Form and Meaning in Valéry's Le Cimetière Marin

Download or read book Form and Meaning in Valéry's Le Cimetière Marin written by James R. Lawler and published by [Carlton] : Melbourne University Press. This book was released on 1959 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The poem, set in the cemetery at Sète (where Valéry himself is now buried), is a meditation on death. At first the narrator observes the calm sea under the blazing noontime sun and accepts the inevitability of death. But as the wind begins to stir and waves start forming on the sea, a sign of the energy beneath the surface, the narrator proclaims the necessity of choosing life by choosing eternal change over contemplation.Valéry approached the composition of the poem as if it were a musical form, with the rhythm of the verse mimicking the movement of the sea.