Short stories
Daughters of Fire
Les Filles du feu
Gérard de Nerval · 1854
Opening lines
En 1851, je passais à Francfort.
In 1851 I was passing through Frankfurt.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from fr.wikisource.org
Synopsis
The volume brings together seven tales and twelve sonnets. In the most famous, Sylvie, a young man in love with an actress, Aurélie, whom he admires at the theatre, suddenly remembers his childhood in the Valois: a village festival where he danced with Sylvie, his childhood friend, and where he was dazzled by a young noblewoman, Adrienne. Between memory, dream and the present, the three female figures end up merging in his memory.
Context
The collection appeared in January 1854, dedicated to Alexandre Dumas. Its author gathered in it seven stories, Angélique, Sylvie, Jemmy, Octavie, Isis, Corilla and Émilie, some of which had appeared in journals, such as Sylvie, published in 1853 in the Revue des Deux Mondes. He followed them with twelve sonnets gathered under the title Les Chimères. Sylvie draws heavily on the author's childhood in the Valois and constantly mingles dream, memory and reality.
Who it is for
A composite volume, to be read in order at least the first time; the closing sonnets are read for their music.
Prizes and reception
A first English translation, partial, by James Whitall, appeared as early as 1922 under the title Daughters of Fire.
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