Un Coup de Dés Jamais N'Abolira Le Hasard (Mallarmé)
Encyclopedia
Un Coup de Dés Jamais N'Abolira Le Hasard (A Throw of the Dice will Never Abolish Chance) is a poem by the French
Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé
. Its intimate combination of free verse
and unusual typographic
layout anticipated the 20th century interest in graphic design
and concrete poetry
.
, but was published in book form only in 1914, 16 years after the author's death, based on his extensive notes and exacting instructions. The first edition was printed on July 10, 1914 by the Imprimerie Sainte Catherine at Bruges
, in a private 60-copy issue.
s, amidst liberal amounts of blank space. Each pair of consecutive facing pages is to be read as a single panel; the text flows back and forth across the two pages, along irregular lines.
The sentence that names the poem is split into three parts, printed in large capital letters on panels 1, 6, and 8. A second textual thread in smaller capitals apparently begins on the right side of panel 1, QUAND MÊME LANCÉ DANS DES CIRCONSTANCES ÉTERNELLES DU FOND D'UN NAUFRAGE ("Even when thrown under eternal circumstances from the bottom of a shipwreck"). Other interlocking threads in various typefaces start throughout the book. At the bottom right of the last panel is the sentence Toute Pensée émet un Coup de Dés ("Every Thought issues a Throw of Dice").
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé , whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.-Biography:Stéphane...
. Its intimate combination of free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
and unusual typographic
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
layout anticipated the 20th century interest in graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
and concrete poetry
Concrete poetry
Concrete poetry or shape poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on....
.
History
The poem was written by Mallarmé in 1897 and published in May of that same year in the magazine CosmopolisCosmopolis: A Literary Review
Cosmopolis: A Literary Review was a multi-lingual literary magazine published between January 1896 and November 1898. The lead edition of Cosmopolis was published in London, but local editions of the magazine were also published in Berlin, Paris, and Saint Petersburg.Each edition of Cosmopolis...
, but was published in book form only in 1914, 16 years after the author's death, based on his extensive notes and exacting instructions. The first edition was printed on July 10, 1914 by the Imprimerie Sainte Catherine at Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
, in a private 60-copy issue.
The poem
The poem is spread over 20 pages, in various typefaceTypeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
s, amidst liberal amounts of blank space. Each pair of consecutive facing pages is to be read as a single panel; the text flows back and forth across the two pages, along irregular lines.
The sentence that names the poem is split into three parts, printed in large capital letters on panels 1, 6, and 8. A second textual thread in smaller capitals apparently begins on the right side of panel 1, QUAND MÊME LANCÉ DANS DES CIRCONSTANCES ÉTERNELLES DU FOND D'UN NAUFRAGE ("Even when thrown under eternal circumstances from the bottom of a shipwreck"). Other interlocking threads in various typefaces start throughout the book. At the bottom right of the last panel is the sentence Toute Pensée émet un Coup de Dés ("Every Thought issues a Throw of Dice").
See also
- Edition Michel Pierson & Ptyx
- Un Coup de Dés Jamais N'Abolira Le Hasard (Broodthaers)Un Coup de Dés Jamais N'Abolira Le Hasard (Broodthaers)Un Coup de Dés Jamais N'Abolira Le Hasard is an artist's book by Marcel Broodthaers published November 1969 in Antwerp...
, a purely graphical recreation of the poem by Marcel BroodthaersMarcel BroodthaersMarcel Broodthaers was a Belgian poet, filmmaker and artist with a highly literate and often witty approach to creating art works....
. - 1914 in poetry1914 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 29 – Yone Noguchi lectures on "The Japanese Hokku Poetry" at Magdalen College, Oxford...
- 1897 in poetry1897 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Jean Blewett, Heart Songs...
External links
- Version adapted to be read on a computer screen http://guesswhoandwhere.typepad.fr/carnets_de_poesie/files/coupdedes.pdf.