Cursed

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - /
I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference."
The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost
CURSED?
B Y T H E I N T E R N A T I O N A L S E C T I O N
L E S A G E H I G H S C H O O L / B R I T T A N Y / F R A N C E
A book about breaking norms and finding one's bliss.

The challenge of (y)our
time is to find a journey
worthy of your heart and
your soul.
Art is frightening
Art isn't pretty
Art isn't painting.
Art isn't something you hang on the wall.
Art is what we do when we're truly alive.
Art might scare you.
Art might bust you.
But art is who we are and what we do and what
we need.
Art isn't a result; it's a journey.
Seth Goldin, The Icarus deception, Penguin, 2012

cursed?
The term 'cursed poet' was first of all used by Paul
Verlaine (a Franch writer) but it is also used in other
countries. Verlaine wrote a book called 'Les Poètes
Maudits' which was published in 1884 and deals with
poetry at the end of the XIXth century.
In this essay, Verlaine describes the life of six poets:
Tristan Corbière,
Arthur Rimbaud,
Stéphane Mallarmé,
Marceline Desbordes-Valmore,
Auguste de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam
and himself ('Pauvre Lelian').
Verlaine considered them as 'cursed' because of their
tragic lives, but what does-it really mean?
By Alice Thiery and Evane Stindel

eulogy
for
Here’s Poem, lain down in his
Poem
grave, under the tombstone. He
left us on the cold first January of
2018, he was such a great old
grey-hair man, born in the Ancient
Greece in Antiquity...

... Poem has lived for a very long time, but today he is no
longer here. But why? Who killed him? Who is guilty?
I can tell you: it’s the poets themselves, Poem’s dads, they
are all cursed.
They get their inspiration from their pains, they avoid the
gloomy reality by drinking alcohol and exhaust themselves
by opting for poetry instead of living their life
They are always poor orphans and their mind is broken.
These phantom poets are Verlaine, Rimbaud, Edgar Allen
Poe, etc… And they murdered their own child.

However, nowadays because poets are still
Poems used to be loved by children.
cursed and poems are outdated, people
prefer rap music which is often only insults,
pop music which is only a repetition of words
or electro music which has even no lyrics!
It’s totally a shame. Remember! All kinds of
music were inspired by poetry. We already
miss you, Poem. All your life you wanted to
marvel our dream, our life. But today you've
vanished without leaving any trace.
Anyway Poem is gone, and nevertheless he’ll
stay forever in our hearts. His closest friends,
Alliteration,
Assonance,
Simile
and not forgetting rhyme
are all gathered here for Poem’s death.
Poem has literally changed the life of many
people.
Today he can be proud of himself. He
achieved his goal,
He can now rest in peace.
Poem, thank you for being part of our lives.
We are all going to miss you.

'We make a living by what we get,
we make a life by what we give'
If that is true, then Poem made a great life.
Hugo Boucard - Glen Cobrun - Titouan Falc'hun

outsiders
A cursed poet is an artist who is against or outside the
society. He/she's got a hard and tragic life, with alcohol,
drugs, violence, disease...
Those artists are misunderstood and often rejected by
people and society in general because they disagree
with its standards.
Cursed artists often die young and sad. Verlaine and
Rimbaud are the two most famous of them and they
are both a good representation of this 'movement'.
KEY IDEA
Poet as an outcast of modern society / sufferings and
abuses / experience / feeelings
By Alice Thiery and Evane Stindel

deadly
beauty
Successful poppy which brings beauty
Signature of dreams, you, poppy flower
In a restful sleep help me recover

Beauty and success
Messages delivered in dreams
Restful sleep and recovery
Remembering the fallen of various wars
and armed conflicts
Consolation for a loss or death in the family
Resurrection and eternal life
A
B
B
A
Successful poppy which brings
Signature of
, you, poppy flower
In a restful sleep help me recover.
/Blooming after , you’re the envoy
You’re here when I
/Help me avoid
dreams
wars
cry
death
beauty,
peace
, missing my family,
and ignore its call.
Marie Albert - Pauline Fontaine

love
Verlaine was a French writer born in 1844. He
published his first collection (Poèmes Saturniens) at
the age of 22.
In 1871, he met Rimbaud and fell in love with him
(which was not well seen at this period) even if he was
married. This love story ended with a drama when
Verlaine shot and wounded Rimbaud. He has been
condemned until 1875.
His death in 1896 was due to disease and alcohol. He
was a cursed poet because of his life in sin and
misfortune.
KEY IDEA
A poet renowned for the fluidity and impressionistic
imagery of his verse, Verlaine succeeded in liberating
the musicality of the French language from the
restrictions of its classical, formal structure.
By Alice Thiery and Evane Stindel

was He
the
music
And the words were dancing
In the yellowing paper
where the plum was spinning

But the Music stopped,
and he came back to an inhospitable world,
A destructive world.
A rejected world.
And he danced and danced again
Between life and death
Between death and life
Torn, ripped and split.
And he danced and danced again
Between life and death
Between death and life
Torn, ripped and split.
He was so tired
But maybe it wasn’t too late
Cuz his heart was so much more
Than just a pump
When his plum flew over the paper
Sometimes, you’d better let it go, he told him
and that’s one of the only things he remembered
Het let everything go,
His life first.
Years after,
They realize,
Maybe
That he was brilliant,
And not just full of darkness
They open their eyes,
Their mind, maybe their heart
And consider him as what he truly was
A talented, inspiring,
but underrated and tortured person.
Maëlle Renaud

dark
destiny
Rimbaud was a French writer too, born in 1854. He
wrote his first poems at the age of 15, abandoned
poetry at 20, but he was still a great writer.
As an anti-bourgeois, he was persuaded that he had a
'dark destiny'. Rimbaud travelled all around the world,
doing several 'bad jobs' and was forced to come back
into France because of a leg pain that has been
amputated in 1891. A few months later, he died of
cancer.
He was considered as a cursed poet because of the
same reasons as his lover Verlaine. He died at the age
of 35, which is quite young, so once more, he was
unhappy and looked literally cursed.
By Alice Thiery and Evane Stindel

DEATH
THE OF
DESPERATE
POET
The time flies so fast
His presence on Earth has passed

His deeds will not last
His plague breaks him down
I hope he’ll be found
The breath left his lung
No matter how hard they try
Poetry is doomed to die
Our successors shall stand
The group will disband
In a gush of sand
Louis Therville - Thomas Sanchez

hurt
Frida Kahlo is a Mexican painter born in 1907.
She is one of the most famous Mexican painters and made
more than a hundred of paintings (particulary her realistic
portraits) about her country and her life.
In 1925, she had a serious bus accident and was badly
wounded at legs and the column. Because she had to stay
confined to bed for months, she started painting.
In 1928, as she felt better, she joined the communist party.
She met her future husband that same year and married in
1929.
But in the thirties she had two miscarriages and painted
pictures during her recovery. In 1938, she got the chance to
show her work in New York and sold a lot of paintings. But she
had lost her right leg and died in 1954 at the age of 47. So she
can be considered as a cursed poet because of all the
misfortune that happened during her life and the way she
expressed that through her art.
KEY IDEA
Kahlo made it legitimate for women to outwardly display their
pains and frustrations and to thus make steps towards making
sense of and understanding them. It became crucial for women
artists to have a female role model and this is the gift of Frida
Kahlo.
By Alice Thiery and Evane Stindel

They tried to make me go to rehab
I said, no, no, no
EULOGY
FOR
AMY

Hello everyone, for those who don’t know me, I am Alex. I
am Amy’s brother. I wanted to start thanking you all for
coming, we truly appreciate that.
I don’t know if you all knew her personally but I am still
going to tell you a little about her story or the media think
her story is.
Amy was someone very impulsive and the media were
playing with that to show her bad side by making her mad.
She got married in 2007 and went to jail for marijuana
possession. Her career got threatened because of drugs
and she even punched a fan in 2008!
All this made her send a bad image, a bad message. She
got out of this really unhealthy relationship of hers in the
end of 2008. She then won a couple of awards thanks to
her amazing talent for music.
she died on the 23 of July in 2011 which you already know
since you’re here. She died at the age of 27 due to an
accidental alcohol poisoning.
So this is how the media depicted her but I am going to tell
you more about her, from what I knew of her.
My sister was someone who was really into what she was
doing, which was music and this since she was little. In
1993, she created a group called Sweet ’n’ Sour at the age
of 10, which is crazy for someone this young. At the age of
12, she joined the Sylvia Young Theater in which she could
sing and play like she loved to.
Yuna Le May - Camille Soulane

Yuna Le May

A couple of years later, she met Tyler James who is here
today. I’d like to thank you for being here because you were
the one who noticed her talent and proposed her a deal with
Island Universal.
Afterwards, as she had no visa to go to the Grammies, she
decided to perform by satellite... and won 5 of them! In 2009
she got into the Guiness World Book of Records for “Most
Grammy Awards won by a British female singer”.
I think my dad had some kind of influence in my sister’s
death because he wasn’t there for her since she was 9 until
she got famous and wealthy. We all knew she needed to go
to rehab but He told her she didn’t HAVE to! I also think that
Amy’s ex-husband was one of the other causes of her death
because he was the one who made her a drug addict by
pressured her to experiment with drugs.
Now let me tell you about something. My teacher told me
one day in class about the cursed poets. So a cursed poet
is someone who is outside and against the society and who
abuses of drugs and alcohol, insanity, crime, violence and in
general any societal sin, often resulting in an early death…
All typical elements of the biography of any curse poets!
That’s why I think my sister can be considered as one of the
most cursed poet in the XXIst century.
Again I am thanking you all for coming and showing how
much we loved Amy. thank you to listen to her.
Yuna Le May - Camille Soulane

& POE
MATHERS
Loose yourself
in a dream
within a dream

Lucie Lecointre

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a
dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
Stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the
deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Edgar Allan Poe
A dream within a dream

Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
Yo
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's
spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and
ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin'
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's chokin', how, everybody's jokin' now
The clocks run out, times up, over, blaow!
Snap back to reality, oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
He's so mad, but he won't give up that easy? No
He won't have it, he knows his whole back city's
ropes
It don't matter,
He's dope, he knows that, but he's broke
He's so stacked that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, that's when
it's
Back to the lab again yo, this whole rhapsody
He better go capture this moment and hope it don't
pass him
M. B. Mathers aka Eminem
love yourself

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime you better
The souls escaping, through this hole that it's gaping
This world is mine for the taking
Make me king, as we move toward a, new world order
A normal life is boring, but super stardom's close to
post-mortem
It only grows harder, only grows hotter
He blows us all over, these hoes is all on him
Coast to coast shows, he's known as the globetrotter
Lonely roads, God only knows
He's grown farther from home, he's no father
He goes home and barely knows his own daughter
But hold your nose 'cause here goes the cold water
His hoes don't want him no mo, he's cold product
They moved on to the next schmo who flows
He nose dove and sold nada
So the soap opera is told and unfolds
I suppose it's old partna, but the beat goes on
Da da dumb da dumb da da
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
...
love yourself
M. B. Mathers aka Eminem

EULOGY
FOR
VINCENT
Being an artist is etched in your
flesh and your blood. Colors were
your eyes and paintbrushes were
your hands.

Dear Vincent,
This is my last letter to you, I admire you as a man, as a
brother but most of all as an artist. Being an artist is etched
in your flesh and your blood. Colors were your eyes and
paintbrushes were your hands. You gave all you had in
paintings, you were trying to touch people so you put all
your emotions in it. You chose to have an unconventional
life because as you said; “Normality is a paved road: It’s
comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it” You were
considered as an eccentric, people despised you and you
ended up into an asylum. Personally, I think this was a
“great” period for you in which you painted few
masterpieces.
Morgane Le Carre - Louise Lelimouzin

As Richepin said ; « L’amour de l’art fait perdre l’amour vrai. »
Art was the love of your life, even if painting meant poverty for
you, you were still painting two or three paintings each day.
Nobody could understand your genius, your obsession with
painting. Even though you were not recognized as a painter
you kept painting. People even thought you were crazy
because of this obsession which consumed you but I knew
the truth. The truth, ladies and gentlemen, is that he wasn’t
crazy, he would have been if he hadn’t had painting in his life.
His devotion to art gave sense to his life. Vincent, you were
always trying to improve yourself, to try new things.
What I want you to remember of Vincent is his vision of life: be
devoted to what makes you happy, be devoted to beauty!
Remember also a normal life isn’t a true life so live as an
unconventional but live!
Ever yours,
Théo
Morgane Le Carre - Louise Lelimouzin

I love you much,
it’s not enough

I love you much, it’s not enough
Et je tremble, pardonnez-moi
D’aussi franchement vous le dire,
Love is a losing game.
Yvan Chevrel

I am here
tiny under sun rising in vast white sky,
staring thru skeleton new buildings,
with pen in hand awake...
Allen Ginsberg, December 11, 1974
This ebook has been written by
the students of the
International section of Lycée
Lesage (Vannes, Brittany,
France), as part of their
'literature and society' class,
with their teachers Annick
Herviou and Laure Le Gurun in
2018.