Night Journey (The Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation, 50)

One of South America's most celebrated contemporary poets takes us on a fantastic voyage to mysterious lands and seas, into the psyche, and to the heart of the poem itself. Night Journey is the English-language debut of the work that won María Negroni an Argentine National Book Award. It is a book of dreams--dreams she renders with surreal beauty that recalls the work of her compatriot Alejandra Pizarnik, with the penetrating subtlety of Borges and Calvino. In sixty-two tightly woven prose poems, Negroni deftly infuses haunting imagery with an ironic, personal spirituality. Effortlessly she navigates the nameless subject to the slopes of the Himalayas, to a bar in Buenos Aires, through war, from icy Scandinavian landscapes to the tropics, across seas, toward a cemetery in the wake of Napoleon's hearse, by train, by taxis headed in unrequested directions, past mirrors and birds, between life and death. Night Journey reflects a mastery of a traditional form while brilliantly expressing a modern condition: the multicultural, multifaceted individual, ever in motion. Displacement abounds: a "medieval tabard" where a pelvis should be, a "lipless grin," a "beach severed from the ocean." In one poem "nomadic cities" whisk past. In another, smiling cockroaches loom in a visiting mother's eyes. Anne Twitty, whose elegant translations are accompanied by the Spanish originals, remarks in her preface that the book's "indomitable literary intelligence" subdues an unspoken terror--helplessness. Yet, as observed by the angel Gabriel, the consoling voice of wisdom, only by accepting the journey for what it is can one discover its "hidden splendor," the "invisible center of the poem." As readers of this magnificent work will discover, this is a journey that, because its every fleeting image conjures a thousand words of fertile silence, can be savored again and again Contents......Page 8 Kidnapped by the Inexorable: Translator's Introduction......Page 12 Esqueletos bajo el cielo......Page 16 Skeletons under the Sky......Page 17 La jaula en flor......Page 18 Cage in Bloom......Page 19 Catástrofe......Page 20 Catastrophe......Page 21 Ecuyère y militar......Page 22 Equestrienne and Officer......Page 23 Los bosques de mármol......Page 24 The Marble Forests......Page 25 La pérdida......Page 26 Loss......Page 27 Gabriel......Page 28 Gabriel......Page 29 Heráldica......Page 30 Heraldry......Page 31 Van Gogh......Page 32 Van Gogh......Page 33 The Great Watcher......Page 34 The Great Watcher......Page 35 El espejo del alma......Page 36 Mirror of the Soul......Page 37 La ciudad nómade......Page 38 Nomadic City......Page 39 El padre......Page 40 The Father......Page 41 Diálogo con Gabriel I......Page 42 Dialogue with Gabriel I......Page 43 Lido......Page 44 Lido......Page 45 La visita......Page 46 The Visit......Page 47 La guía telefónica......Page 48 The Telephone Book......Page 49 El mapa del Tiempo......Page 50 The Map of Time......Page 51 Napoleón II......Page 52 Napoleon II......Page 53 Los amantes......Page 54 The Lovers......Page 55 Los ojos de Dios......Page 56 The Eyes of God......Page 57 El caballo blanco......Page 58 The White Horse......Page 59 El bebé......Page 60 The Baby......Page 61 Las tres madonas......Page 62 The Three Madonnas......Page 63 Tout cherche tout......Page 64 Tout cherche tout......Page 65 Carta a Sèvres......Page 66 Letter to Sèvres......Page 67 El diccionario infinito......Page 68 The Infinite Dictionary......Page 69 Las ventanas del siglo......Page 70 Windows on the Century......Page 71 Diálogo con Gabriel II......Page 72 Dialogue with Gabriel II......Page 73 Los dos cielos......Page 74 The Two Heavens......Page 75 Fata Morgana......Page 76 Fata Morgana......Page 77 New Jersey......Page 78 New Jersey......Page 79 Rosamundi......Page 80 Rosamundi......Page 81 Encrucijada......Page 82 Crossroads......Page 83 La ceguera......Page 84 Blindness......Page 85 Midgard......Page 86 Midgard......Page 87 La ropa......Page 88 Clothes......Page 89 El diluvio......Page 90 The Deluge......Page 91 Sleeping Beauty......Page 92 Sleeping Beauty......Page 93 El viaje......Page 94 The Journey......Page 95 Die Zeit......Page 96 Die Zeit......Page 97 Diálogo con Gabriel III......Page 98 Dialogue with Gabriel III......Page 99 Teoría de la luz......Page 100 Theory of Light......Page 101 Los hilos del ser......Page 102 Threads of Being......Page 103 Over Exposure......Page 104 Over Exposure......Page 105 Eternidad......Page 106 Eternity......Page 107 Los osos......Page 108 The Bears......Page 109 El mundo no termina......Page 110 The World Doesn’t End......Page 111 Cuento de hadas......Page 112 Fairytale......Page 113 Terra Incognita......Page 114 Terra Incognita......Page 115 Peridural y despojo......Page 116 Epidural and Plunder......Page 117 Hieros gamos......Page 118 Hieros gamos......Page 119 Diálogo con Gabriel IV......Page 120 Dialogue with Gabriel IV......Page 121 Simurgh......Page 122 Simurgh......Page 123 El libro de los seres......Page 124 The Book of Being......Page 125 El techo del mundo......Page 126 The Roof of the World......Page 127 El juego sin nombre......Page 128 The Anonymous Game......Page 129 Hurqãlyã, ciudad peregrina......Page 130 Hurqãlyã, Peregrine City......Page 131 Los cielos del otoño......Page 132 Autumn Skies......Page 133 Teoría del buen morir......Page 136 Theory of a Good Death......Page 137 Casandra......Page 138 Cassandra......Page 139 Carta a mí misma......Page 140 Letter to Myself......Page 141 Kidnapped By The Inexorable: Translator's Introduction -- Skeletons Under The Sky -- Cage In Bloom -- Catastrophe -- Equestrienne And Officer -- Marble Forests -- Loss -- Gabriel -- Heraldry -- Van Gogh -- Great Watcher -- Mirror Of The Soul -- Nomadic City -- Father -- Dialogue With Gabriel I -- Lido -- Visit -- Telephone Book -- Map Of Time -- Napoleon Ii -- Lovers -- Eyes Of God -- White Horse -- Baby -- Three Madonnas -- Tout Cherche Tout -- Letter To Sevres -- Infinite Dictionary -- Windows On The Century -- Dialogue With Gabriel Ii -- Two Heavens -- Fata Morgana -- New Jersey -- Rosamundi -- Crossroads -- Blindness -- Midgard -- Clothes -- Deluge -- Sleeping Beauty -- Journey -- Die Zeit -- Dialogue With Gabriel Iii -- Theory Of Light -- Threads Of Being -- Over Exposure -- Eternity -- Bears -- World Doesn't End -- Fairytale -- Terra Incognita -- Epidural And Plunder -- Hieros Gamos -- Dialogue With Gabriel Iv -- Simurgh -- Book Of Being -- Roof Of The World -- Anonymous Game -- Hurqalya, Peregrine City -- Autumn Skies -- Theory Of A Good Death -- Cassandra -- Letter To Myself. María Negroni ; Translated By Anne Twitty. Offers a bilingual collection of twenty-two prose poems that travel from the Himalayas to Buenos Aires to Scandinavia, using a variety of transports and visiting the point between life and death. Underlying this book is the idea of displacement, the journey to the dream world or to the dream of worlds. An exterior journey that becomes interior and whose remoteness is erased by language.