Poetry, Translations

The Hiddenness of the World: Poems

"The title of Martin's book-La Dérobée du Monde-offers a clue, albeit an ambivalent one. I found his use of the word 'dérobée' virtually untranslatable, as difficult to render as some of the most abstruse words in Rimbaud's works which I'd translated years earlier. The word 'dérobée' is one of those French words fraught with shadings of meaning. Its first is cognate with our English infinitive "to rob." A "derobee" could thus be a theft-the robbing, or robbery, of the world. But when a thief steals something, that thing disappears from the sight of its rightful owner. It becomes invisible, as it were. Hidden. Consequently, 'dérobée' came to mean "hiddenness." ... A further consideration: if someone or something has succeeded in "robbing" us of our world-where has that world been "hidden"? Or did the world simply "steal away" from us on its own because we failed to pay sufficient attention to its presence? In any case, to an esoteric-minded poet like Gerard Martin it would undoubtedly take its full meaning (or meanings) away with it. Yet, here we remain, among the hieroglyphic hints and clues, waiting patiently for someone to decipher them. " -Bertrand Mathieu from the introduction

The Evening's Reading

Her black coat athwart the blondeness of the walls. Her black eyes seeking out the warmth of a life. Her hair that binds her to the world's hands and the question soon asked like a recollection in which one no longer believes. An answer, a smile, a glimmering in the eyes, barely a hesitation and the heart that makes the great leap and the lights of nighttime completely oblivious. Later, after an improvised session of hide-and-go-seek, the high voice resounds under the beam for the amusement of the mind. In the shadows, a silhouette frets over the tenebrous unknown.

Available Editions:
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Cloth ISBN: 1-929918-33-X
Price: $22.00
Publishing Date: 2003
Paperback ISBN: 1-929918-34-8
Price: $12.00
Publishing Date: 2003

FormatPaperback , Hardcover

Publication DateJanuary 1, 2003

ISBN1-929918-33-X

From $13.95

About the Author

Gérard Martin

Gérard Martin (b. 1949) is a French poet and Head Librarian at the Bibliothéque-Municipale in Charleville-Méziéres, hometown of Arthur Rimbaud. His collection La Dérobée du Monde was translated by Bertrand Mathieu and published by BOA Editions in 2003.

Bertrand Mathieu

Bertrand Mathieu earned a PhD in English at the University of Arizona (Tucson), then went on to teach American literature in the U.S., France, Germany, China, and Saudi Arabia. He was a Fulbright Professor of American literature twice, teaching at the University of Athens, Greece and the University of Dakar, Senegal. Mathieu is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Lilly Foundation at Yale University. His book publications include Landscape with Voices (Delta, 1975) and early versions of Rimbaud’s masterpieces, A Season in Hell & Illuminations (BOA Editions, 1979).