Le départ sous la pluie (1919) and the End of Sérgio Milliet’s Swiss Cycle

Abstract

The article examines Le départ sous la pluie (1919), Sérgio Milliet’s second book of poems written in French, situating it within his literary production during the period in which the author resided in Switzerland. Starting from the observation that Milliet’s first works published in Europe remain little known and rarely studied in Brazil, the paper seeks to present this volume and discuss its place in the writer’s so-called Swiss cycle. The analysis combines a description of the book’s peritextual elements with a reading of representative poems from its three sections, “Le départ sous la pluie”, “Pendant l’absence” and “La dernière étape”. Finally, the article offers translations of four sonnets from the volume, contributing to broader access to this early work from Milliet’s French-language production.