Literary Birthday – 26 August – Guillaume Apollinaire

Guillaume Apollinaire was born on 26 August 1880 and died on 9 November 1918.

Guillaume Apollinaire Quotes

1. Come to the edge, He said. They said, We are afraid. Come to the edge, He said. They came. He pushed them… and they flew.
2. Without poets, without artists… everything would fall apart into chaos. There would be no more seasons, no more civilisations, no more thought, no more humanity, no more life even; and impotent darkness would reign forever. Poets and artists together determine the features of their age, and the future meekly conforms to their edit.
3. How slow life is, how violent hope is.
4. Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature’s monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed.
5. I love men, not for what unites them, but for what divides them, and I want to know most of all what gnaws at their hearts.
6. When man wanted to make a machine that would walk he created the wheel, which does not resemble a leg.
7. Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.

Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic. He was considered to be one of the most important poets of the early 20th century. Apollinaire’s Calligrammes, published in 1918, is particularly noted for its pattern poetry, where the words are arranged to create a visual representation of the poem’s subject. His collection Alcools is considered his poetic masterpiece, characterized by its lack of punctuation and use of varied verse forms. Apollinaire is also credited with coining the term surrealist for his play Les Mamelles de Tirésias.

Source for Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guillaume_Apollinaire_foto.jpg

by Amanda Patterson
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