Paul Éluard met André Breton, Phillipe Soupault, and Louis Aragon soon after World War I ended. They were impressed by his poetry, and he was inducted into the Surrealist group that they were forming at the time. We imagine some brutal hazing rituals, like trying to drink a gallon of milk in ten minutes, were involved.

He established himself as an important poet among the Surrealists. A big inspiration for his poetry was his Russian wife Gala, whom he'd met before the war. She ended up leaving him for the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí. How could she resist that amazing pointy moustache?

"The shape of your eyes" (1926)

In Éluard's famous poem, the speaker looks at his lover's eyes. Just looking at those beautiful eyes leads him to make all sorts of associations: his lover is associated with "leaves of daylight and moss of dew, / Reeds of the wind, perfumed smiles."

The poem, in other words, is a great example of the way that Surrealist writers use association and associative imagery in their writing.

"Keeping Alive" (in Au Rendez-Vous Allemand, 2012)

Éluard, like other Surrealists, was interested in changing the society in which he lived. "Keeping Alive" is a poem that pays homage to change brought about through revolution.

The poem focuses on the idea of never giving up hope, and bringing about change through desire and commitment: "They endured they knew that life perpetuates/ And their shadowy needs gave birth to clarity./ They were only a few/ Then suddenly a crowd." The poem, in other words, suggests how revolution is brought about by a few who spread their ideas to others. Hmm. Like Surrealists, perhaps?

Chew On This

Éluard's revolutionary inclinations are reflected in his poem "Liberty."

Paul Éluard had it going on with the automatic writing. Have a look at his unpunctuated poem "As Far As My Eye Can See In My Body's Senses."