Nocturnes is the only book of verse that Senghor published after becoming President of Senegal following his country’s independence in 1960. Senghor’s poetry was associated with Africa’s struggle for independence; it is perhaps logical that this volume seems to have marked the end of his career as a poet. ‘Songs for Signare’ are the eloquent love poems of a man who was once uncertain of his place in the world. The ‘Elegies’ are the easy, rhetorical, self-assured poems of the leader and the man who has reached his goal.

LÉOPOLD SÉDAR SENGHOR, born 1906 in what was then called French West Africa, was a prominent Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist, renowned as a leading figure in the négritude movement. He served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980, guiding the nation through its early years of independence. Senghor’s work, both literary and political, explored themes of African identity, culture, and the relationship between the people of Africa and Europe.