Twenty chapters of commentary on the filmed poetry recitation of Pierre Viala concentrate on developing insight into the cultural and social background of French language and literature. Suggestions for teaching the poems are followed by discussion of possible elements of a plan for teaching a poem and remarks about a "backward build-up" technique of language drill. The poems are taken from the writing of Robert Desnos, Raymond Grenier, Charles Cros, Charles d'Orleans, Paul Verlaine, Jacques Prevert, Pierre de Ronsard, Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, and Alphonse Daudet. Special attention is paid to the notion of kinesics and paralanguage in the commentary on the film. A chapter on French versification, based on the poems used in this film, concludes the study. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of original document.] (RL)