Published in France in 1951 and appearing here for the first time in exquisite English translations that capture the poignancy of the originals, this volume also reproduces the eight drawing by Marc Chagall that appeared in the original, many of them of the poets themselves. The poems move back and forth between the two poets, creating an intimate yet universal conversation between two people who knew they had found their soulmate.
Unlike the Surrealists, Goll loved a real woman, who was an unchanging presence in his life … it may well be that Goll will be remembered for these poems. Their simple visionary grace, the ease with which they build a spiritual moment out of commonplace, almost conventional, images, make the love poems unique in modern poetry. -Paul Zweig