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Description
[Literature]
Francis Jammes (1868–1938), poet and writer
Letter from the author, [7 May 1928], addressed to Jean-Edmond Weelen, 1 page, in-4 format, with stamped envelope
It is in the countryside that you never really realised—yet to some extent in the commune of Balansun, in the district of Orthez—with endless fields of wheat, oaks glistening in the sun, jays, magpies and cherries, a stream, and my loved ones all around me, all of them, in eternal bliss.
L.A.S., 4 May 1928, Jean-Edmond Weelen, 1 page, in-8; Weelen, a young writer and critic from Tours, is preparing a feature for his magazine/column *La Touraine*. He asks the ‘great writers’ about their favourite place to live
Francis Jammes replies to Weelen in the form of a signed, handwritten prose poem, in which he describes his earthly paradise, the village of Balansun, situated near Orthez in Béarn, where the poet spent his most fruitful creative years, notably at the Chrestia house between 1897 and 1907.
The text showcases the author’s ‘naturist’ aesthetic, characterised by simplicity and authentic observations. The striking image of trees ‘sweating in the sun’ testifies to Jammes’s genius for humanising nature and conveying its physical, almost carnal warmth.
The text’s conclusion elevates this bucolic description to the spiritual realm. By bringing together the landscape of his native land and the presence of his loved ones, Jammes transforms this corner of Béarn into an earthly Eden, losing himself ‘in eternal bliss’.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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