Henri de Régnier, poet and writer in Venice (1864 - 1936)

Henri de Régnier Henri de Régnier, poet and writer, wrote some beautiful texts about Venice.

His Venetian Sketches, Altana or Venetian Life, like his Venetian Tales, are an intimate immersion in the real Venice, the Venice of the heart and of poets.

Henri de Régnier's favourite place in Venice was the Altana of Ca' Dario in the Dorsoduro.

He left us some beautiful poems about Venice.

Henri de Régnier's friends called him "Stick" because he always walked around with a cane with a knob, looking very distinguished and almost distant.

As he himself said, he did not seek to make friends in Venice, where he lived a solitary life, far from people but so close to Venice.

Commemorative plaque on the wall of the garden of Palazzo Dario, on Campiello Barbaro, honouring Henri de Régnier, in the District of Dorsoduro in Venice

Commemorative plaque to Henri de Régnier This seemingly cold and distant man was in fact a very sensitive and very human person.

His view of Venice is one of the most beautiful we have ever read.

It's a shame that most of his texts are no longer available in bookshops...

Fortunately, you can still find his book “Récits vénitiens” (Venetian Tales), which was recently republished.

It is a very intimate book about Venice and is a must-read for anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the city body and soul!

Frontispiece

“On the green, blue or grey water
Of the canals and the canal,
We ran through Venice
From St. Mark's to the Arsenal.

In the brisk wind of the lagoon,
Which blows as it pleases,
I saw your Fortune turn,
O Dogana di Mare!

Breath of the Adriatic,
Gentle breeze or sirocco,
So be it, if your finger points me
Fusine or Malamocco!

The gondola rocks us
Under the felze, and, with its hand,
The iron cuts the silence
That slept in the sea air.

The sun warms the slabs
On the Quay of the Esclavons;
Your twists and turns,
Venice, we know them well!

The water glistens; the marble chips;
The oars echo,
As we pass in the cool shade
Of the Rezzonico Palace.”
Henri de Régnier

Venetian epigram

“A sad and treacherous wind, O Venice, has blown
On the pale rouge of your cheek,
And Fortune has turned her wheel more than once
With her winged foot.

You who once saw, like a noisy swarm
Emerging from your warlike hives,
The golden lanterns of your galleys
Returning from the East to your rich beauty!

One day, did you not, in a brocade dress,
Dazzling those who saw you,
Sitting in your pride and offering them their share,
At your feast, your face bare?

Then, under the black mask whose nocturnal attire
Seemed to disguise your grace,
Did you not invite Pleasure and Love
To drink from your iridescent cup?

A boat laden with fruit crosses the canal
A slow, closed gondola;
A black cypress in the garden of the Hospital
Rises above the pink wall;

An old palace smiles at the corner of a campo
From its faded façade,
Behind an ochre-yellow blind, a piano
Mangles a tune from “Haidée”;

On the lagoon, a Chioggia boat
Spreads its red sail at an angle
Waiting for the subtle, gentle wind that will
Rise from the Adriatic,

And, Mistress of the seas, I evoke a distant time,
Venice, where, Queen of the shores,
You crowned with a golden conch shell the seafaring brow
Of your harsh-faced Doges!”
Henri de Régnier