French Literature Reviews - 2026
W.H. Auden, The Sea and the Mirror: A Commentary on Shakespeare's The Tempest
Poetry and Poetics
W.H. Auden, The Sea and the Mirror: A Commentary on The Tempest by Shakespeare
Bilingual edition
Translated from English and introduced by Bruno Bayen and Pierre Pachet
Le Bruit du temps
ISBN: 978-2-35873-002-0
Publication date: April 17, 2009
Number of pages: 160 pages
Price: 18 euros
Publisher's presentation:
Having emigrated to the United States after already establishing a formidable body of poetic work, W.H. Auden composed his dramatic poem "The Sea and the Mirror" between 1942 and 1944. It functions as both a continuation and a commentary on Shakespeare's final play, The Tempest—a testament-work in which the Elizabethan poet offered an enigmatic summary of his thought and theater through a fantastical plot. In "The Sea and the Mirror," the characters of the play return to the stage one by one after a performance to reflect, each in their own distinct poetic form, on the spectacle the audience has just witnessed.
"The Sea and the Mirror" is a masterpiece, notable both for the critical intelligence Auden deploys and for his poetic virtuosity, entirely worthy of the work it engages with. As Auden himself remarked to his friends: "It is my *ars poetica*, just as I believe The Tempest was Shakespeare's."
And there is something deeply moving about this poem written for the stage. At the conclusion of a "tempest" that was all too real—World War II, which exiled him far from his homeland—Auden, with much of his major work already behind him, chose to meditate on what it meant for Shakespeare to write one final play before renouncing his art. Far from viewing *The Tempest*, like Henry James, as a play where Shakespeare merely offered his audience and himself the purest and rarest example of his literary craft, Auden had the sheer stroke of genius to give Caliban the final word in a lengthy discourse written in prose as subtle as James's. He understood that art is not a sanctuary, but rather a space where the most authentic reality can confront its own reflection, and that only through a continuous exchange between the two can one approach something akin to a "restored relation."
If Auden remains relatively little known in France, it is also because he is a poet of immense formal mastery and a virtuoso craftsman of his art, making him exceptionally difficult to translate. Pierre Pachet, long attuned to the subtleties of the art of translation, and Bruno Bayen, who brings a valuable practical command of theater, have successfully captured every nuance of meaning in a text of profound complexity, while crafting a French poem nearly as musical as the English original, which is presented here alongside the translation.
W.H. Auden composed his dramatic poem between 1942 and 1944 following his emigration to the United States. The work functions as a continuation and commentary on Shakespearean drama, presenting a scenario where the characters return to the stage one by one after a performance. Each figure reflects on the spectacle in a distinct poetic form, engaging with the final testament-work in which the Elizabethan poet offered an enigmatic summary of his thought and theater through a fantastical plot.
This bilingual edition presents the English text alongside a French translation by Bruno Bayen and Pierre Pachet. The volume highlights formal mastery and critical intelligence, exploring themes of art, exile, and reality during the context of World War II. Readers interested in Anglo-American poetry, dramatic verse, and the reception of Renaissance drama in twentieth-century literature may find this translated edition relevant to their studies.
Reference URL: http://www.lebruitdutemps.fr