Transparence of the world

Follain, Jean

Copper Canyon Press, 2003 - Poetry - 131 pages

Throughout WWII, French poet Jean Follain wrote poems that revisit the provinces of personal and cultural history. His quietly phrased, brief devotions are -described as "miniatures," yet are monumental, capturing the pressure of history upon daily moments. By reducing the world to its small objects, every detail, every image becomes imbued with meaning.

This bilingual volume, celebrating the centennial of Jean Follain’s birth, is translated by W.S. Merwin, who writes in his introduction: "Follain’s concern is finally with the mystery of the present—the mystery which gives the recalled concrete details their form, at once luminous and removed, when they are seen at last in their places, as they seem to be in the best of his poems."

What people are saying

Review: Transparence of the World

User Review  - kissmyshades - Goodreads

french poetry that i can actually read in the original! given my rather tenuous grasp of the language: amazing! i really like this poetry collection - his poetry is very simple, very grounded and very ...

Review: Transparence of the World

User Review  - Rauan - Goodreads

interesting to see the difference between Follain's voice: line-broken verse (here) and the prose poem voice. the prose-poem voice is usually quieter. slower. more luminescent. the line-broken poems ...

Contents

• Voluntary Mutilation: 3
• Landscape of a Child on His Way to the Place of the Regents: 5
• Appeal to the RedHaired Soldiers: 7
• Death of a Ferret: 9
• Father and Daughter: 11
• Last Judgment: 13
• The Women Who Sew Livery: 15
• The Song of the Dragoon: 17
• Imperial Evenings: 19
• Free Growths: 21
• Preview of Death: 23
• Evenings of: 25
• Dusk: 27
• Signs for Travellers: 29
• Speech Alone: 31
• The Beast: 33
• The Pyramid: 35
• Dawn: 37
• Housewives: 39
• The BarnOwl: 41
• The: 63
• The Woman and the Child in Costume: 83
• End of a Century: 93
• Another Time: 95
• Meal: 97
• The Evening Suit: 99
• Hollow Daydream: 101
• Show: 103
• The Square: 105
• Underground Palace: 107
• Couple: 109
• Signs: 111
• 113: 113
• Exile: 115
• Black Meat: 117
• Imperial Hamlet: 119
• Solitaries: 121
• Worlds: 123
• The Tragic in Time: 125
• Thief: 127
• About the Author: 129
• About the Translator: 131

About the author

W.S. Merwin is one of America's leading poets. His prizes include the 2005 National Book Award for his collected poems, Migration, the Pulitzer Prize, the Stevens Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and Lannan Foundation. He is the author of dozens of books of poetry and translations. He lives in Hawaii, where he cultivates endangered palm trees.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Transparence of the world; Kagean Book
• Author: Follain, Jean
• Translated by: William Stanley Merwin
• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press, 2003
• ISBN: 155659190X, 9781556591907
• Length: 131 pages
• Subjects: Poetry / European / General