Complex, haunting, imaginative and profoundly literary, Didactic Poetries is Becks response to Schillers statement: We are still waiting for a didactic poem where thought itself would be and would remain poetic, and Hegels claim that, strictly speaking, didactic poetry isnt poetry. For the acclaimed French poet, Philippe Beck, Schillers task of attempting a didactic poetry remains as vital today as it was for Schillers time. Is there a way to construct a poetry built and chiseled, hammered and stitched, from out of past narratives and poetries, condensed in such a manner as to make new poetic verses sing new truths? Forging a singular attempt to echo the poets and tales of a bygone age, Becks didactic poetries perhaps carve out the path for renewing a poetic thought as a quasi-musical atmosphere where the reader can glimpse A small country sculptedas spiritual, supposed to be so?at home in the Bygone Country. Alluvial layers so light, that weather disappeared, weary of variety a priori. Becks deftly textured poems interweave contemporary commentary with cultural, historical, literary, and philosophical allusions, drawing the reader into a world of lived poetic experience.

Translated by: Nicola Marae Allain
Preface by: Jean-Luc Nancy