Char, René

(1907-1988)

   poet

   Born in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, in Provence, René Char came to poetry early, especially after reading the poems of the French surrealist paul eluard.By the 1930s, as a poet himself, Char befriended other French surrealist poets, notably louis aragon and André breton, and collaborated with them in collective writing. Char's first independently written collection of surrealist poems, Le Marteau sans maître (1934), was later put to music by pierre boulez. During World War II, Char became a leader in the resistance and, as chief of a sabotage sector, made many parachute drops behind enemy lines. He joined General Charles de gaulle in Algeria in 1944 and participated in the liberation of paris in that same year. After the war and until his death, he devoted himself to poetry, spending much of his time in his native provence, writing and conferring with friends, including albert camus and the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. He worked regularly, too, with various artists, such as henri matisse, Pablo Picasso, maria vieira da silva, and Joan Miro. Char also wrote tributes to those who influenced him, including Arthur rimbaud, as well as surrealistic works. Two collections of poetry reflect his experience in the Resistance, Seuls demeurent (1945) and Feuillets d'Hypnos (1946). Many of his other works evoke the rustic atmosphere and beauty of his beloved Provence. Considered one of the most important French poets of the postwar era, Char, who translated the works of such poets as petrarch, william shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, and ossip Mandelstam, believed poetry could provide a nonrational and intuitive understanding of a constantly changing and mysterious world.