Our poetry evening ‘Choix de poèmes’ on the 11th December was a wonderful success thanks entirely to our members who selected and presented their choice of poems and to the lively and informative discussions which followed.
A
number of people expressed their pleasure at having been reacquainted
with a favourite poem or at having discovered a new work. It was also
interesting to compare the various anthologies members had brought
with them. Some of the books were old but all were beautifully
kept in keeping no doubt with the many treasured memories they
contained.
First
up, was Jonathan with Arthur Rimbaud's Le
Dormeur du Val –
a sensitive poem about a fallen soldier composed when the poet was
quite young. Amélie
was next with her
rendition of Victor Hugo's Sur
une barricade written
in 1872. This was
her favourite poem from an author we don't immediately think of as a
poet.
An
extract from L'Invitation
au voyage by
Charles Baudelaire was
Margaret's
choice. Reading from Douglas Parmée's
anthology, Twelve French Poets, a text familiar to many at the
meeting, she delivered the poem in such a way that one member who was
already familiar with the text said that it was like hearing it,
really hearing it, for the very first time.
My
own rendition was Déjeuner du matin by
Jacques Prévert. A
deceptively simple poem, often studied in French primary schools
despite its quite adult, mature theme. One of the members commented
that the poem had a cinematic or theatrical feel to it. Prévert
of course was also a screenwriter most notably for Les Enfants du
Paradis. Incidentally, a full
size cinema poster for that film, crediting Prévert,
adorns the staircase wall of the Harp Bar, just opposite the Dark
Horse.
Liberté
by Paul Éluard
was Claudine choice. Here the theme of freedom seemed to connect with
other poems independently chosen for the evening. It was an
appropriate poem to lead to an extract of a lecture - The whole
thing: On the good of poetry - given by the late Seamus Heaney
and voiced by his friend, Jim. Discussion around the extract led to
a lively exchange on the value of reading aloud, hearing rather than
reading the poem and the whole subject of translation.
All
in all it was an excellent evening which members felt ought to be
repeated in future programmes. As ever, the Dark Horse was the
perfect venue – Warm ; comfortable seats ; soft
lighting ; treasured anthologies and timeless literature.
Poetic.