Selected Poems | Philippe Jaccottet

by Philippe Jaccottet, Derek Mahon (Translator)

Philippe Jaccottet is one of a group of poets who turned away from the Surrealists’ sometimes abstruse experiments with form in favor of a muted lyrical expression born of a quasi-fraternal bonding with the wonder of earth, light, water, sky. This lyricism is steeped in an ambiguous sense of our planet’s vulnerability in this nuclear age. Jaccottet’s work has now developed steadily over nearly four decades as Derek Mahon points out in his introductory essay. In themes and form it will not seem alien to English language readers, yet Jaccottet’s voice is his own. The sensuous modulations of imagery, harmony, and mood are strangely moving and haunt the imagination.

Genres: Poetry

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 1987

About the author

Philippe Jaccottet was a Swiss Francophone poet and translator.

Reviews

[Edita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Show me the man who has found certitude
and shines in peace like the last
peak to fade at twilight, never
wincing under the weight of night.

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weight of stones, of thoughts

Uneven balance
of mountain and dream

We still live in another world
perhaps the interval

[Mills College Library]

841.914 J121s 1988