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What happens when a poet’s imagination meets a world that distrusts it?
In Guillaume Apollinaire’s The Poet Assassinated, Croniamantal lives among painters, writers and dreamers in Paris. His story begins like a legend, then follows the pull of love and art. Tristouse Ballerinette is tied to his hopes and sorrows; his painter friend, the Bird of Benin, shares his belief that art matters above all.
The title novella sits at the centre of a collection of shorter tales. Jokes, fables, gossip, travel and myth mingle as realistic scenes slide into the absurd. Apollinaire laughs at his artistic circle, but sorrow runs beneath the play. His poet is a hero, a fool and a target in a society uneasy with imagination.
What you’ll discover
- A poet’s strange beginnings Meet Croniamantal through origins that give his life the curious shape of a legend.
- Love among the artists Follow the hopes and sorrows bound up with Tristouse Ballerinette and the poet’s longing.
- Friendship built on art Meet the Bird of Benin, a painter who shares Croniamantal’s fierce faith in art.
- Reality turns absurd Enter tales where familiar scenes shift without warning, and jokes make room for myth.
- Laughter with real sorrow Feel the loneliness of making art beneath Apollinaire’s playful portraits of poets and dreamers.
Who will love it
Readers who love playful French poetry, surreal comedy and bohemian Paris will find a home here. It suits anyone drawn to ghost stories, odd inventions and legends retold with a wink.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A poet begins in accident and loss
- Learning brings freedom and its limits
- Poetic freedom meets the art business
- Fame cannot hold a lover
- Usefulness becomes a weapon against poetry
- Strange worlds carry sudden feeling
- Love lingers through memory and strangeness
- Playfulness carries the shadow of war
- Laughter never quite hides the sorrow
Who’s who
- CroniamantalA poet born in odd circumstances, raised by a scholar, who writes freely and loves Tristouse even as the world turns against poets.
- Tristouse BallerinetteA dark-haired young woman with a jump rope who enjoys the fame a poet's love gives her and soon wants to move on.
- The Bird of BeninA painter in a Montmartre studio who is Croniamantal's closest friend and who promises to design the sets for his play.
- PaponatA rich, cheerful dandy poet and businessman who becomes Tristouse's companion and travels with her through Europe.
- MacaréeCroniamantal's mother, a wealthy, bold young woman who wants a child of noble blood and the pope's blessing for it.
- François des YgréesA self-styled baron and teacher of heraldry who marries Macarée and tries to raise her son.
- JanssenA Dutch scholar who adopts the boy, teaches him languages and poetry and wants him to know love.
- Horace TograthA German chemist in Australia whose newspaper article sets the world against poets and who becomes a celebrated healer.
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The Poet Assassinated
by Guillaume Apollinaire · 1916
A poet conceived on a country road faces a world that suddenly condemns poets to confinement and death.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“I cuckolded the swan”
In short
What happens when the whole world decides, in a single night, that poets must go? That is the question at the heart of The Poet Assassinated, a book by Guillaume Apollinaire, the French poet who died in 1918.
The Poet Assassinated at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h2 h 25 min fast, 3 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 43,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1916by Guillaume Apollinaire
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A poet is born from a roadside affair
The novella opens with a joke about fame. One hundred and twenty-three cities in seven countries fight for the honor of being the birthplace of Croniamantal. The narrator promises to settle the question, and tells his story as a mock legend, solemn on the surface and mischievous underneath.
His parents meet on a country road near Spa. Viersélin Tigoboth, a wandering musician, is lighting his pipe when a young woman on a bicycle calls out to him. She is Macarée, rich and bold, and she announces that she wants a tomcat. Their meeting is brief, and then her bicycle carries her away.
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Details
- First published
- 1916
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Apollinaire, Guillaume. The Poet Assassinated. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-poet-assassinated.
Apollinaire, G. (2026). The poet assassinated. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-poet-assassinated (Original work published 1916)
Apollinaire, Guillaume. The Poet Assassinated. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-poet-assassinated.
@book{apollinaire2026poet,
author = {Apollinaire, Guillaume},
title = {The Poet Assassinated},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-poet-assassinated},
note = {First published 1916}
}
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What is The Poet Assassinated about?
It follows the poet Croniamantal from his comic birth through his education and his life among Paris artists, until the world turns against poets. The book also gathers short tales of ghosts, odd inventions, memories and legends.
Who is Croniamantal?
Croniamantal is the poet hero of the title novella. His name is invented by his putative father, and his own birthplace is claimed by many cities. He writes strange poems, loves Tristouse Ballerinette and lives among painters and playwrights.
Who is Horace Tograth?
Tograth is a German chemist and agronomist living in Australia. His newspaper article attacking the laurel tree and poets sparks a worldwide persecution, and he is welcomed as a hero and healer wherever he goes.
The author
Guillaume Apollinaire
1880–1918 · French poet
Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet born in Rome in 1880. He lived in Paris and wrote poetry, stories, and plays. His works include the poetry collection Alcools (1913), The Poet Assassinated (1916), and Calligrammes (1918). He served in the French army during the First World War and died in Paris in 1918.
“I cuckolded the swan”
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