Francis Vielé-Griffin


Vielé-Griffin, Francis

 

Born May 26,1864, in Norfolk, Va.; died Nov. 12, 1937, in Bergerac, Dordogne Department, France. French poet.

From the age of seven, Vielé-Griffin lived in France. He published his first poems in 1885. The influence of S. Mallarme is notable in the collections of poems April Gathering (1885), Delights (1889), and Poems and Verses (1895). More original are the collections The Radiance of Life (1897), The Departure (in Italian, La partenza, 1899), and Sacred Love (1903). His symbolist poetry is characterized by a love of nature, refined aestheticism, and lively and joyous perception of the world. A master of free verse, he borrowed a great deal from folklore. Ancient Greek, Scandinavian, German, and French tales provided themes for his works The Journey of Yeldis (1893), Swanhilda (1898), The Winged Legend of Wieland the Smith (1900), The Light of Greece (1912), and Voices of Ionia (1914). In Russia, I. Annenskii, V. Briusov, M. Voloshin, I. Ehrenburg, and others translated his poetry.

WORKS

Oeuvres, vols. 1-3. Paris, 1924-27.
Choix de poèmes. Paris, 1923. In Russian translation: [“Stikhi”] in Ten’ derev’ev: Stikhi zarubezhnykh poetov. Translated by I. Ehrenburg. Moscow, 1969.

REFERENCES

Istoriiafrantsuzskoiliteratury, vol. 3, Moscow, 1959.
Cours, J. de. Francis Vielé-Griffin, son oeuvre, sa pensée, son art. Paris, 1930.
Morier, H. Le Rythme du vers libre symboliste, vol. 3. Geneva, 1944.

A. D. MIKHAILOV