The quenine of p
By Lyrikline Collaboration Poets
By Jacques Roubaud
Translated by Claire Nashar.
A poetic form: the quenine of p
The quenine of p (where p is a rational number) is a generalisation of the quenine, a form invented by Raymond Queneau, who generalised the sestina of troubadour Arnaut Daniel.
In the following example p=3+1/2
*
When, fallen from the sky, night
Catches itself, the sun’s
Trace eludes itself
On the ground
Later when the sun
Breaks up the night
The angle of sea eludes itself
In the salt
Undefines itself, eludes itself
Ripped from the sun
Which catches the night
In water, naked
Click here to listen to Jacques Roubaud reading the poem in French on Lyrikline.org.