" Les Hamadryades "

Autograph manuscript signed by Pierre Louÿs, entitled "Les Hamadryades" composed of sonnets on three sheets pasted onto more rigid leaves.
The first two sonnets are written in blue ink, the third in black ink.
This poem was published in September 1896 in Volume II of the famous symbolist review "Le Centaure" to which notably contributed André Gide, Paul Valéry, Henri de Régnier, Jean de Tinan and Pierre Louÿs.
"Elles marchent dans l'herbe et boivent aux ruisseaux
Celles q'un destin clair fit nymphes des prairies.
D'autres, essaim lucide, âmes des eaux fleuries
Nagent sous nos cent bras, croisés en noirs arceaux...
...
Maîtres des foudres, Dzeus sauveur, le verrons nous
Frapper l'arbre mortel qui ferme nos genoux
Et livrer la terre ivre à nos jambes écloses ?
Connaîtrons-nous les grands horizons nébuleux,
L'eau du fleuve, le lac de lumière, les roses
Et l'humide sommeil, les champs profonds et bleus..."

A fine poem by Pierre Louÿs, one of the two, with Byblis, that was published in the luxurious and ephemeral review "Le Centaure".