Sunday, August 10, 2025

For A Nebulous Girl 14.Apr.2025

 

She ran away, again

the timebound dimensional vector car park ticket

on the dash, a memory

no cost ever calculated

all of her worth more of it, regardless

if when or ever she came back

all the time reconciling oneself to fecking eons

a thousand years to forget her

if we’re lucky

yet wondering about my famous girl paintings

all the maybe love of Her in layers hidden




Tuesday, August 05, 2025

Comrade Wife 20.Apr.2025

 

Didn't learn that until it was too late

Ideological difference will leave you angry empty or all three

Unless mundane

The colour of the car or bathroom

In the flash spots every cop an enemy every law an erosion

Never mind the British and what they deserve or them getting it

Semtex celebrations always

The rebuke, you're a bigot..

a minimal psychographic test would have said all

97% incompatibility

saving a lot of shite

and the days and years of yearning to be free

saving tears and pain would be whole other metrics.


Friday, August 01, 2025

Alejandra Pizarnik: Between Silence and the Chorus of the Dead

 

Alejandra Pizarnik (1936–1972) was an Argentine poet whose technical innovation transformed brevity from a limitation into an art form, using sparse language to evoke powerful emotional and existential depths. Her minimalist approach concentrated meaning, where each word—and the silences between them—carried immense weight. Through her fragmentary forms, Pizarnik gave voice to collective experience, delving into themes of death, silence, and the unconscious with remarkable intensity. In her most notable collection, Diana’s Tree, she synthesized vivid, sparse imagery with a polyvocal structure, where the dead and the living, the conscious and the unconscious, intertwine. Pizarnik's lyrical exploration of these realms establishes her as one of Latin American literature’s most important voices.

The fragmentary poetry of Alejandra Pizarnik presents us with a fundamental paradox: how does language that appears to dissolve meaning actually intensify it? Her collection "Diana's Tree" operates as both linguistic experiment and necromantic practice, transforming the act of reading into a conversation with the dead.

"I hear my voices, the chorus of the dead," she writes, positioning herself not as individual author but as medium for voices beyond singular consciousness. This line reveals the true architecture of her work—each sparse poem functions as a jumping off point into a sea of voices. Like listening to a conch shell the sound reverberates long after the shell is gone.

Pizarnik's poetry invites us to abandon conventional rationality, asking us to find meaning not within words themselves, but in the silences and gaps between them.

The minimalism challenges traditional approaches to literary meaning. Where earlier critical frameworks sought to illuminate darkness through rational analysis, Pizarnik writes in a
darkness that provides its own light. Her line "I have made the leap from me at dawn" resists conventional parsing—the self becomes a location one might depart, rather than a fixed point of consciousness. In this description of a dissolution process her identity transforms into something that exists between lives.

"Death is no mute. I hear the song of the mourners sealing the clefts of silence," she declares, positioning death as actively communicative rather than simply absent. This understanding transforms her fragmentary style from limitation into strategic reduction to essential forces. Her poems create spaces where meaning may emerge as an encounter rather than a reading. When she writes "Silence speaks of you," silence becomes a thing, a force, within the maw the ordinary meaning dissolves.

The multiplicity of voices throughout her work—"I cannot speak with my voice, so I speak with my voices"—indicates an understanding of poetry as fundamentally polyvocal. Her references to "a tribe of mutilated words looks for refuge in my throat, so that they won't sing—the ill-fated, the owners of silence" suggest she saw herself as giving voice to silenced or destroyed voices. The dead she channels include her own past selves, represented through frequent references to dolls and "dead girls" that function as versions of her own consciousness.

On one side precious words on the other splinters of thoughts

Her relationship to those of the dead walking beside her, "Death always at my side. I listen to what it says. And only hear myself," she notes, positioning death as constant companion and source of communication, even when that communication loops back to self-knowledge. Her eventual suicide becomes comprehensible as the ultimate dissolution of her suffering.

"And how many centuries has it been since I've been dead and loved you?" she asks, collapsing temporal boundaries between life and death, speaker and spoken-to.

What emerges from "Diana's Tree" is construction of heterogeneous assemblage—Spanish language, French surrealist influence, Argentine geography, feminine experience, alchemical tradition, voices of the dead—all connected through transformative processes that change each component while maintaining productive differences. This isn't synthesis but consistency—elements functioning together through mutual transformation.

Alejandra Pizarnik's exploration of dreams, the subconscious, and automatic writing is integral to understanding the nature of her poetic voice. Her work is deeply influenced by surrealist techniques, with an emphasis on accessing hidden or unconscious realms of thought. She often spoke of her writing as a means of channeling voices, not always her own, and of receiving words from places beyond the conscious mind.

In her diaries and interviews, Pizarnik discussed the automatic, almost involuntary nature of her creative process. For example, she wrote:

“I wrote and I write automatically, without thinking, with the same passion with which one speaks when dreaming.”
Alejandra Pizarnik, The Diaries of Alejandra Pizarnik

This reveals her belief that her writing was a kind of dreamwork—an extension of the unconscious, rather than a premeditated or constructed act of creativity. She acknowledged that writing was a way of receiving and transmitting voices, suggesting that words came from external sources:

"I hear my voices, the chorus of the dead."
Alejandra Pizarnik, Diana’s Tree

In this line from Diana’s Tree, Pizarnik speaks of the voices that infiltrate her work, often interpreting them as echoes of otherworldly presences. This aligns with her tendency to view poetry as a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious, where language is both a medium of expression and a means of connection to realms beyond the ordinary.

Her exploration of automatic writing can also be tied to the surrealist movement, which she admired, particularly in the way it aimed to bypass the restrictions of logical, conscious thought. The famous surrealist practice of writing or drawing without a preconceived plan resonated with Pizarnik's method:

“The words come out of me as if I were dreaming them.”
Alejandra Pizarnik, The Diaries of Alejandra Pizarnik

This quote further underscores her belief that her writing was closely tied to the dream state—an arena where boundaries between the real and the imagined blur, and where language becomes an untethered tool of exploration.

In her poetry, the subconscious often emerges as both a realm of freedom and a place of deep, unresolved tension. Her fascination with silence, absence, and emptiness in language reflects her attempt to express the unspeakable elements that arise from the unconscious mind.

Her work thus becomes a testament to the power of dreams and the subconscious, not merely as sources of inspiration but as mediums through which she could access something deeper than words can ordinarily convey.

Her poems lodge themselves in consciousness, continuing to irritate long after reading. Perhaps this is their purpose: not to satisfy understanding but to perpetually unsettle it, creating space for encounters with forces beyond rational discourse.

"But the silence is certain. This is why I write. I am alone and I write. No, I am not alone. There is someone here who is trembling," she concludes, acknowledging the fundamental paradox of her method.

Apparent solitude contains multitudes; silence speaks; the dead offer guidance to the living. Her poetry constructs desiring-machines that produce new subjectivities through systematic dissolution and reconstitution, proving that innovation often exists at the margins, in spaces between languages, traditions, and states of being.

In the end, Pizarnik's fragmentary work creates meaning through apparent meaninglessness by refusing to stay within prescribed boundaries of language, style, or subject matter. Her "Diana's Tree" grows in a medium where conventional interpretation cannot take root, offering instead a laboratory for transformation where readers encounter not poems about experience, but experience itself, crystallized into language that trembles between silence and speech, life and death, self and other.

In Pizarnik’s poetry, silence doesn’t merely follow or accompany words; it inhabits the same space, becoming a force that disrupts the flow of language, creating an encounter that resists closure or easy understanding. This resistance to closure is perhaps the entire intention, if not intended it is a direct result of the fragmentary nature. Like a partial morse message we strain down the copper wire searching for more meaning.

Intrigued by what I perceive as this conflict between sparseness of language and the richness of the words I searched for something from the poet about the collection, perhaps some elaboration on the fragmentary or terseness or her intention. At this juncture I discovered that the Pizarnik family sold her papers to Princeton University.

While Pizarnik’s poetry invites readers to engage with voices and silences that transcend boundaries, her own work is now subject to boundaries that limit access to the very materials that could illuminate the depth of her creative process.

While the Pizarnik collection at Princeton is open for research the ‘Conditions Governing Use’ specify: No photocopying, photography, or microfilming of the diaries or notebooks is permitted. Written permission is required for publication of selections from the diaries and notebooks.

This represents a troubling example of how literary estates can inadvertently create scholarly exclusivity. When the Pizarnik family sold her personal materials—diaries, manuscripts, correspondence, drawings, and notebooks spanning nearly two decades—to Princeton's Firestone Library, they placed crucial primary sources beyond the reach of most researchers, particularly those in Latin America where her work is most studied and valued. The archive's restrictions compound this problem: no photocopying, no photography, no microfilming of any diary or notebook material, with written permission required for any publication of selections. This means that even the privileged few who can travel to Princeton to examine the materials cannot document their discoveries or share them with the broader scholarly community.

The implications become even more disturbing when we consider what may remain unexamined in the collection. Series 7 contains "Clippings of AP's writings, dates not examined"—suggesting that potentially crucial material, including possible interviews or statements where Pizarnik discussed her own work, sits uncatalogued and unstudied. Series 6 references poems published in "Dialogos" in July-August 1972, just weeks before her death—material that could provide unique insight into her last creative period. The notation "dates not examined" serves to give rise to an important question,
have researchers systematically indexed the collection?
This creates an absurd situation where primary source materials that could revolutionize our understanding of one of Latin America's most significant poets.

Perhaps most troubling is the commodification of cultural heritage this arrangement represents. Pizarnik wrote extensively about marginalization, about voices that couldn't speak, about being silenced by establishment forces—and now her own voice, including her visual artwork and most intimate creative expressions is locked away in an American institution. The irony is devastating: a poet who challenged bourgeois respectability and institutional power has had her most personal expressions transformed into institutional property, accessible only to those with the economic privilege to travel to Princeton and the academic credentials to justify access.

It would seem that insights into Pizarnik's creative process, including potentially her direct commentary on works like "Diana's Tree," may remain forever inaccessible to the very communities and scholars who could best understand and interpret them. This arrangement raises concerns about the accessibility and democratization of Pizarnik’s work, turning what could be a rich resource for scholars into an exclusive possession.

It is ironic that they are more afraid of her dead

When Pizarnik was alive, she was a struggling poet battling mental illness, financial instability, and literary marginalization. The establishment largely ignored her - she could write whatever she wanted in her diaries, create her "little monsters" in her drawings, pour her most subversive thoughts onto paper, because she wasn't considered dangerous enough to matter. She was just another troubled young woman whose radical voice carried little institutional threat.

But now that she's dead and her reputation has grown, suddenly her words require strict institutional control. Now her diaries are too dangerous to photocopy. Now her notebooks need written permission for any quotation. Now her drawings must be locked away where only a select few can see them. The same thoughts that were dismissed as the ravings of a depressed young woman are now treated as cultural artifacts requiring maximum security protocols.

It's the classic pattern of how radical voices get neutralized: ignore them while they live, then control them once they're safely dead. Princeton gets to own a piece of literary history without having to deal with the messy reality of supporting living, breathing, difficult artists. They can collect her rebellion like a museum specimen, studying her subversion under controlled laboratory conditions.

The institutions that failed her in life now ‘profit’ from controlling her in death, turning her resistance into cultural capital. Pizarnik’s voice, once marginalized, is now imprisoned in an archive, silenced by the very forces she wrote against. Yet perhaps, from the ‘other side,’ her voice will continue to tremble—articulating the final paradox.

“It doesn’t matter if, when love calls, I am dead. I will come. I will always come if ever love calls.”

 

 

Almost unknown poem by Alejandra Pizarnik

Poem II

It doesn’t matter if, when love calls,
I am dead.
I will come.
I will always come
if ever
love calls.

“This poem, which I think merits a preliminary comment, was first and only published in the Buenos Aires magazine Poesía=Poesía in 1959. Two more poems appeared in that same publication, which were later included in the book Árbol de Diana , specifically in the "1959" section. We will never know why Pizarnik left this short text aside.” From  https://alejandrapizarnik.blogspot.com/

 

Poema casi desconocido de Alejandra Pizarnik


Poema II

No importa si cuando llama el amor
yo estoy muerta.
Vendré.
Siempre vendré
si alguna vez
llama el amor.

Este poema, que me parece merece un comentario previo, apareció publicado por primera y única vez en la revista bonaerense Poesía=Poesía en el año de 1959. En esa misma publicación, aparecieron dos poemas más que luego fueron incluidos en el libro Árbol de Diana, específicamente en el apartado "1959". No sabremos nunca por qué razón Pizarnik dejó a un lado este pequeño texto.

I am indebted to Laura and her most comprehensive blog for this poem from 1959.
https://alejandrapizarnik.blogspot.com/


 

Further Reading

 

1.       Zoran Rosko – Review of Alejandra Pizarnik, Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962–1972, Trans. by Yvette Siegert, New Directions, 2016.
https://zorosko.blogspot.com/2016/03/alejandra-pizarnik-outstanding.html

2.       Patricia Venti - Invisible Writing: The Autobiographical Discourse of Alejandra Pizarnik
https://patriciaventi.blogspot.com/2014/07/la-escritura-invisible-el-discurso.html

3.       Fiona J. Mackintosh - Self-Censorship and New Voices in Pizarnik's Unpublished Manuscripts
https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/11605694/Self_Censorship_and_New_Voices_in_Pizarniks_Unpublished_Manuscripts.pdf

4.       Fiona J. Mackintosh with Karl Posso - Arbol de Alejandra - Pizarnik Reassessed

https://www.scribd.com/document/515891128/Karl-Posso-Arbol-de-Alejandra-Pizarnik-Reassessed-Monografias-a

5.       An Alejandra Pizarnik (blog) by Laura
https://alejandrapizarnik.blogspot.com/

6.       Christine Legros - A Form to Dwell In: Narrative and ‘Rhetorical’ Unreliability in Alejandra Pizarnik’s Diaries
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/bhs.2022.19#bibliography

7.       Boston review - Three Poems
https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/npm15-yvette-siegert-alejandra-piznarik-translation-three-poems/

8.       Memoria Iluminada Alejandra Pizarnik
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Memoria+Iluminada+Alejandra+Pizarnik

9.       Alejandra Pizarnik Papers, 1954-1972 (mostly 1960-1972) Princeton University Library

https://findingaids.princeton.edu/catalog/C0395

 

10.   The Diana Tree by Wilhelm Homberg (1652-1715). Cyclopedia (Chambers) - Volume 1 by Ephraim Chambers 1728
https://archive.org/details/Cyclopediachambers-Volume1

  

Wilhelm Homberg:


“Take four drams of filings of fine silver, with which make an amalgam, without heat, with two drams of quicksilver. Dissolve this amalgam in four ounces of aqua fortis, and pour the solution into three gallons of water. Stir it for a while until mixed, and then keep it in a glass vessel well stopped. To initiate the experiment, take about an ounce of the substance, and put it in a small vial; add to this a quantity the size of a pea of the ordinary amalgam of gold, or silver, which should be as soft as butter. Let the vial rest for two or three minutes. Immediately after this, several small filaments will visibly arise perpendicularly from the little bulb of the amalgam, which will grow and thrust out small branches in the form of a tree. The ball of amalgam will grow hard, like a pellet of white earth, and the little tree will be bright silver in color.”

 

Sunday, June 15, 2025

An Octave Light


I was whistling an Abba tune
only to realise I was a bit light
Just a half an octave or so
All the revenant choirs screeching nonetheless
None able to run after notes anymore
the sycophants blocking the light / the path
My own transposing or imaginings
Beautiful isolated Abba esque memories
Before the poor key hummers interruptions
assholes, not even compus mentus now
musical geriatrics
forgetting their own tunes.
What a magnificent chance to insult them all
30 years later
and them oblivious, missing the racquet never mind the ball
Sheer self-indulgent heaven


Saturday, March 01, 2025

Tristan Corbière (1845-1875) died on this day 1st Match.

So en francais below / courtesy of the machine / with a few tweaks, my French is old now, but in another life I was never here but there..

Se souvenir d'un révolutionnaire poétique



Remembering a Poetic Revolutionary

March 1, 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Tristan Corbière, one of the most innovative French poets of the 19th century. Born Édouard-Joachim Corbière in Morlaix, Brittany, in 1845, he lived just 29 years but his voice continues to resonate a century and a half later.

Corbière's only published collection, "Les Amours jaunes" (1873), initially went largely unnoticed. It wasn't until Paul Verlaine included him in "Les Poètes maudits" (1884) that his work began to receive the recognition it deserved. Today, he is recognized as a precursor to modernism and surrealism, influencing poets from T.S. Eliot to Allen Ginsberg.

As it happens a celebratory A3 and book were published by Francoise Livinec in 2013, the story is most fascinating since all the work was considered lost. The material was traced to Scotland where it was held by a sister of Jean Moulin, Jean - a prominent member of the French Resistance. 

https://francoiselivinec.com/en/editions/catalogue/873/tristan-corbiere

Editions Françoise Livinec then published the previously unpublished manuscript by Tristan Corbière, (saved by all by the resistance fighter Jean Moulin). Entitled Roscoff, this unpublished album contains 30 pages of texts and paintings created by the poet at the end of the 1860s. A work as modern as it is humorous and which depicts the contemporaries of the man of letters from Finistère, whether they are sailors, beggars, wreck looters, police officers, tourists and other passing merchants.

The rediscovery of Tristan Corbière's manuscript, "Roscoff," was credited to Benoît Houzé, a doctoral candidate in French literature. Houzé embarked on a meticulous search for the long-lost album, which had been missing since 1875. His investigation led him to Scotland, where he successfully traced and recovered the manuscript.

https://ncfs-journal.org/heather-williams/williams-corbiere-2012

On his overall works a highly rated translation by Christopher Pilling is available here as a pdf or Epub https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.22599/Corbiere/

On his single publication in his lifetime "Les Amours Jaunes" the late Christopher Pilling also produced a the version entitled: "These Jaundiced Loves". Again this translation to English is highly rated.

A Poet Between Languages

What makes Corbière particularly fascinating is his unique linguistic approach. Moving between standard French and Breton expressions, maritime terminology and colloquial speech, he created a multilayered poetry that defied the conventions of his time. His work embodies the cultural and linguistic tensions of Brittany – a French region with its own distinct Celtic heritage.

In poems like "Le Bossu Bitor" and "Paysage mauvais," Corbière employs maritime vocabulary, Breton dialect and dramatic shifts in register to create a poetry that feels startlingly modern even today. His technique of juxtaposing different linguistic registers anticipated poetic developments that wouldn't become mainstream until decades later.

Even today there is much debate on 'translations' given the difficulty of Breton to French / Breton / French to English.

Selected Quotations

"Moi qui suis - Le poète qui ne fut pas - Et que jamais ne serai - Qui n'est pas né."

"I who am - The poet who never was - And never will be - Who was not born."

This famous self-description from "Le Poète Contumace" captures Corbière's sense of being outside traditional poetic identity.

"Bâtard de Créole et Breton, / Moi, je suis un poète, né / Pour n'être rien."

"Bastard of Creole and Breton, / I am a poet, born / To be nothing."

Here Corbière acknowledges his mixed cultural identity and outsider status.

"J'ai vu le soleil dur contre les falaises / Fermer l'oeil, aveuglé de ces grandes fournaises..."

"I've seen the harsh sun against the cliffs / Close its eye, blinded by these great furnaces..."

This vivid maritime imagery from "Paysage mauvais" demonstrates his ability to transform landscape into emotional terrain.

Why Corbière Matters Today

The beauty of all this is that 150 years after his death, Corbière's work speaks to me personally / the rest of you can do what you do :-)

His bilingual experimentation feels particularly relevant from an Irish perspective where language boundaries try to blur. His irony, self-deprecation and examination of outsider identity resonate with contemporary sensibilities. I see this / read this and look at many contemporaries strutting.   

The fact that major critics cannot agree on his work and major poets reference it is enough; Verlaine, TS Eliot, Ezra Pound - all were drawn to the work of Corbière.

As a poet who refused to stay within prescribed boundaries – of language, of style, of subject matter – Corbière anticipated the complexity of modern identity. His work reminds me that innovation often exists at the margins, in the spaces between languages and traditions and often after death.

I pay homage to him as a historical figure and I recognize a poet who spoke important words in his own time that still echo into our own future.


For any who make their way to Morlaix:

Directions to the grave:

Saint-Augustin Cemetery, 2 Rue des Réservoirs. To locate the grave precisely:

Enter via Rue Saint Augustin

Go up about two thirds of the way to the small chapel

To the right of the path, behind the chapel, is another miniature chapel

Corbière's grave is there, recognizable by its Celtic-style cross, its wrought iron and its large book-shaped stone.







En Francais

Le 1er mars 2025 marque le 150ème anniversaire de la mort de Tristan Corbière, l'un des poètes français les plus innovants du XIXe siècle. Né Édouard-Joachim Corbière à Morlaix, en Bretagne, en 1845, il n'a vécu que 29 ans, mais sa voix continue de résonner un siècle et demi plus tard.

L'unique recueil publié de Corbière, "Les Amours jaunes" (1873), est initialement passé largement inaperçu. Ce n'est que lorsque Paul Verlaine l'a inclus dans "Les Poètes maudits" (1884) que son œuvre a commencé à recevoir la reconnaissance qu'elle méritait. Aujourd'hui, il est reconnu comme un précurseur du modernisme et du surréalisme, influençant des poètes de T.S. Eliot à Allen Ginsberg.

Il se trouve qu'un ouvrage commémoratif A3 et un livre ont été publiés par Françoise Livinec en 2013, l'histoire est des plus fascinantes car tout le travail était considéré comme perdu. Le matériel a été retrouvé en Écosse où il était détenu par une sœur de Jean Moulin, membre important de la Résistance française.

https://francoiselivinec.com/en/editions/catalogue/873/tristan-corbiere

Les Éditions Françoise Livinec ont alors publié le manuscrit inédit de Tristan Corbière, qui appartenait au résistant Jean Moulin. Intitulé Roscoff, cet album inédit contient 30 pages de textes et de peintures créés par le poète à la fin des années 1860. Une œuvre aussi moderne qu'humoristique et qui dépeint les contemporains de l'homme de lettres finistérien, qu'ils soient marins, mendiants, pilleurs d'épaves, gendarmes, touristes et autres marchands de passage.

"La redécouverte du manuscrit de Tristan Corbière, "Roscoff," a été attribuée à **Benoît Houzé**, doctorant en littérature française. Houzé s'est lancé dans une recherche méticuleuse de l'album longtemps perdu, qui avait disparu depuis 1875. Son enquête l'a conduit en Écosse, où il a réussi à retrouver et récupérer le manuscrit."

https://ncfs-journal.org/heather-williams/williams-corbiere-2012

Concernant l'ensemble de ses œuvres, une traduction très appréciée est celle de Christopher Pilling, disponible ici en pdf ou Epub https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.22599/Corbiere/

Sur son unique publication de son vivant "Les Amours Jaunes", le regretté Christopher Pilling a également produit une version intitulée: "These Jaundiced Loves". Cette traduction en anglais est également très estimée.

Un poète entre les langues

Ce qui rend Corbière particulièrement fascinant est son approche linguistique unique. Se déplaçant entre le français standard et les expressions bretonnes, la terminologie maritime et le langage familier, il a créé une poésie multicouche qui défiait les conventions de son époque. Son œuvre incarne les tensions culturelles et linguistiques de la Bretagne – une région française avec son propre héritage celtique distinct.

Dans des poèmes comme "Le Bossu Bitor" et "Paysage mauvais", Corbière emploie le vocabulaire maritime, le dialecte breton et des changements dramatiques de registre pour créer une poésie qui semble étonnamment moderne même aujourd'hui. Sa technique de juxtaposition de différents registres linguistiques a anticipé des développements poétiques qui ne deviendraient courants que des décennies plus tard.

Même aujourd'hui, il y a beaucoup de débats sur les 'traductions' étant donné la difficulté du breton au français / breton / français à l'anglais.

Citations choisies

"Moi qui suis - Le poète qui ne fut pas - Et que jamais ne serai - Qui n'est pas né."

"I who am - The poet who never was - And never will be - Who was not born."

Cette célèbre auto-description tirée de "Le Poète Contumace" capture le sentiment de Corbière d'être en dehors de l'identité poétique traditionnelle.

"Bâtard de Créole et Breton, / Moi, je suis un poète, né / Pour n'être rien."

"Bastard of Creole and Breton, / I am a poet, born / To be nothing."

Ici, Corbière reconnaît son identité culturelle mixte et son statut d'outsider.

"J'ai vu le soleil dur contre les falaises / Fermer l'oeil, aveuglé de ces grandes fournaises..."

"I've seen the harsh sun against the cliffs / Close its eye, blinded by these great furnaces..."

Ces images maritimes vivantes tirées de "Paysage mauvais" démontrent sa capacité à transformer le paysage en terrain émotionnel.

Pourquoi Corbière compte aujourd'hui

La beauté de tout cela, c'est que 150 ans après sa mort, l'œuvre de Corbière me parle personnellement / le reste d'entre vous peut faire ce que vous faites :-)

Son expérimentation bilingue semble particulièrement pertinente d'un point de vue irlandais où les frontières linguistiques tentent de s'estomper. Son ironie, son autodérision et son examen de l'identité marginale résonnent avec les sensibilités contemporaines. Je vois cela / lis cela et je regarde les contemporains qui paradent?

Le fait que les grands critiques ne parviennent pas à s'accorder sur son œuvre et que les grands poètes y font référence est suffisant; Verlaine, TS Eliot, Ezra Pound - tous ont été attirés par l'œuvre de Corbière.

En tant que poète qui a refusé de rester dans les limites prescrites – de la langue, du style, du sujet – Corbière a anticipé la complexité de l'identité moderne. Son œuvre me rappelle que l'innovation existe souvent aux marges, dans les espaces entre les langues et les traditions et souvent après la mort.

Je lui rends hommage en tant que personnage historique et je reconnais un poète qui a prononcé des mots importants à son époque qui résonnent encore dans notre propre avenir.

Nous avons besoin des Corbière de ce monde plus que jamais...

Pour ceux qui se rendent à Morlaix:

Directions vers la tombe: Cimetière Saint-Augustin, 2 Rue des Réservoirs. Pour localiser précisément la tombe:

Entrez par la Rue Saint Augustin Montez environ deux tiers du chemin jusqu'à la petite chapelle À droite du chemin, derrière la chapelle, se trouve une autre chapelle miniature La tombe de Corbière s'y trouve, reconnaissable à sa croix de style celtique, sa grille en fer forgé et sa grande pierre en forme de livre.

--