An experiment with the sonnet form by one of the foremost French poets
of his generation.
Yves Bonnefoy has wowed the literary world for decades with his diffuse
volumes. First published in France in 2008, The Anchor's Long Chain
is an indispensable addition to his oeuvre. Enriching Bonnefoy's earlier
work, the volume, translated by Beverley Bie Brahic, also innovates,
including an unprecedented sequence of nineteen sonnets. These sonnets
combine the strictness of the form with the freedom to vary line length
and create evocative fragments. Compressed, emotionally powerful, and
allusive, the poems are also autobiographical--but only in glimpses.
Throughout, Bonnefoy conjures up life's eternal questions with each new
poem.
Longer, discursive pieces, including the title poem's meditation on a
prehistoric stone circle and a legend about a ship, are also part of
this volume, as are a number of poetic prose pieces in which Bonnefoy,
like several of his great French predecessors, excels. Long-time fans
will find much to praise here, while newer readers will quickly find
themselves under the spell of Bonnefoy's powerful, discursive poetry.