Stanzas for Bunchtnibuls
Moschant rather than Abert who signs martingale,
If I must talk about you I would prefer Sarah
Or Madame Mendès, Madame de Noailles
Et cetera.
What do you say about Reboux, Montesquiou, France,
Capus, Léon Daudet;
D'Humières perhaps lacks assurance,
But Bernstein, Porto-Riche, Donnay?
What do you say about Maeterlinck or Risler,
The latter perhaps too stammering,
About Reszké, Robert de Flers,
Léon Blum, Fernand Gregh?
What do I say, about René Peter.
If you don't want a pony
Who splutters and kicks
He will take a little money in his thick mane
And putting on a little cap
To applaud you (because he knows you)
For the theatre to which in any case he subscribes
He will venture out onto the street.
And will meet you afterwards at Larue's.
Signed Jules Laforgue.1
1. Jules Laforgue (1860-1887), French-Uruguayan Symbolist poet.