Mallarme - class word cloud and "Sonnet on X"

 Class word cloud for "A Dice Throw At Any Time Will Never Abolish Chance"

~ capitalization- emphasis on what is said and unsaid ~ Paradoxical ~ work of art ~ nonlinear ~ haphazard - dice throw - fell on the page at random ~ nautical theme echoes ebb and flow of words ~ FONT SIZE ~ alliteration ~ See it? Hear it? (different interpretation) ~ rhythmic language ~ downward movement echoes emphasis on abyss ~ lots of interruptions ~ no punctuation or indication of when to stop ~ ambiguity to the order ~ dice ~ chance ~ quill- writing/ hand ~ visual layout echoes meaning

Recall the term we discussed, "espacement" or "spacing." It serves as both a noun and a verb, and is one of the key thematic and formal characteristics of Mallarme's verse. Sense and nonsense dwell here.

Below, find another poem by Mallarme - "Sonnet on X" - try to identify how the language of "A Dice Throw" is doing similar work here. Note where "X" appears in words, and consider what other meanings "X" has.

English translation:

With her pure nails offering their onyx high,

lampbearer Agony tonight sustains

many a vesperal fantasy burned by

the phoenix, which no funerary urn contains

on the empty room's credences: no ptyx,

abolished bauble, sonorous inanity,

(Master has gone to draw tears from the Styx

with that one thing, the Void's sole source of vanity).

Yet near the vacant northward casement dies

a gold possibly from the decorations

of unicorns lashing a nymph with flame;

dead, naked in the looking-glass she lies

though the oblivion bounded by that frame

now spans a fixed septet of scintillations.

In French:

Ses purs ongles très haut dédiant leur onyx,
L'Angoisse, ce minuit, soutient, lampadophore,
Maint rêve vespéral brûlé par le Phénix
Que ne recueille pas de cinéraire amphore

Sur les crédences, au salon vide : nul ptyx
Aboli bibelot d'inanité sonore,
(Car le Maître est allé puiser ses pleurs au Styx
Avec ce seul objet dont le Néant s'honore.)

Mais proche la croisée au nord vacante, un or
Agonise selon peut-être le décor
Des licornes ruant du feu contre une nixe,

Elle, défunte nue en le miroir, encor
Que, dans l'oubli formé par le cadre, se fixe
De scintillations sitôt le septuor.