Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Michelle Grangaud

WORDS FILL THE WHOLE UNIVERSE

Words fill the whole universe, like light, but unlike light they have no shadow.
The chorus causes the temperature to drop.
How very strange, an object without a shadow.
Since I had no shadow, I vaguely thought that each word had its opposite, its antonym. I thought too
vaguely: not all words have antonyms.
A word without an antonym seems to me, like a body without a shadow, a curious anomaly.
Temperature is part of an order.
Nevertheless, that is so.
I have tried to understand what is meant by this concept of antonym. Up to now, it has seemed
rather vague to me.
Man is the antonym of Woman, and vice versa, but Girl and Boy are not antonyms. Indeed,
Son has no antonym either. It would seem that one is not born the antonym of the other sex,
but that one becomes so though the processes of conjugation.
Contrary to what I would
have thought beforehand (although it seems I had all sorts of wrong ideas
on the subject), antonymy does not only operate in couples, far from it. With antonyms,
polygamy appears to be the norm, and monogamy stands as an exception.
In all cases, however, non-closed systems exist, such as Yesterday, Today,
Tomorrow. Yesterday and Tomorrow are antonyms of Today, Today and Tomorrow
are antonyms of Yesterday, but only Today is the antonym of Tomorrow. Yesterday
is not the antonym of Tomorrow, as the past is not the exact opposite of the future.
Form has many antonyms, including Matter and Subject, which for their part have no antonyms.
The same goes for Spirit, the antonyms of which include Letter, whereas Letter
has no antonyms. At least in my dictionary.

Les mots remplissent tout l’univers

Les mots remplissent tout l’univers

Les mots remplissent tout l’univers, comme la lumière, mais à la différence de la lumière,
ils n’ont pas d’ombre.
Le refrain fait baisser la température.
C’est tout de même curieux, un objet sans ombre.
Faute d’avoir une ombre, je pensais vaguement que chaque mot avait son opposé,
son antonyme. Je pensais trop vaguement : tous les mots n’ont pas d’antonyme.
Un mot qui n’a pas d’antonyme me paraît, comme un corps sans ombre, une curieuse anomalie.
La température appartient à un ordre.
Pourtant, il en est bien ainsi.
J’ai tenté de comprendre ce que peut recouvrir cette notion d’antonyme. Jusqu’à présent,
elle me paraît assez floue.
Homme est antonyme de Femme, et réciproquement, mais Fille et Garçon ne sont pas antonymes.
D’ailleurs Fils non plus n’a pas d’antonyme. Il semble
qu’on ne naisse pas antonyme de l’autre sexe, mais qu’on le devienne
par les opérations de conjugaison.
Contrairement à ce que j’aurais pensé a priori (mais apparemment, j’avais à ce sujet
toutes sortes d’idées fausses) l’antonymie ne fonctionne pas seulement
par couple, loin de là. Chez les antonymes, la polygamie semble
correspondre à la norme, et la monogamie fait figure d’exception. Dans tous les cas,
cependant, existent des systèmes non clos, du type Hier,
Aujourd’hui, Demain. Hier et Demain sont antonymes d’Aujourd’hui, Aujourd’hui
et Demain sont antonymes d’Hier, mais seul Aujourd’hui est antonyme
de Demain. En effet, Hier n’est pas l’antonyme de Demain, le passé
n’étant pas l’exact opposé du futur.
Forme a de nombreux antonymes, dont Fond, et Sujet, qui de leur côté n’ont pas d’antonyme.
De même pour Esprit qui a pour antonyme, entre autres, Lettre,
tandis que Lettre ne dispose d’aucun antonyme. Du moins dans mon dictionnaire.
Close

WORDS FILL THE WHOLE UNIVERSE

Words fill the whole universe, like light, but unlike light they have no shadow.
The chorus causes the temperature to drop.
How very strange, an object without a shadow.
Since I had no shadow, I vaguely thought that each word had its opposite, its antonym. I thought too
vaguely: not all words have antonyms.
A word without an antonym seems to me, like a body without a shadow, a curious anomaly.
Temperature is part of an order.
Nevertheless, that is so.
I have tried to understand what is meant by this concept of antonym. Up to now, it has seemed
rather vague to me.
Man is the antonym of Woman, and vice versa, but Girl and Boy are not antonyms. Indeed,
Son has no antonym either. It would seem that one is not born the antonym of the other sex,
but that one becomes so though the processes of conjugation.
Contrary to what I would
have thought beforehand (although it seems I had all sorts of wrong ideas
on the subject), antonymy does not only operate in couples, far from it. With antonyms,
polygamy appears to be the norm, and monogamy stands as an exception.
In all cases, however, non-closed systems exist, such as Yesterday, Today,
Tomorrow. Yesterday and Tomorrow are antonyms of Today, Today and Tomorrow
are antonyms of Yesterday, but only Today is the antonym of Tomorrow. Yesterday
is not the antonym of Tomorrow, as the past is not the exact opposite of the future.
Form has many antonyms, including Matter and Subject, which for their part have no antonyms.
The same goes for Spirit, the antonyms of which include Letter, whereas Letter
has no antonyms. At least in my dictionary.

WORDS FILL THE WHOLE UNIVERSE

Words fill the whole universe, like light, but unlike light they have no shadow.
The chorus causes the temperature to drop.
How very strange, an object without a shadow.
Since I had no shadow, I vaguely thought that each word had its opposite, its antonym. I thought too
vaguely: not all words have antonyms.
A word without an antonym seems to me, like a body without a shadow, a curious anomaly.
Temperature is part of an order.
Nevertheless, that is so.
I have tried to understand what is meant by this concept of antonym. Up to now, it has seemed
rather vague to me.
Man is the antonym of Woman, and vice versa, but Girl and Boy are not antonyms. Indeed,
Son has no antonym either. It would seem that one is not born the antonym of the other sex,
but that one becomes so though the processes of conjugation.
Contrary to what I would
have thought beforehand (although it seems I had all sorts of wrong ideas
on the subject), antonymy does not only operate in couples, far from it. With antonyms,
polygamy appears to be the norm, and monogamy stands as an exception.
In all cases, however, non-closed systems exist, such as Yesterday, Today,
Tomorrow. Yesterday and Tomorrow are antonyms of Today, Today and Tomorrow
are antonyms of Yesterday, but only Today is the antonym of Tomorrow. Yesterday
is not the antonym of Tomorrow, as the past is not the exact opposite of the future.
Form has many antonyms, including Matter and Subject, which for their part have no antonyms.
The same goes for Spirit, the antonyms of which include Letter, whereas Letter
has no antonyms. At least in my dictionary.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère