RENÉ DAUMALthe whole curtain of the poem
where
God you are lovely
but so long getting naked
—mary ann caws
René Daumal 1908–1944
ardennes, france
D
aumal’s work remained all but unknown until after his death.
Founder of the journal Le Grand Jeu (1928–1930), he was primarily a
visionary. He experimented at an early age with carbon tetrachloride;his use of the drug inspired his essay ‘‘Une expérience fondamentale’’ (1930),
which follows his consciousness from drug-enhanced insight to a rational under-
standing of these perceptions. He was also influenced by, and wrote on, Eastern
religions. Daumal was a relentless seeker of truth. In the later part of his life, he
met and worked with the spiritual leader Gurdjie√. Principal works: Le Contre-
ciel, 1936; Poésie noire, poésie blanche, 1954.
I Speak in All Ages
Watch out, the pearl in the depth of future centuries, the old ones, their
copper wheels screeching, the pearl rests in its living shell on the table where the
ancestor smashes the granite every morning, centuries long, to feed the sons to
come in the places signaled, dressed with stars, and the dead sons robed in stone.
Watch out, the pearl is in the hollow of the only hand, at the crossing of rays
under the solid sky not weighing much in your throat, old drinker!
You recognize me by my familiar voice and this hand is mine, you can do
nothing, you laugh, old toucher of worlds, but I’ve seized the pearl and there you
are dethroned, cast down.
Go reign over model peoples and gentle pastoral nations, I am keeping an eye
on your old shepherds too, and they know a lot about the night of your mouth.