Eluard, Paul

(1895-1952) (Eugène Grindel)

   poet

   Born Eugène Grindel in Saint-Denis, Paul Eluard as he was known, had a difficult early life and began writing poetry in 1912 during a long stay in a swiss sanatorium. He was mobilized during World War I (1914) and his pacifist poetry bore witness to the suffering of his comrades (Le Devoir et l'Inquiétude, 1917; Poèmes pour la paix, 1918). A founder of the surrealist movement, he met the poets andré breton and louis aragon in 1919 and others of their associates. Eluard frequently collaborated with them. In 1930, L'Immaculée Conception was written with Breton. During the 1920s and 1930s, Eluard experimented with surrealist poetic techniques, including "automatic writing" (writing done without deliberate intent, often believed to be affected by supernatural forces), transcribing dreams, and imitating insanity. The theme of dream versus reality is reflected in a number of his poems from this period. At this time, Eluard also collaborated with artists such as Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso in an attempt to fuse poetry and painting. In the late 1930s, influenced by the Spanish civil war (La Victoire de Guernica, 1936) and membership in the Communist Party, Eluard wrote more political and social poetry, in a more traditional style. During World War II, Eluard was a member of the resistance (he served as director of the writers' committee for the northern zone) and his collections, Poésie et vérité (1942), Au rendez-vous allemand (1944), and Dignes de vivre (1944), were circulated among the Resistance fighters to bolster morale. His postwar poetry includes Poésie ininterrompue (1946), Le Dur Désir et durer (1946), Le Temps débordé (1947), Corps mémorable (1947), Tout dire (1951), Le Phénix (1951), and Poésie ininterrompue II (1951). Eluard, in his writings, sought to be a prophet for a humanity seeking to be delivered from agony and hatred.