The poet's expression of joy conceals his despair at not having found the reality of joy.

Max Jacob (July 12 1876 – March 5 1944) was a French poet painter writer and critic. Max Jacob is regarded as an important link between the symbolists and the surrealists as can be seen in his prose poems Le cornet à dés (The Dice Box 1917 - the 1948 Gallimard edition was illustrated by Jean Hugo) and in his paintings exhibitions of which were held in New York City in 1930 and 1938. He would become close friends with Jean Cocteau Jean Hugo Christopher Wood and Amedeo Modigliani who painted his portrait in 1916.

Max Jacob (July 12 1876 – March 5 1944) was a French poet painter writer and critic.