VERLAINE, Paul (1844-1896)

VERLAINE, Paul (1844-1896)

Autograph post-card signed « Votre P. Verlaine » to Jules Rais
[Paris, 16, rue Saint-Victor], 15th March 1895, 1 p. in-8°, in black ink
Autograph address on verso from Verlaine’s hand
Old and discreet trace of paper clip (see scans)

Bedridden and in pain, Verlaine gives detailed directions to his correspondent on how to reach him

« Mon cher ami, Avez-vous reçu mon mot à vous adressé à Nancy ? Quoi qu’il en soit, vous avez mon adresse. J’ai la vôtre et je m’en réjouis. – Mais ce qui m’a fort affligé c’est que vous soyez venu rue St Victor et que vous ne soyez pas entré – car la clef était sur la porte… Il faut frapper très fort, à cause d’une double porte. Quant à moi, je suis alité sans pouvoir bouger du lit (abcès sous le pied gauche, toujours ! coup de bistouri, pansement, etc.)
Retrouverez ici la chambre “touchante” de la rue des Fossés St Jacques [autre adresse de sa maîtresse Eugénie Krantz]… et sa bonne et charmante locataire.
Quant au 21 rue Mr le Prince, fini : Kleptomanie ! Zut alors !
Venez-donc, j’y suis toujours !!! Frappez-fort et entrez… 16 rue St Victor.
Votre P. Verlaine »

Verlaine was discharged from the Bichat Hospital on January 21, 1895. After a final and violent quarrel with his mistress Philomène Boudin, he wrote to Gabriel de Yturri, secretary and lover of Robert de Montesquiou, who lodged him at 21, rue Monsieur-le-Prince (address mentioned in the letter). He said, however: “As for 21 rue Monsieur le Prince, no more Kleptomania! Damn it! ». Is Verlaine confessing that he stole from Yturri’s home? Be that as it may, the poet once again lodged with his other mistress, Eugénie Krantz, in a garret at 16 Rue Saint-Victor, near the École Polytechnique. Eugenie treated him, as he put it, of an “abscess under his left foot.” The last months of the poet’s life were to turn into torture.

The translator and writer Jules Rais (1872-1943) corresponded with Verlaine in 1895 to offer him a job with the magazine L’Image. These epistolary exchanges and the visits of the young writer had no doubt softened the last months of Poor Lelian’s life. Jules Rais died in deportation to Auschwitz in 1943.