Cimetière de Passy #7: Renée Vivien

'ICI REPOSE

LA GRANDE POÉTESSE

RENÉE VIVIEN

PAULINE MARY TARN

Décédée

LE 18 NOVEMBRE

1909

ÉPITAPHE

Voici la porte d'où je sors...

Ô mes roses et mes épines!

Qu'importe l'autrefois? Je dors

En songeant des choses divines...

Voici donc mon âme ravie,

Car elle s'apaise et s'endort

Ayant pour l'amour de la Mort,

Pardonné ce crime: la Vie!

Renée Vivien'

Renée Vivien (1877–1909), née Pauline Mary Tarn in London, was the daughter of an American woman and a wealthy British man who died in 1886, leaving her far from need. Vivien travelled a great deal and had a stormy relationship with Natalie Barney, who is also buried in Passy, and whom I mentioned here.

Below is a link to an earlier post I made on graves in Passy:

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Passy graves

Natalie Barney in the Cimetière de Passy, 16th arrondissement

 

'NATALIE CLIFFORD BARNEY
ÉCRIVAIN
1876 – 1972
ELLE FUT L'AMAZONE DE REMY DE GOURMONT

JE SUIS CET ÊTRE LÉGENDAIRE

OÙ JE REVIS N.C.B.

ET SA SOEUR

LAURA CLIFFORD BARNEY
OFFICIER DE LA LÉGION D'HONNEUR
1879 – 1974
VEUVE D'HIPPOLYTE DREYFUS
MEMBRE
DE
LA COMMUNAUTÉ BAHA'IE'

In L'imaginaire du féminin dans l'oeuvre de Renée Vivien (2004), Marie-Ange Bartholomot Bessou writes that Jean Chalon says Barney was, in the final years of her life, particularly concerned with the choice of her epitaph, that it should be worthy of her perceived legend. Remy de Gourmont certainly did call her 'The Amazon', and Gourmont published his creative letters of their conversations in Mercure de France, later to be incorporated into the book Lettres à l'Amazone (1917). But 'I am this legendary being in which I live again'? That's strong stuff.

I spent some time looking for Renée Vivien's tomb in the Cimetière de Passy, and now realize that I was ignoring the absolutely obvious. A further search shall be for later this year, and with it must come a proper look into Bartholomot Bessou's work on Renée Vivien. This is really very interesting.

Laura Clifford Barney looks interesting too, but that's another story.