French and English (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Leonard Cohen
- First Published: 1978
- Type of Work: Satire
- Genres: Satire, Free verse, Poetry
- Subjects: Language or languages, Canada or Canadians, English language, French Canadians
The Poem
“French and English” comprises fifty lines of mostly satirical free verse. In this poem Leonard Cohen attacks extremists in the political and linguistic dispute that began to intensify in Quebec during the early 1960’s. No explicit mention is made of this most distinctive of Canadian provinces in the poem, but Cohen grew up there in the 1950’s and 1960’s. His primary residence is now near Los Angeles, but he still maintains a home in Montreal. His own experiences in Quebec are clearly the inspiration for this poem. It is an attempt to shock, shame, and insult...
[The entire page is 1456 words long]
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