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New and Selected Poems

Yves Bonnefoy, celebrated translator and critic, is widely considered the most important and influential French poet since World War II. Named to the College de France in 1981 to fill the chair left vacant by the death of Roland Barthes, Bonnefoy was the first poet honored in this way since Paul Valery. Winner of many awards, including the Prix Goncourt in 1987 and the Hudson Review’s Bennett Award in 1988, he is the author of six critically acclaimed books of poetry.

Spanning four decades and drawing on all of Bonnefoy’s major collections, this selection provides a comprehensive overview of and an ideal introduction to his work. The elegant translations, many of them new, are presented in this dual-language edition alongside the original French. Several significant works appear here in English for the first time, among them, in its entirety, Bonnefoy’s 1991 book of verse, The Beginning and the End of the Snow, the 1988 prose poem Where the Arrow Falls, and an important long poem from 1993, "Wind and Smoke." Together with poems from such classic volumes as "In the Lure of the Threshold", these new works shed light on the growth as well as the continuity of Bonnefoy’s work.

John Naughton’s detailed introduction looks at the evolution of Bonnefoy’s poetry from the 1953 publication of "On the Motion and Immobility of Douve", which immediately established his reputation as one of France’s leading poets, through the 1993 publication of The Wandering Life and its centerpiece "Wind and Smoke."

"This is a comprehensive selection that contains examples of work spanning [Bonnefoy’s] full career of forty years, from the ground-breaking "Du Mouvement et de l’Immobilité de Douve" through the celebratory "Pierre Ecrite" to the magical winter landscapes of America’s East Coast and an unsettling reworking of myth in the recent "La Vie Errante" . . . The translations, which are the work of a variety of hands, including Galway Kinnell, Emily Grosholz and Anthony Rudolf, nevertheless fit well together and all are sensitive to the register and subtleties of both languages, while the introductory essay by John Naughton expertly explains Bonnefoy’s importance as a poet and the influences which have shaped him. This is definitely a volume worth having, for layman and French specialist alike."—Hilary Davies, Times Literary Supplement

"Anyone not familiar with Bonnefoy’s work will benefit from the background information and explanations given by John Naughton in his excellent introduction . . . . The book as a whole provides an excellent introduction to Bonnefoy’s poetry and to his concerns of a lifetime."—Don Rodgers, Poetry Wales

252 pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 | © 1995

Poetry

Table of Contents

Foreword
Anthony Rudolf
Introduction
John Naughton
Theatre (I-XIX)/Theater (I-XIX)
Vrai Nom/True Name
"La lumiere profonde a besoin pour paraitre"/"If it is to appear, the deep light needs"
Vrai Corps/True Body
Douve parle (I-III)/Douve Speaks (I-III)
"Ainsi marcherons-nous..."/"So we will walk..."
"Qu’une place soit..."/"Let a place . . ."
Lieu de la salamandre/Place of the Salamander
Menaces du temoin (I-V)/Threats of the Witness (I-V)
Le Pont de fer/Iron Bridge
Les Guetteurs (I-II)/The Watchers (I-II)
La Beaute/Beauty
L’Imperfection est la cime/Imperfection Is the Summit
A la voix de Kathleen Ferrier/To the Voice of Kathleen Ferrier
"Aube, fille des larmes, retablis"/"Dawn, daughter of tears, restore"
Une Voix/A Voice
Delphes du second jour/Delphi, the Second Day
Ici, toujours ici/Here, Forever Here
"La voix de ce qui detruit"/"The voice of what destroys"
L’Ete de nuit (I-IX)/The Summer’s Night (I-IX)
L’Ecume, Le Recif/The Foam, the Reef
"Bouche, tu auras bu"/"Mouth, you will have drunk"
"Prestige, disais-tu..."/"The spell, you said . . ."
Une Pierre ("Il desirait, sans connaitre")/A Stone ("He desired, without knowing")
Le Lieu des morts/The Place of the Dead
Une Pierre (Je fus assez belle")/A Stone ("I was quite beautiful")
Une Pierre ("Ta jambe, nuit tres dense")/A Stone ("Your leg, deepest night")
Une Pierre ("Orages, puis orages")/A Stone ("Storm after storm")
Une Voix (Nous vieillissions)/A Voice ("We grew old")
La Chambre/The Bedroom
L’Arbre, La Lampe/The Tree, the Lamp
Le Myrte/Myrtle
La Lumiere du soir/The Light of Evening
Une Voix ("Combien simples, oh fumes-nous")/A Voice ("How simple we were then")
La Lumiere, changee/The Light, Changed
Une Pierre ("Le jour au fond du jour")/A Stone ("Day at the heart of day")
La Parole du soir/Speech at Evening
Le Livre, pour viellir/The Book, for Growing Old
Art de la poesie/The Art of Poetry
La Terre/The Earth
L’Epars, L’Indivisible/The Scattered, the Indivisible (selections)
L’Adieu/The Farewell
Le Miroir courbe/The Convex Mirror
Passant aupres du feu/Passing by the Fire
Dedham, vue de Langham/Dedham, Seen from Langham
La Barque aux deux sommeils/The Boat of the Two Dreams (I-IV)
La ou retombe la fleche (1988)/Where the Arrow Falls
La Grande Neige/The Heavy Snow
Les Flambeaux/The Torches
Hopkins Forest
Le Tout, Le Rien/The Whole, the Nothingness
La Seule Rose/The Only Rose
De vent et de fumee/Wind and Smoke
Selected Bibliography
Index of Titles and First Lines

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