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Black Mirror: The Selected Poems by Roger Gilbert-Lecomte, David Rattray (Translator), Barrytown, 1991.
read it at scribd
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte (1907-1943) is considered one of the eminent poets of the Surrealist period. The visionary, sardonic, and often outrageous poems in this bilingual edition represent the first presentation of his work in English. With René Daumal he was the founder of the literary movement and magazine "Le Grand Jeu", the essence of which he defined as "the impersonal instant of eternity in emptiness". "The glimpse of eternity in the void", writes Rattray in the Introduction, "was to send Daumal to Hinduism, the study of Yoga philosophy, and Sanskrit. It sent Lecomte on an exploration of what he called a metaphysics of absence". Rattray, a poet acclaimed for his translations of Artaud, keeps intact the power and originality of Gilbert-Lecomte's work
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte [France] 1907-1943
On December 31, 1943 Robert Gilbert-Lecomte died at age 36 in a Paris hospital from tetanus caused by a dirty needle. His possessions were all in one small briefcase in the room where he had been living, the back room of a working-class bar whose owner Mme. Firmat had taken him in three years before out of kindness. To Lecomte's friend the playwright Arthur Adamov she gave the briefcase. It was filled with letters, prose writings, and a hundred poems. A morphine addict, Lecomte had been jabbing the needle into a high muscle through a pair of dirty trousers.
Born in Reims, France in 1907, Lecomte was the co-founder, with René Daumal and Roger Vailland, of the literary and artistic movement Le Grand Jeu. Three issues of the group's magazine, Le Grand Jeu, appeared between 1928 and 1930. The Surrealist reacted too Le Grand Jeu with hostility. The group fell apart in 1932.
Central to Le Grand Jeu was a vision of the unity of everything in the universe that resulted from experiments with carbon tetrachloride performed by Lecomte with his friend René Daumal when they were teenagers. Daumal later wrote about the experience in his essay, "A Fundament Experiment." Lecomte defined its essence as "the impersonal instant of eternity in emptiness." This glimpse of eternity in the void was to send Daumal to Hinduism, the study of Yoga philosophy, and Sanskrit. It sent Lecomte on an exploration of what he called a "metaphysics of absence." In imagination he returned to a pre-natal state, "a wondrous prior existence."
In 1933 Lecomte published a volume titled Le Miroir Noir (Black Mirror), privately printed in a limited edition of 1938. The last half-dozen poems appearing in the present volume [for which this piece was an introduction] appeared in Le Miroir Noir. Lecomte never explained what he meant by the title. He may have been thinking of the obsidian mirrors of the Aztecs, or perhaps of the black mirrors some painters are said to use to study tonal relationships of colors seen in nature, a kind of mirror that his contemporary Francis Ponge was soon to compare to a summer sky in which he imagined he could glimpse the blackness of interstellar space. No doubt Lecomte was also thinking of how own exploration in Le Miroir Noir of the mind's dark side, "the dark on the blind side of mirrors."
In later years Lecomte lived on and off with a German Jewish refugee named Ruth Kroneberg whom he had met on her arrival in Paris in 1934. She was arrested in 1940 after the Fall of France, but got out of jail, obtained false I.D., and emigrated to the Unoccupied Zone in hope of finding safety there. In 1942 she was arrested by the collaborationist military near Carcassone, transported to the concentration camp of Drancy in the German-occupied North, and from there to Auschwitz, where she died. One of Lecomte's last publications in his lifetime was in the nature of a poignant afterthought: a twelve-line poem, "Vacancy in glass," which he retitled "Palace of the void" for publication in the Nouvelle Revue Française, where it appeared shortly after Ruth was deported. It seems possible that the retitled poem in its new context may reflect this personal loss.
Lecomte himself never left Paris after the early 1930s. His life was a succession of jail and hospital confinements. Very few old friends would have anything to do with him during the last years. Over the generation following his death, Lecomte's oeuvre acquired the status of an underground classic. His friend Adamov published a selection of his poetry, and leading French literary magazines devoted space to him. The complete works were issued in three volumes during the 1970's by Gallimard. They consist of approximately 100 poems, a booklength collection of prose texts, including essays setting forth the principles of the Grand Jeu movement and various pieces of literary criticism, and, finally, a volume of letters.
—David Rattray (from Black Mirror: The Selected Poems of Roger Gilbert-Lecomte, 1991)
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte was devoted to reaching a higher consciousness of himself and reality. He left us indications and fragmented glimpses of the overwhelming view from the path he traveled in his search. These glimpses through his perception, sometimes exquisite and awe-inspiring, sometimes tormented, are precious hints of the being he was and the realities he experienced. This site contains information about his life and work.
I WANT TO BE CONFUSED....
or
The Stopping Place of the Prophetby Roger Gilbert-Lecomte
or
The Stopping Place of the Prophetby Roger Gilbert-Lecomte
You make a mistake I am not the one who is equipped
I am the other one the one never waited for
My face under the red mask - glory and shame-
Turns to the wind, the only guide I want for my steps
I am the other one the one never waited for
My face under the red mask - glory and shame-
Turns to the wind, the only guide I want for my steps
I shall assume the immobile are statues
In the anger of the thunderstorm with twisted gestures
Which breaks their brow on the ground brought to ruin
But leaves me standing neither right nor wrong
In the anger of the thunderstorm with twisted gestures
Which breaks their brow on the ground brought to ruin
But leaves me standing neither right nor wrong
Do you expect only right of me in the torment?
Terribly stiff and cold absence without rest
To speak to the dead old men it is necessary to find the crack
Through which filters a black beam of the other sun
Terribly stiff and cold absence without rest
To speak to the dead old men it is necessary to find the crack
Through which filters a black beam of the other sun
And if I fall before night along the highway
Face against the ground and both arms outstretched
At the bottom of any silent influx of strength in me
I will redress for the night of bewilderment
Face against the ground and both arms outstretched
At the bottom of any silent influx of strength in me
I will redress for the night of bewilderment
And I will come back around you like the voices
Of great waters roaring under the vaulted night
Before the hour and the sign happens do you leave me?
Will only you all who deny the prophet leave me?
Of great waters roaring under the vaulted night
Before the hour and the sign happens do you leave me?
Will only you all who deny the prophet leave me?
Transmuting all of life in a reversal
Of the senses illuminated by immortal agonies
Do you leave me in the atrocious space of my head?
Confusing confused confused confusing
Of the senses illuminated by immortal agonies
Do you leave me in the atrocious space of my head?
Confusing confused confused confusing
Le Grand Jeu (The Great Game), a group of young men, Roger Gilbert-Lecomte, René Daumal, Roger Vailland and others, intutively knowing the ridiculous absurdity and ultimately useless way of life currently sought and valued, seeking chaos to seek a higher order, to attain a higher state. They refused to be incorporated into the Surrealists, Daumal describing the Surrealist approach as "confusion, trickery, diversion," whereas Le Grand Jeu is an "initiatic community; each of the members, whatever he may do does it with the desire to maintain and reinforce the spiritual unity of the group." The Surrealists sought to shock and disorder, but Le Grand Jeu sought to shock and disorder to find what was beyond the shock and disorder, the higher meaning, the higher order, pushing much harder and more extremely with great desperation to leave the cage of usual human perception. Le Grand Jeu published 3 literary reviews between 1928 and 1930, the 4th did not come out at the time, but has been published since in the 1977 compliation of their work. Le Grand Jeu was a flash of light, an invitation, a quest for what is essential.
These are English translations of some of Roger's writings. Click on the link to view the translation.
POEMS
the borders of love
the great and little puppet theatre
Consecration and Massacre of Love
The Good Life
French Song
continual coming and going of the coma
The Prisoner's Song
mourning of azure
I want to be confused...
the holy childhood
the four elements
eternity in the twinkling of an eye
The Crowned Head
FRAGMENTS
Act of Dispossession
It's nothing, I am here...
And the need to create...
Watching to put out...
Among the backwash of tears...
In a fragile chance...
Yes and No
Flashback
Notes For the Universe of Myths
Log Book of a Dead Man
Lament of a Cartesian Diver
the borders of love
the great and little puppet theatre
Consecration and Massacre of Love
The Good Life
French Song
continual coming and going of the coma
The Prisoner's Song
mourning of azure
I want to be confused...
the holy childhood
the four elements
eternity in the twinkling of an eye
The Crowned Head
FRAGMENTS
Act of Dispossession
It's nothing, I am here...
And the need to create...
Watching to put out...
Among the backwash of tears...
In a fragile chance...
Yes and No
Flashback
Notes For the Universe of Myths
Log Book of a Dead Man
Lament of a Cartesian Diver
These pages contain Roger's poems in the original French.
les frontieres de l'amour
le grand et le petit guignol
Sacre et Massacre de L'Amour
La Bonne Vie
Chanson Français
chassé-croise du coma
La Chanson du Prissonnier
deuil d'azur
Je veux être confondu...
la sainte enfance
les quatre éléments
l'eternité en un clin d'œil
La Tête Couronnée
le grand et le petit guignol
Sacre et Massacre de L'Amour
La Bonne Vie
Chanson Français
chassé-croise du coma
La Chanson du Prissonnier
deuil d'azur
Je veux être confondu...
la sainte enfance
les quatre éléments
l'eternité en un clin d'œil
La Tête Couronnée
These pages contain Fragments written by Roger in the original French.
Acte de Dépossession
Ce n'est rien, j'y suis...
Et le devoir créer...
Regarder à se crever...
Parmi le ressac des larmes...
A la chance fragile...
Oui et Non
Retour de Flamme
Notes Pour L'Univers Des Mythes
Carnet de Route d'un Trépassé
Complainte du Ludion
Acte de Dépossession
Ce n'est rien, j'y suis...
Et le devoir créer...
Regarder à se crever...
Parmi le ressac des larmes...
A la chance fragile...
Oui et Non
Retour de Flamme
Notes Pour L'Univers Des Mythes
Carnet de Route d'un Trépassé
Complainte du Ludion
These pages are letters Roger sent to René, Véra and others and their English translations.
1923 - Nathaniel est mon le plus bon ami
1923 - Marine je crois que le sel lustral me pourrit
1923 - mes bien chers petits enfants
1929 - René
1932 - Véra
1932 - Véra très chère
1933 - René et Véra
These pages are letters Roger sent to René, Véra and others and their English translations.
1923 - Nathaniel est mon le plus bon ami1923 - Marine je crois que le sel lustral me pourrit1923 - mes bien chers petits enfants1929 - René 1932 - Véra
1932 - Véra très chère1933 - René et Véra
1932 - Véra très chère1933 - René et Véra
These are letter exchanges between Roger and René.
These are a selection of books by or about Roger Gilbert-Lecomte or Rene Daumal.
Books used as resources for this site:
Daumal, René. Letters on the Search for Awakening, 1930-1944. Trans. Gabriela Ansari and Roger Lipsey. Toronto: Dolmen Meadow Editions, 2010.
Daumal, René. Letters on the Search for Awakening, 1930-1944. Trans. Gabriela Ansari and Roger Lipsey. Toronto: Dolmen Meadow Editions, 2010.
Daumal, René. Mount Analogue. Trans. Carol Cosman. New York: Tusk Ivories. 2004.
Gilbert-Lecomte, Roger. Testament. France: Gallimard, 1955.
Gilbert-Lecomte, Roger. Correspondance. Paris: Gallimard, 1971.
Gilbert-Lecomte, Roger. Black Mirror Trans. David Rattray. Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press, Inc. 1991
Gilbert-Lecomte, Roger. Mes chers petits Eternels...Ed. Patrice Thierry. Perpignan: L'Ether Vague. 1992
Needleman, Jacob, ed. The Inner Journey: Views from the Gurdjieff Work. Sandpoint, Idaho: Morning Light Press. 2008
Patterson, William Patrick. Voices in the Dark. Ed. Barbara Allen Patterson. Fairfax: Arete Communications. 2000.
Powrie, Phil. René Daumal and Roger Gilbert-Lecomte: a bibliography. London: Grant & Cutler Ltd. 1988.
(this is a tremendous resource, a compilation reference of all the publications by or about René Daumal, Roger Gilbert-Lecomte and Le Grand Jeu)
Rosenblatt, Kathleen Ferrick. René Daumal: The Life and Work of a Mystic Guide. Albany: State University of New York Press. 1999
Born in Reims in 1907, Lecomte was the co-founder, with René Daumal and Roger Vailland, of the literary and artistic movement Le Grand Jeu. Three issues of the group s magazine, Le Grand Jeu, appeared between 1928 and 1930. The Surrealists reacted to Le Grand Jeu with hostility. The group fell apart in 1932. Central to Le Grand Jeu was a vision of the unity of everything in the universe that resulted from experiments with carbon tetrachloride performed by Lecomte with his friend René Daumal when they were teenagers. Daumal later wrote about the experience in his essay, "A Fundamental Experiment". Lecomte defined its essence as "the impersonal instant of eternity in emptiness". This glimpse of eternity in the void was to send Daumal to Hinduism, the study of Yoga philosophy, and Sanskrit. It sent Lecomte on an exploration of what he called a "metaphysics of absence". In imagination he returned to a pre-natal state, a "wondrous prior existence". In 1933 Lecomte published a volume titled La Vie l Amour la Mort le Vide et le Vent (Life Love Death Void and Wind), which went unnoticed by the press, save for a rave review by Antonin Artaud in the Nouvelle Revue Française, which is reprinted as a forward in our published work of Lecomte s Le Miroir Noir which was originally privately printed in a limited edition in 1938. Lecomte never left Paris after the early 1930's. His life was a succession of jail and hospital confinements. Very few old friends would have anything to do with him during the last years. Over the generation following his death, Lecomte's oeuvre acquired the status of an underground classic. His friend Adamov published a selection of his poetry, and leading French literary magazines devoted space to him. The complete works were issued in three volumes during the 1970's by Gallimard. They consist of approximately 100 poems, a booklength collection of prose texts, including essays setting forth the principles of the Grand Jeu movement and various pieces of literary criticism, and, finally, a volume of letters.