Tristan Corbière (1845-1875) evoked the peasants and sailors of his native Brittany, the bohemians and prostitutes of Paris, in a vivid, fast-paced language that gave a new voice to French poetry and made him a pivotal figure in the development of Modernism, Symbolism and Surrealism.

Ezra Pound called him 'the greatest poet of the period' and T.S. Eliot wrote that 'Rimbaud, Corbière and Laforgue were for us the masters'. They admired his directness, colloquialism and allusiveness, the combination of empathy with savage irony. Through his influence on Pound and Eliot, Corbière made a lasting impact on the poetry of both England and America.

This parallel text edition enables the reader to experience Corbière's dazzling, innovative technique and wordplay at first hand. Val Warner provides an essential introduction to the work of this key poet.