The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry

BERNARD NOËL

and among these painting ends of time
here I remain again in your legend
your great eyes upon many processions
the wooden horses of your laughter
your eyes of straw and gold
will remain forever in the depths of my heart
and they will traverse the ages

I walk to you, I stagger to you, I die from you,
slowly I collapse completely in my soul
I walk to you, I stagger to you, I drink
from the empty gourd of the meaning of life
to these steps sown in the streets without north or south
to these gusts of wind without tail or head
I have no more face for love
no face for anything anything
sometimes I sit down with pity for myself
I open my arms to the cross of sleep
my body is a last net of loving twitches
the thread of lost memories in my fingers
I don’t wait for tomorrow I wait for you
I’m not waiting for the world to end I’m waiting for you
disengaged from the false halo of my life
—mary ann caws

Bernard Noël 1930–

sainte-geneviève-sur-agence, france

S

ilent for nearly ten years after the publication of his first book, Extraits du

corps, in 1958, Noël is now considered one of the finest poets and prose

writers of his generation. After 1971, he devoted himself entirely to his

writing, including many essays on painters, and began to publish regularly with

Fata Morgana, P.O.L., and Gallimard. Principal works: Le Château de Cène, 1969;