Yves Bonnefoy (1923–2016) sometimes railed against mathematical concepts, which he believed fragmented the meaning of things. In a 2003 interview with Magazine Littéraire, mathematician Alain Connes maintains that Bonnefoy's poetry "resonates with mathematical reality": "By juxtaposing just a few words, Bonnefoy succeeds in conjuring up an image that catches us unawares. Yet a 'beautiful discovery' in mathematics also creates meaningful images in the researcher's mind. [….] Bonnefoy is a great poet because his words seem to fall into place all by themselves, radiant and rejuvenated by new meaning. The same is true of a beautiful proof: there it stands, luminous and manifestly self-evident. […] A beautiful proof is like a poem: an unpredictable opening onto an unexplored landscape." Mathematical inquiry and poetic creation: Connes goes on: "Both of us, with our eyes closed, spend our lives cultivating these territories wrested from our visual fields and entrusted to the subconscious, thereby shaping our own images…" All the more reason to read—or reread—Yves Bonnefoy.
