Letter from Le Mans on bereavement... (1828)

NRA-L-000677 / 1828

Letter from Le Mans on bereavement and a newspaper subscription

An unidentified correspondent consoles a friend whose mother has lost her long-time companion, recalls the writer's own mother's death, and discusses back issues of the Journal de commerce and a twelve-franc payment.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000677

NRA-L-000677 image 1 showing a folded address side to Paris with red and blue postal marks. — **Image 1**Address panel and postal evidence.

NRA-L-000677 image 2 showing a French personal letter in dark ink with visible reverse-side show-through, text side 1. — **Image 2**Letter text - Page 1.

NRA-L-000677 image 3 showing a French personal letter in dark ink with visible reverse-side show-through, text side 2. — **Image 3**Letter text - Page 2.

Archive Record

Identifier: NRA-L-000677
Date: 1828-12-09
Original date: Au Mans le 9 Xbre 1828
Type: Personal correspondence
Language: French / fr
Recipient: Monsieur de [Boisrichard?] (surname uncertain)
Places: Le Mans / Paris
Extent: 3 documentary sides: Letter page 1; Letter page 2; Address side; 3 digital images.
Citation: Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000677.

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Transcript and English translation

working scholarly aid

Letter page 1

Original transcript

Au Mans le 9 Xbre 1828-

Les Larmes Me gagnent Mon Cher ami en Lisant
ta Lettre où tu Me parles De l'entrevue que
tu as eu avec ta pauvre Mere j'en ai le Coeur
tout Navré je Ne La Croyois pas Capable
D'un tel Courage, Car après Soixante ans d'une
union aussi parfaite Comment est Il possible
que L'on puisse rester Dans L'appartement
où est Décédé Celui que L'on a tant aimé -
Ni toi Ni moi N'aurions le Courage de [passage illisible] et -
Meme personne au Monde je Lui ai ecrit
et Ne Sçavois ce que je Lui écrivois tant -
j'etois interdit, je partage bien Sincèrement
Sa Douleur et la tienne Moi qui te Connois
et qui Sçais Combien tu es Sensible et Comme
tu L'aimes, je n'ai qu'une Crainte c'est que
tu n'en tombes Malade Menage toi pour [tous?]
et pour tes amis qui t'environnent et qui te
Sont Si Sincerement attachés et [range?] Moi -
Du nombre Sans Crainte et je Suis bien -

Notes

Editorial notes:
The abbreviation 'Xbre' in the dateline denotes December. The passage after 'Ni toi Ni moi N'aurions le Courage de' cannot be read securely.

Letter page 1

English translation

Le Mans, 9 December 1828.

Tears overcome me, my dear friend, as I read your letter telling me of your meeting with your poor mother. I am heartbroken by it. I did not think her capable of such courage: after sixty years of so close a union, how is it possible to remain in the room where the person one loved so much died? Neither you nor I would have the courage to [passage unreadable]; the following words about anyone else in the world are also syntactically uncertain. I wrote to her and scarcely knew what I was writing, so bewildered was I. I sincerely share her grief and yours. Knowing you, how sensitive you are and how much you love her, my only fear is that you might fall ill. Take care of yourself for [all of us?] and for the friends around you who are so sincerely attached to you. Count me among them without hesitation; and I am quite—

Notes

Editorial notes:
The abbreviation 'Xbre' in the dateline denotes December. The passage after 'Ni toi Ni moi N'aurions le Courage de' cannot be read securely.

Letter page 2

Original transcript

Convaincu que tu n'en Doutes pas, Nous Sommes
tous Malheureusement Sujets à Des pertes aux-
quelles Nous Sommes bien Sensibles, Car il -
n'est pas De jours que je Ne Songe à Ma pauvre
Mere et Ne puis L'oublier que je Suis Malheureux
De ce qu'elle m'a été ravie Si vîte, je m'attendois
bien que tu agirois D'une Maniere aussi Noble
envers la tienne et que tu la laisserois jouir -
De tout Comme elle faisoit précédemment tous
Ces procédés De ta part Ne m'étonnent -
nullement Comment est ce que les Miens n'en -
ont pas fait autant, tout annonce bien -
que Nous Ne Sommes pas pétris de la Même -
pate, graces à tes bons Soins j'ai reçu -
tous les Numéros arriérés De Mon journal -
De Commerce, auquel tu m'avois abonné -
Nos deux lettres ont dû Se Croiser, je m'attends
bien que tu auras reçu La Mienne dans Laquelle
je te parlois de Melle [Carreau?], j'avois écrit au
fils Coutard pour qu'il prenne [de rechet?] 12 francs
chez toi. je t'embrasse Comme je t'aime et donne
moi promptement de tes nouvelles

Letter page 2

English translation

—convinced that you do not doubt it. We are all, sadly, subject to losses that affect us deeply. Not a day goes by without my thinking of my poor mother; I cannot forget how unhappy I am that she was taken from me so quickly. I fully expected you to behave just as nobly towards yours and to let her enjoy everything as she did before. These actions of yours do not surprise me at all. Why did my own people not do likewise? Everything shows that we are not made of the same stuff. Thanks to your kind efforts, I have received all the back issues of the Journal de commerce to which you subscribed me. Our two letters must have crossed. I expect you received mine, in which I spoke of Mademoiselle [Carreau?]. I wrote to Coutard's son so that he might collect twelve francs from you [the word qualifying this instruction is unclear]. I embrace you with all my affection; send me news of yourself soon.

Address panel

Original transcript

Dpt. de la Seine
Monsieur -
Monsieur De [Boisrichard?] -
Rüe Neuve d'orleans Nº. 20 - près -
la porte St Denis
à paris.

Address panel

English translation

Department of the Seine
To Monsieur
Monsieur de [Boisrichard?]
20 Rue Neuve d'Orléans, near
the Porte Saint-Denis
in Paris.

Discovery Terms

Family correspondence
Bereavement
Periodicals

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