
The Digamma
Seagull Books London Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 6. July 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
64 pages
978-1-80309-296-6 (ISBN)
Description
An inspiring book of poetry and prose by the celebrated author Yves Bonnefoy.
Heralded as one of France's greatest poets, Yves Bonnefoy has been dazzling readers since the publication of his first book in 1953. He remains influential and relevant, continuing to compose groundbreaking new work. Though Bonnefoy recently celebrated his ninetieth birthday, many are calling these past two decades his most impressive yet.
His latest book of poetry and prose, The Digamma, fits wonderfully into his impressive oeuvre, offering his signature style of simple but powerful language with fresh new grace. A key passage of the title piece of the book depicts the figures of Nicolas Poussin's The Shepherds of Arcadia, which Bonnefoy has identified as crucial to the artist's evolution. The sustained reference to Poussin's iconography serves to ground the text in the lost civilizations of antiquity. Subtly, it brings out the underlying theme of the entire collection-in the ambivalent world we inhabit, being and non-being is fundamentally one.
As a leading translator of Shakespeare in France, Bonnefoy's fascination with the master playwright is displayed in "God in Hamlet" and "For a Staging of Othello," two poems in prose that belong to an ongoing series of meditations on the plays. The collection also includes haunting reflections on children, nature, the origins of art, and vanished cultures.
Heralded as one of France's greatest poets, Yves Bonnefoy has been dazzling readers since the publication of his first book in 1953. He remains influential and relevant, continuing to compose groundbreaking new work. Though Bonnefoy recently celebrated his ninetieth birthday, many are calling these past two decades his most impressive yet.
His latest book of poetry and prose, The Digamma, fits wonderfully into his impressive oeuvre, offering his signature style of simple but powerful language with fresh new grace. A key passage of the title piece of the book depicts the figures of Nicolas Poussin's The Shepherds of Arcadia, which Bonnefoy has identified as crucial to the artist's evolution. The sustained reference to Poussin's iconography serves to ground the text in the lost civilizations of antiquity. Subtly, it brings out the underlying theme of the entire collection-in the ambivalent world we inhabit, being and non-being is fundamentally one.
As a leading translator of Shakespeare in France, Bonnefoy's fascination with the master playwright is displayed in "God in Hamlet" and "For a Staging of Othello," two poems in prose that belong to an ongoing series of meditations on the plays. The collection also includes haunting reflections on children, nature, the origins of art, and vanished cultures.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Greenford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 123 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
92 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80309-296-6 (9781803092966)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Yves Bonnefoy's recent books include Second Simplicity: New Poetry and Prose and The Present Hour. In addition to poetry and literary criticism, he has published numerous works on art history and translated into French several of Shakespeare's plays. Hoyt Rogers is the author of a poetry collection, Witnesses, and a volume of criticism, The Poetics of Inconstancy. He translates from French, German, and Spanish.
Content
Foreword by Hoyt Rogers
God in Hamlet
Leaving the Garden, in the Snow
The Digamma
Learned Libraries
The Works of the Unconscious
Voice in the Sound of the Rain
More on the Invention of Drawing
For a Staging of Othello
The Great Voice
The Digamma: A Final Note
God in Hamlet
Leaving the Garden, in the Snow
The Digamma
Learned Libraries
The Works of the Unconscious
Voice in the Sound of the Rain
More on the Invention of Drawing
For a Staging of Othello
The Great Voice
The Digamma: A Final Note