Hangmen of Solitude/Borreaux de Solitude, and: The Prodigal’s Torch/La Torche du Prodigue
- Hangmen of Solitude/Borreaux de Solitude, and: The Prodigal’s Torch/La Torche du Prodigue
Hangmen of Solitude
The footstep has drawn away, the walker grown still On Imitation’s face The Pendulum throws its instinctive granite load.
Borreaux de Solitude
Le pas s’est éloigné le marcheur s’est tu Sur le cadran de l’Imitation Le Balancier lance sa charge de granit réflexe. [End Page 10]
The Prodigal’s Torch
The quarantined fence burned down You cloud passed ahead
Cloud of resistance Cloud of caves Dragging hypnosis
La Torche du Prodigue
Brûlé l’enclos en quarantaine Toi nuage passé devant
Nuage de résistance Nuage des cavernes Entraîneur d’hypnose. [End Page 11]
René Char (1907–1988) was hailed by Prime Minister Jacques Chirac as “the greatest French poet of the 20th century.” He enjoyed a literary career of over sixty years, and was a hero of the French Resistance and a militant anti-nuclear protester. His work is infused with mystery and music.
Nancy Naomi Carlson is a winner of grants from the NEA, Maryland Arts Council, and Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County. The Nomads, My Brothers, Go Out to Drink from the Big Dipper, translations of Abdourahman Waberi are forthcoming from Seagull Books, distributed by the U Chicago Press.
