“O Spirit of litigation, know,When we keep silent in this season,The stem of multiple lilies grewToo large to be contained by reason”Stéphane Mallarmé "Prose" (1885). Observations
“I, proud of my rumour, for long I will talkOf goddesses; and by picturings idolatrous,From their shades unloose yet more of their girdles:So when of grapes the clearness I've sucked,To banish regret by my ruse disavowed,Laughing, I lift the empty bunch to the sky,Blowing into its luminous skins and athirstTo be drunk, till the evening I keep looking through.Oh nymphs, we diverse MEMORIES refill.”Stéphane Mallarmé The Afternoon of a Faun (1876)
“How, save through obscureTerrors, imagine more implacable stillAnd as a suppliant the god who some day willReceive the gift of your grace! and for whom,Devoured by anguish, do you keep the unknownSplendor and mystery of your being?”Stéphane Mallarmé Nurse. Hérodiade (1898)