The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry

Marie-Claire Bancquart 1932–

aubin, france

B

ancquart is a poet, novelist, and literary scholar. A professor emerita at

the Sorbonne, Paris IV, she has written authoritatively on the works of

Guy de Maupassant, Jules Vallès, and Anatole France. Among the many

prizes she has won are the Prix Max Jacob (1978), the Grand Prix de l’Essai de la

Ville de Paris, and the Grand Prix de Critique de l’Académie Française. Principal

works: Proche, 1972; Cherche-terre, 1977; Mémoire d’abolie, 1978; Partition, 1981;

Opportunité des oiseaux, 1986; Opéra des limites, 1988; Sans lieu sinon l’attente,

1991; Dans le feuilletage de la terre, 1994; La Paix saignée, 1999; Rituel d’emporte-

ment, 2002; Anamorphoses, 2003.

Counterfable of Orpheus

To veil the saintly face
of my wife.
Able to turn around without killing bees.

Not to have set
a possible trap
by going down death’s sloping shadow.

To be at that young moment still
when bud sap
rose in Eurydice’s lips.

To gather beasts and stars
round beckoning song
with marching sounds and sounds of dawn.

It’s over; the dry god
has captured the freshness of my vines.
I hate the wine-harvester’s greed as she
follows
dogging my steps