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Poems, translated by C.F. MacIntyre
The leading poet of French symbolism, Stephane Mallarme has exercised an enormous influence both on French and on English and American avant-garde writers. In this volume C. F. MacIntyre has translated forty-three of his poems, including the "Ouverture" and "Scene" from Herodiade, which was to have been a drama in verse, and the well-known L'Apres-midi d'un faune, for which Debussy composed his orchestral prelude. The French text faces the English translations, which are both true to the original and poetic.
Unknown Binding
First published April 1, 1959
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About the author
Stéphane Mallarmé
294 books367 followersStéphane Mallarmé (French: [stefan malaʁme]; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 10, 2014
To say that Mallarmé’s poetry possesses an uncanny musicality is a complete understatement. Never an amalgamation of harmonized symbols, distilled formality and nuanced obliquity experimented with the limits of Myth, Beauty, Absence, Sterility and Death so exquisitely before. Not until the poet allowed himself to be carried away by the flow of language or by insinuating visions more reminiscent of philosophy than reason that a pure aesthetic canon of light could unveil bodies, caress objects and illuminate landscape and milieu with suggestive evanescence.
Listen to Debussy’s “Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune” and learn to read again, for these poems are written with notes instead of ideas, and underneath the notes, buried words throb with the meaning of essence, like an extreme form of incantation, like an enigma that can be interpreted but never resolved.
“O certain punishment…
None but the soul
Void of words, and this heavy body,
Succumb to noon’s proud silence slowly:
With no more ado, forgetting blasphemy, I
Must sleep, lying on the thirsty sand, and as I
Love, open my mouth to wine’s true constellation!
Farewell to you, both: I go to see the shadow you have become.”
L’après-midi d’un favne
Original in French:
Can you imagine mystical creatures dancing to the music of words, their bodies melting with the mellifluous dialogue between oboe and flute evoking Mallarmé’s eroticism? Savor the poet’s impressionistic stanzas and you will reach the pinnacle of bliss and the abyss of loss at once. You will wake up wounded by the dream but with the sweetest kiss you ever tasted still lingering on your lips. A smudged reminiscence of provocative colors will blind your senses but the esoteric image of “some demon now a negress” will make you tremble with her desire for rosy nakedness.
Inebriate of pure poetry prepare to swallow drop after drop of Mallarmé’s aphrodisiac elixir but when last verse is reached, only carcasses of words remain and behind them, the unsurpassable void of infinity reflected in skies made of azure that stare back at the anguished poet with hermetic complacency and a beauty that blossoms in the shadow of deadly consummation.
“But vainly! The Azure triumphs and I hear it sing
In bells. Dear Soul, it turns into a voice the more
To fright us by its winged victory, and springs
Blue Angelus, out of the living metal core.
It travels ancient through the fog, and penetrates
Like an unerring blade your native agony;
Where flee in my revolt so useless and depraved?
For I am haunted! The Azure! The Azure! The Azure! The Azure!”
Azur
Original in French:
If Mallarmé’s purity of form invites to contemplate the nature of language, René Char identifies the actions of the poet as the result of such linguistic enigmas, committing poetry to the cause of life itself. Char is contradictory, full of sensational antitheses and a consuming yearning that permeates his moralistic claims. His style is highly unconventional and transcends artistic movements and his prose poems embrace life, enhance pain and chaos and meet Mallarmé in yielding to the immensity of darkness. But Char rebels against emptiness with noble words and aims his poetry to embrace it all; mountains, rivers and clouds, the cosmic universe and even anticipates their loss with disarming luminosity.
“The rivers have clouds in them, torrents
course in the sky. The days offer to grow
like grain, die on the grass. Having
resolved their differences, the time for
famine and the time for harvest walk hand
in hand in the ragged air, camp out
together! How can we expect hope to
differ from fear if it is stomped over and
eroded?”
“L’Allégresse”
Original in French:
If Mallarmé’s use of irrational imagery infuses his poems with the lushness of aesthetic pleasure, Char’s restrained words give way to an internal tension that palpitates with a self-consuming desire that is more ardent in the absence of the loved one. He searches for an earthly companion who is equal to man instead of the ethereal temptress exalted by selected parts of the woman’s body.
“You are gone but you remain in the inflection of circumstances” pens Char in his love hymn “Lettera amorosa” , summoning the reciprocal tenderness shared between lovers in the poet’s attempt to retain that precious intimacy in the capricious gossamer of memory.
Two poets, two visions of the limits of existence, but there is hope and dejection in both that converge in their veneration of words. Either from the existential stand or from the lofty plateaus of formalistic purity there is a sacred wholeness in locating the poet, his life and death, in no other place than within his poetry.
Listen to Debussy’s “Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune” and learn to read again, for these poems are written with notes instead of ideas, and underneath the notes, buried words throb with the meaning of essence, like an extreme form of incantation, like an enigma that can be interpreted but never resolved.
“O certain punishment…
None but the soul
Void of words, and this heavy body,
Succumb to noon’s proud silence slowly:
With no more ado, forgetting blasphemy, I
Must sleep, lying on the thirsty sand, and as I
Love, open my mouth to wine’s true constellation!
Farewell to you, both: I go to see the shadow you have become.”
L’après-midi d’un favne
Original in French:
Can you imagine mystical creatures dancing to the music of words, their bodies melting with the mellifluous dialogue between oboe and flute evoking Mallarmé’s eroticism? Savor the poet’s impressionistic stanzas and you will reach the pinnacle of bliss and the abyss of loss at once. You will wake up wounded by the dream but with the sweetest kiss you ever tasted still lingering on your lips. A smudged reminiscence of provocative colors will blind your senses but the esoteric image of “some demon now a negress” will make you tremble with her desire for rosy nakedness.
Inebriate of pure poetry prepare to swallow drop after drop of Mallarmé’s aphrodisiac elixir but when last verse is reached, only carcasses of words remain and behind them, the unsurpassable void of infinity reflected in skies made of azure that stare back at the anguished poet with hermetic complacency and a beauty that blossoms in the shadow of deadly consummation.
“But vainly! The Azure triumphs and I hear it sing
In bells. Dear Soul, it turns into a voice the more
To fright us by its winged victory, and springs
Blue Angelus, out of the living metal core.
It travels ancient through the fog, and penetrates
Like an unerring blade your native agony;
Where flee in my revolt so useless and depraved?
For I am haunted! The Azure! The Azure! The Azure! The Azure!”
Azur
Original in French:
If Mallarmé’s purity of form invites to contemplate the nature of language, René Char identifies the actions of the poet as the result of such linguistic enigmas, committing poetry to the cause of life itself. Char is contradictory, full of sensational antitheses and a consuming yearning that permeates his moralistic claims. His style is highly unconventional and transcends artistic movements and his prose poems embrace life, enhance pain and chaos and meet Mallarmé in yielding to the immensity of darkness. But Char rebels against emptiness with noble words and aims his poetry to embrace it all; mountains, rivers and clouds, the cosmic universe and even anticipates their loss with disarming luminosity.
“The rivers have clouds in them, torrents
course in the sky. The days offer to grow
like grain, die on the grass. Having
resolved their differences, the time for
famine and the time for harvest walk hand
in hand in the ragged air, camp out
together! How can we expect hope to
differ from fear if it is stomped over and
eroded?”
“L’Allégresse”
Original in French:
If Mallarmé’s use of irrational imagery infuses his poems with the lushness of aesthetic pleasure, Char’s restrained words give way to an internal tension that palpitates with a self-consuming desire that is more ardent in the absence of the loved one. He searches for an earthly companion who is equal to man instead of the ethereal temptress exalted by selected parts of the woman’s body.
“You are gone but you remain in the inflection of circumstances” pens Char in his love hymn “Lettera amorosa” , summoning the reciprocal tenderness shared between lovers in the poet’s attempt to retain that precious intimacy in the capricious gossamer of memory.
Two poets, two visions of the limits of existence, but there is hope and dejection in both that converge in their veneration of words. Either from the existential stand or from the lofty plateaus of formalistic purity there is a sacred wholeness in locating the poet, his life and death, in no other place than within his poetry.
August 6, 2021
abominably some idol of Anubis
all the muzzle flaming like a ferocious bark
It is time for confession. There was a definite apprehension clouding my approach to this poet. Was I successful, did I plumb each line to exact not only the allusion but the music of each situated word, albeit in translation? No, not hardly. I did enjoy the images and I am thankful for the endnotes by C.F. MacIntyre, ones which go to certain lengths to elucidate. Many of these poems reminded me of Rimbaud. I especially liked the textual monuments to Poe and Baudelaire.
all the muzzle flaming like a ferocious bark
It is time for confession. There was a definite apprehension clouding my approach to this poet. Was I successful, did I plumb each line to exact not only the allusion but the music of each situated word, albeit in translation? No, not hardly. I did enjoy the images and I am thankful for the endnotes by C.F. MacIntyre, ones which go to certain lengths to elucidate. Many of these poems reminded me of Rimbaud. I especially liked the textual monuments to Poe and Baudelaire.
June 13, 2021
Un poema no dice algo, un poema es algo.
Imposible hablar de Mallarmé sin mencionar esa transición de la cual él es gran partícipe, del romanticismo al simbolismo.
De la poesía metafísica a la cual se dedicaron los Románticos, esa poesía que alcanzó su máximo esplendor en Hölderlin a la poesía simbolista que comenzaría con Baudelaire pero no es sino Mallarmé quien hace explotar el movimiento. Buscando algo mucho más allá de solo una mera reacción al arte aburguesado. Mallarmé busca una purificación del lenguaje, pretende así renovar el acto creador por medio de la palabra.
Penetrando a un mundo que no es externo al poema, por lo contrario, es un mundo que se concibe en el poema mismo.
Pasar de lo mitológico al «Logos»
«Es en el espíritu donde está la pureza. La concepción Pura es la concepción Espiritual del mundo. He derribado a Dios después de una Síntesis Suprema».
Mallarmé es pues un gran poeta que intentaría llevar a los límites el lenguaje y el hacer poético.
Imposible hablar de Mallarmé sin mencionar esa transición de la cual él es gran partícipe, del romanticismo al simbolismo.
De la poesía metafísica a la cual se dedicaron los Románticos, esa poesía que alcanzó su máximo esplendor en Hölderlin a la poesía simbolista que comenzaría con Baudelaire pero no es sino Mallarmé quien hace explotar el movimiento. Buscando algo mucho más allá de solo una mera reacción al arte aburguesado. Mallarmé busca una purificación del lenguaje, pretende así renovar el acto creador por medio de la palabra.
Penetrando a un mundo que no es externo al poema, por lo contrario, es un mundo que se concibe en el poema mismo.
Pasar de lo mitológico al «Logos»
«Es en el espíritu donde está la pureza. La concepción Pura es la concepción Espiritual del mundo. He derribado a Dios después de una Síntesis Suprema».
Mallarmé es pues un gran poeta que intentaría llevar a los límites el lenguaje y el hacer poético.
March 30, 2016
Either an overrated poet or one who does not translate well into English¹... I'll let you know in 15 years when I get good enough at reading French to try him in his written language!
Regardless... beautiful cover on this edition!
¹ There are, of course, moments of great beauty to be found. From L'après-midi d'un faune:
So I loved a dream?
My doubt, a mass of ancient night, concludes
in many a subtle branch, which, since the real woods
remain, proves, alas, what I offered to myself
as triumph was the ideal lack of roses.
Let's think it over...
Regardless... beautiful cover on this edition!
¹ There are, of course, moments of great beauty to be found. From L'après-midi d'un faune:
So I loved a dream?
My doubt, a mass of ancient night, concludes
in many a subtle branch, which, since the real woods
remain, proves, alas, what I offered to myself
as triumph was the ideal lack of roses.
Let's think it over...
January 28, 2018
Ubi me prejaka (hermetična) reč!
September 28, 2024
Cuando pueda disfrutar el whisky caro puede que pueda disfrutar esta antología. Por ahora no, lo siento literatos.
July 12, 2015
Esta antología consiste de más de veinte variaciones sobre pocos temas poéticos. Las variaciones en la forma son extraordinarias, y la musicalidad se impone sobre la métrica. No sé si hubiera valido la pena leerlo si no fuera una edición bilingüe; pero la traducción es competente, y en algunos casos imaginativa y sorprendente. Queda muy bien, intercalado a manera de homenaje, un soneto en traducción de Octavio Paz, que contrasta en estilo y vocabulario con el resto y evidencia cuánto hay de coautor en los traductores de poesá.
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November 14, 2007I often read poetry, but if I'm not writing a paper dissecting the ins and outs of the symbolism, I'm never certain about my motivation for reading poetry. Mallarme is brilliant with words (even in translation), but I never get swept away by reading the words.
ok, well anyway, I love Mallarme's descriptions of color. He writes like a painter.
ok, well anyway, I love Mallarme's descriptions of color. He writes like a painter.
June 1, 2014
Uch, chyba wyrosłem z parnasistów. Świetna poezja, ale dość trudna i zawikłana w odbiorze. Tłumaczenie Ważyka nie ułatwia sprawy.
January 10, 2016
inasible; no creo que pueda sentirme tan bien leyendo cualquier otra cosa; su oscuridad arropa
April 15, 2016
I can't imagine a more refined poetic than Mallarme's. My goal in French is to be able to really read Mallarme.
May 23, 2021
Definitivamente, un fallo leerlos traducidos.
January 31, 2022
Got no words, ja tinc un poema preferit!!!!
March 23, 2010
Dig in Ur soul.
December 9, 2014
Love his two poems dedicated to Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Baudelaire.
April 28, 2022
The poems themselves were summarily a curation of moments of mystique, with buried insightful and beautiful lines revealing themselves as rewards after pushing through the confusion. But the true joy of this edition came from CF MacIntyre's own toils as translator and interpreter. Never have I so thoroughly enjoyed reading a collection in translation, as even while lost in the dreamscapes of Mallarmé, MacIntyre remained a constant friend, a crass and entertaining Ovid till the end.
December 15, 2021
I haven't read a ton of the 19th Century poets, but from what I have read, Mallarmé is my least favorite so far. A fascinating use of language, but the poems just don't work for me the same as people like Rimbaud and Baudelaire. Maybe it's not fair to compare them, but they seem to go together in my mind.
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February 22, 2023Mallarmé nie jest dla mnie. Na pewno dobiera i układa słowa w pięknym stylu. Niestety wielość skomplikowanych połączeń zaburza odbiór całości. Popołudnie Fauna powalające.
Więcej grzechów nie pamiętam (albo nie rozumiem).
Więcej grzechów nie pamiętam (albo nie rozumiem).
August 23, 2024
I will read this again soon over a pot of extremely black coffee. Insanely unintelligible in terms of meaning and purpose (thank you to homeboy who did this homework) but very enjoyable sentences and sounds. Very much an impressionists poet, a nice antidote to the English language.
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May 9, 2022Ciężko ocenić, wrócę do tego kiedyś.
December 6, 2024
Unfortunately it seems I am not a Mallarmé fan
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December 8, 2024sa ma bata mama
November 7, 2016
I will need to revisit this once my French is stronger. Also, this particular translator's notes are a bit idiosyncratic, I think. They feel very personal and make frequent reference to French criticism of Mallarmé that I don't think the average reader would be familiar with.
January 21, 2023
Acquired 2002
City Lights Book Shop, London, Ontario
City Lights Book Shop, London, Ontario
Want to read
May 7, 2022Ref: S W recommends
July 28, 2023
Mallarmé geeft me altijd het gevoel dat ik geen woord Frans begrijp.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews