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The Diamond in the Grass
"In former times, life was like a book of some kind: it was necessary to leave some pages blank."
This aphorism was the second of threee such remarks that Forneret addresses to the reader of his Pièce de pièces, Temps Perdu (E. Duverger, 1840). As Charles Monselet pointed out, it was a particularly appropriate observation: although Forneret’s book contains only seven short works (one of which being Le Diamant de l’Herbe), by virtue of the fact that it was printed on only one side of the page it also managed to constitute a volume of substantial proportions.
The stories themselves were well in keeping with what we have come to expect of the man who styled himself Un homme noir, blanc de visage. Not the least pessimistic was the one which concludes by the Spanish hero committing suicide by swallowing his mistress’s glass eye. But it is Le Diamant de l’Herbe which has come to be acknowledged as Forneret’s most significant piece. Breton described it as his masterpiece when it was reprinted in the Surrealist review Minotaure.
Forneret was not the only eccentric romantic writer to be interested in the symbolism of glow-worms. Charles Nodier, whose fascination with madness, pessimism, and dream states was almost equal at times to that of Forneret, published two translations of a work by the Slavonic poet Ignazio Giorgi originally entitled Svijecnjak (i.e. Glow-worm). This work was intended for a collection of Giorgi’s poetry completed about 1716 but never published during the poet’s lifetime.
Nodier’s first translation, as Vers Luisant, appeared in the Télégraphe illyrien in 1813; the second (which is the version translated here), under the title La Luciole, in Smarra in 1821.
Although Nodier explained that his original intention in making the translation was to establish that Giorgi understood the nature of pathos, and although the work contains ample proof of Nodier’s contention, there are also descriptive passages of a rare Forneret-like intensity contained in it.
This aphorism was the second of threee such remarks that Forneret addresses to the reader of his Pièce de pièces, Temps Perdu (E. Duverger, 1840). As Charles Monselet pointed out, it was a particularly appropriate observation: although Forneret’s book contains only seven short works (one of which being Le Diamant de l’Herbe), by virtue of the fact that it was printed on only one side of the page it also managed to constitute a volume of substantial proportions.
The stories themselves were well in keeping with what we have come to expect of the man who styled himself Un homme noir, blanc de visage. Not the least pessimistic was the one which concludes by the Spanish hero committing suicide by swallowing his mistress’s glass eye. But it is Le Diamant de l’Herbe which has come to be acknowledged as Forneret’s most significant piece. Breton described it as his masterpiece when it was reprinted in the Surrealist review Minotaure.
Forneret was not the only eccentric romantic writer to be interested in the symbolism of glow-worms. Charles Nodier, whose fascination with madness, pessimism, and dream states was almost equal at times to that of Forneret, published two translations of a work by the Slavonic poet Ignazio Giorgi originally entitled Svijecnjak (i.e. Glow-worm). This work was intended for a collection of Giorgi’s poetry completed about 1716 but never published during the poet’s lifetime.
Nodier’s first translation, as Vers Luisant, appeared in the Télégraphe illyrien in 1813; the second (which is the version translated here), under the title La Luciole, in Smarra in 1821.
Although Nodier explained that his original intention in making the translation was to establish that Giorgi understood the nature of pathos, and although the work contains ample proof of Nodier’s contention, there are also descriptive passages of a rare Forneret-like intensity contained in it.
20 pages, Saddle stitch
First published January 1, 1821
About the author
Xavier Forneret
28 books2 followersXavier Forneret, surnommé «l'Homme noir, blanc de visage» est un écrivain, dramaturge, poète et journaliste français.
Le Cénacle, un groupe littéraire parisien de circonscriptions diverses qui commença vers 1826 à se rassembler autour de Charles Nodier, ne l'accepta jamais comme membre, car les romantiques radicaux le considéraient comme un bourgeois excentrique avec peu de talent. Mais en tant que descendant d'une famille riche, il pouvait payer de sa poche la publication de ses œuvres et la mise en scène de ses pièces de théâtre, même si elles étaient complètement ignorées du public et des lecteurs.
Son œuvre a été tirée de l'oubli par les surréalistes, entre autre par André Breton qui lui considerait comme un précurseur de l'écriture automatique et un maître de l'humour noir. Le Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret a été nommé en son honneur.
Xavier Forneret was a French writer, poet, playwright and journalist.
The Cénacle, a Parisian literary group of varying constituency that began about 1826 to gather around Charles Nodier, never accepted him as a member, since the radical romantics saw him as an eccentric bourgeois with little talent. But as a descendant of a rich family, he could pay for the publication of his works and the staging of his theatre pieces from his own pocket, even though they were completely ignored by the public and the readers.
His œuvre was saved from oblivion by the surrealists with for exemple André Breton who considered him to be a precursor of automatic writing and a master of black humor. The Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret is named in his memory.
(Source:en.wikipedia.org & en.wikipedia.org)
Le Cénacle, un groupe littéraire parisien de circonscriptions diverses qui commença vers 1826 à se rassembler autour de Charles Nodier, ne l'accepta jamais comme membre, car les romantiques radicaux le considéraient comme un bourgeois excentrique avec peu de talent. Mais en tant que descendant d'une famille riche, il pouvait payer de sa poche la publication de ses œuvres et la mise en scène de ses pièces de théâtre, même si elles étaient complètement ignorées du public et des lecteurs.
Son œuvre a été tirée de l'oubli par les surréalistes, entre autre par André Breton qui lui considerait comme un précurseur de l'écriture automatique et un maître de l'humour noir. Le Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret a été nommé en son honneur.
Xavier Forneret was a French writer, poet, playwright and journalist.
The Cénacle, a Parisian literary group of varying constituency that began about 1826 to gather around Charles Nodier, never accepted him as a member, since the radical romantics saw him as an eccentric bourgeois with little talent. But as a descendant of a rich family, he could pay for the publication of his works and the staging of his theatre pieces from his own pocket, even though they were completely ignored by the public and the readers.
His œuvre was saved from oblivion by the surrealists with for exemple André Breton who considered him to be a precursor of automatic writing and a master of black humor. The Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret is named in his memory.
(Source:en.wikipedia.org & en.wikipedia.org)
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 30, 2019
Contains essential information on decoding the predictions of glow-worms. Also passages such as this:
Hope itself is written in all her features; in her most secret glances, there is that intimation of death which so often accompanies joy; have you ever felt it, that intimation of death that overtakes you with a shiver, that tightening which knots all your veins together, that feeling of ecstasy which stops your heart and warms your very blood; have you ever felt it?
Displaying 1 of 1 review