Background
Paul Fort was born on 1 February in 1872 in Reims.
Paul Fort was born on 1 February in 1872 in Reims.
Paul wrote a great number of poems, some in prose, some in very free cadences, and these were published in 1897 under the title Ballades françaises.francaises. Thirty more volumes of such ballads followed. In 1905, he founded a review, Vers et prose, which had some importance in the history of later Symbolism.
In the early years of the 20th century, Fort's fame was considerable, and his "polyphonic prose" was considered an original achievement. He attained popularity very rapidly, his stories in verse being within the reach of a public that remained indifferent to more subtle lyricism, and he had at least one imitator in the United States--Amy Lowell--who adopted some of his rhythms and tricks of vocabulary. But his reputation declined after 1914. Fame had not brought him financial security, and at one time he appeared on the stage of a vaudeville theater to read some of his ballads, convinced that his poetry could move modern, uncritical audiences. His plays, which are chronicles in rhythmic prose, include Louis XI, curieux home, and Les Comperes du Roi Louis. He published his memoirs in 1944. In 1956 he received the Grand Literary Prize of the City of Paris.