This is a real discovery for me. I have never before read the work of French poet Patrice de La Tour du Pin, but thanks to the translations published in the current issue of Blackbird, I will now seek out his work. Even in these few poems, the depth of this man's spiritual struggle and devotion is evident. I can't wait to read all of his work. Here are some sample lines from Jennifer Grotz's translations:
From "Psalm 6":
If my dream is laughable, Lord,
extinguish it, for it consumes me.
[...]
One must be able to hear the cry of others, to do nothing but
empty the self for the sake of a common call.
To hear in the voices of others your love cry and your lament:
so I go silent: you hold me.
From "Psalm 18":
I waste my efforts translating the ineffable:
my rendering of life will never achieve clarity.
Who would believe in my caverns, in my trees?
Who will take my stones as real?
From "Psalm 31":
The one who wanted to understand too much,
you struck him endlessly to be understood:
for a Lord, you come down hard when you decide to.
He wasn’t defying your intelligence,
he was only stretching his branches up to you:
you weigh so heavy for a God of light.
From "Psalm 33":
If it’s still to you that I cry out my anguish,
I’m sickened by the halting realization:
isn’t it you who tolls my heart like a funeral bell?
[...]
Why did you burden me with such a desire to praise
before you made me an angel,
why invest in someone who must be torn apart?
