Cigale MTIL

Title

Cigale MTIL

Description

2005? Set of 6 photographic postcards by Éditeur M.T.I.L (Maurice Tesson Imprimeur à Limoges) presenting "The Cicada in Winter," based at least loosely on La Fontaine's "Cicada and Ant." "S. 73." Each card has a rhyming couplet. All addressed to the same party in Hérault, France. Several are apparently postmarked "February 23, 1905." $25 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.A rough translation of the poem follows:

The snowflakes have already covered the valleys.

Poor grasshopper shivers half naked in the street.

"Little friends, it’s the grasshopper that, rich in poverty, serenades you.

Just like me, gentle finches, you have lost your songs.

Who cares about tomorrow? Today, share my bread.

So that we can always sing summer and the beautiful days."



This highly sentimental presentation seems to presuppose La Fontaine's cicada, rejected in winter. She carries not the usual guitar but rather an accordion. The quality of the photography is not high. The poem presents one answer to the issue raised in La Fontaine's fable: "Who cares about the severity of winter. Live for the beauty of summer!" The human cicada seems to be a brooding and melancholic figure rather than a celebrator of life!

Date

2005?

Source

$25 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.A rough translation of the poem follows:

Subject

Cards See all items with this value

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The Grasshopper and the Ant See all items with this value