"Liberté" (Liberty) is a 1942

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

by the French poet

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

. It is an

ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

to liberty written during the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

Description

The poem is structured in twenty-one

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...

s, which follow the same pattern. Éluard names many places, real or imaginary, on which he would write the word ''liberté''. The first three lines of each begin with ''Sur'' (On) followed by the naming of a place, and the last line is twenty times, like a refrain, ''J'écris ton nom'' (I write your name). The 21st stanza reveals that name, saying ''Pour te nommer Liberté.'' (To name you Liberty). The first stanza reads:

Background

The original title of the poem was ''Une seule pensée'' (A single thought). Éluard comments:

Publication

The poem was published on 3 April 1942, without apparent censorship, in the clandestine book of poetry ''Poésie et vérité 1942'' (Poetry and truth 1942). According to Max Pol Fouchet, he convinced Éluard to reprint the poem in June 1942 in the magazine ''Fontaine'', titled ''Une seule pensée'', to reach the southern

Zone libre The ''zone libre'' (, ''free zone'') was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during World War II, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on 22 June 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered b ...

. The same year, it was printed in London in the official Gaullist magazine ''La France libre'' and thousands of copies were dropped by parachute by British aircraft of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

above occupied France maquis. In 1945, the poem was published by Éditions de Minuit in Eluard's poetry book ''Au rendez-vous allemand.'' ''Paul Eluard / Au rendez-vous allemand / suivi de Poésie et vérité 1942 (avec le poème Liberté ) 1945.''
(in French) les editions de minuit.fr The complex history of Éluard's collections is detailed by the editors of his complete works, Lucien Scheler and Marcelle Dumas, particularly in Vol. 1 of

Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the ...

, 1975, p. 1606–1607.

Legacy

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

composed in 1943 ''

Figure humaine ''Figure humaine'' (''Human Figure''), FP (catalogue), FP 120, by Francis Poulenc is a cantata for double mixed choir of 12 voices composed in 1943 on texts by Paul Éluard including "Liberté (poem), 'Liberté". Written during the Nazi occupation ...

'', FP 120, a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

for double mixed

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

of 12 voices on this and seven other poems by Éluard. Written during the German occupation of France, it could not be performed in France, but was premiered in a radio broadcast of the BBC in English on 25 March 1945. Canadian composer

Jacques Hétu Jacques Joseph Robert Hétu (August 8, 1938 – February 9, 2010) was a prominent Canadian composer and music educator. Hétu is the most frequently performed of Canadian classical composers, both within Canada and internationally. Educati ...

included a choral setting of the poem as the final movement of his Fifth Symphony (2010). Liberal quotings from the poem created an underlying theme in the 2014 drama film '' Maps to the Stars''.

References

External links

Full English text

''Liberté'', read by Paul Eluard
on YouTube
“Liberté… J’écris ton nom”: Eluard’s poem and the Cambridge UL Liberation collection
''European languages across borders'' blog, 2023.
''Liberté'' de Paul Eluard
frenchtoday.com. This link leads to a translation by a native French-speaker who understands her own language, even if native English-speakers might argue with some of the phrasing. The Full English text linked to above contains at least one error in understanding the French. "Les places qui débordent" means quite simply "squares which overflow (with people)". There are also some doubtful choices of vocabulary or interpretation. There will be many other translations on-line.
Third page of the poem ''Liberté'' in the book ''Poésie et verité'' 1942 by Paul Eluard
(Paris: , 1947) art.famsf.org
Paul Eluard’s poem ''Liberté'' used in a film by David Cronenberg: conflicting rights
regarding the use of the poem in a film.
Fifth page of the poem Liberté in the book Poésie et verité 1942 by Paul Eluard (Paris: Roger Lacourière, 1947)
art.famsf.org

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