La poésie de Philippe Jaccottet : réparer l’absence, « à la frontière de Dieu »

• Authors: Sophie Guermès

Title variants

EN

The Poetry of Philippe Jaccottet: repairing absence, near the frontier with God

• Languages of publication: FR

Abstracts

EN

In 1961 Philippe Jaccottet wrote: "The best answer to all kinds of questions is the poem’s very absence of a response". In keeping with the elusive nature of the world, abandoned by the gods and by God, the poem remains mysterious, thus trans-lating as well as preserving the inexhaustible richness of Nature and human beings. So the poet not only accepts such a precarious situation, but learns from it. Nevertheless, when someone dear dies, the poet tends to deny the absence of the loved one and revolts against it, since there no longer are any signs of presence: merely incomprehensible absence. Yet he chooses to bear witness, even if he remains ignorant and weak. In effect, this is a duty: poetry provides a link which enables the separation to avoid becoming a definitive absence. Words are repairing shuttles.

Keywords

FR

Philippe Jaccottet; poetry; religion; absence; question

EN

Philippe Jaccottet; poetry; religion; absence; question

• Publisher: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II. Wydawnictwo Werset
• Journal: Quêtes littéraires
• Year: 2012
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 101-115

Dates

published

2012-12-30

Contributors

author

Sophie Guermès

Identifiers

DOI

10.31743/ql.4631