The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry

Claude Esteban 1935–

paris, france

A

poet, essayist, and translator, Esteban has translated the works of

García Lorca and Paz, as well as those of Quevedo, Góngora, and

Machado. From 1974 to 1981 he directed the review Argile and from

1984 to 1993 headed the poetry division of Flammarion. He is currently a pro-

fessor of Spanish at the Sorbonne. He is also the president of the Maison des

Écrivains, where he resides. Principal works: Terres, travaux du coeur, 1979; Le

Nom et la demeure, 1985; Élégie de la mort violente, 1989; Quelqu’un commence à

parler dans une chambre, 1995; Janvier, février, mars, 1999; Morceaux de ciel,

presque rien: Poèmes, 2001.

Once Evening’s Fallen

Once evening’s fallen you prepare for a voyage
which will never take place because of course you don’t leave
and yet all the same every evening it’s a very exceptional
moment because before leaving it all you must
put your house in order and all of your thoughts
that took up so much space and keep back just one
or two, those that weigh least, to go in your baggage

once evening’s fallen, it’s as if someone
else took care of all this, doing all this
in your place, but without hurting your feelings, just
to help you and you find yourself, though you never know why,
loving that faceless companion and when you have to leave
you could almost embrace him, he who does not leave,
and you stay on with him, very late, in the shadows.
—rosemary lloyd