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Prevert Jacques 1900 - 1977 (77)

Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, you should never completely forget about it.


QUOTES

Paris at night

Three matches one by one struck in the night

The first to see your face in its entirety

The second to see your eyes

The last to see your mouth

And the darkness all around to remind me of all these

As I hold you in my arms.

Jacques Prevert (February 4, 1900 – April 11, 1977) was a popular French poet and screenwriter. He was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine and grew up in Paris. His father was a theater critic and conveyed him the love for the theater; He and his brother Pierre were writing lyrics and shorts stories from a young age. After completing the primary education, Prevert left school and went to work at a large department store in Paris. He was called to serve military service in 1918 and after the war he was sent to the Middle East to defend the French interests there. He returned to Paris and during the period 1926-1929 he was engaged in the movement of surrealism, but in 1929 he fought with Breton and refused to follow him in political engagement.

In 1930 he began his literary production and his poems were collected and published in: Paroles (Words) (1946), Spectacle (1951), Rain and Good Weather (1955), Stories (1963), Fatras (1971) and Things and Others (1973). His poems are often about life in Paris and life after the Second World War and they are widely taught in schools in France. Many of them have been sung by prominent French singers. His presence was also important in the cinema. He made three films with his brother and he wrote the script for many other movies. He often had problems with censorship because of his left wing beliefs. He died on April 11, 1977, while he was working on the dialogues of the last scene of the film "The King and the Mocking Bird”.