From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: Five unequal stanzas, with a single solitary final line. 135 lines in all, not always following the same rhythmical scheme.
First appeared in "La Psyché," March, 1826.
As "L'Enfant Malade," it occupied pages 22 to 32 of the MS. "Préludes Poétiques," forming the second piece. It is there dedicated to Mme. Desbordes-Valmore, and bears this epigraph, a portion of one of that poetess's pieces :—
"Mère! . . . petite mère! il m'appelait ainsi,
Et moi, je tressaillais à cet accent si tendre,
Tout mon être agité s'éveillant pour l'entendre,
Je ne l'entendrai plus! . . . II ne dort plus ici."
M. Glinel, in his MS. collection, records twenty-five variants between the above two texts.
He has reprinted that of "La Psyché" in his "Alexandre Dumas et Son Œuvre," pp. 157 to 161.
The epigraph mentioned above does not appear in either of the printed texts.
It was also included in the "Almanach Dédié aux Demoiselles " for 1828. M. Glinel does not record this.
