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The Vain Tenderness
This unique edition of The Vain Tenderness from Dead Dodo Vintage includes the full original text as well as exclusive features not available in other editions.
Published in 1875, The vain tenderness is a poetic work of René-François Sully Prudhomme.
French poet Sully Prudhomme (1839-1907) was the first recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1901. Combining the formal precision of the Parnassian poets with subjects reflecting his keen interest in philosophy and his early training in the sciences, Sully Prudhomme forged a career that drew wide praise during his lifetime. According to C. D. af Wirsén of the Swedish Academy, writing on the occasion of the Nobel Award, "Sully Prudhomme is one of the major poets of our time, and some of his poems are pearls of imperishable value. . . . [His] work reveals an inquiring and observing mind which finds no rest in what passes and which, as it seems impossible to him to know more, finds evidence of man's supernatural destiny in the moral realm, in the voice of conscience, and in the lofty and undeniable prescriptions of duty.
Sully Prudhomme was once an important figure in French literature and hailed as the successor of Victor Hugo, but he is largely ignored and little read or written about today, in English or in French. He has utterly vanished from the canon. Even at the turn of the century, the choice of Sully Prudhomme for the Nobel caused some debate, as he had not published much poetry after 1888.
106 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1875
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276 people want to read
About the author
Sully Prudhomme
193 books41 followersRené François Armand (Sully) Prudhomme 16 March 1839 – 6 September 1907) was a French poet and essayist, winner of the first Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901.
Born in Paris, Prudhomme originally studied to be an engineer, but turned to philosophy and later to poetry; he declared it as his intent to create scientific poetry for modern times. In character sincere and melancholic, he was linked to the Parnassus school, although, at the same time, his work displays characteristics of its own.
Prudhomme attended the Lycée Bonaparte, but eye trouble interrupted his studies. He worked for a while in the Creusot region for the Schneider steel foundry, and then began studying law in a notary's office. The favourable reception of his early poems by the Conférence La Bruyère (a student society) encouraged him to begin a literary career.
His first collection, Stances et Poèmes ("Stanzas and Poems", 1865), was praised by Sainte-Beuve. It included his most famous poem, Le vase brisé. He published more poetry before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. This war, which he discussed in Impressions de la guerre (1872) and La France (1874), permanently damaged his health.
During his career, Prudhomme gradually shifted from the sentimental style of his first books towards a more personal style which unified the formality of the Parnassian school with his interest in philosophical and scientific subjects. The inspiration was clearly Lucretius's De rerum natura, for the first book of which he made a verse translation. His philosophy was expressed in La Justice (1878) and Le Bonheur (1888). The extreme economy of means employed in these poems has, however, usually been judged as compromising their poetical quality without advancing their claims as works of philosophy. He was elected to the Académie française in 1881. Another distinction, Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, was to follow in 1895.
After, Le Bonheur, Prudhomme turned from poetry to write essays on aesthetics and philosophy. He published two important essays: L'Expression dans les beaux-arts (1884) and Réflexions sur l'art des vers (1892), a series of articles on Blaise Pascal in La Revue des Deux Mondes (1890), and an article on free will (La Psychologie du Libre-Arbitre, 1906) in the Revue de métaphysique et de morale.
The first writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (given "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect"), he devoted the bulk of the money he received to the creation of a poetry prize awarded by the Société des gens de lettres. He also founded, in 1902, the Société des poètes français with Jose-Maria de Heredia and Leon Dierx.
At the end of his life, his poor health (which had troubled him ever since 1870) forced him to live almost as a recluse at Châtenay-Malabry, suffering attacks of paralysis while continuing to work on essays. He died suddenly on 6 September 1907, and was buried at Père-Lachaise in Paris.
Born in Paris, Prudhomme originally studied to be an engineer, but turned to philosophy and later to poetry; he declared it as his intent to create scientific poetry for modern times. In character sincere and melancholic, he was linked to the Parnassus school, although, at the same time, his work displays characteristics of its own.
Prudhomme attended the Lycée Bonaparte, but eye trouble interrupted his studies. He worked for a while in the Creusot region for the Schneider steel foundry, and then began studying law in a notary's office. The favourable reception of his early poems by the Conférence La Bruyère (a student society) encouraged him to begin a literary career.
His first collection, Stances et Poèmes ("Stanzas and Poems", 1865), was praised by Sainte-Beuve. It included his most famous poem, Le vase brisé. He published more poetry before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. This war, which he discussed in Impressions de la guerre (1872) and La France (1874), permanently damaged his health.
During his career, Prudhomme gradually shifted from the sentimental style of his first books towards a more personal style which unified the formality of the Parnassian school with his interest in philosophical and scientific subjects. The inspiration was clearly Lucretius's De rerum natura, for the first book of which he made a verse translation. His philosophy was expressed in La Justice (1878) and Le Bonheur (1888). The extreme economy of means employed in these poems has, however, usually been judged as compromising their poetical quality without advancing their claims as works of philosophy. He was elected to the Académie française in 1881. Another distinction, Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, was to follow in 1895.
After, Le Bonheur, Prudhomme turned from poetry to write essays on aesthetics and philosophy. He published two important essays: L'Expression dans les beaux-arts (1884) and Réflexions sur l'art des vers (1892), a series of articles on Blaise Pascal in La Revue des Deux Mondes (1890), and an article on free will (La Psychologie du Libre-Arbitre, 1906) in the Revue de métaphysique et de morale.
The first writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (given "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect"), he devoted the bulk of the money he received to the creation of a poetry prize awarded by the Société des gens de lettres. He also founded, in 1902, the Société des poètes français with Jose-Maria de Heredia and Leon Dierx.
At the end of his life, his poor health (which had troubled him ever since 1870) forced him to live almost as a recluse at Châtenay-Malabry, suffering attacks of paralysis while continuing to work on essays. He died suddenly on 6 September 1907, and was buried at Père-Lachaise in Paris.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 20, 2023
The French essayist and poet, Sully Prudhomme, was the winner of the first ever Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901.
The theme of his poems are mainly love, friendship, beauty and death, with philosophical undertones.
In this world all the flow'rs wither,
The sweet songs of the birds are brief;
I dream of summers that will last
Always!
In this world the lips touch but lightly,
And no taste of sweetness remains;
I dream of a kiss that will last
Always.
In this world ev'ry man is mourning
His lost friendship or his lost love;
I dream of fond lovers abiding
Always!
The theme of his poems are mainly love, friendship, beauty and death, with philosophical undertones.
In this world all the flow'rs wither,
The sweet songs of the birds are brief;
I dream of summers that will last
Always!
In this world the lips touch but lightly,
And no taste of sweetness remains;
I dream of a kiss that will last
Always.
In this world ev'ry man is mourning
His lost friendship or his lost love;
I dream of fond lovers abiding
Always!
February 29, 2016
Here begins my attempt to read at least one representative work by every writer to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Nobel Challenge #1: Sully Prudhomme
Besides a kindle version of this book that seems like it was translated by a computer, there are no English translations of Sully Prudhomme even though he was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, even beating out Tolstoy. So I read whichever English translations of his poems that I could find online (there are some good ones here: http://www.bartleby.com/library/prose...) and for the rest of Les Vaines Tendresses, I tried to translate them myself. I don't speak French so this was obviously not an ideal way to read this but I did what I could. I spent quite a while poring over the poems but I'm sure I missed a lot.
So take it with a grain of salt that I think this collection was just okay. Prudhomme was a leading member of the "Parnassians," a group of poets who reacted against the Romantic movement's sentimentality and imperfect structure by stressing the importance of technical precision and emotional restraint. I think because of this, these poems just did not age well. They were described at the time as "competent but uninspired" and I think that sums it up perfectly.
Prudhomme's best poems deal with death, the infinite, and love that defies time. At his worst though, he's patronizing and holier-than-thou, without the passion and Romantic "sentimentality" to at least emphasize the strength of his personal convictions. There were some lovely poems ("Au Bord de L'Eau," "Un Rendez-Vous," and parts of "Sur la Mort" for instance) but as a whole, this was a forgettable collection.
Nobel Challenge #1: Sully Prudhomme
Besides a kindle version of this book that seems like it was translated by a computer, there are no English translations of Sully Prudhomme even though he was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, even beating out Tolstoy. So I read whichever English translations of his poems that I could find online (there are some good ones here: http://www.bartleby.com/library/prose...) and for the rest of Les Vaines Tendresses, I tried to translate them myself. I don't speak French so this was obviously not an ideal way to read this but I did what I could. I spent quite a while poring over the poems but I'm sure I missed a lot.
So take it with a grain of salt that I think this collection was just okay. Prudhomme was a leading member of the "Parnassians," a group of poets who reacted against the Romantic movement's sentimentality and imperfect structure by stressing the importance of technical precision and emotional restraint. I think because of this, these poems just did not age well. They were described at the time as "competent but uninspired" and I think that sums it up perfectly.
Prudhomme's best poems deal with death, the infinite, and love that defies time. At his worst though, he's patronizing and holier-than-thou, without the passion and Romantic "sentimentality" to at least emphasize the strength of his personal convictions. There were some lovely poems ("Au Bord de L'Eau," "Un Rendez-Vous," and parts of "Sur la Mort" for instance) but as a whole, this was a forgettable collection.
January 8, 2020
I translated this with the help of the internet, and despite the lack of my finesse, I could see the beautiful words and phrases of the poet and marvel at his craft.
October 30, 2023
Reading this for a goal of reading ALL of the Nobel Lit Prize winners. Not a good start to that goal… and I’m reminded again why I dislike poetry in general. Sadly this very old piece of literature needs a new English translation, this being the only available edition is lacking a great deal. Hard to read, bad grammar, some French words not translated at all.
July 1, 2018
Sans que l'on puisse dire que sa carrière a été un échec, Sully Prudhomme n'a jamais tout à fait répondu des attentes que I 'on avait fait de lui. Les poèmes dans cet accueil sont plutôt bien réussi surtout ceux de al première moitié. On comprend comment le comité du Prix Nobel de a Littérature aura pu en 1901 prendre Prudhomme pour un grand poète même si de nos yeux au vingt-un-unième siècle on le considère comme étant seulement bon.
Les extraits de quelques poèmes qui m'ont plu suivent:
DOUCEUR D'AVRIL
J'ai peur d'Avril, peur de l'émoi
Qu'éveille sa douceur touchante;
TS eliot
INVITATION À LA VALSE
Je m'avançais vers elle, et modeste, ingénu:
«Vous m'avez accordé cette valse, madame?»
J'avais l'air de prier n'importe quelle femme,
Elle me disait: «Oui» comme au premier venu.
L'AMOUR MATERNEL
Fait d'héroïsme et de clémence,
Présent toujours au moindre appel,
Qui de nous peut dire où commence,
Où finit l'amour maternel!
L'ART TRAHI
Fors l'amour, tout dans l'art semble à la femme vain:
Le génie auprès d'elle est toujours solitaire.
Orphée allait chantant, suivi d'une panthère,
Dont il croyait leurrer l'inexorable faim;
Les extraits de quelques poèmes qui m'ont plu suivent:
DOUCEUR D'AVRIL
J'ai peur d'Avril, peur de l'émoi
Qu'éveille sa douceur touchante;
TS eliot
INVITATION À LA VALSE
Je m'avançais vers elle, et modeste, ingénu:
«Vous m'avez accordé cette valse, madame?»
J'avais l'air de prier n'importe quelle femme,
Elle me disait: «Oui» comme au premier venu.
L'AMOUR MATERNEL
Fait d'héroïsme et de clémence,
Présent toujours au moindre appel,
Qui de nous peut dire où commence,
Où finit l'amour maternel!
L'ART TRAHI
Fors l'amour, tout dans l'art semble à la femme vain:
Le génie auprès d'elle est toujours solitaire.
Orphée allait chantant, suivi d'une panthère,
Dont il croyait leurrer l'inexorable faim;
December 31, 2015
I sought out works in English by Sully Pruhomme out of curiosity as he was the very first recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1901. As my French is rudimentary I knew I would lose much in translation if I tried to read his work in the original. Unfortunately Prudhomme's works has not undergone a comprehensive translation from the French as his writing has primarily become forgotten in France as well as the rest of the world. I must confess that the version I read was little better than a Google translation of his 1875 poetry collection "Les vaines tendresses." As his writing is exceedingly literary and many of the words rather arcane, the translation was rather paltry but forced me to undertake my own secondary translation to determine the meaning of these more archaic words. As a result I think I came away with a better appreciation for his earlier work which tended to be much more sentimental than his latter writings which were or a philosophical and scientific nature. Certainly a challenge but a wonderful exploration of mid 19th Century French poetry which, I'm certain to the native speaker, would be a lovely foray into La Francophonie. For me, a fun primer for future reading en francais.
May 6, 2018
...jadno je što nema interesa za prijevodom ovakvih djela na hrvatski jezik...pa makar, makar ih nitko ne čitao. Toliko o kulturi čitanja u Hrvata.
January 4, 2025
Sully Prudhomme won the first ever Nobel of literature in 1901, "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect." The edition I read was in French, published by Alphonse Lemerre in 1875. It contains 45 poems of various length, with many following the traditional form of the sonnet. It is probably not his best-known work, that would be Le vase brisé (not in this book...) which I did encounter at some point in my schooling.
You would think that wining a Nobel (let alone the first ever…) would come with a fame outlasting the years, but you might be wrong. This will be one of the least rated books I ever entered in Goodreads. It's even hard to find a paper copy of this, my public library did not have it, so this comes from Project Gutenberg.
Prudhomme was on a trajectory to become an engineer when he took an interest in philosophy and poetry. His first poems were positively received, this encouraged him to become a writer. He was apparently a sincere and melancholic man. He also went to the same school as Proust, who esteemed him.
I am not willing or able to lunch in a deep analysis of Prudhomme's poetry. I found it to be simple, at time forgettable, at time interesting, almost always well-crafted and elegant. Prudhomme was from l’école parnasienne, l’école de "l'art pour l'art" a movement rejecting political engagement, and excessive romanticism where the writer is seen as a sculptor and his material is the language. Fac et Spera- (act and hope…) the motto found at the beginning of the book illustrate the idea that poetry comes from hard and consistent work rather than from a dazzling moment of inspiration.
Most of the poems in this book are about love, about the many faces of love. Hopeless love, wishful love never to be fulfilled, motherly love; the love one never finds and the love one thought they found only to realize that it wasn’t, unconditional love- willing to destroy if ignored… The idea of the passing of time is also a theme. One of my favorites was “Le temps perdu” where Prudhomme laments “the relentless swarms of parasitic tasks” keeping us away from our heart, our thoughts and our books. I CAN MOST DEFINITIVELY RELATE, SULLY.
Oh! l’implacable essaim des devoirs parasites
Qui pullulent autour de nos tasses de thé!
Ainsi chôment le cœur, la pensée et le livre,
Et pendant qu’on se tue à différer de vivre,
Le vrai devoir dans l’ombre attend la volonté.
Another one of my favorites was "En voyage." After having caught a glimpse of a woman's hand, the poet lunches in a long daydream about the possibility of love, and the sadness of knowing that his wish will never be fulfilled. Un voeu n'éclôt que d'un regret a wish only comes from a regret. Un voyage! telle est la vie. Pour ceux qui n'osent que rêver. Life is nothing but a journey, it passes you by untouched, if all you dare is to dream.
The last poem also I quite enjoyed:
AUX POËTES FUTURS
Poëtes à venir, qui saurez tant de choses,
Et les direz sans doute en un verbe plus beau,
Portant plus loin que nous un plus large flambeau
Sur les suprêmes fins et les premières causes;
Quand vos vers sacreront des pensers grandioses,
Depuis longtemps déjà nous serons au tombeau;
Rien ne vivra de nous qu'un terne et froid lambeau
De notre oeuvre enfouie avec nos lèvres closes.
Songez que nous chantions les fleurs et les amours
Dans un âge plein d'ombre, au mortel bruit des armes,
Pour des coeurs anxieux que ce bruit rendait sourds;
Lors plaignez nos chansons, où tremblaient tant d'alarmes,
Vous qui, mieux écoutés, ferez en d'heureux jours
Sur de plus hauts objets des poëmes sans larmes.
A call to the poets of the future, also an acknowledgement by Prudhomme that greatness eludes him, that his verses will undoubtedly be forgotten; nothing will remain but shreds of his work, buried with him... But those coming after will do better, will know more, will carry the torch further. He claims that he sang of flowers and love to drown the noise of weapons and has faith that his successors will live in better days and will craft poetry without tears and sadness.
Modesty, humility, optimism, and in that we can perhaps see the quality of "heart and intellect" that the Nobel wanted to reward.
Next up in for Nobel project: a novella (short story?) by recent winner Jon Fosse.
You would think that wining a Nobel (let alone the first ever…) would come with a fame outlasting the years, but you might be wrong. This will be one of the least rated books I ever entered in Goodreads. It's even hard to find a paper copy of this, my public library did not have it, so this comes from Project Gutenberg.
Prudhomme was on a trajectory to become an engineer when he took an interest in philosophy and poetry. His first poems were positively received, this encouraged him to become a writer. He was apparently a sincere and melancholic man. He also went to the same school as Proust, who esteemed him.
I am not willing or able to lunch in a deep analysis of Prudhomme's poetry. I found it to be simple, at time forgettable, at time interesting, almost always well-crafted and elegant. Prudhomme was from l’école parnasienne, l’école de "l'art pour l'art" a movement rejecting political engagement, and excessive romanticism where the writer is seen as a sculptor and his material is the language. Fac et Spera- (act and hope…) the motto found at the beginning of the book illustrate the idea that poetry comes from hard and consistent work rather than from a dazzling moment of inspiration.
Most of the poems in this book are about love, about the many faces of love. Hopeless love, wishful love never to be fulfilled, motherly love; the love one never finds and the love one thought they found only to realize that it wasn’t, unconditional love- willing to destroy if ignored… The idea of the passing of time is also a theme. One of my favorites was “Le temps perdu” where Prudhomme laments “the relentless swarms of parasitic tasks” keeping us away from our heart, our thoughts and our books. I CAN MOST DEFINITIVELY RELATE, SULLY.
Oh! l’implacable essaim des devoirs parasites
Qui pullulent autour de nos tasses de thé!
Ainsi chôment le cœur, la pensée et le livre,
Et pendant qu’on se tue à différer de vivre,
Le vrai devoir dans l’ombre attend la volonté.
Another one of my favorites was "En voyage." After having caught a glimpse of a woman's hand, the poet lunches in a long daydream about the possibility of love, and the sadness of knowing that his wish will never be fulfilled. Un voeu n'éclôt que d'un regret a wish only comes from a regret. Un voyage! telle est la vie. Pour ceux qui n'osent que rêver. Life is nothing but a journey, it passes you by untouched, if all you dare is to dream.
The last poem also I quite enjoyed:
AUX POËTES FUTURS
Poëtes à venir, qui saurez tant de choses,
Et les direz sans doute en un verbe plus beau,
Portant plus loin que nous un plus large flambeau
Sur les suprêmes fins et les premières causes;
Quand vos vers sacreront des pensers grandioses,
Depuis longtemps déjà nous serons au tombeau;
Rien ne vivra de nous qu'un terne et froid lambeau
De notre oeuvre enfouie avec nos lèvres closes.
Songez que nous chantions les fleurs et les amours
Dans un âge plein d'ombre, au mortel bruit des armes,
Pour des coeurs anxieux que ce bruit rendait sourds;
Lors plaignez nos chansons, où tremblaient tant d'alarmes,
Vous qui, mieux écoutés, ferez en d'heureux jours
Sur de plus hauts objets des poëmes sans larmes.
A call to the poets of the future, also an acknowledgement by Prudhomme that greatness eludes him, that his verses will undoubtedly be forgotten; nothing will remain but shreds of his work, buried with him... But those coming after will do better, will know more, will carry the torch further. He claims that he sang of flowers and love to drown the noise of weapons and has faith that his successors will live in better days and will craft poetry without tears and sadness.
Modesty, humility, optimism, and in that we can perhaps see the quality of "heart and intellect" that the Nobel wanted to reward.
Next up in for Nobel project: a novella (short story?) by recent winner Jon Fosse.
Want to read
August 16, 2023[will update when I'm done]
Attempting to read all the works by Nobel Prize winners for literature.
First up: The Vain Tenderness (Les vaines tendresses) by Sully Prudhomme
This work is quite controversial because Leo Tolstoy, who should have been the unanimous decision, was snubbed of the award.
20 members of the academe sent Tolstoy a letter stating that they believe he should have won but he simply responded he was happy he didn't win because he wouldn't know what to do with the money in the first place and he appreciates that people he didn't know at all, cared so much.
With that backstory, (talk about early 19th century drama) I don't know if coincidental or not but there are practically nonexistent proper translations of his work available online. The ones that I did find were hastily translated... Reading it would make you want to gouge your eyes and I, a girl who cannot even raise an eyebrow, raised both my eyebrows because of the level of atrocities of that "translation". Imagine that. Someone managed to beat mangago translators in my ranking of terrible translators and was even PAID to do it.
Anyways with that in mind I'm not sure if it's even proper for me to review his work but beggars can't be choosers.
Attempting to read all the works by Nobel Prize winners for literature.
First up: The Vain Tenderness (Les vaines tendresses) by Sully Prudhomme
This work is quite controversial because Leo Tolstoy, who should have been the unanimous decision, was snubbed of the award.
20 members of the academe sent Tolstoy a letter stating that they believe he should have won but he simply responded he was happy he didn't win because he wouldn't know what to do with the money in the first place and he appreciates that people he didn't know at all, cared so much.
With that backstory, (talk about early 19th century drama) I don't know if coincidental or not but there are practically nonexistent proper translations of his work available online. The ones that I did find were hastily translated... Reading it would make you want to gouge your eyes and I, a girl who cannot even raise an eyebrow, raised both my eyebrows because of the level of atrocities of that "translation". Imagine that. Someone managed to beat mangago translators in my ranking of terrible translators and was even PAID to do it.
Anyways with that in mind I'm not sure if it's even proper for me to review his work but beggars can't be choosers.
February 10, 2022
Nobel Prize 🏆 1901
This French poet had the honour of receiving the first ever Nobel Prize for Literature. Today, that must be all that he is remembered for, because this bundle is mostly what is left of his work and it's quite boring.
Written in high-romantic, sentimental style, it id full of flowers, love, death, "ô" and "ah" and such stock expressions of 19th century poetry. Here and there it's a bit better (there is a poem about a circus dog), but overall it gives me the impressionthat the Nobel committee had a lack of nominations this year.
This French poet had the honour of receiving the first ever Nobel Prize for Literature. Today, that must be all that he is remembered for, because this bundle is mostly what is left of his work and it's quite boring.
Written in high-romantic, sentimental style, it id full of flowers, love, death, "ô" and "ah" and such stock expressions of 19th century poetry. Here and there it's a bit better (there is a poem about a circus dog), but overall it gives me the impressionthat the Nobel committee had a lack of nominations this year.
September 26, 2020
I was excited to see a copy of this for $1! where else are you going to find an english translation of poems from the first Nobel Prize winner? Well, you get what you pay for. This is a painfully bad translation, which I could tell even with my grade-school level French. Basically unreadable.
Such a shame. You get a hint that Prudhomme might actually be a good poet, but I guess we'll never really know...
Such a shame. You get a hint that Prudhomme might actually be a good poet, but I guess we'll never really know...
November 21, 2023
Barely found this book on the internet (can't buy it anywhere), but I'm glad I did - the Nobel Prize challenge can begin!
I didn't really dig this though. Felt too emo, like reading Twitter posts after someone's terrible breakup. Could be the translation as well - it felt like ChatGPT translated this is the most robotic way possible.
I didn't really dig this though. Felt too emo, like reading Twitter posts after someone's terrible breakup. Could be the translation as well - it felt like ChatGPT translated this is the most robotic way possible.
September 27, 2022
This romantic style of poetry isn't to my taste.
The only English translations of Prudhomme's work I could find are here: https://www.bartleby.com/library/pros...
This link was provided by another reviewer.
The only English translations of Prudhomme's work I could find are here: https://www.bartleby.com/library/pros...
This link was provided by another reviewer.
January 2, 2025
having read this in translation to English, there are two possibilities as to why I didn't like these poems. One is that they just don't translate well. The other is that they are just plain bad. They are confusing and the language is strange and choppy. not poetic at all.
January 23, 2021
Tolstoy was robbed.
July 9, 2023
A bit outdated, but it still shows why Prudhomme was the first Nobel prize laureate.
February 15, 2025
Tolstoy should have won, garbage poetry
January 18, 2016
French poet René François Armand (Sully) Prudhomme, originally trained as an engineer, began composing poetry early in his career. This love quickly overwhelmed his vocational aspirations, though later in life his poetry and prose incorporated scientific themes, utilizing philosophical underpinnings of Lucretius and Pascal. Though this collection of poems, “The Vain Tenderness,” precedes his shift to scientific and philosophical prose, there are numerous hints of the thematic shift that gave shape to Prudhomme’s latter works. One of my favorite poems in the collection, “On Death,” contains both themes in embryonic form: “Science, that everywhere you hitting the mystery And not daring to face it, the only adjourned. Words! words! For a life is a miracle, For the other phenomenon. Hey! that matter to me! Necessary or created I claim, I tell you, And you ignore them, my cause and my reason.” Prudhomme’s poetry contains rich wordplay and word-pictures, often melancholy in tone. I could not resist comparing Prudhomme’s style with that of another favorite poet, T.S. Eliot. For example, there is much similarity between portions of Prudhomme’s “Gentile April” and Eliot’s “The Burial of the Dead” in “The Waste Land.” Compare the following lines from Prudhomme: “I’m afraid to April, the emotion of fear Aroused by his touching sweetness; You like it has troubled me, This is for you alone that I sing. In December, when the air is cold, The foggy weather, the day livid The heart, less tender and more narrow, Seems to better support its emptiness.” with Eliot’s “April is the cruellest month, breeding, Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers." Are the parallels merely coincidence? Perhaps. However it would be interesting to research what, if any, influence Sully Prudhomme may have had on T.S Eliot. Of course it should be noted that a generation separated these two great poets: Prudhomme was the first person to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1901; Eliot won his prize in 1948.
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