Yves' Pages
Writing

Poems

Here are a few poems (in French), most of them written long time ago (beginning to mid-1980s). They are usually sonnets, but a few other forms are also represented, like the pantoum.

The connoisseurs will see the strong influence of José Maria de Hérédia (1842-1905), a Cuban poet who published "Les Trophées" in 1893, one of the best representation of the Parnassian movement. My tries rate far below the master's: they don't come even close to the pure gems such as "Un coucher de soleil en Bretagne" or "Ave Maris Stella".

I also wrote a few "poems in prose" (in French). It was also long time ago:


Notes:

  • The sonnet is a poem form made of three quatrains and a final couplet, rhyming abab-cdcd-efe-fgg. Some variants have the rhyming abba-cddc-efe-fgg, or even abba-cddc-eff-egg.
     
  • The pantoum is a Malay form of poem written in quatrains and repeats whole lines in an interlocking pattern. The second and fourth lines of any stanza become the first and third lines of the stanza that follows. There is not limit in the number of stanzas. In the pantoum's last stanza, the first and third lines of the opening stanza are finally repeated as the fourth and second lines. The order of those lines can be reversed, but ideally the pantoum will end with the poem's opening line, creating a cycle.

Novels

I've worked on several fiction novels (in English). Most will probably take years to finish and may not ever get published, but trying to write it is a very rewarding experience.

- You can read the prologue here of one of them (still non-edited, form).

- And the first chapter of Silvit. This one may get publish one day.

Short Stories

As for short stories, here are a few:

  • Le Hanap d'Or (In French, 3200 words)
  • Mary's Story (In English, 4140 words. This one is actually an assignment for an English writing class, so it may look a bit strange because there were many requirements and constraints).