Philippe Soupalt, along with André Breton, was one of the founding fathers of the Surrealist movement in Paris. In 1919 he began publishing the journal Littérature along with Breton and Louis Aragon.

He also co-wrote, with André Breton, The Magnetic Fields, which is considered to be the first important Surrealist literary work. Although he played a really big part in defining the Surrealist movement in its early stages, he eventually broke with Breton and the Surrealists because he didn't agree with all of the group's principles. He rebelled against the rebels.

The Magnetic Fields (co-written with André Breton) (1920)

It's one of the earliest texts to come out of the Surrealist movement, and it reflects many of the literary principles of the Surrealists, including automatic writing and an emphasis on the irrational or the anti-rational.

Is it a novel? A long poem? A hallucination? We don't know. The book doesn't provide us with many answers (Surrealists, after all, aren't exactly into making things easy for us readers). All we can do is plunge in and go for a ride.

"Life-Saving Medal" (1937)

In Soupault's poem, we'll find the Surrealist emphasis on outlandish imagery and juxtaposition. The speaker's nose is likened to a "long knife" and at night he collects "the milk and the moon." Oh yeah, and did we mention that trees are afraid of him? Who knew that trees could be afraid?

This poem exemplifies Surrealist themes and style. It evokes a strange, fantastic atmosphere. We don't exactly know what's going on. But that's ok: we're in Surrealist territory here; we're meant to be confused.

Chew On This

We'll find some interesting associations in Soupault's poem "Sports Goods."

Some pretty crazy things are depicted in Soupault's poem "Life-Saving Medal." The speaker collects the milk and the moon, for one.