Gérard de Nerval (1808-1855):

Life
 Lived during the time of Romanticism
 Had a great influence on the Symbolists and Surrealists
 Was friends with fellow poet Théophile Gautier, and together with other bohemian poets
formed the literary coterie «Petit Cénacle»
 Fell in love with an Jenny Colon (an actress) who married another man and then died in 1842
 Suffered from severe mental disorders which led to institutionalization and his eventual
suicide by hanging in 1855

Poetry
 Wrote extremely complex and mysterious poetry
 Wrote primarily in the sonnet form with Alexandrine lines. Each line consists of six
syllables, a caesura, and six more syllables. Overall there are usually two quatrains followed
by two tercets.
 Described a “dream overflowing into real life” because he viewed dreams as a window into
the world of the supernatural

Source:
Burnshaw, Stanley. The Poem Itself. Fayettville, University of Arkansas Press, 1995.

“Gérard de Nerval.” Encylopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.

www.britannica.com/biography/Gerard-de-Nerval. Dated Accessed 14 January 2020.
 Gérard de Nerval

El Desdichado
Title:
 The title is Spanish for “The Unfortunate One,” “The Outcast”, “The Disinherited”. Dicha in
Spanish can translate to “bliss” or “happiness” and des- is the Spanish prefix for “non-” or
“without.”
 The poem was written in 1853 while hospitalized.
 The title is the same as the alias used by Wilfred of Ivanhoe during a tournament of knights.
He wins one day of the tournament and gets to select the queen of the tournament, but is then
injured the next day.

Paraphrase:
“I am in shadow, widowed, inconsolable, the Prince of Aquitania but with a destroyed tower. My
only star is dead and my star-adorned lute now bears the extinguished sun of melancholy. In the
night of the Tomb, you who consoled me, give me back the beauty and rest of the Italian Sea, the
flower that pleased my desolated heart, and the trellis where wine and beauty mingled. Am I
lover or poet as a god? Am I lover or poet as a hero? I still feel the kiss of the queen on my
forehead, I dreamed in the grotto of the siren. I’ve survived death twice and used the lyre of
Orpheus to sing of the sighs of the saint and the cries of the fairies.”

Connotation:
Nerval may be alluding to three tarot cards in the first quatrain: “The Tower”, “The Star”, and
“The Sun”. Divination using tarot cards became popular in the late 18th century, so this is one
possible interpretation. If so, the poem takes on a more fatalistic view of Nerval’s lost love in
contrast to the accomplishments listed in the last tercet.
 Since the tower is of the Aquitanian prince, it is a symbol of his prowess as a chivalrous
knight and may even be the location of his lover; however, it is destroyed. The tower
tarot card indicates a failed ambition, and thus, Nerval’s failed attempts as a lover.
 The star describes something that is unattainable or distant but also time needed to pause
and reflect on what is precious. Nerval uses his sonnet to consider his lost lover and
reaffirm his romantic prowess following devastation.
 The sun tarot symbolizes great resources, ability, and triumph. In El Desdichado the sun
is extinguished and mars Nerval’s lute (a symbol of poetic ability) with melancholy.

The sonnet is full of references to knights, chivalry, gods, and heroes. This classical depiction of
romance is indicative of the time period, and the use of sonnet form coupled with allusions to
Aquitania and Ivanhoe reflect influences from the Pléiade movement.

Allusions:
 «Pausilippe et la mer d’Italie» - Posilippo is a rocky peninsula off the coast of Naples whose
name means “respite from worries”
 «Le Pampre à la Rose s’allie» - The winding of Bacchus and Venus together, possibly the
pleasure of wine and romance together as well as an erotic meeting of a god and goddess
 «Amour ou Phébus ?. . . Lusignan ou Biron ? » - The god Eros who lost his lover Psyche
when she gazed upon him, the god Phoebus/Apollo who patrons poetry, Lusignan who lost
his water-sprite wife Mélusine, the ancient tragic hero Biron
 « l’Achéron . . . d’Orphée» - Acheron is a river in the Underworld known as the river of
woes. Hades’ ferryman Charon shuttled souls across both Acheron and Styx when they died.
Orpheus was the best lyrical poet in all of Greek mythology trained by Apollo himself. His
lover Eurydice died and was taken to the Underworld, but he followed her to the palace of
Hades. The myth ends with Hades allowing Eurydice to follow Orpheus back to the world of
the living without him turning back to see her. Right before making it, he turns around and
she is lost forever.

Attitude/Tone:
Overall, Nerval adopts a mournful and regretful tone throughout the poem. The first quatrain is
the most forlorn, but there are gradual shifts towards a more positive perspective with each
stanza. The last has an almost triumphant quality as Nerval lists his accomplishments and sets his
poetic prowess equal to that of Orpheus.

Themes:
There is the general sense that love has been lost, and that Nerval pleads with someone–maybe
God, maybe his lost lover–to return to days without worry.

The sonnet is metaliterary because the poem describes poetry itself in that Nerval’s personal
trouble represents a melancholy black sun on his lute and how Nerval is first a lover but
expresses it through his accomplishments in poetry.
 Gérard de Nerval

Delfica
Title:
 Delfica is a character, a prophetess, invented by Nerval to foretell the return of the pagan
gods.
 Delfica is characterized more by her place of origin, Delphi, than any other features. She
presents an oracle in sonnet form from the place that the ancient Greeks considered to be the
center of the world.

Paraphrase:
“Daphne, do you know the old song, at the foot of the sycamore, or under the white laurels,
under the olive tree, the myrtle, or the trembling willows, this song of love which always
returns? Do you recognize the temple with the large peristyle, and the lemons imprinted by your
teeth, and the grotto, fatal to imprudent visitors, or of the sleeping seed of the vanquished
dragon? They return, these gods for whom you always cry! The times of the ancient order will
return. The ground winces with a prophetic breath . . . however the sibyl with a Latin face is still
asleep under the arch of Constantine – and nothing is disturbed in the serious portico.”

Connotation:
The different trees mentioned are representative of various religious followings and gods. The
sycamore is linked with Christianity through the story of Zacchaeus, the white laurels recalls the
myth of Apollo and Daphne, the olive tree is a symbol of Minerva who Daphne worshipped, the
myrtle belongs to Venus, and the willow is associated with the goddess Hecate.

Delfica is the speaker, and is a creation of Nerval meant to prophesy the return of the classical
gods. Delfica is addressing Daphne, who in her transformed laurel state is evergreen–
representing the eternal nature of the Olympians–and who adorns the harps and quiver of the god
of prophecy, Apollo. Laurels also rest atop the heads of great leaders and victors, so Delfica
almost instructs Daphne to be ready to welcome the return of the Classical deities.

Allusions:
 «Dafné» - Daphne was a nymph who worshipped Minerva by remaining chaste and by
practicing the hunt. After Apollo mocked Eros one day, she was struck with an arrow which
made her loathe Apollo, while he was struck with an arrow that made him fall madly in love
with her. To avoid his advances, Daphne prayed to her father who transformed her into a
laurel tree.
 «Du dragon vaincu dort l’antique semence» - The teeth of the dragon slain by Cadmus were
planted, and from them sprouted a race of warriors who fought with one another not unlike
the bickering of the Greek and Roman gods.
 «La sibylle au visage latin . . . l’arc de Constantin» - The Cumaen sibyl was the prophetess
who resided closest to Rome. Virgil recorded her oracles in his Ecologues. Constantine the
Great was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, and he interpreted the
 Ecologues as Messianic prophecy in support of Christianity. Rather than the old gods
returning to syncretize with the widespread Christianity of Nerval’s day, he states that
nothing is disturbed in the portico/peristyle mentioned earlier. This last tercet is a major shift
from the triumphant and almost foreboding pagan return promised by Delfica.

Attitude/Tone:
In this sonnet, Nerval renders language similar to an oracle or prophecy. The third stanza
contains the future tense, which carries significant weight and certainty in French, followed by
the near future construction, and finally the past tense. The tone is seemingly relaxed from
teeming anticipation to a sense of almost frustration that the prophecy is not coming true. This
could be seen as Nerval recognizing his prophecy as nothing more than an abstract dream no
closer to fruition than Christianity was to displacement in his time.

Themes:
By prophesying the return of the pagan gods, Nerval highlights what has been lost in their
absence. The song of love associated with their mythos and their symbols–sometime severe or
fierce–are currently hidden.

The sense that pagan and Christian have mingled or become syncretized is evident throughout
the poem. The sycamore tree is emphasized as much as the trees of the other gods and goddesses,
and in this light, the third tercet could be interpreted as meaning that the return has already
happened. However, in this recommencement of the song of love, the gods have already
incorporated and fused in the culture so that nothing need be disturbed under the arch of
Constantine. The Cumaen sibyl rests knowing that Christianity is just a facet of the same gods
and oracles that have persisted for ages.
 Gérard de Nerval

Artémis
Title:
 Nerval dedicates this poem to the moon goddess Artemis, but a version of her that shares
characteristics with Hecate as well. This is not entirely unusual in the Hellenistic tradition,
where prayers to one goddess mingled the different personas of many goddesses.
 The singular goddess encompasses Nerval’s romantic efforts as well as being a placeholder
for all the pagan gods and goddess which occupied his mind and poetry. His lover is now
synonymous with his obsession with the pagan gods.

Paraphrase:
“The thirteenth comes again . . . it’s still the first and it’s always the only one–or it’s the only
moment: because are you Queen, oh you! The first or the last? Are you King, you the only or the
last lover? Love who has loved you from the cradle to the coffin. That whom I loved alone still
loves me tenderly, it’s Death–or the Lady Death . . . Oh delight! Oh torment! The rose that she
holds is a rose mallow. Neapolitan saint with hands full of fire, rose with a violet heart, flower of
Saint Gudule: have you found your cross in the desert of the heavens? White roses, fall! You
insult our gods, fall, white phantoms, from you burning Heaven–the saint of the abyss is more
saintly in my eyes.”

Connotation:
Overall, the allusions used, and the background meaning behind each choice of word is
ambiguous. The poem is quite mysterious in that so many ideas are used interchangeably. Nerval
accomplishes a sort of relaxation of time into something routine yet meaningless by repeating
“first”, “last”, “only”, and “still” in various seemingly random combinations.

The address of the queen and king in lines 3 and 4 respectively are intentionally vague, such that
the mantle bore by Nerval and his singular lover can be taken up by anyone in the next cycle of
time. He cannot discern whether they are the only pair, the first in the line of succession, the last
vestige of his classical view of romance, or just a single pair in a repeating cycle. This echoes
back to the idea of a song of long which always returns expressed in Delfica.

Allusions:
 «Sainte napolitaine» - Connected with Saint Rosalie of Palermo who holds a flower and was
form Normandy
 «sainte Gudule» - the patron saint of Brussels who, according to legend, relit the wick of her
candle through prayer after a demon snuffed it out. She was on her way to church early in the
morning.
The two saints are mixed together, and are both challenged by Nerval when he asks whether their
Cross was found in the meaningless desert of the sky.
Attitude/Tone:
Nerval’s imagery and repetition of certain temporalities evoke a dream-like state where time is
fluid. His reference to love from cradle to grave demonstrates that his singular lover is his only
constant, but she can only be known in death. From line 8 onwards, Nerval contemplates what
follows death. He becomes agitated with the Christian notion of saints in Heaven, and ardently
challenges God by stating his lover for Athena/Hecate is more holy in his opinion.

Themes:
The poem is laden with religious overtones. Nerval fits his worldview, ideology concerning
dreams, and love for the gods and goddesses of ancient times into one sonnet that both
challenges the popular beliefs of his contemporaries and reaffirms the religious implications of
all of his poetry.