One of the great figures of modern French literature. Born in Switzerland in 1887, but of French spirit, Saint-John Perse wandered the world for many years, a restless seeker who made life an adventure and his novels and poems a record of an unceasing hunger for human experiences. As a young man, he reached the East by crossing Russia, and "The Symbolic," one of his greatest long poems, is included in this collection.

Over the years, many of Saint-John Perse's works have been translated into English - among the first, in 1931, the outstanding version of "The Panamas, or the Adventures of My Seven Uncles" by John Dos Passos (reprinted in this collection) - but all are now out of print here, making this selection from the entirety of Saint-John Perse's work particularly timely. It has been prepared by Professor Walter Albert of Brandeis University, whose extensive introductory essay is the most detailed biographical and critical study of Saint-John Perse available in English.

While much of the selection focuses on his poetry (with the French text printed alongside), there are also representative excerpts from the main novels and other prose works, as well as several essays, including impressions from Chagall and Picasso.