Desnos embraced the Surrealist poetics of spoken thought and quickly proved to be a virtuoso at giving voice to his creative vision. He was famous for his intriguing ability to fall into a self-induced trance and recite poetry in a semiconscious state. These poetry recitations performed under hypnosis were considered by other poets to represent the ultimate quest into the depths of poetic imagination. In his
Manifeste du surréalisme (Surrealist Manifesto, 1924) André Breton said of Desnos, "Il lit en lui à livre ouvert et ne fait rien pour retenir les feuillets qui s'envolent au vent de sa vie" (He reads in himself like an open book and does nothing to retain the sheets flying away in the wind of his life).
Analysis of Desnos's work by such critics as Marie-Claire Dumas, Katherine Conley, and Mary Ann Caws traces the complex transformations of his poetry from the early Surrealist adventure through the form-conscious verse of the 1930s to his Resistance writings during World War II. His fascination with language and the spoken word also led Desnos to explore his talents in journalism, radio, and cinema, though he continued to write poetry until his death.
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