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

        and truly because my heart is no longer
        twenty years old
        nor has it the bitterness of a shriveled
        old woman
        there is no enduring noon

        and truly because my heart is no longer
        twenty years old
        nor has it the bitterness of a shriveled
        old woman
        there is no enduring noon

        So take this as you will
        you others
        who never speak of love
        without capital letters
        and a tear in the eye
        there is no enduring noon

        I will open it
        no enduring noon
        I will open it
        no enduring noon

        I will open the window onto the spring
        that I want eternal

        IL N’EST PAS DE MIDI QUI TIENNE

        et bien parce qu’il n’a plus vignt ans
        mon cœur
        ni la dent dure de
        [petite vieille
        il n’est pas de midi qui tienne

        Prenez-en donc votre parti
        vous autres
        qui ne parlez jamais d’amour
        sans majuscule
        et larme en coin
        il n’est pas de midi qui tienne

        J’ouvrirai
        pas de midi qui tienne
        J’ouvrirai
        pas de midi qui tienne

        J’ouvrirai la fenêtre au printemps
        que je veux éternel

        --Translated by Kirsten Halling

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