introductionxxixWishing, above all else, to underscore the arbitrary nature of any such
divisions, however, I think it valuable to bear in mind Charles Baude-
laire’s three-part definition of modernity: that which is fleeting, transi-
tory, and contingent. The same defines any attempt to anthologize, in-
cluding this one.
Inclusions
This collection represents the work of as many poets as possible,
including poems by more than a few poets who, according to the cliché of
prevailing wisdom, have not yet stood the test of time. That is not the only
risk taken here, as a quick glance at the table of contents confirms. Many
poets are represented by several poems, others by just one—an editorial
decision that runs counter to another commonplace view, namely, that it
is impossible to get the feel of a poet’s work from a single selection. The
choices were made with several criteria in mind, some of them made
explicit in this introduction, some of them left implicit: all of us who have
worked so hard on this volume hope that our best intentions will be met
by those of our readers.
Poetic Forms
In addition to expected poetic forms—rhymed, unrhymed, free,
and formal verse—I have included songs, dialogue poems, and a large
selection of prose poetry. The interrelation of prose and verse earns the
prose poem a respectful place among other forms of twentieth-century
French poetry. Between 1915 and 1917 the prose poem came to the fore
through the work of Max Jacob and Pierre Reverdy. For Jacob, the prose
poem conveyed a feeling of closure, of completeness—the style and the
situation removing it from everyday life and setting it o√ as a sort of perfect
object. Here Francis Ponge’s objeu and proêmes would find their antece-
dent. For Reverdy, on the other hand, the prose poem exemplified an
openness of form, an undecidability, as well as a kind of uncertainty, both
impersonal and obsessive, at once attractive and disquieting. The impact
of French prose poetry on contemporary American poets cannot be over-
stated and is overtly present in the works of John Ashbery, Michael Palmer,
and Gustaf Sobin (who are among the translators in this volume).
This intoxicating mix of genres started in France with Aloyisius Ber-
trand’s Gaspard de la nuit and was followed in English-language poetry by
the prose poems of Gertrude Stein (mainly those written between 1915
and 1917, e.g., Portraits and Tender Buttons) and, later, by those of W. S.
Merwin (The Miner’s Pale Children). More recently, the works of Ron
Padgett and Anne Carson come to mind, as do those of Leslie Scalapino