From that night my nature seemed to have become halved -- and there were two men within me, neither of whom knew the other. At one moment I believed myself a priest who dreamed nightly that he was a gentleman -- at another, that I was a gentleman who dreamed he was a priest. I could no longer distinguish the dream from the reality, nor could I discover where the reality began or where ended the dream! By day he was a priest of the Lord, occupied with prayer and sacred things . . . by night, a young nobleman, a fine connoisseur of women, dogs, and horses -- gambling, drinking, and blaspheming! "Never gaze upon a woman! Walk abroad with eyes ever fixed upon the ground," says the priest, "for however chaste and watchful one may be, the error of a single moment is enough to make one lose eternity!"

Author: Theophile Gautier
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Aegypan
Published: 06/01/2011
Pages: 78
Weight: 0.63lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.31d
ISBN: 9781463897277

About the Author
Gautier, Theophile: - "Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as Parnassianism, Symbolism, Decadence and Modernism. Early in his life, Gautier befriended Gérard de Nerval, who influenced him greatly in his earlier poetry and also through whom he was introduced to Victor Hugo. He shared in Hugo's dissatisfaction with the theatrical outputs of the time and the use of the word tragedy. Gautier admired Honoré de Balzac for his contributions to the development of French literature. Gautier was influenced greatly by his friends as well, paying tribute to them in his writings. In fact, he dedicated his collection of Dernières Poésies to his many friends, including Hérbert, Madame de la Grangerie, Maxime Du Camp and Princess Mathilde Bonaparte."