Abstract: How did Apollinaire consider his poetic production? Perhaps the best way to understand Alcools is not to take the book always seriously, creation being for the author closely associated with pulling the reader’s leg. Pious commentaries are therefore likely to miss their target. But there is more to it: some poems, initially musical and heartfelt, end up in cacophonous buffoonery, as if Apollinaire had deliberately wanted to sabotage his creation. I propose to try and show that this puzzling contradiction reveals in fact the poet’s originality in style and inspiration.
