The Anchor's Long Chain

An experiment with the sonnet form by one of the foremost French poets of his generation. Yves Bonnefoy has wowed the literary world for decades with his diffuse volumes. First published in France in 2008, The Anchorâ?¿s Long Chain is an indispensable addition to his oeuvre. Enriching Bonnefoyâ?¿s earlier work, the volume, translated by Beverley Bie Brahic, also innovates, including an unprecedented sequence of nineteen sonnets. These sonnets combine the strictness of the form with the freedom to vary line length and create evocative fragments. Compressed, emotionally powerful, and allusive, the poems are also autobiographicalâ?¿but only in glimpses. Throughout, Bonnefoy conjures up lifeâ?¿s eternal questions with each new poem. Longer, discursive pieces, including the title poemâ?¿s meditation on a prehistoric stone circle and a legend about a ship, are also part of this volume, as are a number of poetic prose pieces in which Bonnefoy, like several of his great French predecessors, excels. Long-time fans will find much to praise here, while newer readers will quickly find themselves under the spell of Bonnefoyâ?¿s powerful, discursive poetry. Â