During his lifetime, Stéphanie Mallarmé (1842-1898) was recognized as one of the greatest modern French poets. He wrote extensively on themes of reality and his desire to turn away from it, marrying form and content in revolutionary ways that departed drastically from the more tightly controlled French tradition. Despite his status as one of the first modernists, much of Mallarmé's radicalism has been lost in translation. Finally, in this new collection by Blake Bronson-Bartlett and Robert Fernandez, the magic and mastery of form and diction so striking in Mallarmé's French verse comes to life in English. Drawing from Poésies (1899 edition), Un coup de dés (A cast of dice), and the "Livre" (the "Book" - the overarching conceptual work left unfinished at the death of the poet), this collection captures Mallarmé's true linguistic brilliance, bringing the poems into our current context, while retaining the music, playfulness, and power of the originals. -- from back cover.