Drinkers of Phosphorous
and
Other Songs of Joy
Théodore Hannon
Translated by Richard Robinson
Drinkers of Phosphorous and Other Songs of Joy, originally published as Rimes de Joie, in 1881, and here presented in its first English translation by Richard Robinson, was Théodore Hannon’s second book of poetry. It has the rare and double cachet of, firstly, having a preface by J.-K. Huysmans, and subsequently being lauded by Huysmans’ hero Des Esseintes in the great Decadent novel À Rebours.
A painter, artist, scenarist, theatrical-parodist and poet, Hannon was influential in Belgian modernist artistic circles of the period. With his good friend Félicien Rops, he helped found the influential progressive Belgian society La Chrysalide in 1875. As editor-in-chief of l’Artiste, a weekly literary review based in Brussels, he helped promote the then-fledgling French Naturalist movement.
Of Hannon and his work, Huysmans wrote in À Rebours that its charming corruption corresponded fatally with Des Esseintes’ penchants . . . the foggy days, rainy days, when he locked himself up in the poet’s imagined retreat, getting drunk with his eyes on shimmering fabrics, incandescences of stones . . .
About the Author
Théodore Hannon (1851-1916), was a Belgian painter and poet, described by J.-K. Huysmans in À Rebours as a “pupil of Baudelaire . . . descended from the master principally in the plastic arts sense, by an exterior vision of beings and things.” A contemporary of Félicien Rops, four of whose illustrations, including the frontispiece, were in the original edition of his poetry collection Rimes de joie (1881). Other writings by Hannon include Au pays du Manneken-Pis (1883), Noëls fin-de-siècle (1892), and Au clair de la dune (1909).
About the Translator
Richard Robinson has done numerous translations over the years, both to and from English, including Georges Bataille’ s The Trial of Gilles de Rais (Amok Books, 1990), and Léon Bloy’ s The Desperate Man (Snuggly Books, 2020). He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the California State University.
Paperback, 108 pages
Release date, December 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64525-056-2
Price: OUT OF PRINT