“Sonnet en –yx”, or “Sonnet en X”, is a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, published in his

of 1887. The title conventionally given to the poem refers to its unusual rhyme scheme that incorporates six words ending in the phoneme [iks]. It is also known by its first line, “Ses purs ongles très haut…”. An earlier version of the poem, “Sonnet allégorique de lui-même” (1868), exists in draft form; the self-referential title of this earlier version has been used to shed light on the reflexivity that also characterises his revised “Sonnet en –yx”. Both versions of the poem are reproduced in Mallarmé’s

(1998). At the centre of Mallarmé’s project is a profound interest in the make-up of words, including their sounds, their etymologies, and…

1937 words

Citation: Etheridge, Kate. "Sonnet en -yx". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 February 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11324, accessed 23 November 2024.]