The existence of a new geological age (the Anthropocene) associated with the impact of man on the earth is attracting more and more researchers, also from the humanities. The notion of the Anthropocene leads, among other things, to a reflection on human actions, on time and on morals. In the 20th century, both Ponge and Char write abundantly on nature. Their poetry reveals a deep involvement with ethical questions. This article is an ecocritical and poethical examination of their oeuvre. It is oriented towards the possible links between poetry and action, towards poetry understood as denunciation and accusation, but also as a moral and epistemological guide. If poetic dwelling on the earth (Hölderlin and Heidegger) may have a meaningful relevance to Char and Ponge it should not be thought of as utopia, nostalgia, or meditation, but rather as a lesson in the shaping of responsibility, awareness and reconciliation.

L’existence d’un nouvel âge géologique (l’anthropocène) associée à l’impact de l’homme sur la terre attire de plus en plus de chercheurs, aussi des sciences humaines. La notion d’anthropocène amène entre autres à une réflexion morale au sujet des actions de l’homme. La parole poétique de Ponge et de Char est précisément associée à la déontologie. Notre examen écocritique et po-éthique s’oriente vers les liens entre poésie et action, vers la poésie comprise comme dénonciation et accusation, mais aussi comme guide et enseignement. « L’habitation poétique » de la Terre (Hölderlin et Heidegger) chez ces deux poètes renvoie à une « leçon » qui ne se définit ni comme utopie, ni comme nostalgie ou recueillement méditatif, mais comme responsabilité et sensibilisation à tout élément constitutif du monde et de la nature.

The study examines the reference to the North in the Poèmes barbares (1872) by Leconte de Lisle. The reference to the barbarian races of the North is explained in the context of the Second Empire in France and determined as an aesthetic and cultural program launched by Leconte de Lisle, leader of the Parnasse. It is shown that the barbarian inspiration is part of a quest to revitalize the human spirit in the era of modernity. The endeavor is associated with the essential tendencies in the sciences of that time but also, in Leconte de Lisle’s view, with the sacred dimension of poetic discourse. Secondly, by close readings of four examples of Nordic poems, two poems from the Finnish cycle and two poems from the Scandinavian cycle, the characteristics of Leconte de Lisle’s poetic language are defined. The results show that the Nordic textuel sources – the hypotexts – are considerably reworked by the poet with the aim of making them conform to classical criteria from Greco-Roman antiquity. However, the resulting syncretism in no way excludes cultural diversity, because Leconte de Lisle makes abundant and conscient use, in his poetic practice, of proper names in foreign languages.