Introduction

Poetry is the heartbeat of French culture. From the medieval jongleurs who sang epic tales in castle halls to contemporary slam poets electrifying Parisian cafés, French verse has captured the human experience in all its complexity for over a thousand years. This book invites you to explore that rich tradition—not as a museum piece, but as a living, breathing art form that continues to evolve and inspire.

French poetry matters not because it is French, but because it has given voice to universal human experiences in ways that have shaped world literature. When Baudelaire wrote of urban alienation in Les Fleurs du Mal, he articulated feelings that would resonate from Tokyo to New York. When Aimé Césaire proclaimed his négritude, he sparked a global conversation about identity and decolonization that continues today. When contemporary poets like Grand Corps Malade perform to packed audiences, they prove that poetry remains vital in our digital age.

This book takes an expansive view of what constitutes "French" poetry. While we begin with works composed in the hexagon, we embrace the full francophone world—from Quebec to Senegal, from Martinique to Lebanon. We include not only the canonical voices taught in universities but also those historically marginalized: women who wrote despite societal constraints, LGBTQ+ poets who coded their desires in metaphor, working-class writers who challenged literary gatekeepers, and poets from France's overseas territories and former colonies who expanded the boundaries of French expression.