Gérard de Nerval

Dieu est mort!

[ Explaining why he walked a lobster on a leash in the gardens of the Palais Royal :] I have a liking for lobsters. They are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the sea, they don’t bark, and they don’t gnaw upon one’s monadic privacy like dogs do.

Je suis le ténébreux,—le veuf,—Vincoonsolé,

I am the somber one, the unconsoled widower, The Prince of Aquitaine whose tower was destroyed. 2 My only star is dead, and my star-studded lute Wears the black sun of Melancholy.