Two autograph quatrains from his youth dated and signed with sixteen and twelve stanzas in alexandrines by Abel Gance, then aged 20, 18 and 14 lines written in black ink with additions in purple ink for the first poem and in purple ink for the second; these poems written on a sheet torn from a school exercise book.
On the recto, the first poem is dated May 1909 and is dedicated in purple ink: "A ma chère Line adorée. Mai 1909. AGance".
The second, on the verso, is dated Bruxelles 9 Janvier 1909 AGance.
Fold marks inherent to postal mailing, corrections and additions in purple ink or pencil for the first quatrain.
This melancholic poem was probably published in 1909 in his only and very rare collection of poems: "Un doigt sur le clavier" when Abel Gance was considering beginning a career in theatre in Brussels.
"J'aurais voulu ce soir tant mon âme défaille
Broyer jusqu'à la mort des oeillets et des lys.
J'aurais voulu crier, pleurer comme jadis
Te souviens-tu, lointaine, avant que tu t'en ailles...
...
Si je pouvais pleurer ma douleur serait belle !
Peut-être aurais-je pu vous l'immortaliser ! ...
Mais ma pensée obscure interdite chancelle
Non, non, on ne peut pas rappeler son baiser..."
The second, which has a correction in blue ink, is equally imbued with melancholy:
"C'était une femme étrange
Qui passait en noir sur mon chemin clair,
je lui demandais : n'êtes-vous pas l'ange
Que je dois trouver par un soir d'hiver?...
Je suis, comprends-tu, belle qui vendange
les coeurs qui ont pris le chemin de l'enfer !...
C'était une fois une femme étrange
Qui passait en noir sur mon chemin clair..."
Influenced by John Keats, Charles Baudelaire, and Arthur Rimbaud, Abel Gance, then in Brussels to pursue a career in theatre, stopped his poetic activity judging his production too impersonal and returned despondent to Paris.