GÉRARD LABRUNIE
JEHAN DU SEIGNEUR 1831

GÉRARD LABRUNIE DIT
GÉRARD DE NERVAL
1808-1855

The plaque features a medallion with the portrait of the French poet and writer Gérard de Nerval, the pen name of Gérard Labrunie. Also known as the one who translated Goethe’s "Faust" into French.

The medallion was made by the sculptor Jehan Du Seigneur, in 1831.

On a stone placed near the monument appears a section of the poem El Desdichado written by the poet:
JE SUIS LE TÉNÉBREUX, LE VEUF, L’INCONSOLÉ,
LE PRINCE D’AQUITAINE À LA TOUR ABOLIE :
MA SEULE ETOILE EST MORTE, ET MON LUTH CONSTELLÉ
PORTE LE SOLEIL NOIR DE LA MÉLANCOLIE.

DANS LA NUIT DU TOMBEAU, TOI QUI M’AS CONSOLÉ,
RENDS-MOI LE PAUSILIPPE ET LA MER D’ITALIE,
LA FLEUR QUI PLAISAIT TANT À MON COEUR DÉSOLÉ,
ET LA TREILLE OÙ LE PAMPRE À LA ROSE S’ALLIE.

[translation]
I AM THE DARK ONE, THE WIDOWER, THE INCONSOLATE,
THE PRINCE OF AQUITAINE AT THE ABOLISHED TOWER:
MY ONLY STAR IS DEAD, AND MY LUTH CONSTELLATED
BRINGS THE BLACK SUN OF MELANCHOLY.

IN THE NIGHT OF THE TOMB, YOU WHO CONSOLED ME,
GIVE ME BACK PAUSILIPPE AND THE ITALIAN SEA,
THE FLOWER THAT PLEASED MY SORRY HEART SO MUCH,
AND THE TREIL WHERE THE ROSE VINE COMBINES.

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