L'AUTOMNE. November, 1819; from les Méditations poétiques.
61. 9. PEUT ÊTRE L'AVENIR, etc.; "allusion à l'attachement sérieux que le poète avait conçu pour une jeune Anglaise qui fut depuis la compagne de sa vie." (Commentaire de l'auteur.) LE SOIR. Spring of 1819; from les Méditations poétiques.
63. LE VALLON. Summer of 1819; from les Méditations poétiques. "Ce vallon est situé dans les montagnes du Dauphiné." (Commentaire de l'auteur.)
65 9. PYTHAGORE; Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher of the sixth century B.C., who is said to have taught the doctrine that the "organization of the universe is an harmonious system of numerical ratios." L'ISOLEMENT. September, 1818; from
les Méditations poétiques. Reyssié in the work above cited gives interesting variants for this poem.
67 LE CRUCIFIX. 1818? From les Nouvelles Méditations. "Mon ami M. de V(irieu), qui assistait aux derniers moments de Julie, me rapporta, de sa part, le crucifix qui avait reposé sur ses lèvres dans son agonie … J'écrivis, après une année de silence et de deuil, cette élégie." (Commentaire de l'auteur.) Compare with this note the eleventh stanza of the poem, which points back to the time of the Graziella affair. See below.
70. ADIEU A GRAZIELLA. From les Nouvelles Méditations. Graziella, whose heart Lamartine won during his visit to Naples in the winter of 1811-12 and whom he abandoned, was the daughter of a Neapolitan fisherman. She died soon afterward. Later the poet idealized her and his relation to her and immortalized her memory in his works. Cf. le Premier regret below.
71. LES PRÉLUDES. 1822; from les Nouvelles Méditations. This poem, addressed to Victor Hugo, consists of several divisions, in different meters, only the last of which is here given. It inspired the symphonic poem of Liszt by the same name.
73. HYMNE DE L'ENFANT À SON RÉVEIL. From les Harmonies poétiques et religieuses.
76. LE PREMIER REGRET. From les Harmonies poétiques et religieuses. It was inspired by the memory of Graziella. 7. MER DE SORRENTO, bay of Naples; Sorrento is a small town on the bay, south-east of Naples.