Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World
Encyclopedia
Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World (French
: Parcelles d'espoir à l'echo de ce monde) is reputedly the longest modern handwritten poem in the world, unveiled on 4 August 2006 by its author, French
public notary Patrick Huet. It comprises 7,547 verses and is reported to be almost 1 km (0.621 mi) long, at 994.1 m.
The poem takes the form of an acrostic
, in which the initials of each line collectively spell out the 30 articles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
. The display of the work was unveiled before a court official in Lyon
, so that the poem could be considered for inclusion in Guinness World Records
.
There remain other, far longer epic poems, such as the Indian Mahabharata
and Persian Shahnameh
, although these are far older.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Parcelles d'espoir à l'echo de ce monde) is reputedly the longest modern handwritten poem in the world, unveiled on 4 August 2006 by its author, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
public notary Patrick Huet. It comprises 7,547 verses and is reported to be almost 1 km (0.621 mi) long, at 994.1 m.
The poem takes the form of an acrostic
Acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
, in which the initials of each line collectively spell out the 30 articles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
. The display of the work was unveiled before a court official in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, so that the poem could be considered for inclusion in Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
.
There remain other, far longer epic poems, such as the Indian Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
and Persian Shahnameh
Shahnameh
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...
, although these are far older.