The sad songs of hell
By: Brent Cunningham
Publisher: Ugly Duckling Presse
Published: 2017
Place of publication: Brooklyn, New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 20
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Adaptations; American poetry
Work titles: Poems
Description: "The Sad Songs of Hell are rooted in the French poems of Arthur Rimbaud. Since Cunningham knows almost no French, his "translations" use improvisation to create new works, ending up with something between projection, personal indulgence, and some possibly accurate interpretations.  What are these poems 'after Rimbaud'? What, of his language, sticks around? Perhaps some of his attitude, or political disgust. Maybe we can still hear his famous dialectic between the beautiful and the transgressive. Is it possible that these poems have as much Rimbaudian energy as an accurate translation, or even more? And if they have something to say in their own right, should their relation to the original matter?"--Publisher's website (viewed 2018 November 6).
Notes: Poems.

"Edition of 700. Printed and bound at McNaughton & Gunn. Interior cover printed letterpress at UDP. Cover wraps printed at Prestige Printing. Assembled by volunteers at UDP. Design by William Bahan. Typeset in Fournier and Avenir Next."--Colophon.

Each page contains the English adaptation of a poem by Rimbaud and in miniature print the original French version. Accompanied by a bookmark that is also a magnifying device.

"Brent Cunningham is a writer and publisher living in Oakland. He has worked for Small Press Distribution in Berkeley since 1999 and currently serves as their Operations Director.  His first book of poetry, Bird & Forest, was published by Ugly Duckling Presse in 2005; his second, Journey to the Sun, was published in early 2012 by Atelos Press. Over the last decade he has served on the board of Small Press Traffic in San Francisco, helped found the annual SPT Poets Theater festival, and helped coordinate the Artifact Reading Series in San Francisco and Oakland. In 2005 he and Neil Alger founded Hooke Press, a chapbook press dedicated to publishing short runs of poetry, criticism, theory, writing and ephemera."--Publisher's website (viewed 2018 November 6).

Purchased in 2018 from Ugly Duckling Presse, with the Daniel A. Pollack Class of 1960 Poetry Fund.

As issued, in brown paper, with publisher's illustrated printed wrappers; in prefab case, 28 cm.
Table of contents: title: Sensation (Sensation) --; title: Party prizes (Première soirée) --; title: Sunlight on a chair (Soleil et chair) --; title: The core of reason (Les corbeaux) --; title: Accompanied by music (A la musique) --; title: The truth about dormatories (Le dormeur du val) --; title: Androgynous love (Venus anadyomene) --; title: The assistants (Les assis) --; title: My petty loves (Mes petites amoureuses) --; title: The faraway (Les effarés) --; title: Afterword.