Transparence of the WorldThroughout 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." |
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 |
Preview of Death | 23 |
Evenings of | 25 |
Dusk | 27 |
Signs for Travellers | 29 |
Speech Alone | 31 |
The Beast | 33 |
The Pyramid | 35 |
Dawn | 37 |
Imperial Evenings | 19 |
Free Growths | 21 |
Housewives | 39 |
The BarnOwl | 41 |
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Common terms and phrases
assiette autres Barn-Owl beasts beauty Berezina bêtes Black Meat blanc blond bourg boutons C'est Cadences Canisy chemin chiens chignon child ciel coeur Copper Canyon Press corps Costume couleur d'eux d'or d'une death deux devant doigts doucement Editions Gallimard enfant entend entourée faïence fait femme fenêtre fleurs fumée girls grands hair homme insectes jardin Jean Follain jour l'enfant l'on l'un lampes le soir Léon-Paul Fargue lilas livre Love lueurs Main chaude maison maître Max Jacob monde mort neige noir nuit oiseau ornées ouvert pâle parfois parterre Paul Strand pied pierre plafond pluie poetry Port Townsend prose qu'elle qu'il red-haired soldiers rien roses rouge rubans s'en sang Savates seul silence soir soldats roux soleil sombre sous square stone tableaux vivants temps terre tombe tout town Translated by W.S. Transparence vers vient vieux village visage voir voit voix W.S. Merwin wall woman yeux