Nocturnes

Nocturnes, a collection published in 1961 by Éditions du Seuil, marks the last major poetic peak of Léopold Sédar Senghor before his full commitment to the presidency of Senegal. The title indicates the genre: poems of the night, an inner landscape where Africa of spirits and ancestors emerges under urban light.

An elegiac and loving vein is evident — “Chants pour Signare”, a poem dedicated to the beloved woman in the land of Coco Hym and the “case suave” — where the poet celebrates feminine grace as a passage toward infinity. After Éthiopiques, Senghor tightens his lyricism: fewer historical frescoes, more nocturnal intimacy, but the same rhythmic breath.

The collection was translated into English in the African Writers Series of Heinemann editions (1969). It is also gathered with Lettres d’hivernage at Seuil (1974).

Sources

• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_S%C3%A9dar_Senghor (section Poèmes)
• Open Library data: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL10340176W
• amazon.fr fiche: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/2020006286