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Poésies
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
240 pages, Pocket Book
First published October 12, 1983
14 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Marceline Desbordes-Valmore
169 books36 followersMarceline Desbordes-Valmore (June 20, 1786 – July 23, 1859) was a French poet.
She was born in Douai. Following the French Revolution, her family emigrated to Guadeloupe. In 1817 she married her second husband, the actor Prosper Lanchantin-Valmore.
She published Élégies et Romances, her first poetic work, in 1819. Her melancholy, elegiacal poems are admired for their grace and profound emotion.
Marceline appeared as an actress and singer in Douai, Rouen, the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, where she notably played Rosine in Beaumarchais's Le Barbier de Séville. She retired from the stage in 1823. She later became friends with the novelist Honoré de Balzac, and he once wrote that she was an inspiration for the title character of La Cousine Bette.
Her poetry is also known for taking on dark and depressing themes, which reflects her troubled life. She is the only female writer included in the famous Les poètes maudits anthology published by Paul Verlaine in 1884. A volume of her poetry was among the books in Friedrich Nietzsche's library.
She died in Paris.
She was born in Douai. Following the French Revolution, her family emigrated to Guadeloupe. In 1817 she married her second husband, the actor Prosper Lanchantin-Valmore.
She published Élégies et Romances, her first poetic work, in 1819. Her melancholy, elegiacal poems are admired for their grace and profound emotion.
Marceline appeared as an actress and singer in Douai, Rouen, the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, where she notably played Rosine in Beaumarchais's Le Barbier de Séville. She retired from the stage in 1823. She later became friends with the novelist Honoré de Balzac, and he once wrote that she was an inspiration for the title character of La Cousine Bette.
Her poetry is also known for taking on dark and depressing themes, which reflects her troubled life. She is the only female writer included in the famous Les poètes maudits anthology published by Paul Verlaine in 1884. A volume of her poetry was among the books in Friedrich Nietzsche's library.
She died in Paris.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 30, 2018
It is not exactly this book that I read, my edition is from 1928, and has maybe not the same poems in it. Anyway, I wanted to share this wonderful female author with you. I found Englsih translations on Goodreads, but I haven't read them.
Marceline Desbordes-Valmore is a French poetess and novelist, born in 1786. Her father painted the emblems of rich and noble families, carriages, and gilded church ornaments. Alas for Marceline and her family, the 1789 Revolution, which hunted the nobles and looted the Church, ruined her father by taking away his work. In 1801, Marceline was fifteen years old and, to escape misery, she embarked with her mother for Guadeloupe, accros the Atlantic Ocean, to ask a cousin for help. Storm, illness, her mother died in Guadeloupe and the cousin didn’t help Marceline who returned to France.
At sixteen, Marceline became a singer, an actress, in theaters in Brussels and Paris.
In 1810 she had a first child who will die at the age of six.
In 1817, Marceline married a comedian who didn’t make a living. She has four children: Junie dies at a young age; Ondine will die at thirty-one, Inès will die at twenty-one. Only Hippolyte will survive his mother.
In 1823, Marceline leaves the theater permanently to live from her writing: poetry and prose, children's stories, novels. She works reaaly a lot to provide for the needs of her children, her husband, her alcoholic brother, her brother's three children, who also die before her.
A long life of suffering and mourning. Fortunately, she had very dear friends Delphine de Girardin, Mademoiselle Mars, a famous actress ... Marceline Desbordes-Valmore was an autodidact, she didn't go to school, didn't study. But she leaves us poems of rare beauty and extraordinary depth. She was admired by Honoré de Balzac, Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire, Sainte-Beuve.
Despite this, this author is badknown or even unknown in her own country: France.
Many women writers are to discover or rediscover, but they are absent in textbooks and publishers seems to prefer largely classic male writers…
Although poetry can hardly be translated, because the music of the words is lost, I’ll try to translate few verses, even if my English is rudimentary!
“You above all I pity if you’re not cherished,
You who suffer I take you to be my sisters …”
“Sing! A woman's song softens the suffering.
Love! More than love hate makes you suffer.
Give! Charity raises hope:
As long as we can give we do not want to die!”
The 21st century will be female!
Marceline Desbordes-Valmore is a French poetess and novelist, born in 1786. Her father painted the emblems of rich and noble families, carriages, and gilded church ornaments. Alas for Marceline and her family, the 1789 Revolution, which hunted the nobles and looted the Church, ruined her father by taking away his work. In 1801, Marceline was fifteen years old and, to escape misery, she embarked with her mother for Guadeloupe, accros the Atlantic Ocean, to ask a cousin for help. Storm, illness, her mother died in Guadeloupe and the cousin didn’t help Marceline who returned to France.
At sixteen, Marceline became a singer, an actress, in theaters in Brussels and Paris.
In 1810 she had a first child who will die at the age of six.
In 1817, Marceline married a comedian who didn’t make a living. She has four children: Junie dies at a young age; Ondine will die at thirty-one, Inès will die at twenty-one. Only Hippolyte will survive his mother.
In 1823, Marceline leaves the theater permanently to live from her writing: poetry and prose, children's stories, novels. She works reaaly a lot to provide for the needs of her children, her husband, her alcoholic brother, her brother's three children, who also die before her.
A long life of suffering and mourning. Fortunately, she had very dear friends Delphine de Girardin, Mademoiselle Mars, a famous actress ... Marceline Desbordes-Valmore was an autodidact, she didn't go to school, didn't study. But she leaves us poems of rare beauty and extraordinary depth. She was admired by Honoré de Balzac, Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire, Sainte-Beuve.
Despite this, this author is badknown or even unknown in her own country: France.
Many women writers are to discover or rediscover, but they are absent in textbooks and publishers seems to prefer largely classic male writers…
Although poetry can hardly be translated, because the music of the words is lost, I’ll try to translate few verses, even if my English is rudimentary!
“You above all I pity if you’re not cherished,
You who suffer I take you to be my sisters …”
“Sing! A woman's song softens the suffering.
Love! More than love hate makes you suffer.
Give! Charity raises hope:
As long as we can give we do not want to die!”
The 21st century will be female!
September 17, 2023
Absolument merveilleux
July 27, 2023
on ne fait vraiment pas mieux en littérature , complètement affligée par sa discrétion en terme de postérité car elle mérite une enoooorme célébration tous les jours : cette madame est juste parfaite dommage que ses poèmes soient destinés à cet Henri et non à une Henriette par exemple d autant qu’il ne mérite rien du tout ce shawty de merde
June 28, 2012
So romantic, to me her poems didn't got older...maybe because I'm old fashioned about romance !
January 6, 2024
Elle parvient a faire chanter ce qui est déjà mélodie : la poésie. Magique !
April 24, 2024
En ce jour de partiel, merci Marceline d'avoir autant été une poupette dans ta vie
June 14, 2020
Très beaux poèmes qui reflètent la mélancolie de leur époque, les joies et les peines de la poétesse.
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Very handsome poems that reflect the melancholy of their time, the joys and sorrows of the poetess.
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Very handsome poems that reflect the melancholy of their time, the joys and sorrows of the poetess.
September 8, 2014
Quel plaisir d'enfin trouver un recueil de cette poétesse fantastique qui m'a réconciliée avec la poésie. Découvert sur France inter lors d'une lecture de poésies liées à la voix, j'ai eu le coup de foudre pour cette femme qui comprend si bien la douleur du manque de l'autre.
May 11, 2021
Pourquoi cette œuvre n’est-elle pas enseignée au lycée ? Certes, les thématiques sont répétitives et les tournures parfois maladroites mais... la langue est si belle et si puissante, si poignante ❤️
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews