Lois Oppenheim

C LAUDEL, in his Reflexions et Propositions sur le vers franCais, emphasizes the fundamental nature of the dynamic tension of the word and the fact that iambic verse translates a sort of"pulsion qui ne cesse de compter le temps dans nos poitrines" [throbbing which does not cease counting time in our chests]. "On a souvent parle de la couleur ou de la saveur des mots. Mais on n'ajamais rien dit de leur tension, de l'etat de tension de l'esprit qui les profere, dont ils sont l'indice et l'index, de leur chargement." [One has often spoken of the color or savor of words. But nothing has ever been said of their tension, of the state of tension of the mind that utters them, to which they provide the indicating sign and index, of their charge.] It is this state of pro-jection and of intentional force that Claudel seeks to reveal in cutting a phrase in the middle of its expression"Monsieur un tel est .. ." [Mr. So-and-so is a .. .]-or arbitrarily dividing a word,