Full Description
Simone Weil (1909-1943) was one of the foremost French philosophers of the 20th century; a mystic, activist, and writer whose profound work continues to intrigue and inspire today.
Mirror of Obedience collects together Weil's poetry and autobiographical writings translated into English for the first time. It offers a rare glimpse into a more personal and introspective Weil than we usually encounter. She was writing and re-working her poems until the end of her life and in a letter from London to her parents, dated 22 January 1943, she expressed the wish for her verses to appear together in print in chronological order, a wish which this volume honours.
Weil was a thinker who wrote with discipline and spareness and cherished the poetic form for its power to compress language and distill meaning. In these poems and literary writings, we see her own efforts to craft poems as essential expressions of thought, bringing into view another aspect of Weil's quest for beauty and truth.
Contents
Translators' Biographies
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Simone Weil as Poet
Chapter 2: Simone Weil and Literature
List of Abbreviations
Further Reading
Poems
À une jeune fille riche / To a Rich Girl
Vers lus au Goûter de la Saint Charlemagne / Verses Read at the Feast of
Saint Charlemagne
Éclair / Lightning
Promethée / Prometheus
À un jour / To a Day
La mer / The Sea
Nécessité / Necessity
Les astres / The Stars
La porte / The Gate
Four Excerpts from Venice Saved
Jaffier 1-3
Violetta
Selected Prose
Conte: Les Lutins du feu / Tale: The Fairies of the Fire
Le conte des six cygnes dans Grimm / The Tale of the Six Swans in Grimm
On the Translation
Translators' Notes
Bibliography
Index
