Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #537254 in Books
• Published on: 1992-06-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 141 pages

Customer Reviews

Fury and mystery
Though highly respected by the International Avant Garde, Rene Char's poetry is not as widely available in English translation as it should be. Part of this is probably due to a reputation for obscurity or difficulty. But, as this volume shows this is not the whole story. There are many poems of amazing simplicity - not to mention beauty. As this selection contains poems from all periods of Char's life one is able to make a full assessment.

Char wrote mainly prose poems and free verse. He had a gift for imagery that is often conveyed lyrically, though this is fractured by occasional violence. Many also have a zen-like simplicity and compression. This is especially so in nature poems such as "the Swift" or "the First Moments." This violence is often elemental which makes for an interesting contrast with Ted Hughes.

Char's vision is essentially that of the great Unknown as he calls it. He sums this up with the phrase "How can we live without the unknown before us?" This also appears in many of his very sensual love/muse poems. As with Graves, connection with women has an almost mystical significance for Char. There is a particularly beautiful prose piece about an encounter with a woman on the Paris Metro. This, to him is confirmation that he is in full connection with reality at that moment. A confirmation of his strong sense of vocation.

The translations are placed along side the French originals. For readers with some French this will help navigate some of Char's difficulties of phrase. For those with no French, the translations are good in their own right, some outstanding. Perhaps predictably the best of these are by outstanding poets in their own right such as James Wright, W.S. Merwin and William Carlos Willaims. But all give a good flavour of the this great poet and none are bad.

This is the first recommendation for all those curious about Char.