Roud was born in 1897 in Saint-Légier, in the canton of Vaud. In 1908, Roud, along with his parents and sister, moved to a farm in Carrouge inherited from his maternal grandfather. He would spend the rest of his life living there. In high school Roud studied classics and took classes with the renowned Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet and the Swiss-French writer Edmond Gilliard. Roud went on to study classics at the University of Lausanne, where he obtained his "licence ès lettres". During this time, he translated the poems of Hölderlin, Novalis, and Rilke, while also actively participating in a number of literary journals. While living a solitary life in his family farm at Carrouge, Roud maintained numerous friendships with artists, poets, and other intellectuals such as Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, Ernest Ansermet, and René Auberjonois, Maurice Chappaz. Roud was also a mentor to the young Philippe Jaccottet, who would later become one of Switzerland's most accomplished poets. Considered one of the greatest poets of Romandy, Roud attempts in his poetry, which is dedicated to the landscapes of the Haut-Jorat, to reach a perception of an "elsewhere" or of a lost paradise. His most famous work is "Air de la solitude". Following his death in 1976 in Moudon, the "Association des Amis de Gustave Roud" was formed and since 1982 has published a number of unedited texts in their series "Cahiers Gustave Roud". 26 years after Roud died, a selection of his works was published by Éditions Gallimard under the "Collection de Poche Poésie" imprint, featuring an introduction by Philippe Jaccottet. Roud's correspondence with the younger poet was also published by the press.
Works
Published during his lifetime
Adieu, Lausanne, Au Verseau, 1927. Rééd. Porrentruy, Aux Portes de France, 1944.
Feuillets, Lausanne, Mermod, 1929.
Essai pour un paradis, Lausanne, Mermod, 1932.
Petit traité de la marche en plaine suivie de lettres, dialogues et morceaux, Lausanne, Mermod, 1932.
Le Repos du cavalier, Lausanne, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1958.
Requiem, Lausanne, Payot, 1967.
Campagne perdue, Lausanne, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1972.
Posthumous works
Trois poèmes anciens, Montpellier, Fata Morgana, 1976
Écrits I, II, III, Lausanne, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1978
Journal, éd. Philippe Jaccottet, Vevey, Bertil Galland, 1982
Essai pour un paradis ; Petit traité de la marche en plaine, Lausanne, L’Âge d’Homme, Poche Suisse, 1984
Air de la solitude, Montpellier, Fata Morgana, 1988
Les Fleurs et les saisons, Genève, La Dogana, 1991
Air de la solitude ; Campagne perdue, preface by Jacques Chessex, Lausanne, L’Âge d’Homme, Poche Suisse, 1995
Adieu ; Requiem, postface de Claire Jaquier, Genève, Minizoé, 1997
Hommage, Toute puissance de la poésie, Paris, La Triplette Infernale, 1997
Halte en juin, gravures de Gérard de Palézieux, afterword by Claire Jaquier, Montpellier, Fata Morgana, 2001
Image sans emploi, engravings by G. de Palézieux, Montpellier, Fata Morgana, 2002
Air de la solitude et autres écrits, preface by Philippe Jaccottet, Paris, Poésie/Gallimard, 2002
Journal, Carnets, cahiers et feuillets, 1916-1971, eds. Anne-Lise Delacrétaz and Claire Jaquier, Moudon, Empreintes, 2004
Correspondence
Albert Béguin – Gustave Roud, Lettres sur le romantisme allemand, éd. Françoise Fornerod et Pierre Grotzer, Lausanne, Études de Lettres, 1974.
Henri Pourrat – Gustave Roud, Sur la route des hauts jardins, d’Ambert à Carrouge, éd. Gilbert Guisan et Doris Jakubec, Lausanne, Études de Lettres, 1979.
Maurice Chappaz - Gustave Roud, Correspondance, 1939 – 1976, éd. Claire Jaquier et Claire de Ribaupierre, Genève, Zoé, 1993.
René Auberjonois, Avant les autruches, après les iguanes… Lettres à Gustave Roud, 1922-1954, éd. Doris Jakubec et Claire de Ribaupierre Furlan, Lausanne, Payot, 1999.
Poëmes de Hölderlin, Lausanne, Mermod, 1942. Rééd. Lausanne, Bibliothèque des Arts, 2002.
Rilke, Lettres à un jeune poète, précédées d’Orphée et suivies de deux essais sur la poésie, Lausanne, Mermod, 1947.
Novalis, Les Disciples à Saïs, Hymnes à la nuit, Journal, Lausanne, Mermod, 1948. Rééd. Lausanne et Montpellier, Bibliothèque des Arts et Fata Morgana, 2002.
Novalis, Hymnes à la nuit, Albeuve, Castellsa, 1966.
Georg Trakl, vingt-quatre poèmes, Paris, La Délirante, 1978.
