OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS Stephane Mallarme Collected Poems AND OTHER VERSE New translations by E. H. and A. M. Blackmore WITH PAIIAIIPI FIUTMTH TFYT OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS COLLECTED POEMS AND OTHER VERSE Stepiiane Mallarme, the descendant of (in his own words) ‘an uninterrupted succession of civil servants’, was born in Paris in 1842. His life was quiet and outwardly uneventful. He married in 1863 and taught English from that year until 1893, at first in various French provincial schools, and later in Paris. He had two children, Genevieve (1864-1919) and Anatole (1871-9). His verse was collected as Poesies (Poetical Works), first in a de-luxe limited edition (1887) and then, more fully, in 1899; his prose poems appeared in Divagations ( Diversions , 1897). The definitive text of Un coup de ties jamais n ’abolira le hasard (A Dice Throw At Any Time Never Will Abolish Chance ) was not published until 1913. He died at Valvins in 1898, little known to the general public but greatly admired by his literary colleagues, who had elected him Prince of Poets (in succession to Verlaine) in 1896. E. H. and A. M. Blackmore have edited and translated eleven volumes of French literature, including Six French Poets of the Nineteenth Century and The Essential Victor Hugo (both in Oxford World’s Classics). Their work has been awarded the American Literary Translators’ Association Prize and the Modern Language Association Scaglione Prize for Literary Translation. Elizabeth McCombie is a Junior Research Fellow in French at St John’s College, University of Oxford. She is the author of Mallarme and Debussy: Unheard Music, Unseen Text (Oxford, 2003). She lives in London with her husband and daughter. OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classic have brought readers closer to the world’s great literature. Now with over yoo titles — from the 4,000-year-old myths of Mesopotamia to the twentieth century’s greatest novels — the series makes available lesser-known as well as celebrated writing. The pocket-sized hardbacks of the early years contained introductions by Virginia Woolf T.S. Eliot, Graham Greene, and other literary figures which enriched the experience of reading. Today the series is recognized for its fine scholarship and reliability in texts that span world literature, drama and poetry, religion, philosophy and politics. Each edition includes perceptive commentary and essential background information to meet the changing needs of readers. OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS STEPHANE MALLARME Collected Poems and Other Verse Translated with Notes by E. H. and A. M. BLACKMORE With an Introduction by ELIZABETH McCOMBIE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0 x 2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York Introduction © Elizabeth McCombie 2006 Translations and all other editorial matter © E. H. and A. M. Blackmore 2006 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published as an Oxford World’s Classics paperback 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset in Ehrhardt by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd., St. Ives pic ISBN 0-19-280362-X 978-0-19-280362-7 1 CONTENTS Introduction ix Note on the Text and Translation xxviii Select Bibliography xxxii A Chronology of Stephane Mallarme xxxiv COLLECTED POEMS AND OTHER VERSE Poesies/ Poetical Works Salut 2 Le Guignon 2 Apparition 6 Placet futile 8 Le Pitre chatie io Les Fenetres io Les Fleurs 14 Renouveau 14 Angoisse 16 [«Las de l’amer repos . »] 16 Le Sonneur 18 Tristesse d’ete 20 L’Azur 20 Brise marine 24 Soupir 24 Aumone 24 Don du poeme 26 Herodiade: Scene 28 L’Apres-midi d’un faune 38 [«La chevelure vol . »] 46 Sainte 46 Toast funebre 48 Prose (pour des Esseintes) 52 Eventail (de Madame Mallarme) 56 Autre eventail (de Mademoiselle Mallarme) 56 Feuillet d’album 58 Rememoration d’amis beiges 58 Chansons bas 60 Toast 3 111 Fortune 3 Apparition 7 Futile Petition 9 A Punishment for the Clown 1 1 The Windows 1 1 The Flowers 1 5 Renewal 1 5 Anguish 17 [‘Weary of bitter rest . .’] 17 The Bell-Ringer 19 Summer Sadness 21 The Blue 21 Sea Breeze 25 Sigh 25 Alms 25 Gift of the Poem 27 Herodias: Scene 29 A Faun in the Afternoon 39 [‘The hair flight of a flame . .’] 47 Saint 47 Funerary Toast 49 Prose (for des Esseintes) 53 Fan (Belonging to Mme Mallarme) 57 Another Fan (Belonging to Mile Mallarme) 57 Album Leaf 59 Remembering Belgian Friends 59 Cheap Songs 61 VI Contents I (Le Savetier) 60 II (La Marchande d’herbes aromatiques) 62 Billet 62 Petit Air I 64 Petit Air II 64 Plusieurs Sonnets [ « Quand l’ombre mena5a . »] 66 [ «Le vierge, le vivace . »] 66 [«Victorieusement fui . »] 68 [«Ses purs ongles tres haut . »] 68 Le Tombeau d’Edgar Poe 70 Le Tombeau de Charles Baudelaire 70 Hommage [« Le silence deja funebre . .»] 72 I («Tout Orgueil fume-t-il du soir . ») 72 II («Surgi de la croupe et du bond . ») 74 III («Une dentelle s’abolit . ») 76 [«Quelle soie aux baumes de temps . »] 76 [«M’introduire dans ton histoire . »] 78 [«A la nue accablante tu . »] 78 [«Mes bouquins refermes . »] 80 Anecdotes ou Poei Le Phenomene futur 82 Plainte d’automne 84 Frisson d’hiver 86 Le Demon de l’analogie 88 Pauvre Enfant pale 90 La Pipe 94 Un spectacle interrompu 94 Reminiscence 100 La Declaration foraine 102 Le Nenuphar blanc 1 12 L’Ecclesiastique 118 La Gloire 120 Conflit 124 I (The Cobbler) 61 II (The Seller of Scented Herbs) 63 Note 63 Little Ditty I 65 Little Ditty II 65 A Few Sonnets [‘When the shade threatened . .’] 67 [‘This virginal long- living . .’] 67 [‘The fine suicide fled . .’] 69 [‘With her pure nails . .’] 69 The Tomb of Edgar Allan Poe 71 The Tomb of Charles Baudelaire 71 Homage [‘Already mourning . .’] 73 I (‘Does every Pride . .’) 73 II (‘Arisen from the rump . .’) 75 III (‘A lace vanishes . .’) 77 [‘What silk with balm from advancing days . .’] 77 [‘To introduce myself into your tale . .’] 79 [‘Stilled beneath the oppressive cloud . .’] 79 [‘My old tomes closed upon the name Paphos .. .’] 81 Anecdotes or Poems The Future Phenomenon 83 Autumn Lament 85 Winter Shivers 87 The Demon of Analogy 89 Poor Pale Child 91 The Pipe 95 An Interrupted Performance 95 Reminiscence 101 The Announcement at the Fair 103 The White Water Lily 1 1 3 The Ecclesiastic 1 19 Glory 12 1 Conflict 125 Contents vii Poeme: Un coup de des jamais n’abolira le hasard 139 Poem: A Dice Throw At Any Time Never Will Abolish Chance 161 appendix i Poems Soleil d’hiver 182 L’Enfant prodigue 182 . Mysticis umbraculis 184 Sonnet [« Souvent la vision . »] 186 Haine du pauvre 186 [«Parce que de la viande . »] 188 Le Chateau de l’esperance 188 [«Une negresse par le demon secouee . »] 190 Herodiade: Ouverture 192 Danslejardin 198 Sonnet [«Sur les bois oublies . »] 198 [«Rien, au reveil, que vous n’ayez . »] 200 Sonnet [«0 si chere de loin . »] 200 [«Dame Sans trop d’ardeur . »] 202 [«Si tu veux nous nous aimerons . »] 202 Types de la rue 204 Le Marchand d’ail et d’oignons 204 Le Cantonnier 204 Le Crieur d’imprimes 204 La Femme du carrier 204 La Marchande d’habits 206 Le Vitrier 206 Eventail (de Mery Laurent) 206 Hommage [« Toute Aurore meme gourde . »] 208 Petit Air (guerrier) 208 [«Toute lame resumee . »] 210 Tombeau [« Le noir roc courrouce . »] 210 [« Au seul souci de voyager . »] 212 Herodiade: Le Cantique de saint Jean 212 Uncollected by Mallarme Winter Sun 1 83 The Prodigal Son 183 ... In the Mystical Shadows 185 Sonnet [‘Often the Poet . .’] 187 Hatred of the Poor 187 [‘Because a bit of roast . .’] 189 The Castle of Hope 189 [‘A negress aroused by the devil . .’] 191 Herodias: Overture 193 In the Garden 199 Sonnet [‘When sombre winter . .’] 199 [‘Nothing on waking . .’] 201 Sonnet [‘O so dear from afar. .’] 201 [‘Lady Without too much passion . .’] 203 [‘If you wish we shall make love . .’] 203 Street Folk 205 The Seller of Garlic and Onions 205 The Roadmender 205 The Newsboy 205 The Quarryman’s Wife 205 The Old Clothes Woman 207 The Glazier 207 Fan (Belonging to Mery Laurent) 207 Homage [‘Every Dawn however numb . .’] 209 Little Ditty (Warlike) 209 [‘All the soul that we evoke . .’] 21 1 Tomb [‘The black rock, cross .