Quatre poètes au jardin des Oliviers

• Main Author: Baril, Joselle
• Other Authors: Rivard, Yvon (advisor)
• Format: Others
• Language: fr
• Published: McGill University 2003
• Subjects: Jesus Christ > In literature; French poetry > 19th century > History and criticism; Romanticism > France
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=79822

In the course of the romantic movement, the vision of the poetic ministry has been expressed by several poets through the figure of Jesus at the Mount of Olives. While Lamartine appropriates the suffering of Christ in order to proclaim himself to be a poet-prophet, Vigny refuses the silence of God. He, thus, accomplishes his poetic mission against God. Whereas Hugo does not take into consideration the meaning of Jesus' agony in order to make the Gethsemane a place of glory, Nerval rejects the notion of a Christlike mission. Hence, by putting into words the death of God, he foretells what Hugo Friedrich will later call an "empty transcendence", which is the very sign of modern poetics. Romanticism carried within itself the signs of the end of transcendence of poetics. Therefore, we will analyse the transition of romanticism to modernity in these four poems1 through the representation of Jesus Christ at Gethsemane. === 1"Gethsemani ou la mort de Julia" d'Alphonse de Lamartine, "Le Mont des Oliviers" d'Alfred de Vigny, un extrait (strophes VI, VII et VIII du Chapitre intitule Jesus-Christ) de La Fin de Satan de Victor Hugo et "Le Jardin des Oliviers" de Gerard de Nerval.