''Les villes tentaculaires'' (, sometimes rendered "The Great Cities" or "The Many-Tentacled Town") is a volume of

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

poetry in French by the Belgian

Émile Verhaeren Émile Adolphe Gustave Verhaeren (; 21 May 1855 – 27 November 1916) was a Belgian poet and art critic who wrote in the French language. He was one of the founders of the school of Symbolism and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Litera ...

, first published in 1895 by Edmond Deman, with a frontispiece by

Théo van Rysselberghe Théophile "Théo" van Rysselberghe (23 November 1862 – 13 December 1926) was a Belgian neo-impressionist painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the twentieth century. Biography Early years Born i ...

. It established the poet's European reputation, and his stature as "a true pioneer of Modernism". The loose theme of the collection is modern urban life and the transformation of the countryside by

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. The theme of

had already been broached in Verhaeren's 1893 collection ''Les campagnes hallucinées'' ("The hallucinated fields"). The two collections were generally printed together in one volume from 1904 onwards.

In the 18th edition of the joint publication ''Les Villes tentaculaires, précédées des Campagnes hallucinées'' (Paris, 1920), the poems included were as follows. A few of the poems have been published in English translation by Will Stone. ;Les campagnes hallucinées * La ville * Les plaines * Chanson de fou * Le donneur de mauvais conseils * Chanson de fou * Pèlerinage * Chanson de fou * Les fièvres * Chanson de fou * Le péché * Chanson de fou * Les mendiants * La kermesse * Chanson de fou * Le fléau * Chanson de fou * Le départ * La bêche ;Les villes tentaculaires * La plaine * L'âme de la villeTranslated by Will Stone as "The Soul of the Town" * Une statue * Les cathédrales * Une statue * Le port * Les spectacles * Les promeneuses * Une statue * Les usines * La bourse * Le bazar * L'étal * La révolte * Au musée * Une statue * La mort * La recherche * Les idées * Vers le futur

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villes tenatculaires 1895 poetry books French poetry collections Symbolist literature Works by Belgian writers

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