
In this candid memoir, a once‑renowned poet recounts the darkest chapters of his intellectual life. Raised without religious guidance, he embraced militant atheism and even allied himself with those who sought to undermine the Church. His prose, sharp and lyrical, reveals a mind tormented by doubt and a relentless search for meaning.
The turning point arrives when a personal crisis drives him to the doorstep of a humble priest, whose simple act of forgiveness ignites a flicker of hope. From there, the poet begins a painful pilgrimage from despair toward a tentative, trembling faith, describing each night’s inner battle between darkness and a nascent light. Readers are drawn into his raw, heartfelt confession, feeling the weight of his struggle and the fragile emergence of grace.
Language
fr
Duration
~3 hours (226K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
France: A. Messein, 1907.
Credits
Laurent Vogel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica))
Release date
2023-03-13
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1863–1930
A French poet, novelist, and critic who moved through Symbolism, anarchist circles, and later Catholic writing, leaving behind a life story almost as dramatic as his books. His work traces a restless, searching mind shaped by the literary and political debates of late 19th- and early 20th-century France.
View all books
by Adolphe Retté

by Adolphe Retté

by Adolphe Retté

by Adolphe Retté
by Adolphe Retté

by Adolphe Retté

by Adolphe Retté
by Adolphe Retté