The Anchors Long Chain

First published in France in 2008, The Anchor’s Long Chain is an indispensable addition to Yves Bonnefoy oeuvre. Enriching Bonnefoy’s earlier work, the volume includes an unprecedented sequence of nineteen sonnets which combine the strictness of the form with the freedom to vary line length and create evocative fragments. Longer, discursive pieces, including the title poem’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 Bonnefoy’s powerful, discursive poetry.