(And here a snowflake lingers, our eyes follow it,
We would love to look at it forever,
Here another falls upon the open hand.
 
And here another, slower and as though lost, goes off,
Turns about, then comes back. And isn’t this to say
That a word, yet another word, still to be invented,
Might redeem the world? But one never knows
If this word is heard or only dreamed of.)

Yves Bonnefoy, celebrated translator and critic, is widely considered the most important and influential French poet since World War II. Named to the College de France in 1981 to fill the chair left vacant by the death of Roland Barthes, Bonnefoy was the first poet honored in this way since Paul Valery. Winner of many awards, including the Prix Goncourt in 1987 and the Hudson Review‘s Bennett Award in 1988, he is the author of six critically acclaimed books of poetry. Spanning four decades and drawing on all of Bonnefoy’s major collections, New and Selected Poems provides a comprehensive overview of and an ideal introduction to his work.
Also by Yves Bonnefoy from the University of Chicago Press:
Act and the Place of Poetry: Selected Essays
In the Shadow’s Light
Lure and the Truth of Painting: Selected Essays on Art
Shakespeare and the French Poet