Ce tressaillement / This Thrill

Blackout Poetry in French with an English Translation

Ce tressaillement, posé, modifiant le dessin, se brise, s’éclate entre rêve et gloire.

Et le corps, capturé, en geôle, affaibli et joyeux, rajeunit, chantant sa gaieté dorée de l’avenir.

This Thrill: The Translation

This thrill, set down, changing the bigger picture, shatters, splinters between dream and glory.

And the body, captured, imprisoned, weakened and joyous, rejuvenates, singing the future’s golden cheer.

This blackout poetry piece is my collage of sorts, responding to Trisha Traughber’s call for putting bits together in a poetic expression. I glued together various words from the talented, French author and poet, Christian Bobin, taken from his award winning book, Le Très-Bas (translated in English under two titles: The Secret of Francis of Assisi: A Meditation, and The Very Lowly).

All his books are riddled with raw and cut gems of poetical prowess. I highly recommend his writing. I have only read him in French, though, so I don’t know how his work holds up when translated.

This is my first attempt at blackout poetry, something I discovered through Lisa Bolin’s, as well as Trisha’s work. It was a true challenge. I must admit, I did make one small change: “rajeunie”, an adjective in the original text, I changed to “rajeunit”, a verb, to suit my poem. Thank you, Lisa and Trisha, for inspiring me.