French Poetry

In this audiobook, I read 33 classical French poems. The majority are read twice: once slowly - so you can repeat after me - and once faster, with my personal interpretation of the poem. I will also sometimes tell you about the author, or explain the vocabulary or the meaning of the poem, all in easy everyday French. Musset, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, La Fontaine, Labbé, Valéry... A collection of 33 of the most famous French poems.

Here are 35 of the greatest poems in the French language, carefully selected and read in French by Bill Homewood, the bilingual English classical actor who has spent half his life in France. To help those English speakers with just a little French to appreciate the glories of these poems, he provides his own clear English translations.

"Le poète est semblable au prince des nuées / Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l'archer ; / Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées, / Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher." (L'Albatros)

Six siècles d'œuvres poétiques sélectionnées par Alain Frémeaux et enregistrées par les acteurs de la Comédie Française, sous la direction d'Olivier Cohen.

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

Ce livre audio propose une sélection de vingt-deux poèmes extraits du recueil "Les Fleurs du Mal, Spleen et Idéal" de Charles Baudelaire. À travers ses poèmes, Baudelaire nous fait partager le drame qui se joue en lui et qui n'est autre que la tragédie humaine. Baudelaire, premier poète moderne, donne à la poésie sa véritable dimension : exprimer, par-delà les mots, ce vertige absolu qui s'empare de l'âme. Tout chez lui affirme la nécessité de la souffrance, la fatalité du péché.

Le "coffret" Arthur Rimbaud regroupe l'intégralité de la poésie de l'auteur, ainsi qu'une sélection de sa correspondance avec ses amis et ses proches. Poésies ; Vers nouveaux et chansons ; Une saison en enfer ; Illuminations ; Œuvres diverses ; Correspondances (Extraits).

"Le Spleen de Paris", aussi nommé "Les Petits poèmes en prose", est publié en 1864. Ce recueil complète "Les Fleurs du mal".

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

En 1871, Arthur Rimbaud débarque à Paris. Il y rencontre Paul Verlaine. Commence alors entre ces deux hommes une histoire qui les lie à tout jamais. Pendant deux longues années, les deux hommes s'aiment en secret et composent des vers magnifiques, des poèmes aujourd'hui encore adulés et connus de tous...
Pourtant l'histoire d'amour entre les deux hommes dégénère et un jour de juillet 1873 à Bruxelles, en proie à l'alcool, tiraillé par ses sentiments, Paul Verlaine tire une balle sur Arthur Rimbaud.

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

Que faites vous quand vous écrivez ces vers saisissants ? Que faites vous ? Vous marchez. Vous dotez le ciel de l'art d'on ne sait quel rayon macabre. Vous créez un frisson nouveau (...) Vous êtes un noble esprit et un généreux cœur. Vous écrivez des choses profondes et souvent sereines. Vous aimez le beau. Donnez moi la main. Victor Hugo – Lettre à Charles Baudelaire, 6 octobre 1859

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

"Je vous souhaite d’être follement aimée", écrivait André Breton. Dans ce recueil de poèmes qui constituent autant de microfictions incandescentes, publiées au fil des années sur Instagram, Nicolas Mathieu dessine les visages de cet amour fou et donne à voir un monde de coïncidences, d’analogies et de banalités transformées en trésors : les villes entrevues, la mer, les rencontres et les commencements, le désespoir et les joies, le bonheur intenable, les saisons, les matins au lit et les dîners avortés, les gueules de bois, l’attente, la désertion, l’enfance et la fin qui viendra.

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.

In this audiobook, I first read the poem in slow enunciated French then use simple, everyday French language to explain each individual verse. I then talk about the life of the author, give a full analysis of the poem and finally re-read the poem at a faster speed with a more personal interpretation. Not only is it a great cultural subject but it's a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, verb tenses and improve your understanding of deeper conversations.