Léon DIERX regrets not seeing his Parnassian friend, Paul VERLAINE.

Léon DIERX (1838.1912)

Autographed letter signed to Paul Verlaine.

One and a half pages in-12°.

Tab mark on the second sheet.

[Paris] September 30, 1894.

"My dear Verlaine, you naturally assumed I was away from Paris."

Léon Dierx, prevented by illness, regrets not being able to visit his old Parnassian friend, Paul Verlaine.

____________________________________

" My dear Verlaine, you naturally assumed I was away from Paris, since I didn't reply immediately with a letter of heartfelt regret and eager acknowledgment. Indeed, I have just spent a month's holiday in the Ardèche. It didn't go well for me, as I have returned ill and am obliged to follow a rather strict treatment and diet. I am forbidden any evening walks because of a painful neuralgia that insists on visiting me at the very hours when one would have such pleasure in meeting up with one of my dearest comrades from the past, so illustrious and still such a good friend. I am sorry, but I hope this is only a temporary setback until soon. In the meantime, I will come to see you and thank you today, as soon as I can, dear friend. Yours fraternally, Léon Dierx."

____________________________________

Léon Dierx and Paul Verlaine met in the mid-1860s, when the young Verlaine became involved with the Parnassian group. The latter held great literary admiration for his elder, Dierx, to whom he dedicated a laudatory notice in Les Hommes d'aujourd'hui and also a poem, dedicated to him, in his collectionDédicaces.  

In January 1896, Verlaine's death brought an end to a friendship of more than 30 years.