Francis Viele-Griffin

Cull of April Francis Viele-Griffin

Cull of April (Cueille d'avril in French) is the first book of poetry written by Francis Vielé-Griffin (1864-1937). It was first published in 1885, when Griffin was 21 years old. Griffin was American by birth, born in Virginia. As a boy of seven or eight years old, he was sent to France to attend school; he remained.

Cull of April is said to show influences of the Decadent school of poetry, which was in vogue at the time.

Here is what Émile Goudeau says about the Decadents, in his who's who of Belle Epoque poets and artists, Ten Years a Bohemian: "The newcomers rallied around master Verlaine, or chief Mallarmé, and from there come the Decadents (of which the Deliquescents are nothing but parodists), the Symbolists, and the Instrumentalists.... the word decadent implies, beyond affectation of style, a certain disorder fundamentally, hybrid blend of old religions and refined mores; that was also what the decadents strived for; a particular sadism where Catholic incense is detected in loathsome places, and where the sanctuary has foul smells of face powder or even washbasin water."

Perhaps he was right, here's a line from "Euphonies," in Cull of April, which would seem to corroborate:

I ramble on return from vain lassitudes,
Have we not dreamt of other beatitudes?