The Chimeras
Quick Summary
Les Chimères is a sonnet sequence by French Romantic poet Gérard de Nerval, composed between approximately 1844 and 1854. These poems are characterized by their dense, symbolic allusiveness, drawing from diverse religious myths, and literary, historical, occult, and esoteric knowledge. They represent a poetic transcription of an anguished, mystical quest, reflecting Nerval's own struggles with mental disorder. The sequence is considered a significant achievement of the Romantic Movement's exploration of mysticism as a means of spiritual reintegration. Nerval's work, including Les Chimères, profoundly influenced later Symbolist and Surrealist poets.12
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