Alfred de VIGNY (1797-1863). Autograph poem signed, Fragment - Lot 164

Alfred de VIGNY (1797-1863). Autograph poem signed, Fragment de Les Amans de Montmorency, Poëme, Mai 1851; 3pages on 2 leaves in-4, in brick-red percaline slipcase, title-piece on spine. Magnificent poem on love. This 50-verse piece is the central part of the famous poem Les Amants de Montmorency, first published in the Revue des Deux Mondes, with the subtitle Élévation, on January 1, 1832. The poem was later reprinted in Poèmes antiques et modernes (1837). The poem's starting point is an incident that occurred on April 29, 1829. A young married man and a young girl committed suicide in an inn room in Montmorency. "They spent two days of love and harmony Of songs and kisses, of voices, of lips united Of confounded glances, of blissful sighs, Which were two moments and two centuries for them. [...] And like a single chord of harmonious accent All seemed to rise in chorus to the heavens; And these voices skimmed away the countryside In the magical recesses of the mountains; And the earth beneath them throbbed softly, Like the flood of the seas or the heart of a lover; And all that lived, with a supreme hymn Accompanied their voices as they said: "I love you!