Nocturnes

by Leopold S. Senghor, John O. Reed, Clive Wake

English, French (translation)

Genres: Poetry, Senegal

60 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Nora]

While I was browsing through my mothers book shelf I came across this little gem. It was a plain looking book but the title intrigued me do I decided to be spontaneous and read it without knowing anything about it. All I can say is that I am so glad that I gave it a chance and read it.

This is a book of poetry written by Lépold Sédar Senghor whose political and literary work were both linked together. What makes him different from other African writers is that he had the best of both worlds by having a good education in France and also holding on to his African cultural values and aesthetics which gives the reader a very unique perspective. Simply reading about his life was a real eye opener for me.
But more than that I simply fell in love with his poems (as a lover of poetry this really stood out) they truly moved me despite there being a lot of foreign references and terms (don't let that deter you from enjoying the poems) because I could feel the deep passion and love in every word I read.

All in all I think this is a very underrated book that deserves more attention and recommend it to everyone.

[Sunny]

This was ok. Senghor eventually went on to become the president of Senegal. An example of a philosopher king if there ever was one. He had attempted to “irrigate the Cartesian rationalism of Europe with black sensitivity through the gift of emotion”. At times his poetry was moving and strong and thick. You could almost smell the places and the taste the euphoria he was describing but overall there were too many references to obscure places in his hometown for it to make sense to me. Again I’m sure there is a lot more magic to it but my brains just couldn’t get into this little whippersnapper of a book.

[Camilla K]

Simply magnificent