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“To pierce the rampart of the dead” (“True Place of the Stag” line 16)

Earlier in the poem, the disappearance of a last stag is discussed. Deer in France were dying out towards the end of WW2. The use of death in this poem may be leaning toward the insinuation of where “The True Place of the Stag” really is. Bonnefoy also may be challenging those trying to save the deer by suggesting something along the lines of “how are you going to bring back the dead.”

[yes-too-yves]

“… poetry’s role is to examine, in a critical or supportive spirit, the ways in which the men or women of our time combat the alienation they undergo.”

— Yves Bonnefoy, Poetry and Photography, 2009.

[yes-too-yves]

“The alcohol of the declining day / Will spread out on the tiles.” (“True Place of the Stag” lines 7 and 8) The declining day indicates the end of the day, and the reference to alcohol spread out on the tiles can be used to interpret a sunset, illuminating a tiled floor. Once again, he brings nature into his poem.

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written by Yves Bonnefoy and translated by Galway Kinnell (French -> English)

“The long-saught most beautiful country / Will lie out before us—land of the salamanders.” (“The Orangery,” lines 4-5)

At first, I thought this line, and, subsequently, the poem were inherently religious as early Christians used the salamander to represent the immunity of Jesus.

However, after finding Bonnefoy's work with Moroccan artists, I had second thoughts. Salamanders could also be used to reference North Africa's deserts, once colonized extensively by France in Bonnefoy's time.

Bonnefoy lived through both WWII and Algerian Independence from France. Being a French poem written in July 1962, I would think it would have to do with Algeria.

It would line up with Bonnefoy's previous motifs of war and death.

[yes-too-yves]

Dune Du Pilat

“The sand will reverberate / With the tread of obscure arrivals” (“True Place of the Stag” lines 3 and 4)

The Dune du Pilat located in France is the tallest sand dune in Europe. This is another example of Bonnefoy’s persistent use of nature in France in his poems. The reverberating sand could be the wind blowing over the sand, giving it the illusion of a visual reverberation, as sand in the desert often does. The “obscure arrivals” can be interpreted as footsteps or people being lost in the vastness of this sand dune. The reverberating sand may be covering up the footsteps and, with the wind, maybe obscuring the vision of those present at Dune du Pilat.

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IX

Waters of the sleeper, tree of absence, shoreless hours, In your eternity a night is ending.  How shall we name this new day, my soul, This gentle glowing mixed with blacker sand?

In the waters of the sleeper the lights grow dim. A language begins to form, which parts The bright burgeoning of stars in the foam. Awakening is near, and with it memory. 

— Yves Bonnefoy, The Summer’s Night, from Poems 1959-1975 (tr. by Richard Pevear)

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¿Qué casa quieres levantar para mí, qué escritura negra cuando llega el fuego? * Retrocedí por mucho tiempo antes tus signos, me expulsaste de toda densidad. * Pero ahora la noche incesante me cuida, con caballos oscuros me salvo de ti.

—Yves Bonnefoy, «Una voz» en Del movimiento y la inmovilidad de Douve (1953), compilado en Poemas 1947-1975. Traducción de Silvio Mattoni.

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“Let the word burn out / … / Let the hearth of the cry close down” (“Douve Speaks” - Part III, lines 10-12)

Bonnefoy frequently mentions death in his poems, and “Douve Speaks” is no exception. These lines are at the very end of the poem, so he’s closing the poem with a death. “The word” and “the cry” could be referring to the screams and final words of soldiers dying in battle, which would connect to the larger themes of the castle and bloodshed.

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“On blackened paths, / I shared the stone’s hypnosis,” (“Douve Speaks” - Part I, lines 2-3)

Bonnefoy lived in France, a country with a history full of castles and war. Given that “douve” in French translates to “moat,” it’s reasonable to assume that Bonnefoy is drawing from his French culture and France’s history to construct a poem from the perspective of a moat surrounding a French castle. “The stone’s hypnosis” could refer to the stillness of the stone walls, so Bonnefoy is likely using that as a comparison for the stillness of the moat.

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Mehdi Qotbi

Artist book: etchings with text by Yves Bonnefoy

"Plus, Plus Vite" 2001

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The True Place of the Stag

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“I was longing for summer, / A furious summer to dry my tears,” (“Douve Speaks” - Part I, lines 7-8)

Bonnefoy uses a lot of figurative language, like personification, to add color to his poems. The heat of the summer is described as furiousness, and as the moat evaporates due to the sun, the moat’s tears are dried.

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“What is usual for me is the desire to find myself once again within a specifically poetic idiom. For this to happen it is necessary that words come to my mind free from the conceptual network that is present and active in ordinary speech. … So I jot down these sentences. I listen to them. I see them making signs to each other, and thanks to them I begin to understand needs, memories, fantasies which are within me. This is the beginning of the poem, which will eventually become a whole book, since it will concern all that I am.”

Yves Bonnefoy

to Paris Review

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“Who has snapped off this sword in the old blood?” (“Douve Speaks” - Part II, line 4)

French castles have seen a lot of bloodshed throughout the centuries, especially since France has been involved in many wars. This poem is written from the castle moat’s perspective, and the moat likely would’ve witnessed all of the battles. Bonnefoy could be referencing remnants of battles, like swords, metal from armor, and blood on the ground.

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Douve Speaks

written by Yves Bonnefoy, translated by Galway Kinnell (french -> english)

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“A last Stag vanishing / Among the trees,” (“True Place of the Stag” lines 1 and 2) In France, deer are a symbol of power and loyalty, and are referred to as “the kings of the forest.” The French Forest represents 13% of the wooded areas in the European Union. The lines of the poem talk about the "a"last stag" disappearing into the forest. Towards the end of WW2, there were not many deer left, almost dying out. Bonnefoy grew up in France, and as such, he was in France during the second world war. It is possible that he is referring to this time period.