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Published in 1942 and considered the keystone of Francis Ponge's large body of work, Le parti pris des chosesappears here in its entirety as The Nature of Things .Ponge's first full volume, it reveals his preoccupation with nature and its metaphoric transformation through the creative ambiguity of language.Language is both subject and means.For all the critical analysis devoted to this work, "never has the book been fully fathomed" Assessment of the translation by Barbara Wright--Lee Fahnestock must certainly be "Ponge's voice in English".Several rereadings and a comparison with the French originals, confirmed this opinion.Ponge was the first modern poet to be moved to imagine the inner nature of objects-"things".Things animal - vegetable - mineral.Snails -moss - pebbles....Ponge's poetic intentions may seem very serious -and they are- but he expresses seriousness in a joyous, often insouciant style, full of humor, lighthearted word play, puns, alliteration, allusions, imaginative contrasts.And I feel that this unique combination has been reproduced with love and understandingby Lee Fahnestock. She gives us Ponge's tones, rhythms, humor.She has maneuvered his word play with respect and unostentatious discretion; she knows how to read between the lines.Here, to my mind, is indeed Ponge in English. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Inviting book, inspired translation
This translation of Francis Ponge is melodic and gentle. The tenderness and beauty in these poems seem, through Lee Fahnestock's translation, to come straight from Ponge himself. The simple, inviting book design and the lucid translation of the prose poems bring Ponge directly from another time and another place to the modern English-speaking reader. The book as a whole is a treasure.

"Ponge's voice in English"
The following is the text of a letter from award-winning translator Barbara Wright on Lee Fahnestock's translations of the poetry of Francis Ponge.

I knew nothing of how Francis Ponge's poetry had been presented to Anglo-Saxon readers until I was unexpectedly given Lee Fahnestock's translations of his The Nature of Things and Vegetation.My immediate reaction was: Lee Fahnestock must certainly be "Ponge's voice in English".Several rereadings, and a comparison with the French originals, confirmed this opinion.

Ponge was the first modern poet to be moved to imagine the inner nature of objects - "things".Things animal - vegetable - mineral.Snails - moss - pebbles.Ponge's imagination delves into the very being of the objects, he sees how even the most apparently insignificant of them is an integral part of the world we know, he shows us how the nature of inanimate things is intricately linked to all things animate, to all of us human beings.He made it his lifelong task to use his fastidious felling for words and language to make strange and beautiful poetry out of his vision.

To represent this unusual view in another language, it is evident that the translator must have a deep empathy with the original visionary, and it is clear that this empathy was what urged Lee Fahnestock to make these poems wider known.Ponge's poetic intentions may seem very serious - and they are - but he expresses seriousness in a joyous, often insouciant style, full of humor, lighthearted word play, puns, alliteration, allusions, imaginative contrasts.And I feel that this unique combination has be reproduced with love and understanding by Lee Fahnestock.She gives us Ponge's tones, rhythms, humor.She has maneuvered his word play with respect and unostentatious discretion; she knows how to read between the lines.Here, to my mind, is indeed Ponge in English. ... Read more

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A travers les textes qu'il consacre à Georges Braque, Francis Ponge questionne sa propre démarche d'écrivain, nourrit et informe sa conception de la poésie comme sa pratique d'écriture. Ces écrits sur l'art accordent une attention particulière aupeintre et à sa pratique plutôt qu'à l'?uvre peinte et à sa description. Ponge interroge le rôle de l'artiste dans la société comme son inscription dans l'histoire quand Braque est pour lui un "maître de vie", porteur de valeurs relatives à la morale et à l'éthique que leurs deux ?uvres partagent en bien des points. Avec les moyens propres au langage, Ponge procède, comme Braque en sa pratique artistique, par tâtonnements successifs, répétitions-variations, et met à découvert le cheminement de l'?uvre au fur et à mesure de son élaboration. Entre l'?uvre du poète et celle du peintre, il n'est pas tant question de pratiques réciproques qui seraient similaires ou correspondantes, que d'une réciprocité de pratiques, de processus à l'?uvre d'engendrement de l'?uvre quand il y a chez tous deux un même mouvement dans l'exercice d'une activité artistique et réflexive, une même relation qui lie leur pratique et leur réflexion. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1462 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Francis Ponge: The Table.(poetry)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: World Literature Today (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 80Issue: 5Page: 52(4)

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Word count: 2748. ... Read more