SOURCE: Caws, Mary Ann. “From Fury to Recollection.” In René Char, pp. 35-57. Boston, Mass.: Twayne Publishers, 1977.

In the following essay, Caws traces relationships between life experience and literary expression in the works of Char.

I Matinal Light

Throughout the course of Char's work, the poet's personal involvements find their texts, grave or joyous, quiet in tone or more ringing, as reflections of his own moral commitment: they mirror the changing perception of the work undertaken, are determined or depressed, according to the mood of the speaker. Of his Resistance poems—“resistance” taken in all its senses—Char says:

“Il te fut prêté de dire une fois … les chants matinaux de la rébellion. Métal rallumé sans cesse de ton chagrin, ils me parvenaient humides d'inclémence et d'amour.

Once it was granted to you to recount the matinal songs of rebellion. Metal ceaselessly relit from...