#nelligan

[detournementsmineurs]

Kate Nelligan dans “Dracula 79” de John Badham (1979) - d'après la pièce éponyme de Hamilton Deane et John L. Balderston (1924), elle-même librement inspirée du roman “Dracula” de Bram Stoker (1897) - décembre 2020.

[paulrevereofficial]

Had to do it

[dark-academics]

Have I ever told you about this French Canadian poet who wanted to escape to Paris using a flying boat to write and to live from his poetry but instead died in madness after being sent to an asylum at the age of 19? His name was Émile Nelligan and although he is considered one of the Cursed Poets (amongst the likes of Rimbaud and Keats) he is almost completely unknown today.

Interesting and heartbreaking fact about: he was so enamoured with poetry that his father used to cut the heating in his room until his fingers were too frozen to write

His father tried to ship him to England to "man-up" (his dad was British which he was ashamed of because of the political climate in Canada at the time) which proved to be amazingly useless because the moment he saw the shores of Liverpool he jumped right back into the next ship to Montréal out of spite

He was apparently super shy and charismatic, he would write poetry to his friends, sisters and above all his mother which he absolutely loved

My favourite story of his: he failed school twice before complety dropping out because he kept failing French which was the language that he spoke

After dropping out of school he joined a group of young poets and started receiving praise for his poetry at only 17. Louis Dantin, a close friend of his (who was also rumored to be his lover but this was never proven) wrote that he would captivate everyone's attention the moment he walked into a room. From his wild hair to his contaminating eagerness, Dantin often claimed that Nelligan was unlike any other at the time. He was 18 when he read La Romance du Vin for the first time at La Nuit de la Poésie: "...music, music and nothing else!" Indeed, he was a true Chopin fanboy and would try to capture his music in his verses. Unfortunately, he did not get to enjoy his newfound fame for very long as symptoms of his mental illness were already starting to make themselves known. Over time, they became increasingly impossible to ignore. It is said that he fell asleep on the steps of a church during a snowstorm before being institutionalized, seeking help from the "monsters" in his mind. Of that, he would infamously say:

"I shall die mad, like Beaudelaire!"

[thirtytwoelvismovies]

Linked here is a TV spot advertising the 1990 opera Nelligan, by André Gagnon and Michel Tremblay, romanticizing the short life of 19th century Québecois poet Emile Nelligan.

I’m not sure if this is promoting its original broadcast, but I first saw it on January 30, 1994 — I only remember the date because it was Superbowl Sunday and we had dinner at my aunt’s house.

In the first month of 1994, I’m eight months away from starting high school, working a paper route for the Daily Press, and consuming lots of comics books and even more books. Seeing this opera had a profound effect on me — now, faithful readers might sigh and say “dude, everything on this blog had a profound effect on you!” Kinda true, but the discovery of Emile Nelligan really really did have a profound effect on me. Earlier that year I’d really gotten into Anne Rice, which led down the rabbit hole of other discoveries: Le Fanu, Mary Shelley, Lovecraft, and most importantly, Poe.

Poe makes the greatest impression. So earlier that week, when I see the commercial for the opera, I ask my mom who Nelligan was, who answers: “Il était un poete très macabre, comme Edgar Allan Poe.” (“He was a macabre poet, like Edgar Allan Poe.”)

I’m instantly hooked. A fellow French Canadian? He’s a poet like Poe? He was sent to an asylum when he was 19? ...What? He spent the rest of his life there? ...What?

He’s been there with me since I was 13.

[anditendshowyoudexpect]

if/when i’m finally in Paris, i'm going to walk its streets yelling this song about the poor Canadian schizophrenic boy poet who imagined himself as the flying canoe in Paris hanging with the poetes maudits. Baudelaire a tué son sourire.  it's not as crazy as it sounds, not really.

[clochardscelestes]

Leurs yeux se sont éteints dans la dernière Nuit ; Ils ont voulu la vie, ils ont cherché le Rêve Pour leurs cœurs blasphémants d'où l'espoir toujours fuit. Ils n'ont jamais trouvé la vraie et bonne sève. En vain ont-ils tué l'âme dans la débauche, Il reste encore, effroi ! les tourments du Remords. L'Ange blême se dresse et se place à leur gauche, Leur déchire le cœur râlant jusqu'à la Mort.

Émile Nelligan - Cœurs Blasés.

[detournementsmineurs]

Kate Nelligan et Frank Langella dans “Dracula 79” de John Badham (1979) - d'après la pièce éponyme de Hamilton Deane et John L. Balderston (1924), elle-même librement inspirée du roman “Dracula” de Bram Stoker (1897) - décembre 2020.

[detournementsmineurs]

Frank Langella et Kate Nelligan dans “Dracula 79” de John Badham (1979) - d'après la pièce éponyme de Hamilton Deane et John L. Balderston (1924), elle-même librement inspirée du roman “Dracula” de Bram Stoker (1897) - décembre 2020.