One of Nau’s most nostalgic poems is “Basses-Pyrénées,” as it is titled in L’Union.Biographical information about Nau in anthologies briefly allude to a trip Nau made to France at
some point during his lifetime and a stay there lasting nearly two years. The title, then, appears
to have an autobiographical basis and is by all accounts the first Haitian poem with exile as its
main theme. The first several stanzas of the poem describe the sentiment and actions that led up
to such a dramatic departure. The beginning of the poem describes with regret the day he set
sail:
Comment donc ai-je fait pour vous abandonner?
Quel besoin, quel esprit a donc pu m’entraîner
Loin de vous, mes foyers, loin de vous, mes campagnes?
Quel attrait si puissant peut-elle avoir, la mer,
La mer sans frein, la mer qui se dresse dans l’air
Plus haut que les hautes montagnes? (1-6)The title “Basses Pyrénées” tells us where the poem was written, and the poem overallconveys that this trip to France essentially constituted an abandonment of the homeland. It is
only later that the speaker wonders what could have possessed him to want to leave; at this time
of writing, the trip was one of incomprehensible compulsion. Such a retrospective and regretful
beginning suggests that his original outlook, perhaps one of expectation, contrasts with his
current realization. As later stanzas show, he can remember a series of subtle signs, like the
forewarning in the birds’ melancholy song prior to departure, which communicated in vain the
unnaturalness in leaving Haiti. It is only the last two of the eight stanzas which are written in the
present tense, as the poet, now writing in France, awaits his return home. The descriptions hones
in on the lonely experience of the poet as Haitian abroad, as a stranger in this unnamed country
of France:
Et me voilà jeté, moi, triste passager
Sans amour, sans amis, sur un sol étranger,
Attendant du retour l’heure lente et tardive