French Line Vautrin Bronze Poem Box with Sonnet by Felix Arvers

Description

A wonderful jewelry box in gilt cast bronze by Parisian art jeweler Line Vautrin (1913-1997). From a small special series, … more A wonderful jewelry box in gilt cast bronze by Parisian art jeweler Line Vautrin (1913-1997). From a small special series, the designer created circa 1945-55. on which some French poems were cast in relief on the cover. This box features a well-known love poem "Sonnet" by Félix Arvers (1806 – 1850), widely considered as one of the most romantic French poems written about unrequited love and longing. Three out of four passages are shown on the lid except the third one. The box is lined with cork. There is a line on the back from casting, commonly seen in the boxes of the series.
Mon âme a son secret, ma vie a son mystère,
Un amour éternel en un moment conçu
Le mal est sans espoir, aussi j'ai dû le taire,
Et celle qui l'a fait n'en a jamais rien su.

Hélas ! j'aurai passé près d'elle inaperçu,
Toujours à ses côtés, et pourtant solitaire.
Et j'aurai jusqu'au bout fait mon temps sur la terre,
N'osant rien demander et n'ayant rien reçu.

Pour elle, quoique Dieu l'ait faite douce et tendre,
Elle suit son chemin, distraite et sans entendre
Ce murmure d'amour élevé sur ses pas.

À l'austère devoir, pieusement fidèle,
Elle dira, lisant ces vers tout remplis d'elle
" Quelle est donc cette femme ? " et ne comprendra pas.

A secret fills my soul, and a mystery fills my life,
An eternal love conceived in an instant.
As the scourge was hopeless, it remained wordless,
And the one responsible was unaware of it.

Alas! I lived close to her but without notice,
Always by her side yet so lonely.
And I shall have lived my days on this Earth,
Not daring to ask for anything, obtaining nothing.

Even though God made her gentle and tender,
She goes her way, careless and oblivious
To the sough of love rising as she walks on.

Devoutly faithful to her respectability,
If she ever reads these lines so full of her, she will say
"But who is this woman?" and will never understand.

Reference: For the same box illustrate Line Vautrin Poesie in Metal Exposition du Musee d'Art et de Joaillerie, Hambourg, pg.85. less