Bestiary: Or the Parade of Orpheus

by Guillaume Apollinaire

Book Overview

Thirty short poems by Guillaume Apollinaire, with woodcuts by Raoul Dufy, of Dufy, that celebrate mammals, birds, fish, insects, and the mythical poet and prophet Orpheus--filled with surprising images, wit, formal mastery, and wry irony.

First published in 1911, and embellished with the graphically sophisticated woodcuts, this collection presents a voice that ranges from the colloquial to the impassioned, a brisk combination of lyric...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1567921426
• ISBN13: 9781567921427
• Release Date: November 2014
• Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Gem of a Book

This is as close as I've found to a perfect book of poems. Each idea is short, thoughtful, and often humorously absurd. The translator, Pepe Karmel, lays the French verse underneath the English on each page, which is useful for any bilingual readers. For those who only read English, Karmel's translations beautifully capture Apollinaire's succinctness and wit, and (when possible) his rhymes. One of my favorites: The Dromedary With his four dromedaries Don Pedro D'Alfarubeyra Traveled the world and marveled. He did what I would do, If I had four dromedaries. The book also has gorgeous woodcut illustrations by Raoul Dufy. It's really a gem.

An inexpensive paperback of a wonderful volume.

As an art student I am unable to purchase ... books, I was delighted with my purchase of this paperback version of Apollinaire's Parade of Orpheus, I am also thrilled with the translation and quality of the reproduction of Dufy's woodcuts.