The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry

JUDE STÉFAN

And this unsuspected, total inversion of the sky.
But let it be said here that I accept and ask nothing
Against a submission that contains its recompense.
Which, and why, I do not know:
Where I kneel is neither faith, pride, nor hope,
But rather, passing through the night moon’s opened eye
A return to the untouchable country of origins,
Ash embracing ash with a calm wind blessing it.
—stephen romer

Jude Stéfan 1930–

pont-audemer, france

S

téfan, a poet, novelist, and essayist, has produced numerous short-story

collections and engravings. He studied French, law, and philosophy and

went on to teach French, Latin, and Greek in Bernay. Latin poetry and

Renaissance literature have both inspired his writing. The author of Lettres tom-

bales (1987), Stéfan has received both the Prix Max Jacob and the Grand Prix de

Poésie de la Ville de Paris (2000). Principal works: Cyprès, 1967; Aux chiens du

soir, 1979; Suites slaves, 1983; Laures, 1984; Alme Diane, 1986; A la Vielle Parque,

1989; Stances, 1991; Povrésies, 1997; Épodes, ou, poèmes de la desuétude, 1999;

Génétifs: Poèmes, 2001; La Muse province: 76 proses en poèmes, 2002.

Butcher’s Meat by Loti

apparition of the green sea one evening
beyond the dunes beneath a rare sky
under the snow the old plum-tree has
sunk into the childhood of gardens
o hand of time
and the blood-engorged steers have collapsed
under bludgeon blows across their brows attached