<html>  <!-- TAGS --> <head>  <title>Select Verses from 'Litanies de la Rose'</title>  <meta name="description"    content="Extracts of a beautiful French poem by Remy de Gourmont."/>  <meta name="keywords" content="poem,poetry,poet,flower,flowers,fleur,fleurs,floral,remy,gourmont,gourmount,gormount,remi,remie,french,rose,roses,petal,petals,garden,gardens,innocence,beauty,beautiful," /> </head>  <body bgcolor="#993399" text="white" link="white" vlink="white"/> <div align="center"> <font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">   <table cellpadding="5" bgcolor="black" width="90%"> <tr  valign="top"> <td><h3><i>Select Verses from<br> 'Litanies de la Rose'</i></h3> <i>By Remy de Gourmont</i> <pre>  </pre> <blockquote><font size="2"> <p>Fleur hypocrite,  <p>Fleur du silence.  <p>Rose couleur de cuivre, plus frauduleuse que nos joies, rose couleur de cuivre, embaume-nous dans tes mensonges, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose aux yeux noirs, miroir de ton nant, rose aux yeux noirs, fais-nous croire au mystre, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose couleur d'argent, encensoir de nos rves, rose couleur d'argent, prends notre cur et fais-en de la fume, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose au regard saphique, plus ple que les lys, rose au regard saphique, offre-nous le parfum de ton illusoire virginit, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose aux lvres de sang,  mangeuse de chair, rose aux lvres de sang, si tu veux notre sang, qu'en ferions-nous ? bois-le, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose couleur de soufre, enfer des dsirs vains, rose couleur de soufre, allume le bcher o tu planes, me et flamme, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose vineuse, fleur des tonnelles et des caves, rose vineuse, les alcools fous gambadent dans ton haleine : souffle-nous l'horreur de l'amour, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose rose, pucelle au cur dsordonn, rose rose, robe de mousseline, entr'ouvre tes ailes fausses, ange, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose couleur d'aurore, couleur du temps, couleur de rien,  sourire du Sphinx, rose couleur d'aurore, sourire ouvert sur le nant, nous t'aimerons, car tu mens, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose en forme de coupe, vase rouge o mordent les dents quand la bouche y vient boire, rose en forme de coupe, nos morsures te font sourire et nos baisers te font pleurer, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose couleur du soir, demi-morte d'ennui, fume crpusculaire, rose couleur du soir, tu meurs d'amour en baisant tes mains lasses, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose bleue, rose iridine, monstre couleur des yeux de la Chimre, rose bleue, lve un peu tes paupires : as-tu peur qu'on te regarde, les yeux dans les yeux, Chimre, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence !  <p>Rose verte, rose couleur de mer,  nombril des sirnes, rose verte, gemme ondoyante et fabuleuse, tu n'es plus que de l'eau ds qu'un doigt t'a touche, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose escarboucle, rose fleurie au front noir du dragon, rose escarboucle, tu n'es plus qu'une boucle de ceinture, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose des tombes, fracheur mane des charognes, rose des tombes, toute mignonne et rose, adorable parfum des fines pourritures, tu fais semblant de vivre, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose hyaline, couleur des sources claires jaillies d'entre les herbes, rose hyaline. Hylas est mort d'avoir aim tes yeux, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose amthyste, toile matinale, tendresse piscopale, rose amthyste, tu dors sur des poitrines dvotes et douillettes, gemme offerte  Marie,  gemme sacristine, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Rose papale, rose arrose des mains qui bnissent le monde, rose papale, ton cur d'or est en cuivre, et les larmes qui perlent sur ta vaine corolle, ce sont les pleurs du Christ, fleur hypocrite, fleur du silence.  <p>Fleur hypocrite,  <p>Fleur du silence. </font>  </blockquote> </td>  <td valign="top" background="../images/wpapers/lgraph_rosepaper.gif" width="10%"> </td> </tr>  <tr bgcolor="#006699"> <td colspan="100%" > <div align="center"> <small> <p align="center">Remy de Gourmont was born in the manor of Motte, Bazoches au Houlme in Normandy (France), 4th April 1858. He was the grandson of Mr and Mrs Philogne de Montfort, their daughter Mathilde having married the Count Auguste-Marie de Gourmont in Bazoches the previous year. He lived there with his family - including sister Marie born in 1860 - for eight years until the birth of his brother Andr, when the family relocated to the neighbouring manor of Mesnil-Villeman, close to Villedieu.  <p align="center">In October 1868, Remy became an intern at the college of Coutances, where he spent eight unhappy years. Timid and solitary, he made few friends there. He was however a very good pupil, excelling in French, English and Latin. Receiving his Bachelors in 1876, he moved to Caen to study Law. Despite spending the majority of his time in Caen's public library instead of attending lectures, he successfully graduated in 1879.  <p align="center">With excellent Letters of Introduction, he moved to Paris and got a job as an attach for the Paris Library, which granted him access to read a vast body of works. From 1882-1886 he published eight books but felt increasingly dissociated from his literary contemporaries.   <p align="center">In 1886, de Gourmont met a number of <i>la Vogue</i>, then led by Gustave Kahn  (a creator of <i>'vers libre'</i>) and they revived his inspiration. He also met Berthe de Courrire, a mysterious woman who practiced Black Magic and was prone to hysteria, with whom he began to exchange letters of an increasingly arduous nature. He and Berthe remained very close until his death. At this time, de Gourmont had a very fashionable and sociable lifestyle.   <p align="center">In 1889, a group of young writers "without relations, money and notoriety" decided to found a new review, the <i>Mercure de France</i>. They were: Louis Denise, Alfred Valette, Louis Dumur, Ernest Raynaud and Jules Fox. They asked de Gourmont to join them and he agreed, his name being included in the list of founders.  This began a collaboration which was to cease only upon his death twenty-five years later. It was not all good - because of the freedom he felt to express himself amongst this group, he published a radical text that cost him his position at the Library and condemned him to the small press (where he was henceforth <i>completely</i> free to express himself without fear of retaliation).  <p align="center">Soon after de Gourmont's face became infected with a form of tuberculosis, which was treated with cauterization and that caused considerable scarring. He cloistered himself at home as he recovered and when he finally returned to the Review, he had adopted a rigid daily routine that he apparently used as a defence against an intolerable world.  <p align="center">Using his routine, de Gourmont became prolific and wrote many scientific and literary works, the vast majority of which were published by <i>Mercure de France</i>. In 1910, this was disrupted by the start of his relationship with Natalie Clifford-Barney, an Ohio-born american who was visiting Paris and whom he referred to as 'The Amazon'. She persuaded him back into society and they shared many letters and rural adventures before his declining health left him immobilised.  <p align="center">Between 1910 and 1914, Remy de Gourmont spent holidays in Coutances with his sister. When World War I broke out in 1914, it shocked Gourmont and his literary friends profoundly - the <i>Mercure de France</i> ceased their work together and many went to the Front. He said of this period:  <p align="center"><blockquote><i>" Ce sont des heures bien lourdes que celles que nous passons ; toute vie intellectuelle est arrte ; on se dvore soi-mme; et tout avenir est affreux, car tout est mort, et je ne sais pas si j'en verrai la rsurrection. Plus de revues, plus de journaux o crire, je ne fais rien. J'attends. Je tche de penser. Les temps sont durs pour l'crivain... "</i></blockquote>  <p align="center">He died of complications from a stroke September 27, 1915. Berthe de Courrire, who was always near him, inherited all his manuscripts and his writer's library. She died less than one year later, June 15, 1916, and bequeathed them to Jean de Gourmont (Remy's brother).   <p align="center">Since then (amongst many others) Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Richard Aldington, Hulme, and Aldous Huxley have expressed their admiration of his work.   <p align="center"><a href="mindscape.htm"><i><b>Back to Mindscape</b></i></a>   <p align="center"><a href="mailto:little_behemoth@*NOSPAMTHANKS*littlebehemoth.com">Email the author and<br> artist of this page</a>  <p align="center"><a href="http://www.remydegourmont.org/de_rg/oeuvres/litaniesdelarose.htm" target="_blank">Read the whole of 'Litanies de la Rose'</a>  <p align="center"><a href="http://www.remydegourmont.org/rg/biographierapide01_jeandegourmont.htm" target="_blank">Many thanks to Jean de Gourmont for sharing this article</a><br> <p align="center"><small><i>(Note: my french is not perfect, so there may be minor errors in the above bio -<br> please do not depend on it as a reference text!)</i></small>  </small>  <!-- COPYRIGHT DECLARATIONS --> <p><hr color="#993399"/> <small><small>No part of this website may be reproduced without prior written permission being granted by copyright holders.<br> Entire site (excluding external links and other indicated works) copyright 2001-2003 www.littlebehemoth.com, all rights reserved.<br> 'Les Deux Roses' artwork also copyright 2003 www.littlebehemoth.com, all rights reserved. </small></small> <hr color="#993399"/> <!-- END COPYRIGHT DECLARATIONS -->  </div> </td> </tr> </table>   </font> </div> </body> </html> 
