
Henri Deberly
L’ARC-EN-CIEL
PARVA DOMUS
LA SERVANTE
CANICULE
INVOCATION
RÊVERIE SOUS LA TONNELLE
SOIR
LA FONTAINE D’ALNY
JADIS
In a secluded Parisian garden, a timeless house watches over a hundred years of lives. The narrator drifts through sun‑lit rooms, a bench by the door, a slow‑playing viola that carries the sigh of the wind. Listeners are welcomed to the simple hospitality of a table set, a drink poured, and the hum of bees on summer days.
Alongside the house, a devoted servant speaks of escaping the restless city for a calmer love, while the heat of summer settles over stone and water. Poetic images of buzzing insects, a glistening stream like a ribbon of light, and a hammock that sways with a weary body create a vivid tableau. An invocation to courage, to mythic voices and to the scent of wine fills the air, inviting contemplation.
The work unfolds as a series of reveries—glimpses of a fountain reflecting a child's pure face, the rustle of leaves, the distant howl of night. It balances tenderness and melancholy, drawing the listener into a world where nature, memory, and desire intertwine. Through lyrical prose, each moment feels both intimate and universal.
Language
fr
Duration
~24 minutes (23K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Laurent Vogel (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica))
Release date
2021-12-20
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1882–1947
A French novelist and journalist remembered for clear-eyed psychological fiction, he won the Prix Goncourt in 1926 for Le Supplice de Phèdre. His work often explored love, marriage, and social ambition with a sharp but readable style.
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