The Birdcage Archives

Thursday, 7 July 2016

Yves Bonnefoy Dies age 93

Hello Gentle Reader

Yves Bonnefoy was France’s pre-eminent post-war poet; to add to his resume though, he was also a translator of Shakespeare, and an art critic, in the vein of Baudelaire. Despite his humble roots and beginnings, Bonnefoy studied mathematics and philosophy, at the Sorbonne, and after World War II, traveled around Europe and the United States, and studied art history. During this time he was associated with the surrealists, whose influence was never long lasting and could only be seen on his first published collection. His breakthrough in poetry was the intimate “On the Motion and Immobility of Douve.” This breakthrough book showcased his mature and own style of poetry, a deceptive simplicity in its vocabulary. After the publication of “On the Motion and Immobility of Douve,” and the subsequent collections of poetry, Yves Bonnefoy would become France’s most prominent poet, and would be elected as the Chair of Comparative Poetics at the Collège de France. Bonnefoy would also teach in Britain and the United States. Despite all of this though, Yves Bonnefoy would be seen by new readers as abstract and obscure in his poetic dealings, and yet remained unapologetic for his chosen form of writing, and for the way he wrote it. Yves Bonnefoy wrote, and revitalized French poetry after the Second World War, he was both a connoisseur, critic, and intellect when it came to language, poetry, philosophy and art; and will be remembered for his service to French poetry and its language. France has certainly lost one of its greatest keepers of the French language, and innovators of French poetry.

Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read


M. Mary

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