A prose poem translation by Mary-Sherman Willis

Jean Cocteau’s prose poem “Seul” is translated by alum Mary-Sherman Willis (poetry, ’05) for Waxwing:

“Seoul”
Jean Cocteau

Seul debout. Seul assis. Seul couché. Seul sur the gril. Seul écartelé par les chevaux de labour dont il ne voyait que les croupes. Seul pendu et son sperme devint mandragore. Seul dans la vitesse qui n’est

“Alone”

Alone standing. Alone sitting. Alone lying down. Alone on the grille. Alone drawn and quartered by workhorses, seeing only their rumps. Alone hanging, ejaculating a mandrake. Alone in the quickness that isn’t

Read the entire original poem and translation online…