbal techniques,
theories on the relation between dream and
reality, and the free expression of thought
processes produced Capitale de la douleur
(1926; “Capital of Sorrow ”), his first
important work, which was followed by La
Rose publique (1934; “The Public Rose”) and
Les Yeux fertiles (1936; “The Fertile
Eyes”). The poems in these volumes are
generally considered the best to have come
out of the Surrealist movement. At this time
Éluard also explored, with André Breton, the
paths of mental disorders in L’Immaculée
Conception (1930).
After the
Spanish Civil War Éluard abandoned
Surrealist experimentations. His late work
reflects his political militance and a
deepening of his underlying attitudes: the
rejection of tyranny, the search for
happiness. In 1942 he joined the Communist
Party. His poems dealing with the sufferings
and brotherhood of man, Poésie et vérité
(1942; “Poetry and Truth”), Au rendez-vous
allemand (1944; “To the German Rendezvous”),
and Dignes de vivre (1944; “Worthy of
Living”), were circulated clandestinely
during World War II and served to strengthen
the morale of the Resistance. After the war
his Tout dire (1951; “Say Everything”) and
Le Phénix (1951) added, in simple language
and vivid imagery, to the great body of
French popular lyrical poetry.

