by Paul Eluard

Paul Eluard was one of the most important of the early surrealists. Born in Paris in 1895, Eluard first became involved with the Dada movement, and after the war, disgusted by the commonly accepted laws of bourgeois morality, involved himself with surrealism. His fame as a poet began with Capitale de la Douleur (1926) and continued over the next 26 years with over 50 books. Une Lecon de Morale (A Moral Lesson) appeared in 1949, three years before his death.