The Collected Poems of Samuel Beckett

The editors of this work should be congratulated for releasing several lesser-known titles by Beckett in American editions. A giant of 20th-century literature best known for his dramatic and fictional works such as Waiting for Godot, Beckett also wrote original poetry and translated the work of many international authors. This volume includes samples from both bodies of work. There are original poems composed in English, French, and German (Beckett spoke four languages), as well as his translations of such poets as Gabriela Mistral, Henri Michaux, and Paul Eluard. The importance of the sumptuous translations cannot be understated, and these comprise the best parts of the book. Sadly, it is Beckett's original poetry that fails to impress. The resigned flatness of his language—a quality that so elevated his drama and fiction—speaks to a desire to characterize language rather than to view it as phenomenon, and this divests his poetry of much of its power.