From Saint-Germain-des-Pres
To Place Edgar Quinet
Un flaneur supercool
Un boulevardier

Born in Rome, near the Spanish Stairs
A guy called Guy, Guy Apollinaire
A nom de plume, a nom de guerre
For nursing poetry like an au pair

A guy named Guy Apollinaire
Apollinaire

From Montmartre to Parnasse
The most obscure of his deeds
Had a tremendous purpose
Mastered the rules of rhyme and meter
At life's banquet he was a big eater

From Saint-Germain-des-Pres
To Place Edgar Quinet
Un flaneur supercool, un boulevardier
Led the avant garde from the top of Montmartre
Part Baudelaire, part Warhol superstar

Said he spirited Mona Lisa from the Louvre
But the writer of 'Alcools' was a spirits lover
Lived in the zone of pure desire
The great French language versifier