Saint-John Perse, prince par l'absurde

Abstract

The stately poetry of Saint-John Perse illustrates a reversal of old societal values and their transformation into a new system of poetic distinction, well known to the caustic thought of Nietzsche. The poet thus transforms the traditional attributes of the aristocracy: heredity by blood, social superiority, and the rapport with history and religion are metamorphosed in order to give body to an imaginary crystallised by the writer's pseudonym.