Guillaume Apollinaire writes of his love to Lou. February 1915.

Guillaume Apollinaire (1980.1918)

Autographed letter signed to Louise de Coligny-Châtillon, known as Lou.

Two quarto pages on letterhead of Café Tortoni in Nîmes.

Nîmes, February 6, 1915.

"I love you with all my heart. No poem today, I've written you loads these past few days."

A tender and loving letter from the poet to Lou, the muse who inspired one of his most beautiful collections of poetry: Poems to Lou

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"I mistakenly dated my letters from yesterday as the 4th – Today, your letter is dated Thursday the 4th – so you're leaving, I'll write to you tomorrow, Sunday, for the first ^time , and Wednesday for the second ^time – But I don't quite understand why not every day, since you write to Toutou ^every day and he writes to you every day too. Since you don't receive any letters addressed to you, I don't understand these strange precautions at all. I suppose it's because Toutou doesn't know that I write to you every day and that you write to me as well, and you're afraid of upsetting him by telling him – that in return, you won't write to me anymore and I'll be stuck in Nîmes."

So when you receive this letter, you will be in the beautiful capital of Lorraine, the capital of King Stanislas, whose story fascinates me. I was very amused reading about the life of his dwarf, Ferry. Perhaps you can hear the cannon rumbling! I wrote to you yesterday to tell Toutou a thousand things from me; I'm repeating them in case you leave before receiving my letter. Kiss him on both cheeks. Tell him I am his friend and that I am sure our friendship will grow even stronger when we get to know each other. Ask him if he might have an extra ^** Finally, my Lou, may God keep you and may Our Lady protect you, you brave and simple little woman, so kindly. Come back safe and sound from the front, my darling. You know how much I love you; I'm going to be anxious during this whole journey. I wish you had received the letters I wrote to you in Baratier before you left; it's fantastic how strangely the postal service works.

Finally, gather a good supply of interesting impressions to share with me. I'm sending you an amusing clipping from the Echo de Paris : a peculiar and funny news item. I'm not writing at length today because I've been invited to dinner by my friend Nicolini and I'm going to take care of your room. My concern is with you; you are my constant worry and my greatest consolation .

I love you with all my heart. No poem today; I've written loads of them for you these past few days. But if you do, tell Toutou this line about artillery: I took it from a little poem I sent to my friend André Dupont, the meanest man in Paris, and I wrote it in my artillery notebooks: "Artillery is the art of measuring angles." ^*** A thousand kisses, I adore you, I kiss you on the mouth, my beloved . Your Gui for life.

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^* Gustave Toutaint, nicknamed "Toutou".

^** Instrument used to measure so-called site angles, i.e. the elevation of a target in a vertical plane relative to the observer.

^*** An ironic wink from Apollinaire in a letter written on February 1st ^to his friend Dupont: " Artillery is the art of measuring angles, and horsemanship is about tightening the girth ." Indeed, Apollinaire was learning the intricacies of firing angles in Nîmes. Notes preserved at the BnF (National Library of France) state that " the burst height H depends only on the elevation angle and the corrector ." And on January 21st, Apollinaire wrote to Lou that he was " fed up to all their geometry, algebra, horse, artillery, and other nonsense ."

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Guillaume Apollinaire met Louise de Coligny-Châtillon (1881-1963) in September 1914 during his stay in Nice, where he was awaiting his military conscription. He fell in love with her immediately. On December 6, 1914, he left to join the 38th Field Artillery Regiment, stationed in Nîmes. Lou joined Apollinaire in Nîmes in mid-December 1914, and the two spent more than a week at the Hôtel du Midi, exploring together a sensuality that would long fuel the dreams of the poet confronted with the horrors of war.

On the back of the letters Apollinaire sent to Lou almost daily are the famous poems that were later collected under the title * Ombre de mon amour* and then * Poèmes à Lou* . Here we find an amusing testament to this extreme poetic prodigality: " No poem today, I've written you loads these past few days."

Finally, we observe that in this second month of 1915, Apollinaire was still euphoric from this great love, but he nevertheless had to contend with a rival and lover, Gustave Toutaint, nicknamed Toutou, then employed as a liaison officer in the Vosges Mountains, whom Lou was preparing to join in Nancy. Lou ultimately eluded Guillaume Apollinaire by refusing to part with Gustave Toutaint. The break was finalized in March 1915, the day before Apollinaire left for the front.

The poet and Louise de Coligny-Châtillon continued to correspond regularly throughout the following summer, until Apollinaire's engagement to Madeleine Pagès in August. The letters then became less frequent and more impersonal. The last one is dated January 18, 1916.