Carmen Bernos de Gasztold (9 October 1919 – 23 September 1995) was a French

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

who lived in a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey. Her most famous collection is titled ''Prayers from the Ark''. The 1955 publication consists of short poems, each expressing a prayer from some animal on

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in ...

. The book was translated into at least six languages, including an English version by

Rumer Godden Margaret Rumer Godden (10 December 1907 – 8 November 1998) was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably ''Black Narcissus'' in 1947 and '' The River'' in ...

. Poet

Marianne Moore Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. Early life Moore was born in Kirkwood ...

praised the collection, but

X. J. Kennedy X. J. Kennedy (born Joseph Charles Kennedy on August 21, 1929, in Dover, New Jersey) is an American poet, translator, anthologist, editor, and author of children's literature and textbooks on English literature and poetry. He was long known as ...

criticized them as colorless and dull. Actor

Marian Seldes Marian Hall Seldes (August 23, 1928 – October 6, 2014) was an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' A Delicate Balance'' in 1967, and received subsequent nomination ...

recorded a

spoken word album A spoken word album is a recording of spoken material, a predecessor of the contemporary audiobook genre. Rather than featuring music or songs, the content of spoken word albums include political speeches, dramatic readings of historical documents ...

of the poems; composers Ivor R. Davies and Frieder Meschwitz set them to music. A second volume of similar poems was published in 1965, entitled ''The Creatures Choir'', also translated by Godden. She spent her childhood in the province of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. She had five sisters and brothers. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

she went to live at the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Abbaye Saint Louis du Temple at Limon. Her family were of Lithuanian descent (Gasztold being the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

rendering of the Lithuanian name Goštautas).

Works

* ''Prières dans L'Arche'', French & European Pubns, 1985, * ''Choral de Bêtes'', French & European Pubns, 1985,

English translation

*''Prayers from the ark and the Creatures' choir'', Carmen Bernos de Gasztold, Translator Rumer Godden, Penguin Books, 1976 **''Prayers from the ark: selected poems'', Carmen Bernos de Gasztold, Translator Rumer Godden, Illustrator Barry Moser, Reprint Puffin Books, 1995,
Bernos de Gasztold&f=false "The Prayer of the Dog"
''To absent friends: a collection of stories of the dogs we miss'', Editor Jameson Parker, Willow Creek Press, 2004,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernos De Gasztold, Carmen 1919 births 1995 deaths 20th-century French poets 20th-century French women writers French people of Lithuanian descent French women poets People from Arcachon