- The Songs of Bilitis
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Dancer in Biskra, the inspiration for Songs of Bilitis.
The Songs of Bilitis (
/bɪˈliːtɪs/; French: Les Chansons de Bilitis) is a collection of erotic poetry by Pierre Louÿs and published in Paris in 1894 (see 1894 in poetry).The book's sensual poems are in the manner of Sappho; the introduction claims they were found on the walls of a tomb in Cyprus, written by a woman of Ancient Greece called Bilitis, a courtesan and contemporary of Sappho, to whose 'life' Louÿs dedicated a small section of his book. On publication, the volume deceived even the most expert of scholars. Though the poems were actually clever fabulations, authored by Louÿs himself, they are still considered important literature.
Louÿs claimed the 143 prose poems, excluding 3 epitaphs, were entirely the work of this ancient poet—a place where she poured both her most intimate thoughts and most public actions, from childhood innocence in Pamphylia to the loneliness and chagrin of her later years. Although for the most part The Songs of Bilitis is original work, many of the poems in the collection were reworked epigrams from the Palatine Anthology, and Louÿs even borrowed some verses from Sappho herself. The poems themselves are a blend of mellow sensuality and polished style in the manner of the Parnassian school, but underneath run subtle Gallic undertones which Louÿs could never escape. To give authenticity to the forgery, Louÿs listed some poems as "untranslated" in the index; he even craftily fabricated an entire section of his book called "The Life of Bilitis", crediting a certain fictional archaeologist Herr G. Heim ("Mr. S. Ecret") as the discoverer of Bilitis' tomb. And though Louÿs displayed great knowledge of ancient Greek culture, ranging from children's games in "Tortie Tortue" to application of scents in "Perfumes", the poems were eventually exposed as a literary fraud. This did little to taint their literary value in the eyes of the readers, however, and Louÿs' open and sympathetic celebration of lesbian sexuality earned him sensation and historic significance.
Contents
Background
In 1894 Louÿs, travelling in Italy with his friend Ferdinand Hérold, met André Gide, who described how he had just lost his virginity to a Berber girl named Meriem in the oasis resort-town of Biskra in Tunisia; Gide urged his friends to go to Biskra and follow his example. The Songs of Bilitis are the result of Louÿs and Hérold's shared encounter with Meriem the dancing-girl, and the poems are dedicated to Gide with a special mention to "M.b.A", Meriem ben Atala.[1]
Basic structure
The Songs of Bilitis are separated into three cycles, each representative of a phase of Bilitis' life: Bucolics in Pamphylia— childhood and first sexual encounters, Elegies at Mytilene— indulgence in homosexual sensuality, and Epigrams in the Isle of Cyprus— life as a courtesan. Each cycle progresses toward a melancholy conclusion, each conclusion signalling a new, more complex chapter of experience, emotion, and sexual exploration. One of Louÿs' technical accomplishments was to coincide Bilitis' growing maturity and emotional complexity with her changing views of divinity and the world around her— after leaving Pamphylia and Mytiline, she becomes involved in intricate mysteries, moving away from a mythical world inhabited by satyrs and Naiads. This change is perhaps best reflected by the symbolic death of the satyrs and Naiads in "The Tomb of the Naiads".
Influence
Like the poems of Sappho, those of 'Bilitis' address themselves to Sapphic love. The book became a sought-after cult item among the 20th-century lesbian underground and was only reprinted officially in the 1970s. The expanded French second edition is reprinted in facsimile by Dover Books in America. This second edition had a title page that read: "This little book of antique love is respectfully dedicated to the young women of a future society."
Seventy years later, the first lesbian organization would call itself Daughters of Bilitis. Founded in 1955 in San Francisco, it was organized for lesbians to meet other lesbians while promoting the acceptance of lesbians as legitimate members of society.
In 1977, a French film titled Bilitis was released, directed by David Hamilton. It had little connection with Pierre Louÿs' original, being concerned with a twentieth century (heterosexual) girl and her sexual awakening.
Debussy songs
In 1897, Claude Debussy, Louÿs' close friend, composed a musical adaptation of three of the poems: "La flûte de Pan", "La Chevelure" and "Le Tombeau des Naïades," set as songs for female voice and piano. Debussy returned to the collection in a more elaborate fashion in 1901, when he composed music entitled "Six Epigraphes Antique" for a recitation of six of Louÿs' poems. These pieces, also collectively titled "Chansons de Bilitis," were scored for two flutes, two harps, and celesta including another six poems making a total of twelve scored poems. According to contemporary sources the recitation and music were accompanied by tableaux vivants as well. Apparently only one private performance of the entire creation took place.
Illustrations
The Songs of Bilitis have been illustrated extensively by numerous erotic artists.
The most famous illustrator to grace the collection with his drawings, was Louis Icart but the most famous illustrations were done by Willy Pogany for a 1926 privately-circulated New York edition. These were drawn in a very art-deco style, with numerous visual puns on sexual objects.
Other artists have been Edouard Chimot, Pascal Pia, Pierre Leroy, Alméry Lobel Riche, Suzanne Ballivet, Joseph Kuhn-Régnier, Pierre Lissac, Paul-Emile Bécat, Monique Rouver, Génia Minache, Lucio Milandre, A-E Marty, and J.A. Bresval.
See also
References
External links
- The full illustrated text of The Songs of Bilitis
- The full text of The Songs of Bilitis (1926 edition)
- Performance of Chansons de Bilitis by Claude Debussy by Sasha Cooke (mezzo-soprano) and Pei-Yao Wang (piano) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
Categories:- 1894 books
- Poetry collections
- French poems
- Literary forgeries
- Erotic poetry
- LGBT literature in France
- Literary hoaxes
- Greek Antiquity in art and culture
- Ancient Greek erotic literature
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