Le mythe de la Roche Perçee: poeme (The Myth of the Pierced Rock)

Yvan Goll’s poems appear alongside three of Yves Tanguy’s abstract etchings, created in reference to the surreal beauty of Canada. The cover is made of a deep red, handmade paper with blond hair-like fibers throughout. Goll’s poem begins with a description of a large rock formation off the coast of Gaspe in Quebec, Canada, where he settled after fleeing Paris during World War II. Known as Pierced Rock, the formation bears a large hole in its center caused by water erosion. Legends describe the hole as an “eye” that changes colors with the weather. Goll’s poems continue this tradition, telling mythical tales of the rock personified. Similar to Mexico City, where Surrealism thrived around the same time, the Canadian landscape offered artists a new source of inspiration, as well as a relief from war-fatigued Paris.

An etching by Yves Tanguy serves as the frontispiece to introduce the work and thereafter haunts the reader’s interpretation. Tanguy’s anthropomorphic figure renders the rock, captured in Goll’s words, ever more surreal. Two additional images are spaced throughout the book in a way that may immerse readers in a world where the rock formation is both personified and divine.