Roof Slates and Other Poems of Pierre Reverdy

by Pierre Reverdy, Mary Ann Caws (Translator), Patricia Terry (Translator)

Here is the first major English translation of Pierre Reverdy’s work. Long celebrated in France, Reverdy (1889-1960) greatly influenced Surrealist poets like Eluard and Breton, and also had a direct impact on American imagists. In Roof Slates and Other Poems of Pierre Reverdy, Mary Ann Caws and Patricia Terry have collaborated to produce an English translation that captures the understated beauty of Reverdy at his finest. The first section, “Les Ardoises du Toit” (“The Roof Slates”), reproduced in
its entirety, 1s one of Reverdy’s earliest and most distinctive collections of verse. The second section offers a selection of his prose poems, drawn from over half a century of his work. Both the verse and prose poems appear with the French text and English translation on facing pages, and are preceded by the translators’ illuminating introductions.

Genres: Poetry

293 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Pierre Reverdy (September 13, 1889 – June 17, 1960) was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. The loneliness and spiritual apprehension that ran through his poetry appealed to the Surrealist credo. He, though, remained independent of the prevailing “isms,” searching for something beyond their definitions. His writing matured into a mystical mission seeking, as he wrote: “the sublime simplicity of reality."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_R...

Reviews

[Edita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The horizon leans down
The days are longer
‘Travelling
A heart leaps up in its cage
A bird sings
It is going to die
There will be another door open
At the end of the corridor
Now glows
A star
A woman with dark hair
The lantern of the departing train

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dancing shadows
And nothing at all
But the spring of the wind
The movement reaches out from the wall
To grow
Some fictions come to life
For a moment or for Eternity
All that changes is night

And I close by
Someone plagued by remorse
On a route where his footsteps leave a trace
What is there we never see
Only the wall makes a face
My heart's gesture reaches out to the sea
Who's big enough to bring the world to a stop
And that movement which makes us weary
When a blue star up there turns in reverse

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reverdy!