0:00:07.200,0:00:09.454 Among the great poets of literary history, 0:00:09.454,0:00:10.970 certain names like Homer, 0:00:10.970,0:00:12.062 Shakespeare, 0:00:12.062,0:00:12.928 Milton, 0:00:12.928,0:00:15.223 and Whitman are instantly recognizable. 0:00:15.223,0:00:17.889 However, there's an early 20th century[br]great French poet 0:00:17.889,0:00:19.652 whose name you may not know; 0:00:19.652,0:00:21.743 Guillaume Apollinaire. 0:00:21.743,0:00:24.709 He was a close friend and collaborator[br]of artists like Picasso, 0:00:24.709,0:00:25.550 Rousseau, 0:00:25.550,0:00:27.290 and Chagall. 0:00:27.290,0:00:28.806 He coined the term surrealism, 0:00:28.806,0:00:33.431 and he was even suspected of stealing[br]the Mona Lisa in 1911. 0:00:33.431,0:00:35.048 During his short lifetime, 0:00:35.048,0:00:37.457 he created poetry that combined[br]text and image 0:00:37.457,0:00:41.642 in a way that seemingly predicted[br]an artistic revolution to come. 0:00:41.642,0:00:44.414 In the late 19th [br]and early 20th century Paris, 0:00:44.414,0:00:47.377 the low-rent districts of Montmartre[br]and Montparnasse 0:00:47.377,0:00:49.822 were home to every [br]kind of starving artist. 0:00:49.822,0:00:51.805 It was all they could afford. 0:00:51.805,0:00:53.903 These painters, writers, [br]and intellectuals, 0:00:53.903,0:00:57.089 united in their artistic passion[br]and counter-culture beliefs, 0:00:57.089,0:00:59.317 made up France's bohemian sub-culture. 0:00:59.317,0:01:04.845 And their works of art, literature,[br]and intellect would shake up the world. 0:01:04.845,0:01:06.620 At the turn of the 20th century, 0:01:06.620,0:01:08.067 within this dynamic scene, 0:01:08.067,0:01:11.065 art critic, poet, [br]and champion of the avant-garde, 0:01:11.065,0:01:14.464 Guillaume Apollinaire [br]was a well-known fixture. 0:01:14.464,0:01:16.342 As an art critic, Apollinaire explained 0:01:16.342,0:01:18.699 the cubist [br]and surrealist movements to the world, 0:01:18.699,0:01:21.270 and rose to the defense [br]of many young artists 0:01:21.270,0:01:25.485 in the face of what was often[br]a xenophobic and narrow-minded public. 0:01:25.485,0:01:28.671 As a poet, Apollinaire was passionate[br]about all forms of art 0:01:28.671,0:01:30.956 and a connoisseur of medieval literature, 0:01:30.956,0:01:34.627 especially calligraphy [br]and illuminated initials. 0:01:34.627,0:01:38.745 As a visionary, Apollinaire saw a gap[br]between two artistic institutions. 0:01:38.745,0:01:42.960 On one side was the popular, highly [br]lauded traditional art forms of the time. 0:01:42.960,0:01:45.342 On the other, the forms [br]of artistic expression 0:01:45.342,0:01:46.957 made possible through surrealism, 0:01:46.957,0:01:47.784 cubism, 0:01:47.784,0:01:49.534 and new inventions, [br]like the cinema, 0:01:49.534,0:01:51.269 and the phonograph. 0:01:51.269,0:01:52.381 Within that divide, 0:01:52.381,0:01:55.498 through the creation of his most important[br]contribution to poetry, 0:01:55.498,0:01:56.962 the Calligramme, 0:01:56.962,0:01:59.409 Guillaume Apollinaire built a bridge. 0:01:59.409,0:02:01.955 Apollinaire created the Calligramme[br]as a poem picture, 0:02:01.955,0:02:03.112 enrichened portrait, 0:02:03.112,0:02:04.333 a thoughts drawing, 0:02:04.333,0:02:06.795 and he used it to express his modernism 0:02:06.795,0:02:10.231 and his desire to push poetry beyond[br]the normal bounds of text and verse 0:02:10.231,0:02:13.289 and into the 20th century. 0:02:13.289,0:02:15.019 Some of his calligrams are funny, 0:02:15.019,0:02:16.584 like the Le Tous. 0:02:16.584,0:02:19.160 Some of them are dedicated[br]to his young dead friends, 0:02:19.160,0:02:21.818 like La Colombe Poirnardee [br]Et Le Jet D'eau. 0:02:21.818,0:02:24.423 Some of them are the expression[br]of an emotional moment, 0:02:24.423,0:02:27.995 as is Il Pleut: 0:02:27.995,0:02:31.371 "It's raining women's voices[br]as if they had died even in memory, 0:02:31.371,0:02:35.726 and it's raining you as well,[br]Marvellous encounters of my life, 0:02:35.726,0:02:37.395 o little drops. 0:02:37.395,0:02:40.903 Those rearing clouds begin to neigh[br]a whole universe of auricular cities. 0:02:40.903,0:02:45.863 Listen if it rains while regret[br]and disdain weep to an ancient music. 0:02:45.863,0:02:50.633 Listen to the bonds fall off[br]which hold you above and below." 0:02:50.633,0:02:53.840 Each calligramme is intended[br]to allow readers to unchain themselves 0:02:53.840,0:02:55.709 from the regular experience of poetry, 0:02:55.709,0:02:59.415 and feel and see something new. 0:02:59.415,0:03:03.620 Lettre-Océan is first an image to be seen[br]before even the words are read. 0:03:03.620,0:03:06.490 Text-only elements combine with words[br]in shapes and forms. 0:03:06.490,0:03:10.163 Two circular forms, [br]one locked in a square, 0:03:10.163,0:03:13.184 the other, morph beyond[br]the page in the shape of a spiral. 0:03:13.184,0:03:16.887 Together they create a picture[br]that hints toward cubism. 0:03:16.887,0:03:18.751 Then on closer reading of the text, 0:03:18.751,0:03:20.560 the descriptive words within suggest 0:03:20.560,0:03:23.011 the image of an aerial view [br]of the Eiffel Tower. 0:03:23.011,0:03:27.124 They give tribute to electromagnetic waves[br]of the telegraph, 0:03:27.124,0:03:29.313 a new form of communication at the time. 0:03:29.313,0:03:34.364 Undoubtedly, the deeply layered artistic [br]expressions in Apollina's calligrammes 0:03:34.364,0:03:36.747 are not just a brilliant display[br]of poetic prowess 0:03:36.747,0:03:38.944 from a master of the form. 0:03:38.944,0:03:41.579 Each calligramme itself is also[br]a snapshot in time, 0:03:41.579,0:03:43.192 encapsulating the passion, 0:03:43.192,0:03:43.962 the excitement, 0:03:43.962,0:03:47.432 and the anticipation of all the [br]bohemian artists of Paris, 0:03:47.432,0:03:48.951 including Apollinaire, 0:03:48.951,0:03:51.332 most of whom are well ahead of their time, 0:03:51.332,0:03:52.839 and with their innovative work, 0:03:52.839,0:03:55.197 eagerly grasping for the future.