SOURCE: "Saint-John Perse: Notes on Some Poetic Contrasts," in Sewanee Review, Vol. LX, No. 1, Winter, 1952, pp. 65-81.

In the following essay, Chapin examines contradictory elements of Léger's poetry, describing them as the "aristocratic" and "primitive" aspects of his writing.

 "O Poète, ô bilingue, homme assailli du dieu! homme
parlant dans l'équivoque!"
Vents (II) 

The poetry of Saint-John Perse, constantly becoming more available to American readers, is taking its place here in a peculiarly alien soil. This has little to do with the fact that he has elected to live among us for the last ten years, years stretched beyond the necessary exile imposed on an important diplomatic figure when his government took a role of compromise and cowardice to which he could not give his allegiance. The legend of the poet veiled and separated from the man of affairs continues to surround him. Under varying aspects...