Poetry of Revolution: Romanticism and National Projects

The poet is alienated from the very community for whom he claims to speak and so in this

instance intends to connect with Delorme, his soul-mate. The following verses conclude “A

Delorme:”

Tu le sais, mais qu’aussi l’on rencontre en ce monde,

Pour mille cœurs d’acier, quand même une âme soeur,

Qui comprend l’idéal; qui, sur la foule immonde

Jette un regard fier, plein de magique douceur:

Qui te mord les talons; pour ces milliers d’ingrats,

Je voudrais t’aimer seul, te consacrer ma vie,

Et seul reconnaissant pour toute ma patrie,

Te louer, te bénir!...Dis, ne le sais-tu pas? (27-34)

The poem, “Chanteur des rues” provides another profoundly pessimistic and disparaging

view of the poet’s condition, as the poet is reduced to a mere “chanteur des rues,” condemned to

amuse the crowd for what little money he earns. “Chanteur des rues,” which is not dated, begins

with a quote by Musset, one very similar to the first two verses of the first stanza:

Puisque c’est ton sort, chanteur misérable,

D’amuser la foule avec tes chansons;

Puisque pour ton cœur rien n’est préférable

Aux joyeux oiseaux de nos verts buissons; (1-4)

In the following verses, the poet is not only misunderstood by the rest of society but also

mocked by it. A poet who communes with nature is ridiculed in light of the verses which

follow, as the talents of the poet degenerate and his voice lacks harmony. Any celebration of

nature, as in the “Dédicace,” is stripped of aesthetic qualities. Society views him as a mere

performer of sound and not as an author of poetry. In these poems, Durand discloses his own

priorities for and conflicting sentiments about poetic expression. This Romantic view of the poet

as national representative, divine emissary, and pariah in his own land resurface in Durand’s

poems throughout his career. Many poems which date from the early 1890s are virtually

indistinguishable from earlier poems in this way. The vacillation between poetic ideals and