information about the circumstances which led to its publication, it does seem likely that
Durand’s friend and mentor, Haitian diplomat, journalist, and essayist Demesvar Delorme, had a
hand in this success. Prior to and subsequent to this publication, Durand’s poems appeared only
in regional and national journals of Haiti, two of which were edited by Delorme, L’Avenir and Le
Vigilant. Durand did not spend significant time abroad, and his only documented overseas trip
was a three-month stay in France in 1888. Delorme, on the other hand, to whom Durand
dedicates Rires et Pleurs, spent much of his life away from his native Haiti, either in official
diplomacy or in political exile. Delorme’s own literary prestige, which is referenced in Durand’s
poetry, was due to the many works that he had published in France in the 1870s and 1880s and to
the contact he enjoyed with several French writers, including Alphonse de Lamartine and Victor
Hugo.^187 On diplomatic missions to Europe while Haitian President Florvil Hyppolite was in
office from 1889 to 1896, Delorme was in Europe at the time of the publication of Rires et
Pleurs. Although Delorme made a few brief trips back to Haiti during the last decade of his life,
he continued to reside primarily in France until his death in Paris in 1901.
Three texts in Rires et Pleurs precede the two books of poetry and frame much ofDurand’s project: the two dedications and a preface in poetic form, “Sonnet-Préface.” The first
dedication is also in verse, “Dédicace d’il y a vingt-cinq ans,” addressed to Delorme in Paris in
- The second text of the collection is a short prose reiteration of the first entitled “Nouvelle
dédicace,” written to Delorme in Berlin in 1893. The “Dédicace” poem is a tribute to Delorme’s
influence, identifying him as Durand’s teacher and mentor. Durand credits Delorme with the
inspiration for his poetry. Durand begins the poem with this opening stanza:
(^187) Information about Delorme’s life and career, including his contact and correspondence with French writers can
be found in Ernest Trouillot’s study, Demesvar Delorme, le journaliste, le diplomate (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie N.
A. Theodore, 1958).