Gautier, Théophile

1 page (5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.; 135 x 90 mm), in French, 11 July 1866, in black ink on Chamarande Seine et Oise letterhead stationery ; light damp stains, ink stains affecting the final letter of the last word of the eighth verse, formerly folded. 

The poem has been published only in: Harper's monthly magazine, vol. CXXII, n° DCCXXXV, 1911, p. 338 and in. Lillie de Hergemann-Lindencrone, In the court of memory, 1855-1878. 1911, p. 131. 

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Gautier's poetic apology. Lillie de Hegermann-Lindencrone, born Lillie Greenough and later known as Lillie Moulton, was a regular guest of the literary and diplomatic salons in Paris in the 1860's. She met the French poet Théophile Gautier during a dinner at the Chateau de Compiegne with Emperor Napoleon III. She explains in her Memoirs she sat next to the poet, chatting with him when Gautier told her she was "blasé." As a provacation to the poet, she asked the Emperor if she had to be angry at him. Gautier sent him the poem as "a sort of amende honorable."