A child prodigy of Romanticism at twenty, he left a theatre written with no thought for the stage — “Lorenzaccio”, “On ne badine pas avec l'amour” — which the stage never again let go. Six lines in his hand call for a willow, replanted several times. On the back, two words: “Rappelle-toi” — remember.
The story
Alfred de Musset was born in Paris on 11 December 1810. At nineteen he published the “Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie” and became at once the prodigy of Romanticism, admired and envied in equal measure.
His affair with George Sand, begun in 1833, came apart in Venice the year after. Each of them got a book out of it: his “Confession of a Child of the Century” in 1836, hers “Elle et lui” twenty-three years later.
His plays are what lasted best. “Lorenzaccio”, “No Trifling with Love”, “The Follies of Marianne”: written with no thought for the stage, and never off it since.
Elected to the Académie française in 1852, he spent his last years ill and withdrawn, between drink and a reputation that arrived everywhere before he did. He died on 2 May 1857, at forty-six.
He had written six lines for his own grave, and there they are, cut in the stone: “Mes chers amis, quand je mourrai, plantez un saule au cimetière” — my dear friends, when I die, plant a willow in the graveyard. The willow was planted, then planted again — the tree does not take easily in Division 4, and the gardeners of Père-Lachaise keep at it, a century and a half on.
The grave
A bust of white marble signed Jean-Auguste Barré and dated 1858, on a monument inscribed on two faces. The front bears six lines by the poet, which make this the only grave in the cemetery whose upkeep is prescribed by a poem: “My dear friends, when I die, plant a willow in the cemetery. I love its weeping foliage, its pallor is sweet and dear to me, and its shade will lie light on the earth where I shall sleep.” The willow was planted, and replanted several times — it takes badly in this spot. The back bears only two words: “Rappelle-toi” — remember.
On site, do not miss
The six lines on the front face, then go round behind the monument: “Rappelle-toi”, and nothing else.
Visitors' questions
Where is Alfred de Musset's grave?
In Division 4, Avenue Principale, first row, a few minutes from the Boulevard de Ménilmontant entrance — the same alley as Colette, Félix Faure and Thomas Couture. A willow tree marks the spot.
ColetteWhich verses are engraved on his grave?
Six lines of his own: “Mes chers amis, quand je mourrai, plantez un saule au cimetière. J'aime son feuillage éploré, la pâleur m'en est douce et chère, et son ombre sera légère à la terre où je dormirai.” — my dear friends, when I die, plant a willow in the cemetery; I love its weeping foliage, its paleness is sweet and dear to me, and its shade will lie light upon the earth where I shall sleep.
Roger de BeauvoirDoes Musset's willow still exist?
It was planted in keeping with his verses, then replanted several times: the tree struggles to take at that spot in Division 4. The cemetery has been at it for a century and a half, which makes this the only grave whose upkeep is dictated by a poem.
Alphonse DaudetWhat is written on the back of the monument?
Just two words: “Rappelle-toi” — remember — the title of one of his poems. The front bears the six lines about the willow; the white marble bust that crowns the monument is by Jean-Auguste Barré and dates from 1858.
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