Biography
Rose Després - Photo Courtesy of acadienouvelle.com
Born in Cocagne, New Brunswick in 1950, Rose Després is an Acadian poet and talented artist in multiple genres, including music and acting. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at the Université de Moncton in 1973 and gained recognition as a poet in 1982 after the publication of her first collection of poems, Fièvre de nos mains. She currently has a total of six published poetry collections: Fièvre de nos mains (1982), Requiem en saule pleureur (1986), Gymnastique pour un soir d’anguilles (1996), La vie prodigieuse (2000), which won the Prix Littéraire Antonine-Maillet-Acadie-Vie, Si longtemps déjà (2009), which won a Prix Éloizes in literature, and Séjour à Belle-Côte (2022).
Outside of her writing career, Després commits time to enriching cultural awareness in Acadia. This has included translating poetry into French from other languages, volunteering in various organizations, and launching the Acadian literary review Les Ancrages in 2004. She was one of many artists to accompany Adrienne Clarkson on her official trip to Germany in 2001, serving as a representative of Acadian literary culture in Canada.
Outside of her writing career, Després commits time to enriching cultural awareness in Acadia. This has included translating poetry into French from other languages, volunteering in various organizations, and launching the Acadian literary review Les Ancrages in 2004. She was one of many artists to accompany Adrienne Clarkson on her official trip to Germany in 2001, serving as a representative of Acadian literary culture in Canada.
Additional Information:
New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia Entry
Interview with Radio-Canada (Only in French)
“La poésie selon Rose Després / Poetry as defined by Rose Després” (Only in French)
Interview with Acadie Nouvelle (Only in French)
New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia Entry
Interview with Radio-Canada (Only in French)
“La poésie selon Rose Després / Poetry as defined by Rose Després” (Only in French)
Interview with Acadie Nouvelle (Only in French)
Poem: "Aspirations"
Ces rêves de fracasser
des attirails trop communs
qui ont osé
depuis si longtemps déjà
retenir ligotée
une prisonnière
d'obsessions nombreuses
celle qui pourchassait
défiante et combative
les saveurs insipides
des passions éteintes
(des édiles impotents
ordonnent leurs sentences
immuables)
la détenue
coupable de délits terribles
(un trop grand désenchantement
peut-être)
possession d'armes interdites
larmes rouillées
lames mortelles
sous une cuirasse de désespoir
jugement: travaux forcés
enclumes aux chevilles
menottes aux mémoires
les cicatrices infectes
des chaînes cruelles
néant de l'âme
allument
le sourire pervers
du bourreau qui attend
depuis
ont vite disparu
les regards lucioles
que l'on croyait capables
de guider nos pas incertains
nos missions étrangѐres
singuliѐres
parés de fermes résolutions
d'intentions meilleures
si désarmantes
négligentes
et
déficientes
comme celles
des dieux castrés
que nous implorons
et qui depuis toujours
nous ignorent
Published in Si Longtemps Déja, Prise de Parole, 2009.
Published with permission of Prise de Parole.
Translation to English by Brooklyn Wilkins, Elizabeth Pellerin and Renelle Dion
These dreams of shattering
too common paraphernalia
who have dared
for so long now
hold back bound
a prisoner
of numerous obsessions
the one who chased
defiant and combative
tasteless flavours
of extinguished passions
(impotent city councillors
order their sentences
immutable)
the detainee
guilty of terrible crimes
(a disenchantment too big
perhaps)
possession of prohibited weapons
rusted tears
deadly blades
under a cuirass of despair
judgement: forced labour
anvils to ankles
manacles to memories
the scars infect
cruel chains
emptiness of the soul
light up
the perverse smile
of the waiting executioner
since
have quickly disappeared
the firefly eyes
we thought capable
of guiding our uncertain steps
our foreign missions
singular
armed with firm resolutions
of best intentions
so disarming
negligent
and
deficient
like those
of the castrated gods
that we plead to
and who have always
ignored us
des attirails trop communs
qui ont osé
depuis si longtemps déjà
retenir ligotée
une prisonnière
d'obsessions nombreuses
celle qui pourchassait
défiante et combative
les saveurs insipides
des passions éteintes
(des édiles impotents
ordonnent leurs sentences
immuables)
la détenue
coupable de délits terribles
(un trop grand désenchantement
peut-être)
possession d'armes interdites
larmes rouillées
lames mortelles
sous une cuirasse de désespoir
jugement: travaux forcés
enclumes aux chevilles
menottes aux mémoires
les cicatrices infectes
des chaînes cruelles
néant de l'âme
allument
le sourire pervers
du bourreau qui attend
depuis
ont vite disparu
les regards lucioles
que l'on croyait capables
de guider nos pas incertains
nos missions étrangѐres
singuliѐres
parés de fermes résolutions
d'intentions meilleures
si désarmantes
négligentes
et
déficientes
comme celles
des dieux castrés
que nous implorons
et qui depuis toujours
nous ignorent
Published in Si Longtemps Déja, Prise de Parole, 2009.
Published with permission of Prise de Parole.
Translation to English by Brooklyn Wilkins, Elizabeth Pellerin and Renelle Dion
These dreams of shattering
too common paraphernalia
who have dared
for so long now
hold back bound
a prisoner
of numerous obsessions
the one who chased
defiant and combative
tasteless flavours
of extinguished passions
(impotent city councillors
order their sentences
immutable)
the detainee
guilty of terrible crimes
(a disenchantment too big
perhaps)
possession of prohibited weapons
rusted tears
deadly blades
under a cuirass of despair
judgement: forced labour
anvils to ankles
manacles to memories
the scars infect
cruel chains
emptiness of the soul
light up
the perverse smile
of the waiting executioner
since
have quickly disappeared
the firefly eyes
we thought capable
of guiding our uncertain steps
our foreign missions
singular
armed with firm resolutions
of best intentions
so disarming
negligent
and
deficient
like those
of the castrated gods
that we plead to
and who have always
ignored us
Critical Analysis: The Dangers of Daring to Dream
Brooklyn Wilkins (for Engl 3103), Elizabeth Pellerin and Renelle Dion (Managing Editors)
In contrast to its debatably heartening title, Aspirations is a poem about struggling to keep one’s hopes and ambitions in a world that sacrifices individuality for the maintenance of society. Després instills an evident sense of dread and fear throughout her poem, starting from the first stanzas:
These dreams of shattering
too common paraphernalia
who have dared
for so long now
hold back bound
a prisoner
of numerous obsessions
the one who chased
defiant and combative
tasteless flavours
of extinguished passions (1-11, translated to English from French)
The narrator wastes no time in highlighting that there is an ultimate goal in this poem, that being to punish ambitious dreamers for seeking out their goals. By the time the poem begins, the dreamer has been losing such a battle. Despite the nobleness of the concept, the dreamer’s aspirations also hold that sense of dread in the poem, as the dreamer is described as “a prisoner of numerous obsessions”; They are held back by their own aspirations, to the point that chasing them feels fruitless (“tasteless flavours / of extinguished passions” (6-7, 10-11, translated to English from French).
The poem heavily focuses on the suffering of the dreamers and the ways in which they are punished blindly by the authority over them. The highly ambitious often tend to find their goals being purposefully or inadvertently snuffed out by society, typically due to a lack of understanding or investment in the dreamers’ aspirations. Sometimes, the world will even seek out the death of a dream when the aspirations rely on breaking the boundaries our society thrives on. Després displays this occurrence and the following struggle by using court/law motifs throughout the poem. The theme of prisoners continues from the first stanzas, detailing the dreamers’ “terrible crimes” of setting their hopes too high (“too big a disenchantment, perhaps”), and how their punishment is to settle for societal standards by committing to standard work (“forced labour”) and tucking their longing away (“manacles to memories”) (16-18, 23, 25, Translated from English to French). In the grand scheme of things, society will not look to the dreamers to break boundaries, but rather their leaders to maintain them (“city counselors / order their sentences / immutable” (12-14, translated to English from French)).
By this point, the narrator details how the dreamers have begun to lose hope. Those who once held high aspirations have faced too much punishment for it, leading to a loss of livelihood. This seems to enlighten the “executioner”, whose mention is another hint towards society's strong hold over the ambitious. A world where prisoners are sentenced to death for their aspirations demonstrates a reality where grand aspirations are deemed worth killing off. One could even interpret from the way the narrator talks about the prisoners’ “deadly” weapons that there is a legitimate fear of the dreamers’ strength and power, even if it may be unfounded. Nonetheless, their fear and actions have left the prisoner devoid of the passion that got them this far. Such "emptiness of the soul" is what those above the prisoner wanted, as cutting their dreams short helps to maintain the social stability that is so highly valued (28, 31, translated from English to French).
It would seem that the prisoner is but one of many to have lost hope, as the narrator goes on to detail how any guiding lights (“the firefly eyes” (35, translated from English to French)) that the dreamers can rely on have faded out.
since
have quickly disappeared
the firefly eyes
we thought capable
of guiding our uncertain steps
our foreign missions (33-38, translated to English from French).
Though the dreamers have lost their guidance and certainty for the future, there are still those who press on. They have no support from the outside world, and nothing but their dreams, promises for betterment (“Firm resolutions / of best intentions / so disarming”, 39-41, translated from English to French), and the wisdom gained from past experiences to aid them in their missions. This is a message from Després, telling us that in order to achieve our aspirations in this world, we must be prepared to get by with only our will and knowledge. Dreamers can not expect help from anyone else – not even the gods.
negligent
and
deficient
like those
of the castrated gods
that we plead to
and who have always
ignored us (42-49, translated to English from French).
Després’ Aspirations tells a bitter truth regarding pursing one’s passions when they aren’t favored by the world, managing to relay the faint hope of a dreamer through the despairing imagery of one who’s lost their way.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Després, Rose. Si Long Temps Déja. Prise de Parole, 2009.
In contrast to its debatably heartening title, Aspirations is a poem about struggling to keep one’s hopes and ambitions in a world that sacrifices individuality for the maintenance of society. Després instills an evident sense of dread and fear throughout her poem, starting from the first stanzas:
These dreams of shattering
too common paraphernalia
who have dared
for so long now
hold back bound
a prisoner
of numerous obsessions
the one who chased
defiant and combative
tasteless flavours
of extinguished passions (1-11, translated to English from French)
The narrator wastes no time in highlighting that there is an ultimate goal in this poem, that being to punish ambitious dreamers for seeking out their goals. By the time the poem begins, the dreamer has been losing such a battle. Despite the nobleness of the concept, the dreamer’s aspirations also hold that sense of dread in the poem, as the dreamer is described as “a prisoner of numerous obsessions”; They are held back by their own aspirations, to the point that chasing them feels fruitless (“tasteless flavours / of extinguished passions” (6-7, 10-11, translated to English from French).
The poem heavily focuses on the suffering of the dreamers and the ways in which they are punished blindly by the authority over them. The highly ambitious often tend to find their goals being purposefully or inadvertently snuffed out by society, typically due to a lack of understanding or investment in the dreamers’ aspirations. Sometimes, the world will even seek out the death of a dream when the aspirations rely on breaking the boundaries our society thrives on. Després displays this occurrence and the following struggle by using court/law motifs throughout the poem. The theme of prisoners continues from the first stanzas, detailing the dreamers’ “terrible crimes” of setting their hopes too high (“too big a disenchantment, perhaps”), and how their punishment is to settle for societal standards by committing to standard work (“forced labour”) and tucking their longing away (“manacles to memories”) (16-18, 23, 25, Translated from English to French). In the grand scheme of things, society will not look to the dreamers to break boundaries, but rather their leaders to maintain them (“city counselors / order their sentences / immutable” (12-14, translated to English from French)).
By this point, the narrator details how the dreamers have begun to lose hope. Those who once held high aspirations have faced too much punishment for it, leading to a loss of livelihood. This seems to enlighten the “executioner”, whose mention is another hint towards society's strong hold over the ambitious. A world where prisoners are sentenced to death for their aspirations demonstrates a reality where grand aspirations are deemed worth killing off. One could even interpret from the way the narrator talks about the prisoners’ “deadly” weapons that there is a legitimate fear of the dreamers’ strength and power, even if it may be unfounded. Nonetheless, their fear and actions have left the prisoner devoid of the passion that got them this far. Such "emptiness of the soul" is what those above the prisoner wanted, as cutting their dreams short helps to maintain the social stability that is so highly valued (28, 31, translated from English to French).
It would seem that the prisoner is but one of many to have lost hope, as the narrator goes on to detail how any guiding lights (“the firefly eyes” (35, translated from English to French)) that the dreamers can rely on have faded out.
since
have quickly disappeared
the firefly eyes
we thought capable
of guiding our uncertain steps
our foreign missions (33-38, translated to English from French).
Though the dreamers have lost their guidance and certainty for the future, there are still those who press on. They have no support from the outside world, and nothing but their dreams, promises for betterment (“Firm resolutions / of best intentions / so disarming”, 39-41, translated from English to French), and the wisdom gained from past experiences to aid them in their missions. This is a message from Després, telling us that in order to achieve our aspirations in this world, we must be prepared to get by with only our will and knowledge. Dreamers can not expect help from anyone else – not even the gods.
negligent
and
deficient
like those
of the castrated gods
that we plead to
and who have always
ignored us (42-49, translated to English from French).
Després’ Aspirations tells a bitter truth regarding pursing one’s passions when they aren’t favored by the world, managing to relay the faint hope of a dreamer through the despairing imagery of one who’s lost their way.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Després, Rose. Si Long Temps Déja. Prise de Parole, 2009.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Després, Rose. “Afrika / Afrika.” Ellipse 69, 2003, pp. 96-97.
---. "Avant l'aurore". Auteures acadiennes: création et critique, special issue of Dalhousie French Studies 62, 2003. pp. 35-37. (Only in French)
---. “Cette exécrée manie de gloire.” Ancrages 25, 2020. (Only in French)
---. “Dépaysement / Outlanders.” Ellipse 87-88, 2012. pp. 128-129.
---. Fièvre de Nos Mains, Requiem En Saule Pleureur, Gymnastique Pour Un Soir d’anguilles, La Vie Prodigieuse. Prise de Parole, 2012. (Only in French)
---. “L’Égypte à colorier / Egypt to Colour.” Ellipse 69, 2003. pp. 96-97.
---. “L’Histoire.” Ellipse 79, 2007. pp. 21. (Only in French)
---. Séjour à Belle-Côte. Prise de Parole, 2022. (Only in French)
---. Si Long Temps Déja. Prise de Parole, 2009. (Only in French)
---. “Ton Violon / Your Violin.” Ellipse 79, 2007, pp. 98-99.
---. Vraisemblable. Prise de Parole, 2013. (Only in French)
---. “The Woman Warrior.” Ellipse 79, 2007. pp. 26.
--- et al. Tom Hopkins, Rose Després. 2004. (Only in French)
Secondary Sources
Arsenault, Guy, et al. Poésie Acadienne Contemporaine: Acadian Poetry Now. Éditions Perce-Neige, 1985.
Felix, Jocelyne. "La soif heureuse." Lettres québécoises 101, 2001. pp. 41-42
Gaboury-Diallo, Lise. “La vie prodigieuse de Rose Després.” Francophonie et résistance 13, 2002. pp. 199. (Only in French)
Laparra, Manon. "Champ d'écriture, chant de liberté: la parole combustion dans l'oeuvre de Rose Després". Auteures acadiennes: création et critique, special issue of Dalhousie French Studies 62, 2003. pp. 39-49.
Lonergan, David. “Rose Després : Une poésie de l’intime.” Nuit Blanche 128, 2014. (Only in French)
Lovatt, Tom, et al. Site/Specific/Sight : Marion Mccain Atlantic Art Exhibition 2007. Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 2007.
Pare, Francois. “La dissidence comme auto-fiction.” Canadian Literature 203. The University of British Columbia, 2009. (Only in French)
Després, Rose. “Afrika / Afrika.” Ellipse 69, 2003, pp. 96-97.
---. "Avant l'aurore". Auteures acadiennes: création et critique, special issue of Dalhousie French Studies 62, 2003. pp. 35-37. (Only in French)
---. “Cette exécrée manie de gloire.” Ancrages 25, 2020. (Only in French)
---. “Dépaysement / Outlanders.” Ellipse 87-88, 2012. pp. 128-129.
---. Fièvre de Nos Mains, Requiem En Saule Pleureur, Gymnastique Pour Un Soir d’anguilles, La Vie Prodigieuse. Prise de Parole, 2012. (Only in French)
---. “L’Égypte à colorier / Egypt to Colour.” Ellipse 69, 2003. pp. 96-97.
---. “L’Histoire.” Ellipse 79, 2007. pp. 21. (Only in French)
---. Séjour à Belle-Côte. Prise de Parole, 2022. (Only in French)
---. Si Long Temps Déja. Prise de Parole, 2009. (Only in French)
---. “Ton Violon / Your Violin.” Ellipse 79, 2007, pp. 98-99.
---. Vraisemblable. Prise de Parole, 2013. (Only in French)
---. “The Woman Warrior.” Ellipse 79, 2007. pp. 26.
--- et al. Tom Hopkins, Rose Després. 2004. (Only in French)
Secondary Sources
Arsenault, Guy, et al. Poésie Acadienne Contemporaine: Acadian Poetry Now. Éditions Perce-Neige, 1985.
Felix, Jocelyne. "La soif heureuse." Lettres québécoises 101, 2001. pp. 41-42
Gaboury-Diallo, Lise. “La vie prodigieuse de Rose Després.” Francophonie et résistance 13, 2002. pp. 199. (Only in French)
Laparra, Manon. "Champ d'écriture, chant de liberté: la parole combustion dans l'oeuvre de Rose Després". Auteures acadiennes: création et critique, special issue of Dalhousie French Studies 62, 2003. pp. 39-49.
Lonergan, David. “Rose Després : Une poésie de l’intime.” Nuit Blanche 128, 2014. (Only in French)
Lovatt, Tom, et al. Site/Specific/Sight : Marion Mccain Atlantic Art Exhibition 2007. Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 2007.
Pare, Francois. “La dissidence comme auto-fiction.” Canadian Literature 203. The University of British Columbia, 2009. (Only in French)
