French poet and actress, Rosemonde Gérard (1866 – 1953) wrote poems and plays praised by the French Academy. She will put her career at half mast to favor that of her husband, the poet Edmond Rostand.
Youth bathed in poetry
Daughter of Sylvie Perruche and Louis Maurice Fortuné, Comte Gérard, Louise-Rose-Étiennette Gérard was born in Paris on Étienne Maurice Gérard and Rosemonde de Valence, whose first name she will use as her artist name. The poet Leconte de Lisle is his godfather.
Rosemonde's father died when she was fourteen, and Alexandre Dumas fils became her guardian. Living with her mother in Paris, she received a quality education and frequented literary circles. Soon, she began to write. In 1889, at the age of twenty-three, she published the collection of poems Les Pipeaux , a work crowned with the Archon-Despérouses Prize of the French Academy.
Tenderness
Miraculous spring whose autumn is so sad,
The most beautiful feeling, no, it is not love;
Not weak and mad love, blind and deaf love,
Closing around him his selfish garland.
Edmond Rostand
During a stay in the south, Rosemonde Gérard and her mother meet on a train Eugène Rostand, father of Edmond Rostand, who invites them to have tea. In April 1890, Rosemonde and Edmond married in Paris. They will have two sons:Maurice Rostand and Jean Rostand. United by their common passion, the newlyweds inspire each other, and in particular leave a passionate correspondence. Rosemonde writes for Edmond the poem The Eternal Song or The Old , with these two famous verses:
Because, you see, every day I love you more,
Today more than yesterday and much less than tomorrow.
Fascinated by her husband's talent, Rosemonde put her own writings on hold to promote Edmond's career. Her son Maurice would later say:“It seemed to her that the time and attention she would devote to her personal work would risk harming that of Edmond Rostand. »
On occasion, Rosemonde plays comedy. She played the role of Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac once. , with Sarah Bernhardt as the main character.
Writings and collaboration with Maurice
Relations between Rosemonde Gérard and Edmond gradually deteriorated and the couple separated in 1911, although they did not divorce. Jean stays with his mother, Maurice, the poet, with his mother. Rosemonde collaborates with her son on several works, including A good little devil (a fairy tale in 3 acts after the Comtesse de Ségur) in 1911 and La Marchande d’matches (a comic opera libretto) in 1914. She also writes about her memories and about her husband.
In 1926, Rosemonde again won the Archon-Despérouses prize from the French Academy for his collection L'arc-en-ciel .
Moments
The same thing…because every moment
Is just a beat away from all my beating heart.
There are no more days, no more blue or gray hours;
There is always something on my heart that is breaking
Only striking moments from morning until evening:
Moments almost of joy…almost of despair…
Almost lethal moment… almost supreme moment…
Ah! I thank you and I blame you!
Rosemonde was named Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1931. She died in July 1953 in Paris, fifteen years before her son Maurice, with whom she was buried.
A heart and a cottage
What does it take to be happy?
A heart and a cottage.
It's what we do best
In the dreams of the earth.There are too many castles
Where there is only misery;
What does it take to be happy?
A heart and a cottage.Words are more in love
When the wall is not stone;
All day I will have your eyes,
At night I would have your eyelids…And, only keeping to blue skies
Only a star for light,
For both of us,
One heart and one cottage?