SOURCE: Caws, Mary Ann. “Poetics and Morality.” In René Char, pp. 13-34. Boston, Mass.: Twayne Publishers, 1977.

In the following essay, Caws discusses expressions of morality in Char's poetry.

I Life and Early Text

In his preface to La Nuit talismanique (Talismanic Night) Char describes the psychological atmosphere of his childhood, presenting an unforgettable picture of his parents: “My father had courteous, shining eyes, good and never possessive. … My mother seemed to touch everything and to reach nothing, at once busy, indolent, and sure of herself. The strong lines of their contrasting natures clashed with each other, their intersection catching fire.” (La Nuit talismanique, p. 9)¹ The ten year old saw his father returning more and more exhausted each evening from the family plaster factory: he died after a long illness, in which “a forest of oaks was burned in the fireplace.” From the powerful effect of this page, one...