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Below, we have selected some of the most iconic, celebrated, and influential poems by French poets, or poets writing in the French language. The poems gathered here range from the medieval to the modern, the Romantic to the experimental, and much else.
- Demain, dès l’aube by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Victor Hugo might be one of the most well-know French writer outside of France, being the author of Les Misérables and considered a giant of literature on par with Dickens or Tolstoy.
- Chanson d’automne by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) This is another classic of French poems that every French person knows from having memorized and studied it in school.
- Ma bohème, by Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) Arthur Rimbaud is a favorite of many a French teenager. As a rebellious youth, he left his stifling home in search of adventure, and wrote not only his best poetry but also revolutionized the use of language in a way that would make a profound mark on French literature.
- L’Albatros by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) L’Albatros was published in 1861 as part of the second edition of Les Fleurs du Mal. Inspired by a sea trip Baudelaire took with his stepfather, it remains one of the most well-known French poems.
French poetry (French: Poésie française) is a category of French literature. It may include Francophone poetry composed outside France and poetry written in other languages of France.
- Demain, dès l’aube By Victor Hugo. One of the most loved poems in French is the classic Demain, dès l’aube, by Victor Hugo. Written by one of the most popular French poets, it was released for the first time in 1856 as part of Hugo’s poem collection, Les Contemplations.
- Les Roses de Saadi By Marceline Desbordes – Valmore. Published in 1860 is this beautiful poem titled “The Roses of Saadi”. Marceline Desbordes – Valmore was known for her impressive talent to convey feelings of melancholy, despair, and lost love with ease.
- Le pont Mirabeau By Guillaume Apollinaire. If you’re looking for one of the most famous French poems, Le Pont Mirabeau by Guillaume Apollinaire is the one for you!
- À une passante By Charles Baudelaire. Written by the infamous Charles Baudelaire, an icon of the modern literature movement in France, À une passante translates to “To a passerby”.
- “La tombe dit à la rose” by Victor Hugo. Victor Hugo is basically a king when it comes to French literature. In addition to “Les Misérables” and “Notre-Dame de Paris” (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Hugo boasts a long list of published poems, novels and even over 4,000 drawings.
- “Demain, dès l’aube” by Victor Hugo. This is another of Hugo’s works, once again reflecting his grief over his daughter. It’s made up of three stanzas, each of which is made up of four lines with the rhyme pattern ABAB.
- “Quand vous serez bien vieille” by Pierre de Ronsard. Near the end of his life, Renaissance poet Pierre de Ronsard dictated six sonnets for his work, “Sonnets pour Hélène.”
- “Les chats” by Charles Baudelaire. A prominent poet in 19th century France, Baudelaire had a lot to do with the way literature evolved during and after his time.
With a rich and varied history in both classical and modern poetry, there are many different forms of poetry in French from rhyming verse, prose poems, sonnets, and villanelles. Dating back centuries, it is about more than just rhyming.
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French poetry has a rich and illustrious history that has influenced the global literary landscape in innumerable ways. From the medieval troubadours to the Symbolist movement and beyond, French poets have embraced diverse styles, themes, and forms of expression.
