Léon-Gontran Damas

Léon-Gontran Damas is considered one of the three leaders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature. Influenced by the poets of the Harlem Renaissance, the aim of the Négritude poets was to debunk the myth of European cultural superiority. In 1937, Damas lit the Francophone world on fire when he published Pigments, a collection of poems that became a rallying cry for the colonized and oppressed. The following poems are excerpted from Graffiti, a collection published in 1952, which continues Damas' discussion of the reprecussions of colonization on a more intimate level.

Published on 07/10/2004

        nearly three years ago
        ferociously hostile
        to any passion
        to the smallest tenderness
**
        déjà
        trois ans
        farouchement hostile
        à tout élan
        au moindre épanchement

        nearly three years ago
        ferociously hostile
        to any passion
        to the smallest tenderness

        my heart has only
        to wallow
        in the rough calm and hard
        memories of days
        that it would have been better off
        never in a human life
        having seen shine

        DEPUIS BIENTOT

        déjà
        trois ans
        farouchement hostile
        à tout élan
        au moindre épanchement

        le cœur n’a plus
        qu’à se complaire
        dans le rude calme et dur
        regret de jours
        qu’il eut mieux valu
        n’avoir jamais d’une vie d’homme
        vu luire

Copyright © Léon-Gontran Damas , 2004. All Rights Reserved.