Overjoyed at his cousin's amiability,
Rodolphe
danced and
sang his way back to Mount St.
sang his way back to Mount St.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v18 - Mom to Old
10474 (#342) ##########################################
10474
HENRI MURGER
afternoon at Versailles? The Bohemians of Paris are linked by the
chains of vagabondage, and of possible genius, to all those in every
age and clime who have found stimulus for their powers in love and
wine and song; and who in serving this trinity have forgotten the
obligation to earn more than they spend.
-
Murger himself did not long survive his translation, from that
quarter of Paris where he lived in the fifth story of a cheap lodging-
house because there was no sixth, to the realm of respectability. He
was, however, still enough of a Bohemian to prefer a cottage in the
Forest of Fontainebleau to the smug quarters of Paris, whose inhabit-
ants know nothing of the excitement of chasing "that wild beast
called a five-franc piece. " Murger died in 1861; and there were
those who questioned, in reviewing his life, whether he had been
really at heart a Bohemian. His book, at least, shows the subtlest
penetration into that irregular form of human nature known as the
artistic temperament. The reader regrets that the possessor of such
insight — a man who could discern a brother Bohemian across many
centuries and under the strangest disguises of mediæval rags — should
not have explained why the world instinctively feels that the poet
or the artist is not likely to be normal in his habits of living. Had
he attempted to answer this question, he might have said that the
man who sees visions and dreams dreams, knows the true value of
bread and meat and gold pieces better than the Philistine; and can
therefore accept their services irregularly, and with the nonchalance
of the inspired. The world, before whom the bread and meat and
gold pieces loom large as fate itself, translates this nonchalance into
shiftless ignorance of the duties and obligations of life. As poets and
artists are as a rule visionaries, this reputation is therefore fastened
upon them.
--
The world is not without its justification. Even Murger himself
says, "Bohemia is a stage in the artistic life: it is the preface to the
Academy, the Hôtel Dieu-or the Morgue. "
## p. 10475 (#343) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10475
M.
A BOHEMIAN EVENING PARTY
From The Humor of France,' in International Humor Series >
TOWA
NOWARDS the end of December the messengers of Bidault's
agency were commissioned to distribute about a hundred
copies of an invitation, of which the following is a faithful
reproduction:-
―――
MM. Rodolphe and Marcel request the honor of your company on
Saturday evening next, Christmas Eve.
There will be fine fun.
PROGRAMME OF THE ENTERTAINMENT
At 7 P. M. , opening of the reception rooms; lively and animated
conversation.
At 8 P. M. , entrance and walk through the rooms of the talented
authors of the Mountain in Labor,' comedy refused at the Odéon
Théâtre.
At 8:30 P. M. , M. Alexandre Schaunard, the celebrated virtuoso, will
perform on the piano 'The Influence of Blue in the Arts,' descript-
ive symphony.
At 9 P. M. , first reading of the paper on The Abolition of the Pen-
alty in Tragedy. '
At 9:30 P. M. , M. Gustave Colline, hyperphysical philosopher, and
Monsieur Schaunard, will hold a debate comparing dephilosophy and
metapolitics. In order to avoid any collision between the antagonists,
they will each be securely fastened.
At 10
P. M. , M. Tristan, man of letters, will relate his early
amours. M. Alexandre Schaunard will accompany him on the piano.
At 10:30 P. M. , second reading of the paper on The Abolition of
the Penalty in Tragedy. '
At 11 P. M. , a foreign Prince will describe a Cassowary hunt.
PART II
AT MIDNIGHT, Monsieur Marcel, historical painter, blindfolded, will
improvise in chalk the meeting of Napoleon and Voltaire in the Elys-
ian Fields. Monsieur Rodolphe will improvise a comparison between
the author of 'Zaïre' and the author of Austerlitz.
At 12:30 P. M. , M. Gustave, in a decent undress, will imitate the
athletic games of the fourth Olympiad.
At I
A. M. , third reading of the paper on The Abolition of the
Penalty in Tragedy,' and collection for the tragic authors who will
one day be out of work.
## p. 10476 (#344) ##########################################
10476
HENRI MURGER
At 2 A. M. , beginning of the games and organization of the dances,
which will be continued until morning.
At 6 A. M. , sunrise and final chorus.
During the whole of the entertainment the ventilators will play.
N. B. Any person wishing to read or recite verses will be imme-
diately turned out and delivered up to the police. You are requested
not to take away the candle ends.
Let me tell you briefly the origin of the entertainment that
so vastly dazzled the Bohemian world of Paris. For about a
year, Marcel and Rodolphe had gone on announcing this magnifi-
cent entertainment to take place always next Saturday. But un-
toward circumstances had forced them to let the promise extend
over fifty-two weeks. In consequence, they could scarcely move
a step without having to endure the jeers of their friends, some
of whom were actually unfeeling enough to formulate loud com-
plaints. The affair began to get tiresome; and the two friends
determined to put an end to it by liquidating the engagements
they had made. And the invitation quoted above was the out-
come of that decision.
"Now," said Rodolphe, "there's no possibility of retreat: we've
burnt our ships, and we've just a week in which to find the hun-
dred francs indispensable for doing the thing well. "
"As they are so absolutely necessary," said Marcel, "of course
they'll be forthcoming. "
And with an insolent confidence in luck, the two friends went
to sleep, convinced that the hundred francs were already on the
road-the road of the impossible.
However, two days before the evening appointed for the party,
as nothing had arrived, Rodolphe thought that if he did not
wish to be disgraced when the time came for the guests to arrive,
it would probably be safer to assist luck. In order to facilitate
matters, the two friends, by degrees, modified the sumptuous
programme on which they had at first determined. And from
modification to modification, after greatly curtailing the item.
cakes, and carefully revising and diminishing that of drinks, the
total expense was reduced to fifteen francs. The problem was
thus simplified but not solved.
"Well," said Rodolphe,
«< we must take strong measures: we
can't postpone it again this time. "
"Impossible," said Marcel.
"How long is it since I heard the story of Studzianka? "
## p. 10477 (#345) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10477
"Almost two months. "
"Two months? good! that's a respectable interval. My uncle
shall have no cause for complaint. To-morrow I'll go and see
him, and ask for the battle of Studzianka. That will mean five
francs. "
"And," said Marcel, "I'll sell old Medicis 'A Deserted Manor':
that will be another five francs. If I've time to put in three
towers and a mill, it will very likely be ten francs, and then we
shall have just the sum required. "
The two friends went to sleep, and dreamed that the Princess
Belgioso asked them to change their reception days, in order not
to deprive her of her habitual guests.
Marcel got up very early, took a canvas, and diligently pro-
ceeded to construct 'A Deserted Castle,'- an article in great
demand by a broker in the Place du Carrousel. Rodolphe went
to call on his uncle Monetti, who excelled in narrating the retreat
from Moscow. Rodolphe, when things went badly with him,
procured his uncle the satisfaction of fighting his campaigns
over again some five or six times a year, in consideration for a
loan. If you showed a proper enthusiasm for his stories, the
veteran stove-maker and chimney-doctor was not unwilling to
make it.
news.
«
About two o'clock, Marcel, with downcast look, carrying a
canvas under his arm, met Rodolphe in the Place du Carrou-
sel coming from his uncle's; his appearance also betokened ill
"Well," asked Marcel, "what luck? "
"None. My uncle had gone to the Versailles Museum. And
you? »
“That wretch of a Medicis doesn't want any more 'Ruined
Castles. ' He asked for a 'Bombardment of Tangiers. '"
"Our reputation's gone if we don't give the entertainment,"
grumbled Rodolphe. "What will my friend the influential critic
think, if I make him put on a white tie and light gloves for
nothing? "
They returned to the studio, a prey to the liveliest anxiety.
At that moment a neighbor's clock struck four.
"We've only three hours left," said Rodolphe.
"Well," exclaimed Marcel, going up to his friend, "are you
perfectly sure there's no money to be found here? "
## p. 10478 (#346) ##########################################
10478
HENRI MURGER
"Neither here nor elsewhere. Where could we have left any? "
"Let us search in the stuffing of the chairs. It is said that
the émigrés hid their treasure in Robespierre's time. Our arm-
chair may have belonged to an émigré. It's so hard that I've
often thought it must be metal inside. Will you make an autopsy
of it? "
"This is a mere farce," replied Rodolphe in a tone at once
severe and indulgent.
Suddenly Marcel, who had been prosecuting his search in
every corner of the studio, gave a loud shout of triumph.
"We are saved! " he exclaimed: "I felt sure there was some-
thing of value here. Look! " and he held up for Rodolphe's in-
spection a coin the size of a crown, half smothered in rust and
verdigris.
It was a Carlovingian coin of some artistic value.
"That's only worth thirty sous," said Rodolphe, throwing a
contemptuous glance at his friend's findings.
«
"Thirty sous well laid out will go a long way," said Marcel.
"I'll sell this Charlemagne crown to old Father Medicis. Isn't
could sell? Yes, suppose I take the
That will add to the collection. "
there anything else here I
Russian drum-major's tibia.
"Away with the tibia. But it's exceedingly annoying: there
won't be a single object of art left. "
During Marcel's absence, Rodolphe, feeling certain that his
party would come off somehow, went in search of his friend
Colline, who lived quite near.
"I want you," he said, "to do me a favor. As master of the
house, I must wear a dress coat, and I haven't got one. Lend
me yours. "
"But," objected Colline, "as a guest I must wear my dress
coat myself. "
"I'll allow you to come in a frock coat. "
"You know I've never had a frock coat. "
"Well, then, the matter can be arranged like this: You need-
n't come to the party, and you can lend me your dress coat. "
"But that'll never do. I'm on the programme.
away. "
I can't stay
"There'll be plenty of other things lacking," said Rodolphe.
"Lend me the dress coat; and if you want to come, come as you
are, in your shirt-sleeves. "
## p. 10479 (#347) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10479
"Oh, no,” said Colline, getting red. "I'll put on my great-
coat. But it's all exceedingly annoying " And perceiving that
Rodolphe had already laid hold of the dress coat, he exclaimed:
"Stay-there are one or two little things in the pockets. "
Colline's coat deserves mention. First, it was blue, and it
was purely from habit that Colline talked about his black coat;
and as he was the only member of the band who possessed such
a garment, his friends were likewise accustomed to say when
speaking of the philosopher, Colline's black coat. Further, that
celebrated article of apparel had a particular shape of its own,
the most eccentric that can be imagined. The abnormally long
tails fastened to a very short waist possessed two pockets, verita-
ble abysses, in which Colline was accustomed to put about thirty
books he everlastingly carried about him. Thus it was said that
when the libraries were closed, scholars and literary men looked
up their references in the tails of Colline's coat, a library always
open to readers.
When Rodolphe returned he found Marcel playing quoits with
five-franc pieces, to the number of three.
He had sold the coin for fifteen francs.
The two friends immediately began their preparations. They
put the studio tidy, and lighted a fire in the stove. A canvas
frame, ornamented with candles, was suspended from the ceiling,
and did duty as a chandelier. A desk was placed in the middle
of the studio, to serve as a tribune for the speakers. In front
they put the one arm-chair, which was to be occupied by the
influential critic; and laid out a table the books, novels,
feuilletons of the authors who were to honor the entertainment
with their presence.
To avoid any collision between the differ-
ent parties of men of letters, they divided the studio into four
compartments; at the entrance were four hastily manufactured
placards inscribed-
POETS
PROSE-WRITERS
ROMANTIC
CLASSICAL
The ladies were to occupy a space reserved in the middle.
"Oh! " said Rodolphe, << there are no chairs. "
"There are plenty on the landing," replied Marcel.
we take those. "
"Suppose
"Of course," said Rodolphe, and proceeded calmly to take
possession of his neighbors' property.
## p. 10480 (#348) ##########################################
10480
HENRI MURGER
Six o'clock struck. The two friends went out for a hasty
dinner, and on their return proceeded to light up the rooms.
They could not help feeling dazzled themselves. At seven
o'clock Schaunard arrived, accompanied by three ladies, who had
forgotten their diamonds and their bonnets. Numerous steps
were heard on the staircase. The guests were arriving, and they
seemed surprised to find a fire in the stove.
Rodolphe's dress-coat went to meet the ladies, and kissed
their hands with a grace worthy of the Regency. When there
were about twenty persons present, Schaunard asked if they
couldn't have something to drink.
"Presently," said Marcel: "we are waiting for the influential
critic before we begin on the punch. "
By eight o'clock all the guests had come, and they began the
programme. Between each number came a round of some sort
of drink; but what it exactly was, has never transpired.
About ten o'clock the white waistcoat of the influential critic
appeared. He only stayed an hour, and was very sparing of
praise. At midnight, as it was very cold and there was no more
fuel, the guests who were seated drew lots for throwing their
chairs into the fire.
At one o'clock everybody was standing.
The greatest merriment held sway among the guests, and the
memorable evening was the talk of the neighborhood for a week.
THE WHITE VIOLETS
From The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter›
ABO
BOUT this time Rodolphe was very much in love with his
cousin Angela, who couldn't bear him; and the thermome-
ter was twelve degrees below freezing-point.
Mademoiselle Angela was the daughter of Monsieur Monetti,
the chimney-doctor, of whom we have already had occasion to
speak. She was eighteen years old, and had just come from
Burgundy, where she had lived five years with a relative who
was to leave her all her property. This relative was an old lady
who had never been young, apparently,- certainly never hand-
some, but had always been very ill-natured, although—or per-
haps because very superstitious. Angela, who at her departure
was a charming child, and promised to be a charming girl,
――――――――――
-
## p. 10481 (#349) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10481
came back at the end of the five years a pretty enough young
lady, but cold, dry, and uninteresting. Her secluded provincial
life, and the narrow and bigoted education she had received, had
filled her mind with vulgar prejudices, shrunk her imagination,
and converted her heart into a sort of organ limited to fulfilling
its function of physical balance-wheel. You might say that she
had holy water in her veins instead of blood. She received her
cousin with an icy reserve; and he lost his time whenever he
attempted to touch the chord of her recollections-recollections.
of the time when they had sketched out that flirtation, in the
Paul-and-Virginia style, which is traditional between cousins of
different sexes. Still Rodolphe was very much in love with his
cousin Angela, who couldn't bear him; and learning one day
that the young lady was going shortly to the wedding-ball of
one of her friends, he made bold to promise Angela a bouquet
of violets for the ball. And after asking permission of her
father, Angela accepted her cousin's gallant offer-always on
condition that the violets should be white.
Overjoyed at his cousin's amiability, Rodolphe danced and
sang his way back to Mount St. Bernard, as he called his lodg-
ing-why, will be seen presently. As he passed by a florist's in
crossing the Palais Royal, he saw some white violets in the show-
case, and was curious enough to ask their price. A presentable
bouquet could not be had for less than ten francs; there were
some that cost more.
"The deuce! " exclaimed Rodolphe; "ten francs! and only
eight days to find this fortune! It will be a hard pull, but never
mind; my cousin shall have her flowers. "
This happened in the time of Rodolphe's literary genesis, as
the transcendentalists would say. His only income at that period
was an allowance of fifteen francs a month, made him by a
friend, who after living a long while in Paris as a poet, had by
the help of influential acquaintances gained the mastership of
a provincial school. Rodolphe, who was the child of prodigality,
always spent his allowance in four days; and not choosing to
abandon his holy but not very profitable profession of elegiac poet,
lived for the rest of the month on the rare droppings from the
basket of Providence. This long Lent had no terrors for him;
he passed through it gayly, thanks to his stoical temperament,
and to the imaginary treasures which he expended every day
while waiting for the first of the month,- that Easter which
XVIII-656
## p. 10482 (#350) ##########################################
10482
HENRI MURGER
terminated his fast. He lived at this time at the very top of
one of the loftiest houses in Paris. His room was shaped like a
belvidere, and was a delicious habitation in summer; but from
October to April a perfect little Kamtchatka. The four cardinal
winds which penetrated by the four windows-there was one on
each of the four sides-made fearful music in it throughout the
cold seasons. Then, in irony as it were, there was a huge fire-
place, the immense chimney of which seemed a gate of honor
reserved for Boreas and his retinue. On the first attack of cold,
Rodolphe had recourse to an original system of warming: he cut
up successively what little furniture he had, and at the end of a
week his stock was considerably abridged,-in fact, he had only
a bed and two chairs left; it should be remarked that these three
articles were insured against fire by their nature, being of iron.
This manner of heating himself he called moving up the chimney.
It was January; and the thermometer, which indicated twelve
degrees below freezing-point on the Spectacle Quay, would have
stood two or three lower if moved to the belvidere, which
Rodolphe called indifferently Mount St. Bernard, Spitzenberg, and
Siberia. The night when he had promised his cousin the white
violets, he was seized with a great rage on returning home:
the four cardinal winds, in playing puss-in-the-corner round his
chamber, had broken a pane of glass-the third time in a fort-
night. After exploding in a volley of frantic imprecations upon
Eolus and all his family, and plugging up the breach with a
friend's portrait, Rodolphe lay down, dressed as he was, between
his two mattresses, and dreamed of white violets all night.
At the end of five days, Rodolphe had found nothing to help
him toward realizing his dream. He must have the bouquet the
day after to-morrow. Meanwhile the thermometer fell still lower,
and the luckless poet was ready to despair as he thought that the
violets might have risen higher. Finally his good angel had pity
on him, and came to his relief as follows:-
One morning, Rodolphe went to take his chance of getting a
breakfast from his friend Marcel the painter, and found him con-
versing with a woman in mourning. It was a widow who had
just lost her husband, and who wanted to know how much it
would cost to paint on the tomb which she had erected, a man's
hand, with this inscription beneath:-
«I WAIT FOR HER TO WHOM MY FAITH WAS PLIGHTED »
## p. 10483 (#351) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10483
To get the work at a cheaper rate, she observed to the artist
that when she was called to rejoin her husband, he would have
another hand to paint,-her hand, with a bracelet on the wrist,
and the supplementary line beneath:-
«AT LENGTH, BEHOLD US THUS ONCE MORE UNITED»
"I shall put this clause in my will," she said, "and require
that the task be intrusted to you. "
"In that case, madame," replied the artist, "I will do it at the
price you offer- but only in the hope of seeing your hand. Don't
go and forget me in your will. "
"I should like to have this as soon as possible," said the dis-
consolate one: "nevertheless, take your time to do it well; and
don't forget the scar on the thumb. I want a living hand. "
"Don't be afraid, madame, it shall be a speaking one," said
Marcel, as he bowed the widow out.
But hardly had she crossed the threshold when she returned,
saying:-
"I have one thing more to ask you, sir: I should like to
have inscribed on my husband's tomb something in verse which
would tell of his good conduct and his last words. Is that good
style? "
"Very good style - they call that an epitaph - the very best
style. "
"You don't know any one who would do that for me cheap?
There is my neighbor M. Guérin, the public writer; but he asks
the clothes off my back. "
Here Rodolphe darted a look at Marcel, who understood him.
at once.
"Madame," said the artist, pointing to Rodolphe, "a happy
fortune has conducted hither the very person who can be of
service to you in this mournful juncture. This gentleman is a
renowned poet; you couldn't find a better. "
"I want something very melancholy," said the widow; "and
the spelling all right. ”
"Madame," replied Marcel, "my friend spells like a book. He
had all the prizes at school. ”
"Indeed! " said the widow: "my grandnephew has just had
a prize too; he is only seven years old. ”
"A very forward child, madame. "
«< But are you sure that the gentleman can make very melan-
choly verses? "
## p. 10484 (#352) ##########################################
10484
HENRI MURGER
"No one better, madame, for he has undergone much sorrow
in his life. The papers always find fault with his verses for
being too melancholy. "
"What! " cried the widow, "do they talk about him in the
papers? He must know quite as much, then, as M. Guérin, the
public writer. "
Apply to him, madame, and you
"And a great deal more.
will not repent of it. "
After having explained to Rodolphe the sort of inscription
in verse which she wished to place on her husband's tomb, the
widow agreed to give Rodolphe ten francs if it suited her-only
she must have it very soon. The poet promised she should have
it the very next day.
"Oh, good genius of an Artemisia! " cried Rodolphe, as the
widow disappeared. "I promise you that you shall be suited-
full allowance of melancholy lyrics, better got up than a duchess,
orthography and all. Good old lady! May Heaven reward you.
with a life of a hundred and seven years-equal to that of good
brandy! "
"I object," said Marcel.
"That's true," said Rodolphe: "I forgot that you have her
hand to paint, and that so long a life would make you lose
money;" and lifting his hands he gravely ejaculated, "Heaven,
do not grant my prayer! Ah! " he continued, "I was in jolly
good luck to come here. "
"By the way," asked Marcel, "what did you want? "
"I recollect—and now especially that I have to pass the
night in making these verses, I cannot do without what I came
to ask you for: namely, first, some dinner; secondly, tobacco and
candle; thirdly, your polar-bear costume. "
"To go to the masked ball? »
"No indeed; but as you see me here, I am as much frozen
up as the grand army in the retreat from Russia. Certainly my
green frock coat and Scotch plaid trousers are very pretty, but
much too summery: they would do to live under the equator,
but for one who lodges near the Pole, as I do, a white-bear skin
is more suitable, indeed, I may say necessary. "
"Take the fur! " said Marcel: "it's a good idea; warm as a
dish of charcoal,-you will be like a roll in an oven in it. ”
Rodolphe was already inside the animal skin.
"Now," said he, "the thermometer is going to be sold a
trifle. "
## p. 10485 (#353) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10485
"Are you going out so? " said Marcel to his friend, after they
had finished an ambiguous repast served in a penny dish.
"I just am," replied Rodolphe: "do you think I care for pub-
lic opinion? Besides, to-day is the beginning of carnival. "
He went half over Paris with all the gravity of the beast
whose skin he occupied. Only on passing before a thermometer
in an optician's window, he couldn't help taking a sight at it.
Having returned home, not without causing great terror to
his porter, Rodolphe lit his candle, carefully surrounding it with
an extempore shade of paper to guard it against the malice of
the winds, and set to work at once. But he was not long in
perceiving that if his body was almost entirely protected from
the cold, his hands were not; a terrible numbness seized his
fingers, which let the pen fall.
"The bravest man cannot struggle against the elements," said
the poet, falling back helpless in his chair. "Cæsar passed the
Rubicon, but he could not have passed the Beresina. "
All at once he uttered a cry of joy from the depths of his
bearskin breast, and jumped up so suddenly as to overturn some
of his ink on its snowy fur. He had an idea!
Rodolphe drew from beneath his bed a considerable mass
of papers, among which were a dozen huge manuscripts of his
famous drama, 'The Avenger. ' This drama, on which he had
spent two years, had been made, unmade, and remade so often
that all the copies together weighed fully fifteen pounds. He put
the last version on one side, and dragged the others towards the
fireplace.
"I was sure that with patience I should dispose of it some-
how," he exclaimed. "What a pretty fagot! If I could have fore-
seen what would happen, I could have written a prologue, and
then I should have more fuel to-night. But one can't foresee
everything. " He lit some leaves of the manuscript, in the flame
of which he thawed his hands. In five minutes the first act of
'The Avenger' was over, and Rodolphe had written three verses
of his epitaph.
It would be impossible to describe the astonishment of the
four winds when they felt fire in the chimney.
"It's an illusion," quoth Boreas, as he amused himself by
brushing back the hair of Rodolphe's bearskin.
"Let's blow down the pipe," suggested another wind, "and
make the chimney smoke. " But just as they were about to
## p. 10486 (#354) ##########################################
10486
HENRI MURGER
plague the poor poet, the south wind perceived Monsieur Arago
at a window of the Observatory threatening them with his finger;
so they all made off, for fear of being put under arrest. Mean-
while the second act of The Avenger' was going off with im-
mense success, and Rodolphe had written ten lines.
But he only
achieved two during the third act.
"I always thought that third act too short," said Rodolphe:
"luckily the next one will take longer; there are twenty-three
scenes in it, including the great one of the throne. " As the last
flourish of the throne-scene went up the chimney in fiery flakes,
Rodolphe had only three couplets more to write. "Now for the
last act. This is all monologue. It may last five minutes. " The
catastrophe flashed and smoldered, and Rodolphe in a magnifi-
cent transport of poetry had enshrined in lyric stanzas the last.
words of the illustrious deceased. "There is enough left for
a second representation," said he, pushing the remainder of the
manuscript under his bed.
At eight o'clock next evening, Mademoiselle Angela entered
the ball-room; in her hand was a splendid nosegay of white vio-
lets, and among them two budding roses, white also. During the
whole night, men and women were complimenting the young girl
on her bouquet. Angela could not but feel a little grateful to her
cousin, who had procured this little triumph for her vanity; and
perhaps she would have thought more of him but for the gallant
persecutions of one of the bride's relatives, who had danced sev-
eral times with her. He was a fair-haired youth, with a magnifi-
cent mustache curled up at the ends, to hook innocent hearts.
The bouquet had been pulled to pieces by everybody; only the
two white roses were left. The young man asked Angela for
them; she refused-only to forget them after the ball on a
bench, whence the fair-haired youth hastened to take them.
At that moment it was fourteen degrees below freezing-point
in Rodolphe's belvidere. He was leaning against his window
looking out at the lights in the ball-room, where his cousin
Angela, who didn't care for him, was dancing.
## p. 10486 (#355) ##########################################
## p. 10486 (#356) ##########################################
ALF. DE MUSSET.
12m
## p. 10486 (#357) ##########################################
## p. 10486 (#358) ##########################################
ALF. DE MUSSET.
## p. 10487 (#359) ##########################################
10487
ALFRED DE MUSSET
(1810-1857)
BY ALCÉE FORTIER
HE three greatest French poets of the nineteenth century are
Lamartine, Hugo, and Musset. The first one touches us
deeply by his harmonious and simple verses; the second
impresses us with the force of his genius; and the third is some-
times light and gay, and sometimes intensely passionate and sad.
Musset wrote several poems which cannot be surpassed by any in
the French language. He was highly nervous and sensitive, and
lacked Lamartine's spirit of patriotism and Hugo's well-balanced
mind. He was unfortunate, and led a reckless life, committing ex-
cesses which nearly destroyed his genius, and rendered it sterile for
the last ten years of his existence. It is, however, to his nervous
temperament-to the fact that he felt so deeply the misfortunes of
love that we owe his finest works. In the beginning of his career
-in 1828, when he was eighteen years old - we see him admitted
at Hugo's house, and considered by the poets of the famous Cénacle,
by the disciples of the Master, as their favorite child, as a Romantic
poet of great promise. He published at that time in a newspaper at
Dijon a poem, 'The Dream,' which was warmly received by his
brother poets and protectors. In 1830 appeared his first volume,
Tales of Spain and Italy,' which are rather immoral in tone, and
somewhat ironical. The author followed still the precepts of the
Romantic school; but one may see already that he is not a true dis-
ciple of Hugo, not an idolater like Gautier. His famous 'Ballad to
the Moon' was intended as a huge joke, and is indeed wonderful in
its eccentricity. Musset speaks with great irreverence of the celes-
tial body which shone on Lamartine's immortal 'Lake. '
The 'Ballad to the Moon' created a great sensation; and to this
day, Musset is better known to many people by his earliest poems
than by his magnificent Nights. ' It is true that his Tales of Spain
and Italy' are entrancing, in spite of their immorality, and contain.
some beautiful verses. The last lines of Don Poez' are full of pas-
sion; but most of these poems are ironical. Portia is white-armed
like Andromache, but she is not faithful to her husband like Hector's
wife. The Chestnuts out of the Fire' is, without doubt, a parody
## p. 10488 (#360) ##########################################
10488
ALFRED DE MUSSET
on Racine's 'Andromaque'; and 'Mardoche' can hardly be understood,
and seems to have been written for a mystification. The rhythm is
little marked; and in accordance with the precept of the Romantic
school, the author makes an abuse of the enjambement or overflow.
'The Willow' is more serious in tone, and relates a tragic love story;
while in Octave' we see the charming Mariette die of love for
Octave, who has disdained her, and who is a woman dressed as a
man. The earliest works of Musset are very eccentric, but they are
not lacking in poetic spirit.
The director of the Odéon requested Musset to write a comedy for
his theatre; and the poet produced the 'Venetian Night,' which was
played in December 1830, without any success. The author declared
that he would never write again for the stage, and gave his next
volume of dramas, published in 1833, the title of Spectacle in an
Arm-chair. The Cup and the Lips' is a work of great energy. It
is a dramatic poem in five acts, and represents the weird character
of Frank and the brutal and passionate love of Belcolore. Frank is
attracted by the charm and purity of the sweet Déidamia, and is
about to marry her when she is murdered by Belcolore. The idea
of the poet is, that when once vice has taken possession of a man he
cannot free himself from it. Musset expressed thus but too well his
own faults and his own weakness. There is in the work a chorus
which seems unnecessary, and which is very strange. Unlike the
Greek chorus, it has nothing to do with the development of the plot,
and it is not, like Racine's choruses, a pretext for beautiful lyric
poetry.
'Of What do Young Girls Dream? ' is a very incredible comedy;
but it is an interesting and romantic work, full of the innocent and
simple charm of youth. Namouna' is as strange and immoral as
'Mardoche'; but is far superior in poetic merit, and was greatly ad-
mired by Sainte-Beuve. Musset makes fun of local color, which was
so much appreciated by the Romantic school; and his work bears
some resemblance to Byron's 'Don Juan,' although he says:-"I was
told last year that I imitated Byron. You who know me, you know
that this is not true. I hate like death the trade of the plagiarist:
my glass is not large, but I drink from my glass. It is very little, I
know, to be an honest man; but still it is true that I exhume noth-
ing. " The whole poem is written in stanzas with two rhymes, and
displays admirably Musset's sarcastic wit and his sensual feelings.
There is not much to say about Musset's life; but his love for
George Sand had such an influence on his works that we must men-
tion it here. In 1833 he went with George Sand to Italy, and they
traveled together for some time. At Venice Musset fell sick; and
after many pathetic scenes the lovers parted from one another. They
## p. 10489 (#361) ##########################################
ALFRED DE MUSSET
10489
had wished to act in life like the personages in the dramas and
novels of the Romantic school, and saw that no one is happy who
does not observe the moral and social laws of his time. Musset
and George Sand met again, but could not agree, and made each
other unhappy. This incident seems to have affected George Sand
very little in later life; but Musset was wounded to the heart, and
his genius was stung to activity and vigor by his misfortune. It is
his own story which he relates in his celebrated 'Confession of a
Child of the Century,' and in at least two of his admirable 'Nights. "
The 'Confession' is an extraordinary book, and written with won-
derful force and eloquence. The author describes most vividly skep-
ticism, the disease of the century. Octave believes in nothing; he
loves and yet he does not believe in love, in spite of the devotion of
Brigitte Pierson. Why is it so? Because "during the wars of the
Empire, while the husbands and the brothers were in Germany, the
anxious mothers had given birth to an ardent, pale, nervous genera-
tion.
Thousands of children looked at one another with a
dark look while testing their weak muscles. " When they grew to
manhood, the Restoration gave them no opportunity to display their
strength; and they led a useless life, which often ended like 'Rolla'
in a night of debauchery.
set.
'Rolla' is a powerful poem, and one of the masterpieces of Mus-
The conception of the work is immoral, and proves again the
lack of true moral courage in the author. It is very seldom that he
admits that reform is possible,—that there can be a healthy reaction
after a fault has been committed. Rolla enjoys life, and puts into
three purses all the money which he possesses. When that has been
spent, then he will kill himself in a night of orgies. There is such a
lack of true manhood in the debauchee, his character is so despicable,
that it is difficult to take any interest in the poem.
The poetry.
however, is so grand that we forget the subject of the work, and
are entranced by the beautiful words of passion and love.
Of the four 'Nights' of Musset, the 'Night of May' is in my
opinion the finest. It was written when his heart was still bleeding
after the rupture with George Sand, and is a proof that the poet's
genius is the highest when he treats of love. Indeed, the misfortune
of love concerns him more than anything else; and in 'Sadness' he
says:-
"The only happiness which remains to me in the world is, that I have
sometimes wept. "
When he wrote his 'Nights,' his brother Paul de Musset tells
us that he had his supper served in his room, which was brilliantly
illuminated in order to do honor to his Muse when she came to visit
## p.
10474
HENRI MURGER
afternoon at Versailles? The Bohemians of Paris are linked by the
chains of vagabondage, and of possible genius, to all those in every
age and clime who have found stimulus for their powers in love and
wine and song; and who in serving this trinity have forgotten the
obligation to earn more than they spend.
-
Murger himself did not long survive his translation, from that
quarter of Paris where he lived in the fifth story of a cheap lodging-
house because there was no sixth, to the realm of respectability. He
was, however, still enough of a Bohemian to prefer a cottage in the
Forest of Fontainebleau to the smug quarters of Paris, whose inhabit-
ants know nothing of the excitement of chasing "that wild beast
called a five-franc piece. " Murger died in 1861; and there were
those who questioned, in reviewing his life, whether he had been
really at heart a Bohemian. His book, at least, shows the subtlest
penetration into that irregular form of human nature known as the
artistic temperament. The reader regrets that the possessor of such
insight — a man who could discern a brother Bohemian across many
centuries and under the strangest disguises of mediæval rags — should
not have explained why the world instinctively feels that the poet
or the artist is not likely to be normal in his habits of living. Had
he attempted to answer this question, he might have said that the
man who sees visions and dreams dreams, knows the true value of
bread and meat and gold pieces better than the Philistine; and can
therefore accept their services irregularly, and with the nonchalance
of the inspired. The world, before whom the bread and meat and
gold pieces loom large as fate itself, translates this nonchalance into
shiftless ignorance of the duties and obligations of life. As poets and
artists are as a rule visionaries, this reputation is therefore fastened
upon them.
--
The world is not without its justification. Even Murger himself
says, "Bohemia is a stage in the artistic life: it is the preface to the
Academy, the Hôtel Dieu-or the Morgue. "
## p. 10475 (#343) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10475
M.
A BOHEMIAN EVENING PARTY
From The Humor of France,' in International Humor Series >
TOWA
NOWARDS the end of December the messengers of Bidault's
agency were commissioned to distribute about a hundred
copies of an invitation, of which the following is a faithful
reproduction:-
―――
MM. Rodolphe and Marcel request the honor of your company on
Saturday evening next, Christmas Eve.
There will be fine fun.
PROGRAMME OF THE ENTERTAINMENT
At 7 P. M. , opening of the reception rooms; lively and animated
conversation.
At 8 P. M. , entrance and walk through the rooms of the talented
authors of the Mountain in Labor,' comedy refused at the Odéon
Théâtre.
At 8:30 P. M. , M. Alexandre Schaunard, the celebrated virtuoso, will
perform on the piano 'The Influence of Blue in the Arts,' descript-
ive symphony.
At 9 P. M. , first reading of the paper on The Abolition of the Pen-
alty in Tragedy. '
At 9:30 P. M. , M. Gustave Colline, hyperphysical philosopher, and
Monsieur Schaunard, will hold a debate comparing dephilosophy and
metapolitics. In order to avoid any collision between the antagonists,
they will each be securely fastened.
At 10
P. M. , M. Tristan, man of letters, will relate his early
amours. M. Alexandre Schaunard will accompany him on the piano.
At 10:30 P. M. , second reading of the paper on The Abolition of
the Penalty in Tragedy. '
At 11 P. M. , a foreign Prince will describe a Cassowary hunt.
PART II
AT MIDNIGHT, Monsieur Marcel, historical painter, blindfolded, will
improvise in chalk the meeting of Napoleon and Voltaire in the Elys-
ian Fields. Monsieur Rodolphe will improvise a comparison between
the author of 'Zaïre' and the author of Austerlitz.
At 12:30 P. M. , M. Gustave, in a decent undress, will imitate the
athletic games of the fourth Olympiad.
At I
A. M. , third reading of the paper on The Abolition of the
Penalty in Tragedy,' and collection for the tragic authors who will
one day be out of work.
## p. 10476 (#344) ##########################################
10476
HENRI MURGER
At 2 A. M. , beginning of the games and organization of the dances,
which will be continued until morning.
At 6 A. M. , sunrise and final chorus.
During the whole of the entertainment the ventilators will play.
N. B. Any person wishing to read or recite verses will be imme-
diately turned out and delivered up to the police. You are requested
not to take away the candle ends.
Let me tell you briefly the origin of the entertainment that
so vastly dazzled the Bohemian world of Paris. For about a
year, Marcel and Rodolphe had gone on announcing this magnifi-
cent entertainment to take place always next Saturday. But un-
toward circumstances had forced them to let the promise extend
over fifty-two weeks. In consequence, they could scarcely move
a step without having to endure the jeers of their friends, some
of whom were actually unfeeling enough to formulate loud com-
plaints. The affair began to get tiresome; and the two friends
determined to put an end to it by liquidating the engagements
they had made. And the invitation quoted above was the out-
come of that decision.
"Now," said Rodolphe, "there's no possibility of retreat: we've
burnt our ships, and we've just a week in which to find the hun-
dred francs indispensable for doing the thing well. "
"As they are so absolutely necessary," said Marcel, "of course
they'll be forthcoming. "
And with an insolent confidence in luck, the two friends went
to sleep, convinced that the hundred francs were already on the
road-the road of the impossible.
However, two days before the evening appointed for the party,
as nothing had arrived, Rodolphe thought that if he did not
wish to be disgraced when the time came for the guests to arrive,
it would probably be safer to assist luck. In order to facilitate
matters, the two friends, by degrees, modified the sumptuous
programme on which they had at first determined. And from
modification to modification, after greatly curtailing the item.
cakes, and carefully revising and diminishing that of drinks, the
total expense was reduced to fifteen francs. The problem was
thus simplified but not solved.
"Well," said Rodolphe,
«< we must take strong measures: we
can't postpone it again this time. "
"Impossible," said Marcel.
"How long is it since I heard the story of Studzianka? "
## p. 10477 (#345) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10477
"Almost two months. "
"Two months? good! that's a respectable interval. My uncle
shall have no cause for complaint. To-morrow I'll go and see
him, and ask for the battle of Studzianka. That will mean five
francs. "
"And," said Marcel, "I'll sell old Medicis 'A Deserted Manor':
that will be another five francs. If I've time to put in three
towers and a mill, it will very likely be ten francs, and then we
shall have just the sum required. "
The two friends went to sleep, and dreamed that the Princess
Belgioso asked them to change their reception days, in order not
to deprive her of her habitual guests.
Marcel got up very early, took a canvas, and diligently pro-
ceeded to construct 'A Deserted Castle,'- an article in great
demand by a broker in the Place du Carrousel. Rodolphe went
to call on his uncle Monetti, who excelled in narrating the retreat
from Moscow. Rodolphe, when things went badly with him,
procured his uncle the satisfaction of fighting his campaigns
over again some five or six times a year, in consideration for a
loan. If you showed a proper enthusiasm for his stories, the
veteran stove-maker and chimney-doctor was not unwilling to
make it.
news.
«
About two o'clock, Marcel, with downcast look, carrying a
canvas under his arm, met Rodolphe in the Place du Carrou-
sel coming from his uncle's; his appearance also betokened ill
"Well," asked Marcel, "what luck? "
"None. My uncle had gone to the Versailles Museum. And
you? »
“That wretch of a Medicis doesn't want any more 'Ruined
Castles. ' He asked for a 'Bombardment of Tangiers. '"
"Our reputation's gone if we don't give the entertainment,"
grumbled Rodolphe. "What will my friend the influential critic
think, if I make him put on a white tie and light gloves for
nothing? "
They returned to the studio, a prey to the liveliest anxiety.
At that moment a neighbor's clock struck four.
"We've only three hours left," said Rodolphe.
"Well," exclaimed Marcel, going up to his friend, "are you
perfectly sure there's no money to be found here? "
## p. 10478 (#346) ##########################################
10478
HENRI MURGER
"Neither here nor elsewhere. Where could we have left any? "
"Let us search in the stuffing of the chairs. It is said that
the émigrés hid their treasure in Robespierre's time. Our arm-
chair may have belonged to an émigré. It's so hard that I've
often thought it must be metal inside. Will you make an autopsy
of it? "
"This is a mere farce," replied Rodolphe in a tone at once
severe and indulgent.
Suddenly Marcel, who had been prosecuting his search in
every corner of the studio, gave a loud shout of triumph.
"We are saved! " he exclaimed: "I felt sure there was some-
thing of value here. Look! " and he held up for Rodolphe's in-
spection a coin the size of a crown, half smothered in rust and
verdigris.
It was a Carlovingian coin of some artistic value.
"That's only worth thirty sous," said Rodolphe, throwing a
contemptuous glance at his friend's findings.
«
"Thirty sous well laid out will go a long way," said Marcel.
"I'll sell this Charlemagne crown to old Father Medicis. Isn't
could sell? Yes, suppose I take the
That will add to the collection. "
there anything else here I
Russian drum-major's tibia.
"Away with the tibia. But it's exceedingly annoying: there
won't be a single object of art left. "
During Marcel's absence, Rodolphe, feeling certain that his
party would come off somehow, went in search of his friend
Colline, who lived quite near.
"I want you," he said, "to do me a favor. As master of the
house, I must wear a dress coat, and I haven't got one. Lend
me yours. "
"But," objected Colline, "as a guest I must wear my dress
coat myself. "
"I'll allow you to come in a frock coat. "
"You know I've never had a frock coat. "
"Well, then, the matter can be arranged like this: You need-
n't come to the party, and you can lend me your dress coat. "
"But that'll never do. I'm on the programme.
away. "
I can't stay
"There'll be plenty of other things lacking," said Rodolphe.
"Lend me the dress coat; and if you want to come, come as you
are, in your shirt-sleeves. "
## p. 10479 (#347) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10479
"Oh, no,” said Colline, getting red. "I'll put on my great-
coat. But it's all exceedingly annoying " And perceiving that
Rodolphe had already laid hold of the dress coat, he exclaimed:
"Stay-there are one or two little things in the pockets. "
Colline's coat deserves mention. First, it was blue, and it
was purely from habit that Colline talked about his black coat;
and as he was the only member of the band who possessed such
a garment, his friends were likewise accustomed to say when
speaking of the philosopher, Colline's black coat. Further, that
celebrated article of apparel had a particular shape of its own,
the most eccentric that can be imagined. The abnormally long
tails fastened to a very short waist possessed two pockets, verita-
ble abysses, in which Colline was accustomed to put about thirty
books he everlastingly carried about him. Thus it was said that
when the libraries were closed, scholars and literary men looked
up their references in the tails of Colline's coat, a library always
open to readers.
When Rodolphe returned he found Marcel playing quoits with
five-franc pieces, to the number of three.
He had sold the coin for fifteen francs.
The two friends immediately began their preparations. They
put the studio tidy, and lighted a fire in the stove. A canvas
frame, ornamented with candles, was suspended from the ceiling,
and did duty as a chandelier. A desk was placed in the middle
of the studio, to serve as a tribune for the speakers. In front
they put the one arm-chair, which was to be occupied by the
influential critic; and laid out a table the books, novels,
feuilletons of the authors who were to honor the entertainment
with their presence.
To avoid any collision between the differ-
ent parties of men of letters, they divided the studio into four
compartments; at the entrance were four hastily manufactured
placards inscribed-
POETS
PROSE-WRITERS
ROMANTIC
CLASSICAL
The ladies were to occupy a space reserved in the middle.
"Oh! " said Rodolphe, << there are no chairs. "
"There are plenty on the landing," replied Marcel.
we take those. "
"Suppose
"Of course," said Rodolphe, and proceeded calmly to take
possession of his neighbors' property.
## p. 10480 (#348) ##########################################
10480
HENRI MURGER
Six o'clock struck. The two friends went out for a hasty
dinner, and on their return proceeded to light up the rooms.
They could not help feeling dazzled themselves. At seven
o'clock Schaunard arrived, accompanied by three ladies, who had
forgotten their diamonds and their bonnets. Numerous steps
were heard on the staircase. The guests were arriving, and they
seemed surprised to find a fire in the stove.
Rodolphe's dress-coat went to meet the ladies, and kissed
their hands with a grace worthy of the Regency. When there
were about twenty persons present, Schaunard asked if they
couldn't have something to drink.
"Presently," said Marcel: "we are waiting for the influential
critic before we begin on the punch. "
By eight o'clock all the guests had come, and they began the
programme. Between each number came a round of some sort
of drink; but what it exactly was, has never transpired.
About ten o'clock the white waistcoat of the influential critic
appeared. He only stayed an hour, and was very sparing of
praise. At midnight, as it was very cold and there was no more
fuel, the guests who were seated drew lots for throwing their
chairs into the fire.
At one o'clock everybody was standing.
The greatest merriment held sway among the guests, and the
memorable evening was the talk of the neighborhood for a week.
THE WHITE VIOLETS
From The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter›
ABO
BOUT this time Rodolphe was very much in love with his
cousin Angela, who couldn't bear him; and the thermome-
ter was twelve degrees below freezing-point.
Mademoiselle Angela was the daughter of Monsieur Monetti,
the chimney-doctor, of whom we have already had occasion to
speak. She was eighteen years old, and had just come from
Burgundy, where she had lived five years with a relative who
was to leave her all her property. This relative was an old lady
who had never been young, apparently,- certainly never hand-
some, but had always been very ill-natured, although—or per-
haps because very superstitious. Angela, who at her departure
was a charming child, and promised to be a charming girl,
――――――――――
-
## p. 10481 (#349) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10481
came back at the end of the five years a pretty enough young
lady, but cold, dry, and uninteresting. Her secluded provincial
life, and the narrow and bigoted education she had received, had
filled her mind with vulgar prejudices, shrunk her imagination,
and converted her heart into a sort of organ limited to fulfilling
its function of physical balance-wheel. You might say that she
had holy water in her veins instead of blood. She received her
cousin with an icy reserve; and he lost his time whenever he
attempted to touch the chord of her recollections-recollections.
of the time when they had sketched out that flirtation, in the
Paul-and-Virginia style, which is traditional between cousins of
different sexes. Still Rodolphe was very much in love with his
cousin Angela, who couldn't bear him; and learning one day
that the young lady was going shortly to the wedding-ball of
one of her friends, he made bold to promise Angela a bouquet
of violets for the ball. And after asking permission of her
father, Angela accepted her cousin's gallant offer-always on
condition that the violets should be white.
Overjoyed at his cousin's amiability, Rodolphe danced and
sang his way back to Mount St. Bernard, as he called his lodg-
ing-why, will be seen presently. As he passed by a florist's in
crossing the Palais Royal, he saw some white violets in the show-
case, and was curious enough to ask their price. A presentable
bouquet could not be had for less than ten francs; there were
some that cost more.
"The deuce! " exclaimed Rodolphe; "ten francs! and only
eight days to find this fortune! It will be a hard pull, but never
mind; my cousin shall have her flowers. "
This happened in the time of Rodolphe's literary genesis, as
the transcendentalists would say. His only income at that period
was an allowance of fifteen francs a month, made him by a
friend, who after living a long while in Paris as a poet, had by
the help of influential acquaintances gained the mastership of
a provincial school. Rodolphe, who was the child of prodigality,
always spent his allowance in four days; and not choosing to
abandon his holy but not very profitable profession of elegiac poet,
lived for the rest of the month on the rare droppings from the
basket of Providence. This long Lent had no terrors for him;
he passed through it gayly, thanks to his stoical temperament,
and to the imaginary treasures which he expended every day
while waiting for the first of the month,- that Easter which
XVIII-656
## p. 10482 (#350) ##########################################
10482
HENRI MURGER
terminated his fast. He lived at this time at the very top of
one of the loftiest houses in Paris. His room was shaped like a
belvidere, and was a delicious habitation in summer; but from
October to April a perfect little Kamtchatka. The four cardinal
winds which penetrated by the four windows-there was one on
each of the four sides-made fearful music in it throughout the
cold seasons. Then, in irony as it were, there was a huge fire-
place, the immense chimney of which seemed a gate of honor
reserved for Boreas and his retinue. On the first attack of cold,
Rodolphe had recourse to an original system of warming: he cut
up successively what little furniture he had, and at the end of a
week his stock was considerably abridged,-in fact, he had only
a bed and two chairs left; it should be remarked that these three
articles were insured against fire by their nature, being of iron.
This manner of heating himself he called moving up the chimney.
It was January; and the thermometer, which indicated twelve
degrees below freezing-point on the Spectacle Quay, would have
stood two or three lower if moved to the belvidere, which
Rodolphe called indifferently Mount St. Bernard, Spitzenberg, and
Siberia. The night when he had promised his cousin the white
violets, he was seized with a great rage on returning home:
the four cardinal winds, in playing puss-in-the-corner round his
chamber, had broken a pane of glass-the third time in a fort-
night. After exploding in a volley of frantic imprecations upon
Eolus and all his family, and plugging up the breach with a
friend's portrait, Rodolphe lay down, dressed as he was, between
his two mattresses, and dreamed of white violets all night.
At the end of five days, Rodolphe had found nothing to help
him toward realizing his dream. He must have the bouquet the
day after to-morrow. Meanwhile the thermometer fell still lower,
and the luckless poet was ready to despair as he thought that the
violets might have risen higher. Finally his good angel had pity
on him, and came to his relief as follows:-
One morning, Rodolphe went to take his chance of getting a
breakfast from his friend Marcel the painter, and found him con-
versing with a woman in mourning. It was a widow who had
just lost her husband, and who wanted to know how much it
would cost to paint on the tomb which she had erected, a man's
hand, with this inscription beneath:-
«I WAIT FOR HER TO WHOM MY FAITH WAS PLIGHTED »
## p. 10483 (#351) ##########################################
HENRI MURGER
10483
To get the work at a cheaper rate, she observed to the artist
that when she was called to rejoin her husband, he would have
another hand to paint,-her hand, with a bracelet on the wrist,
and the supplementary line beneath:-
«AT LENGTH, BEHOLD US THUS ONCE MORE UNITED»
"I shall put this clause in my will," she said, "and require
that the task be intrusted to you. "
"In that case, madame," replied the artist, "I will do it at the
price you offer- but only in the hope of seeing your hand. Don't
go and forget me in your will. "
"I should like to have this as soon as possible," said the dis-
consolate one: "nevertheless, take your time to do it well; and
don't forget the scar on the thumb. I want a living hand. "
"Don't be afraid, madame, it shall be a speaking one," said
Marcel, as he bowed the widow out.
But hardly had she crossed the threshold when she returned,
saying:-
"I have one thing more to ask you, sir: I should like to
have inscribed on my husband's tomb something in verse which
would tell of his good conduct and his last words. Is that good
style? "
"Very good style - they call that an epitaph - the very best
style. "
"You don't know any one who would do that for me cheap?
There is my neighbor M. Guérin, the public writer; but he asks
the clothes off my back. "
Here Rodolphe darted a look at Marcel, who understood him.
at once.
"Madame," said the artist, pointing to Rodolphe, "a happy
fortune has conducted hither the very person who can be of
service to you in this mournful juncture. This gentleman is a
renowned poet; you couldn't find a better. "
"I want something very melancholy," said the widow; "and
the spelling all right. ”
"Madame," replied Marcel, "my friend spells like a book. He
had all the prizes at school. ”
"Indeed! " said the widow: "my grandnephew has just had
a prize too; he is only seven years old. ”
"A very forward child, madame. "
«< But are you sure that the gentleman can make very melan-
choly verses? "
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10484
HENRI MURGER
"No one better, madame, for he has undergone much sorrow
in his life. The papers always find fault with his verses for
being too melancholy. "
"What! " cried the widow, "do they talk about him in the
papers? He must know quite as much, then, as M. Guérin, the
public writer. "
Apply to him, madame, and you
"And a great deal more.
will not repent of it. "
After having explained to Rodolphe the sort of inscription
in verse which she wished to place on her husband's tomb, the
widow agreed to give Rodolphe ten francs if it suited her-only
she must have it very soon. The poet promised she should have
it the very next day.
"Oh, good genius of an Artemisia! " cried Rodolphe, as the
widow disappeared. "I promise you that you shall be suited-
full allowance of melancholy lyrics, better got up than a duchess,
orthography and all. Good old lady! May Heaven reward you.
with a life of a hundred and seven years-equal to that of good
brandy! "
"I object," said Marcel.
"That's true," said Rodolphe: "I forgot that you have her
hand to paint, and that so long a life would make you lose
money;" and lifting his hands he gravely ejaculated, "Heaven,
do not grant my prayer! Ah! " he continued, "I was in jolly
good luck to come here. "
"By the way," asked Marcel, "what did you want? "
"I recollect—and now especially that I have to pass the
night in making these verses, I cannot do without what I came
to ask you for: namely, first, some dinner; secondly, tobacco and
candle; thirdly, your polar-bear costume. "
"To go to the masked ball? »
"No indeed; but as you see me here, I am as much frozen
up as the grand army in the retreat from Russia. Certainly my
green frock coat and Scotch plaid trousers are very pretty, but
much too summery: they would do to live under the equator,
but for one who lodges near the Pole, as I do, a white-bear skin
is more suitable, indeed, I may say necessary. "
"Take the fur! " said Marcel: "it's a good idea; warm as a
dish of charcoal,-you will be like a roll in an oven in it. ”
Rodolphe was already inside the animal skin.
"Now," said he, "the thermometer is going to be sold a
trifle. "
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HENRI MURGER
10485
"Are you going out so? " said Marcel to his friend, after they
had finished an ambiguous repast served in a penny dish.
"I just am," replied Rodolphe: "do you think I care for pub-
lic opinion? Besides, to-day is the beginning of carnival. "
He went half over Paris with all the gravity of the beast
whose skin he occupied. Only on passing before a thermometer
in an optician's window, he couldn't help taking a sight at it.
Having returned home, not without causing great terror to
his porter, Rodolphe lit his candle, carefully surrounding it with
an extempore shade of paper to guard it against the malice of
the winds, and set to work at once. But he was not long in
perceiving that if his body was almost entirely protected from
the cold, his hands were not; a terrible numbness seized his
fingers, which let the pen fall.
"The bravest man cannot struggle against the elements," said
the poet, falling back helpless in his chair. "Cæsar passed the
Rubicon, but he could not have passed the Beresina. "
All at once he uttered a cry of joy from the depths of his
bearskin breast, and jumped up so suddenly as to overturn some
of his ink on its snowy fur. He had an idea!
Rodolphe drew from beneath his bed a considerable mass
of papers, among which were a dozen huge manuscripts of his
famous drama, 'The Avenger. ' This drama, on which he had
spent two years, had been made, unmade, and remade so often
that all the copies together weighed fully fifteen pounds. He put
the last version on one side, and dragged the others towards the
fireplace.
"I was sure that with patience I should dispose of it some-
how," he exclaimed. "What a pretty fagot! If I could have fore-
seen what would happen, I could have written a prologue, and
then I should have more fuel to-night. But one can't foresee
everything. " He lit some leaves of the manuscript, in the flame
of which he thawed his hands. In five minutes the first act of
'The Avenger' was over, and Rodolphe had written three verses
of his epitaph.
It would be impossible to describe the astonishment of the
four winds when they felt fire in the chimney.
"It's an illusion," quoth Boreas, as he amused himself by
brushing back the hair of Rodolphe's bearskin.
"Let's blow down the pipe," suggested another wind, "and
make the chimney smoke. " But just as they were about to
## p. 10486 (#354) ##########################################
10486
HENRI MURGER
plague the poor poet, the south wind perceived Monsieur Arago
at a window of the Observatory threatening them with his finger;
so they all made off, for fear of being put under arrest. Mean-
while the second act of The Avenger' was going off with im-
mense success, and Rodolphe had written ten lines.
But he only
achieved two during the third act.
"I always thought that third act too short," said Rodolphe:
"luckily the next one will take longer; there are twenty-three
scenes in it, including the great one of the throne. " As the last
flourish of the throne-scene went up the chimney in fiery flakes,
Rodolphe had only three couplets more to write. "Now for the
last act. This is all monologue. It may last five minutes. " The
catastrophe flashed and smoldered, and Rodolphe in a magnifi-
cent transport of poetry had enshrined in lyric stanzas the last.
words of the illustrious deceased. "There is enough left for
a second representation," said he, pushing the remainder of the
manuscript under his bed.
At eight o'clock next evening, Mademoiselle Angela entered
the ball-room; in her hand was a splendid nosegay of white vio-
lets, and among them two budding roses, white also. During the
whole night, men and women were complimenting the young girl
on her bouquet. Angela could not but feel a little grateful to her
cousin, who had procured this little triumph for her vanity; and
perhaps she would have thought more of him but for the gallant
persecutions of one of the bride's relatives, who had danced sev-
eral times with her. He was a fair-haired youth, with a magnifi-
cent mustache curled up at the ends, to hook innocent hearts.
The bouquet had been pulled to pieces by everybody; only the
two white roses were left. The young man asked Angela for
them; she refused-only to forget them after the ball on a
bench, whence the fair-haired youth hastened to take them.
At that moment it was fourteen degrees below freezing-point
in Rodolphe's belvidere. He was leaning against his window
looking out at the lights in the ball-room, where his cousin
Angela, who didn't care for him, was dancing.
## p. 10486 (#355) ##########################################
## p. 10486 (#356) ##########################################
ALF. DE MUSSET.
12m
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ALF. DE MUSSET.
## p. 10487 (#359) ##########################################
10487
ALFRED DE MUSSET
(1810-1857)
BY ALCÉE FORTIER
HE three greatest French poets of the nineteenth century are
Lamartine, Hugo, and Musset. The first one touches us
deeply by his harmonious and simple verses; the second
impresses us with the force of his genius; and the third is some-
times light and gay, and sometimes intensely passionate and sad.
Musset wrote several poems which cannot be surpassed by any in
the French language. He was highly nervous and sensitive, and
lacked Lamartine's spirit of patriotism and Hugo's well-balanced
mind. He was unfortunate, and led a reckless life, committing ex-
cesses which nearly destroyed his genius, and rendered it sterile for
the last ten years of his existence. It is, however, to his nervous
temperament-to the fact that he felt so deeply the misfortunes of
love that we owe his finest works. In the beginning of his career
-in 1828, when he was eighteen years old - we see him admitted
at Hugo's house, and considered by the poets of the famous Cénacle,
by the disciples of the Master, as their favorite child, as a Romantic
poet of great promise. He published at that time in a newspaper at
Dijon a poem, 'The Dream,' which was warmly received by his
brother poets and protectors. In 1830 appeared his first volume,
Tales of Spain and Italy,' which are rather immoral in tone, and
somewhat ironical. The author followed still the precepts of the
Romantic school; but one may see already that he is not a true dis-
ciple of Hugo, not an idolater like Gautier. His famous 'Ballad to
the Moon' was intended as a huge joke, and is indeed wonderful in
its eccentricity. Musset speaks with great irreverence of the celes-
tial body which shone on Lamartine's immortal 'Lake. '
The 'Ballad to the Moon' created a great sensation; and to this
day, Musset is better known to many people by his earliest poems
than by his magnificent Nights. ' It is true that his Tales of Spain
and Italy' are entrancing, in spite of their immorality, and contain.
some beautiful verses. The last lines of Don Poez' are full of pas-
sion; but most of these poems are ironical. Portia is white-armed
like Andromache, but she is not faithful to her husband like Hector's
wife. The Chestnuts out of the Fire' is, without doubt, a parody
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10488
ALFRED DE MUSSET
on Racine's 'Andromaque'; and 'Mardoche' can hardly be understood,
and seems to have been written for a mystification. The rhythm is
little marked; and in accordance with the precept of the Romantic
school, the author makes an abuse of the enjambement or overflow.
'The Willow' is more serious in tone, and relates a tragic love story;
while in Octave' we see the charming Mariette die of love for
Octave, who has disdained her, and who is a woman dressed as a
man. The earliest works of Musset are very eccentric, but they are
not lacking in poetic spirit.
The director of the Odéon requested Musset to write a comedy for
his theatre; and the poet produced the 'Venetian Night,' which was
played in December 1830, without any success. The author declared
that he would never write again for the stage, and gave his next
volume of dramas, published in 1833, the title of Spectacle in an
Arm-chair. The Cup and the Lips' is a work of great energy. It
is a dramatic poem in five acts, and represents the weird character
of Frank and the brutal and passionate love of Belcolore. Frank is
attracted by the charm and purity of the sweet Déidamia, and is
about to marry her when she is murdered by Belcolore. The idea
of the poet is, that when once vice has taken possession of a man he
cannot free himself from it. Musset expressed thus but too well his
own faults and his own weakness. There is in the work a chorus
which seems unnecessary, and which is very strange. Unlike the
Greek chorus, it has nothing to do with the development of the plot,
and it is not, like Racine's choruses, a pretext for beautiful lyric
poetry.
'Of What do Young Girls Dream? ' is a very incredible comedy;
but it is an interesting and romantic work, full of the innocent and
simple charm of youth. Namouna' is as strange and immoral as
'Mardoche'; but is far superior in poetic merit, and was greatly ad-
mired by Sainte-Beuve. Musset makes fun of local color, which was
so much appreciated by the Romantic school; and his work bears
some resemblance to Byron's 'Don Juan,' although he says:-"I was
told last year that I imitated Byron. You who know me, you know
that this is not true. I hate like death the trade of the plagiarist:
my glass is not large, but I drink from my glass. It is very little, I
know, to be an honest man; but still it is true that I exhume noth-
ing. " The whole poem is written in stanzas with two rhymes, and
displays admirably Musset's sarcastic wit and his sensual feelings.
There is not much to say about Musset's life; but his love for
George Sand had such an influence on his works that we must men-
tion it here. In 1833 he went with George Sand to Italy, and they
traveled together for some time. At Venice Musset fell sick; and
after many pathetic scenes the lovers parted from one another. They
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ALFRED DE MUSSET
10489
had wished to act in life like the personages in the dramas and
novels of the Romantic school, and saw that no one is happy who
does not observe the moral and social laws of his time. Musset
and George Sand met again, but could not agree, and made each
other unhappy. This incident seems to have affected George Sand
very little in later life; but Musset was wounded to the heart, and
his genius was stung to activity and vigor by his misfortune. It is
his own story which he relates in his celebrated 'Confession of a
Child of the Century,' and in at least two of his admirable 'Nights. "
The 'Confession' is an extraordinary book, and written with won-
derful force and eloquence. The author describes most vividly skep-
ticism, the disease of the century. Octave believes in nothing; he
loves and yet he does not believe in love, in spite of the devotion of
Brigitte Pierson. Why is it so? Because "during the wars of the
Empire, while the husbands and the brothers were in Germany, the
anxious mothers had given birth to an ardent, pale, nervous genera-
tion.
Thousands of children looked at one another with a
dark look while testing their weak muscles. " When they grew to
manhood, the Restoration gave them no opportunity to display their
strength; and they led a useless life, which often ended like 'Rolla'
in a night of debauchery.
set.
'Rolla' is a powerful poem, and one of the masterpieces of Mus-
The conception of the work is immoral, and proves again the
lack of true moral courage in the author. It is very seldom that he
admits that reform is possible,—that there can be a healthy reaction
after a fault has been committed. Rolla enjoys life, and puts into
three purses all the money which he possesses. When that has been
spent, then he will kill himself in a night of orgies. There is such a
lack of true manhood in the debauchee, his character is so despicable,
that it is difficult to take any interest in the poem.
The poetry.
however, is so grand that we forget the subject of the work, and
are entranced by the beautiful words of passion and love.
Of the four 'Nights' of Musset, the 'Night of May' is in my
opinion the finest. It was written when his heart was still bleeding
after the rupture with George Sand, and is a proof that the poet's
genius is the highest when he treats of love. Indeed, the misfortune
of love concerns him more than anything else; and in 'Sadness' he
says:-
"The only happiness which remains to me in the world is, that I have
sometimes wept. "
When he wrote his 'Nights,' his brother Paul de Musset tells
us that he had his supper served in his room, which was brilliantly
illuminated in order to do honor to his Muse when she came to visit
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