Synopsis
Since the publication of his first book in 1953, Yves Bonnefoy has become one of the most important French poets of the postwar years. At last, we have the long-awaited English translation of Yves Bonnefoy’s celebrated work, L’Arrière-pays, which takes us to the heart of his creative process and to the very core of his poetic spirit.
In his poem, “The Convex Mirror,” Bonnefoy writes: “Look at them down there, at that crossroads, / They seem to hesitate, then go on.” The idea of the crossroads haunts Bonnefoy’s work, as he is troubled by the idea that the path not taken may lead to the arrière-pays, a place of greater plenitude, and of more authentic being—an “elsewhere in the absolute.” Seized by this fear that what he terms “presence” exists always somewhere else, a little further on, Bonnefoy here sets out on a labyrinthine quest to find traces of this “original place,” which he locates not only in objects of knowledge and experience as diverse as the deserts of Asia, a hill fort in India, a church in Armenia, the painting of Piero della Francesca but also, crucially, in the undivided intensity of his experiences as a child. Written with a visionary grace, The Arrière-pays is a spiritual testament to art, philosophy, and poetry.
Enriched by a new preface by the poet, this volume also includes three recent essays in which he returns to his original account of an ethical and aesthetic haunting, one that recounts the struggle between our instinct to idealize—what he deems our eternal Platonism—and the equally strong need to combat this and to be reconciled with our nature as finite beings, made of flesh and blood, in the world of the here and now.
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About the Authors
Yves Bonnefoy (1923–2016) is recognized as the greatest French poet of the past fifty years. By the time of his death, he had published eleven major collections of poetry in verse and prose, several books of tales, and numerous studies of literature and art.
Stephen Romer is a poet, critic, and translator, and a specialist in Franco-British Modernism. He is currently Stipendiary Lecturer in French at Brasenose College, Oxford.
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Condition: Very Good. Since the publication of his first book in 1953, the author has become one of the most important French poets of the postwar years. This English translation of his celebrated work "L'Arriere-Pays", takes us to the heart of his creative process and to the very core of his poetic spirit. Translator(s): Romer, Stephen. Series: The French List. Num Pages: 164 pages, 20 colour plates. BIC Classification: DCF. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 207 x 157 x 20. Weight in Grams: 562. From the library of Michel Déon. Signed by the translator with an inscription to Déon. Clean copy fine in dust wrapper. DW showing minor shelf wear, remains a very good copy. 2012. Hardcover. . . Signed Copy. . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # KMK0021380
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Condition: Very Good. Since the publication of his first book in 1953, the author has become one of the most important French poets of the postwar years. This English translation of his celebrated work "L'Arriere-Pays", takes us to the heart of his creative process and to the very core of his poetic spirit. Translator(s): Romer, Stephen. Series: The French List. Num Pages: 164 pages, 20 colour plates. BIC Classification: DCF. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 207 x 157 x 20. Weight in Grams: 562. From the library of Michel D?on. Signed by the translator with an inscription to D?on. Clean copy fine in dust wrapper. DW showing minor shelf wear, remains a very good copy. 2012. Hardcover. . . Signed Copy. . Seller Inventory # KMK0021380
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YVES BONNEFOY: THE ARRIERE-PAYS
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Seagull Books, London,, 2012
ISBN 10: 0857420267
ISBN 13: 9780857420268
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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. First Edition. Hardback. Dust Jacket. 8vo.pp. 219. Original publishers cloth binding in black, lettered gilt at spine. Dust jacket features a detail from Piero della Francesca's The Baptism of Christ circa 1442. Black endpapers. Illustrations in colour and black and white. ISBN:9780857420268./Provenance: From the Collection of Clive Wilmer (1945-2025). Clive Wilmer read English at King's College, Cambridge and was Emeritus Fellow of English at Sidney Sussex College. His chief academicÊinterests lay in the fields of Victorian and Modernist poetry, as well as in Victorian aesthetics and social criticism. He wrote and lectured extensively on both John Ruskin and William Morris. From 2009 to 2019, he was the Master of The Guild of St. George, the charity for arts, crafts and the rural economy founded by Ruskin in 1871. In 2023 he was presented with the annual Lifetime Achievement Award of the Ruskin Society of North America. He was the author of nine books of his own poetry and, in collaboration with the Hungarian poet and critic George Gmri, he published many translations of Hungarian poetry. He contributed poems and articles to a wide range of newspapers and periodicals, including the "Times Literary Supplement", "PN Review" and "The London Magazine". From 1989-91 he was chief presenter for the series "Poet of the Month" on Radio 3 and also presented and organized many lectures and conferences/symposia in Britain and overseas. Most recently he was involved in editing the works of the poet Thom Gunn. Fine in fine dust jacket. Signedes. Seller Inventory # C104350
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