Paul VERLAINE entrusts RIMBAUD's "Cœur supplicié" to Léo d'Orfer.

Paul Verlaine (1844.1896)

Autographed letter signed to Léo d'Orfer.

One page in-12° on graph paper.

Paris. October 2 [1885].

"Enclosed are some rediscovered verses by Rimbaud."

Important letter from the poet confiding in d'Orfer about Rimbaud's tortured heart

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“Dear Sir, This is a business card. Please excuse my immense delay. I’ve had so many misfortunes and setbacks! You’ll see! We’ll resume our correspondence. I, being bedridden with rheumatic fever affecting my legs, will write rather briefly; writing tires me. You, please write more, more! Yours sincerely, P. Verlaine. Enclosed are rediscovered verses by Rimbaud. My address: 6, Cour St François, Rue Moreau, Paris.”

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The "rediscovered verses" mentioned here by Verlaine are those of Rimbaud's "Le Cœur supplicié" (The Tortured Heart); Verlaine had copied the first two stanzas. Coming from the collection of the songwriter Joseph Canqueteau, a friend of Verlaine, this letter (and the verses then enclosed) were presented in facsimile by Francis Carco.

Léo d'Orfer (1859-1924), poet and journalist, was, with Gustave Kahn, the co-founder of the literary review La Vogue. It was within the pages of this review that, from the very first issue of April 1886, the poetry of the man with soles of wind appeared for one of the first times.

Paul Verlaine. General Correspondence. Ed. Fayard. Volume I, pages 910-911.