Showing posts with label Fréchette (Louis). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fréchette (Louis). Show all posts

21 August 2014

Maison natale de Louis Fréchette, Lévis, Québec

Louis Fréchette  (1839–1908) was born here, at 4385 rue St Laurent, Lévis, where he spent his first thirteen years. A leaflet published in 2001 when the house was opened to the public describes it as a marriage of the neo-classical style and the New England architecture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

'Louis Fréchette naquit à Lévis. Polémiste et écrivain, député de Lévis à la Chambre des communes en 1874 à 1878, il s'établit à Montréal en 1876. Ses recueils de poèmes, Fleurs boréales et Oiseaux de Neige en firent le premier lauréat canadien de l'Académie française. Sa Légende d'un Peuple le consacra poète national. Il y ajouta Feuilles volantes où son art est plus recueilli. Il fut Greffier du Conseil législatif de Québec de 1889 à son décès, à Montréal.

Born at Lévis, Fréchette was a noted polemicist and a poet of some renown. He entered federal politics in 1871 and represented Lévis in the House of Commons (1874–8). Among his significant literary works are Les Fleurs Boréales and Les Oiseaux de Neige, collections of poems which, in 1880, were awarded the Prix Montyron by the French Academy; his epic Légende d'un Peuple; Feuilles volantes which strikes a more personal note; and a collected edition of his poems published posthumously in 1908. From 1889 until his death he served as Clerk of the Quebec Legislative Council. He died in Montréal.'

The north elevation.

The east elevation, facing the Saint Lawrence river.


Inside the house, with a portrait of Fréchette as both a young and an older man. The house is now a cultural centre, with many concerts being performed here. We received a very warm welcome here, for which we are very grateful.

In the town of Lévis itself is La Fresque Desjardins de Lévis, in which the Maison Fréchette can be clearly seen.

And there is also a representation of a young Fréchette reading.

My earlier post of Fréchette's grave in Montréal is here.

11 August 2014

Louis Fréchette, Montréal, Québec


The poet and dramatist Louis Fréchette (1839–1908) was born in St-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-Lévy (the present-day Lévis) and died in Montréal. He claimed to have been a witness to the exhumation of the infamous 'La Corriveau' (Marie-Josephte Corriveau), who was hanged for the murder of her second husband in 1763 and posthumously exhibited in a cage, although Fréchette's presence there is dubious.

He was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery in Montréal, and the sonnet inscribed on his grave (the last one he wrote) expresses his lack of fear of death, the ephemeral nature of life, and his acceptance of the 'will of God'.

'LA MORT

MON DERNIER SONNET

POURQUOI CRAINDRE LA MORT, LA GRANDE INÉVITABLE?
QU'ELLE SOIT LE REPOS, QU'ELLE SOIT LE RÉVEIL,
POURQUOI DE CETTE AURORE OU DE CE DOUX SOMMEIL,
SE FAIRE SANS RAISON UN SPECTRE REDOUTABLE?

AUCUN FANTÔME N'EST EFFRAYANT AU SOLEIL ;
DE MÊME QU'ON ACCUEILLE UN AMI VÉRITABLE,
SI L'HÔTE AU FRONT PÂLI, PREND PLACE À NOTRE TABLE,
LEVONS EN SON HONNEUR LA COUPE AU JUS VERMEIL !

POUR MOI, JE ME CONFIE À LA JUSTICE IMMENSE ;
OR, TA JUSTICE À TOI, SEIGNEUR, C'EST LA CLÉMENCE !
AUSSI, PAR TA BONTÉ CÉLESTE RASSURE,

QUAND LA TERME VIENDRA DE MA COURSE ÉPHÉMÈRE,
JE PENCHERAI MA TÊTE, ET JE M'ENDORMIRAI
SANS PEUR, COMME UN ENFANT SUR LE SEIN DE SA MÈRE !'