Poem
Habib Tengour
CAESURA – I.
If he comes to interrogate a half-burned trace, he does so impelled by an atavism or rather a jealously guarded technique. He has woven the poem in secrecy. Months of retreat in the desert, at the mercy of the winds, so as to conform to the tradition. Chaffing and the whip. The echo’s harshness initiates into tonal ruptures. Remoteness dilutes the blood. That’s when the rhythm’s fragility is discovered together with a sudden fear of obscurity. He’ll say nothing about the shiver in the hearing or the strangeness of the visions. Sound images jostle…He stands upright to evoke the dwelling.
The circumstance is banal in contrast to the words that describe it.
A complete rhetorical staging in order to evacuate the mutism of the ashes.
© Translation: 2012, Pierre Joris
From: Exile is my trade: A Habib Tengour Reader
Publisher: Black Widow Press, Boston, 2012
From: Exile is my trade: A Habib Tengour Reader
Publisher: Black Widow Press, Boston, 2012
CESUUR – I.
Als hij een halfverkoold spoor gaat onderzoeken, wordt hij gedreven door overerving of eerder nog door een angstvallig bewaarde techniek. Hij heeft het gedicht in het geheim geweven. Maanden van afzondering in de woestijn, overgeleverd aan de winden, om de traditie na te volgen. Kloven in zijn huid en tuchtiging. De scherpe echo maakt hem vertrouwd met breuken in de toon. De afstand verdunt het bloed. Dan wordt met een plotselinge angst voor het donker duidelijk hoe breekbaar het ritme is. Hij zal niets zeggen over de trilling in het gehoor of de vreemdheid van de visioenen. Klankbeelden buitelen over elkaar heen…Hij staat overeind om het huis op te roepen.
De omstandigheid is banaal, in tegenstelling tot de woorden die haar beschrijven.
Een complete retorische enscenering om het stilzwijgen van de as ongedaan te maken.
© Vertaling: 2014, Kiki Coumans
CÉSURE – I.
S’il vient interroger une trace à moitié calcinée, c’est poussé parun atavisme ou plutôt une technique jalousement gardée. Dans le secret, il a
tissé le poème. Des mois de retraite dans le désert, livré aux vents, pour se
conformer à la tradition. Gerçures et fouet. L’âpreté de l’écho initie à des
ruptures de ton. Le sang se dilue dans l’éloignement. Se découvre alors la
fragilité du rythme avec une peur soudaine de l’obscurité. Il ne dira rien du
frémissement de l’ouïe ni de l’étrangeté des visions. Des images sonores
se bousculent…
Il se tient debout pour évoquer la demeure.
La circonstance est banale contrairement aux mots pour la décrire.
Toute une mise en scène rhétorique pour évacuer le mutisme de la cendre.
© 2006, Habib Tengour
From: Césure
Publisher: Editions WIGWAM, Rennes
From: Césure
Publisher: Editions WIGWAM, Rennes
Poems
Poems of Habib Tengour
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CAESURA – I.
If he comes to interrogate a half-burned trace, he does so impelled by an atavism or rather a jealously guarded technique. He has woven the poem in secrecy. Months of retreat in the desert, at the mercy of the winds, so as to conform to the tradition. Chaffing and the whip. The echo’s harshness initiates into tonal ruptures. Remoteness dilutes the blood. That’s when the rhythm’s fragility is discovered together with a sudden fear of obscurity. He’ll say nothing about the shiver in the hearing or the strangeness of the visions. Sound images jostle…He stands upright to evoke the dwelling.
The circumstance is banal in contrast to the words that describe it.
A complete rhetorical staging in order to evacuate the mutism of the ashes.
© 2012, Pierre Joris
From: Exile is my trade: A Habib Tengour Reader
Publisher: 2012, Black Widow Press, Boston
From: Exile is my trade: A Habib Tengour Reader
Publisher: 2012, Black Widow Press, Boston
CAESURA – I.
If he comes to interrogate a half-burned trace, he does so impelled by an atavism or rather a jealously guarded technique. He has woven the poem in secrecy. Months of retreat in the desert, at the mercy of the winds, so as to conform to the tradition. Chaffing and the whip. The echo’s harshness initiates into tonal ruptures. Remoteness dilutes the blood. That’s when the rhythm’s fragility is discovered together with a sudden fear of obscurity. He’ll say nothing about the shiver in the hearing or the strangeness of the visions. Sound images jostle…He stands upright to evoke the dwelling.
The circumstance is banal in contrast to the words that describe it.
A complete rhetorical staging in order to evacuate the mutism of the ashes.
© 2012, Pierre Joris
From: Exile is my trade: A Habib Tengour Reader
Publisher: 2012, Black Widow Press, Boston
From: Exile is my trade: A Habib Tengour Reader
Publisher: 2012, Black Widow Press, Boston
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