The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry

Claire Malroux ca. 1930s

albi, france

A

poet, translator, and critic, Malroux has a keen interest in American

and British poetry, which serves as an inspiration for her own work.

She has translated into French works by Charlotte Brontë, Emily Dick-

inson, Wallace Stevens, and Derek Walcott. In 1995 she was awarded the Grand

Prix National de la Traduction. She has also won the Prix Maurice Edgar Coin-

dreau and the Prix Laure Bataillon. Malroux is on the editorial board of Po&sie

and on the jury of the Prix Nelly Sachs, a prize for poetry translation. Some of

her collections have appeared under the pseudonym Claire Sara Roux. Principal

works: A l’arbre blanc, 1968; Les Orpailleurs, 1978; Au bord, 1981; Aires, 1985; Entre

nous et la lumière, 1992 (as Claire Sara Roux); Edge, 1996; Soleil de jadis, 1998;

Suspens, 2001.

Appointment in June

for Marilyn Hacker

Roses curve around the lawn, their pale cheeks
Barely letting the blood’s anguish well up
And beyond the roses’ curve, the curve of benches, loges
To contemplate their candor, o√ered to the sun
Which slides across them, as across a page
Whose words soon will no longer matter
The sun broils superfluous words
Which keep it at bay. Good gardener
It burns what it has first brought to bloom
And so my first death was your death in June
The nectar of your brain borne o√ by bees
Toward the rays of a starry hive
Perhaps you were my first real poem
Flesh warms the benches but no emptiness
Shimmers when the embracing couple leaves
Children play at capturing the small
Red house atop a bright yellow ladder