The Graveyard by the Sea

poem by Valéry

Also known as: “Le Cimetière marin”

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Article History

The Graveyard by the Sea, poem by Paul Valéry, written in French as “Le Cimetière marin” and published in 1922 in the collection Charmes; ou poèmes. The poem, set in the cemetery at Sète (where Valéry himself is now buried), is a meditation on death.

At first the narrator observes the calm sea under the blazing noontime sun and accepts the inevitability of death. But as the wind begins to stir and waves start forming on the sea, a sign of the energy beneath the surface, the narrator proclaims the necessity of choosing life by choosing eternal change over contemplation.Valéry approached the composition of the poem as if it were a musical form, with the rhythm of the verse mimicking the movement of the sea.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.