Études and Préludes

Published in 1901, the first book of poems by Renée Vivien, Études and Préludes, is a deeply personal statement of love and passion from a unique woman living in fin du siècle Paris. It represents a dawning, a new and free woman discovering love and all of its potential, in a new world where both light and darkness color the erotic perception of the beloved. Drawing on visions from ancient mythology and following in the tradition of the French symbolist poets, Vivien's poetry is remarkable for being among the first openly lesbian erotic poetry to be written and published by a woman in the modern era. This new translation captures the original spirit with a faithfulness that speaks to its poetic intensity, which isn't any less potent so many years removed.