ABSTRACT
Pierre Bernac, describing Poulenc's character in The Man and his Songs, reaches a similar conclusion: 'At heart, he was an anxious man'. In addition to this inherent duality, Poulenc and Eluard shared a further dichotomy. The ninth and final poem chosen to close the song cycle, 'Nous avons fait la nuit', also closes the collection Les Yeux fertiles, thus representing for both Eluard and Poulenc a culminating point. The aim is to present a view of the poems chosen by Poulenc, and to show that although the composer takes them out of context, he nevertheless remains faithful to the intrinsic concept of the poetic collection the interplay of opposites and their ultimate harmonisation. In thus recalling the beginning, Poulenc not only gives logical meaning to this cycle of songs; he also reflects in the structure of his music the principles of reactivation and regeneration inherent in Eluard's poetry.
