Francis Vielé-Griffin (pseudonym of Egbert Ludovicus Viélé, 26 May 186412 November 1937), was a French symbolist poet. He was born at Norfolk, Virginia, USA, the son of General Egbert Ludovicus Viele, and moved to France with his mother (the former Teresa Griffin) in 1872.

Vielé-Griffin was educated in France and divided his time between Paris and Touraine. He was a writer of vers libre and founded the highly influential journal Entretiens politiques et littéraires (1890–92).

He wrote symbolist and vers-libre poetry. His first collection, Cueille d'avril, appeared in 1885. He practiced a relaxed prosody, which did not take into account the obligatory alternation of masculine and feminine rhymes, the prohibition to rhyme a plural with a singular, replaces the rhyme with an assonance, if not neglected here and there the rhyme or assonancer:

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Works

His work includes:

  • Cueille d'avril (1885) (In English translation: Cull of April, Sunny Lou Publishing: , 2021; April Harvest in April Harvest, Swans, and Joys by Sunny Lou Publishing: , 2026)
  • Les Cygnes (1887; new series, 1892) (Swans, in English translation by Sunny Lou Publishing: , 2022; April Harvest, Swans, and Joys by Sunny Lou Publishing: , 2026)
  • Ancaeus (1885–87), a dramatic poem
  • Joies (1889) (Joys, in English translation by Sunny Lou Publishing: , 2022; April Harvest, Swans, and Joys by Sunny Lou Publishing: , 2026)
  • Fleurs du Chemin et Chansons de la Route (1893) ("Flowers of the Path" and "Songs of the Journey" included in The Ride of Yeldis & Other Poems, in English translation by Sunny Lou Publishing: , 2023)
  • La Chevauchée d'Yeldis (1893) (The Ride of Yeldis & Other Poems, in English translation by Sunny Lou Publishing: , 2023)
  • Swanhilde, a dramatic poem (1894)
  • Laus Veneris (1895), a volume of translations from Swinburne
  • Poèmes et Poésies (1895), a collection containing much of his earlier work
  • Phocas le jardinier (1898)
  • La Légende ailee de Wieland le Forgeron (1899), a dramatic poem.
  • L'Amour sacré (1903), poems
  • Plus loin (1906)
  • Voix d'Ionie (1914)
  • La Rose au flat (1922)
  • Le Livre des reines (1929)

Quotes

From “Euphonies” in April Harvest:

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From "Dea" in April Harvest: