Spiritism

It is true, then! his cherished shade Comes to sustain, to encourage my songs, And to fill with pleasure beyond measure The happy wave of my many dreams.

Like a light reflected in my soul, From his Spirit rays of laughter Fill my days with shining calm, Fill my nights with enchanted dreams.

Then from the heavens I invoke the ages, His pure breath brings me a remembrance, And of the present the cloudiness It dispels before a future of hope.

“Child – he says – leaving the earth, “Days of old you shall find anew;

“At your side, he who was your father, loving you, “In hearts, eternal loves.”

Marie-Caroline Quillet.

Member of the Society of Writers.

Mrs. Quillet, author of the Eglantine solitaire — Google Books, has just published a charming little book under the title of Une heure de poésie, [1] which will be appreciated by all lovers of good verse. The work being foreign to the Spiritist Doctrine, though not at all contrary to it, its appreciation escapes the specialty of our Review. We will limit ourselves to saying that the author proves one thing: one can have wit and believe in Spirits, contrary to the opinion of some of her colleagues in literature. Mrs. Quillet writes to us as follows, concerning one of the communications of Mrs. Foulon, published in the March issue. “Mrs. Foulon imagines that men would not understand the poetry of Spiritism. She must be right from her luminous point of view. Without doubt the poets feel their wings weighed down by the shadows of our atmosphere. But the instinct, the second sight with which they are endowed, come to aid their intelligence. I believe that each one is called, according to his aptitudes, to the great work of terrestrial renewal: the poets, the philosophers, by inspiration of the Spirits; the martyrs, the laborers, by the genius of the philosophers and by the song of the poets. It is true that these songs are no more than a sigh; but in the exile of sighs they form the basis and the complement of the concert.” In support of these words she adds the following stanzas: To the poets.

Awaken, you apostles and poets;

To the predictions of the time give ear.

The air is full of the breath of the prophets, And the hosanna then resounds in the winds.

There are on Sinai clouds without brightness;

Etna roaring at the horror of the bonfires;

But the Eternal drives away the tempests, And over the earth fills the heavens with light.

For of the parable the truth shines forth;

Its pure radiance touching our brow, Of a new day its gleam reveals, And whose rays are a fount for faith.

Faith, love, the true sun of souls Lends to the most obscure ones its brightness;

And from its disk it nourishes the palms, For labor and for charity.

Come, all of you, martyrs, to the songs;

Open your voice to foreign fighters.

To all the winds, in the high recesses, Plant the humble cross of sorrows of Christ.

Mrs. Quillet is right when she says that each one is called to contribute to the work of terrestrial renewal. No one contests the influence of poetry, but she is mistaken as to the thought of Mrs. Foulon, when the latter says: “Enthusiasm has invaded my soul and I hope it is not too late to entertain you with serious Spiritism, and not with poetic Spiritism, which is not good for men. They would not understand it.” The Spirit does not mean by poetic Spiritism the Spiritist ideas translated by poetry, but ideal Spiritism, the product of an enthusiastic imagination; and by serious Spiritism, scientific Spiritism, supported upon facts and upon logic, which better suits the positive nature of the men of our epoch, which constitutes the object of our studies. [1]

One vol. in-18. Price: 3 fr. Delahais Bookshop, in Pont-l'Éveque. [Une heure de poésie, par Mme Marie-Caroline Quillet,… — Google Books.]