Selected Poems of René Char

René Char

After World War II…the mature poetry of René Char came as a revelation.

Paul Auster

Selected Poems of René Char

by René Char

René Char (1907-88) is acknowledged as one of the greatest French poets of all time. His work speaks in tones both universal and grounded in his native Provence, where during World War II he commanded the Resistance maquis. Originally allied with the Surrealists, his poems afterward evolved from the “fury and mystery” of the war period to his later existential and metaphysical reflections. His poems are violent and tender, passionate and cool, massive and of small scope-at once local and cosmic. The Selected Poems of René Char is a comprehensive, bilingual overview reflecting the poet’s wide stylistic and philosophical range, from aphorism to dramatic lyricism. In making their selections, the editors have chosen the voices of seventeen poets and translators (Paul Auster, Samuel Beckett, Cid Corman, Eugene Jolas, W.S. Merwin, William Carlos Williams, and James Wright, to name a few), in homage to a writer long held in highest esteem by the literary avant-garde.

Buy Selected Poems of René Char

Paperback(published Apr, 01 1992)

ISBN
9780811211925
Price US
16.95
Page Count
172

Clothbound(published Apr, 01 1992)

ISBN
9780811211918
Page Count
160
Portrait of René Char

René Char

20th century French poet and Surrealist

After World War II…the mature poetry of René Char came as a revelation.

Paul Auster

This is a fine, bilingual edition of the works of one of the great French Surrealists. The translations, by several hands, serve Char well-full of insinuating rhythms and unusual verbal couplings, they come close to the piercing beauty of the originals.

Pat Monaghan, Booklist