She worked tirelessly in defence of votes for women after the end of the First World War and joined the Union Nationale pour le Vote des Femmes (Tr. National Union for Votes for Women). Adrienne wrote a biography of the feminist Juliette Adam, a French woman who was present at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28th June 1919.
In addition to poetry, fiction and prose,
Adrienne also wrote plays – both comedies and tragedies - and religious musical
works.
In around 1915, Adrienne married Julien Péridier, an electrical engineer and amateur astronomer who founded an observatory at Houga in the Midi-Pyrenees Departement of south west France in 1933 and has a crater on Mars named after him. The couple were married for fifty years until Adrienne’s death. They had no children.
War swept across the plain
Clad in scarlet, her hair aflame !…
The young men followed her every one
Leaving their girl friends all alone !…
War raced down the hillsides,
With feverish mouth and red eyes …
Heedless of the women who wept,
The men followed her every step.
Triumphant, insatiable, war
Runs thru' the fields and across the forest floor,
Her seductive voice exhorting the men
To join her in battle again and again.
Shivering, exhausted, out of breath,
Regardless of the smell of certain death,
They follow war, surrendering to her fatal powers,
Eager to pick her lips' toxic flowers!
Lucy London, 11th and 12th October 2015
Original:
La guerre a passé sur la plaine,
Avec sa robe rouge et ses cheveux épars !…
Les jeunes hommes l'ont suivie
Et les jeunes filles n'ont plus d'amoureux !…
La guerre a descendu le versant des collines,
La bouche fiévreuse et les yeux en feu…
Et sans voir les larmes des femmes,
Les hommes ont couru sur ses pas.
La guerre triomphante et jamais assouvie
Court sur nos champs et sur nos bois,
Et sa voix haletante appelle
Les jeunes hommes au combat.
Tremblants, éperdus, hors d'haleine,
Ils vont, abandonnés à son pouvoir fatal ;
Ils veulent cueillir la fleur de ses lèvres
Dont le parfum donne la mort !
In around 1915, Adrienne married Julien Péridier, an electrical engineer and amateur astronomer who founded an observatory at Houga in the Midi-Pyrenees Departement of south west France in 1933 and has a crater on Mars named after him. The couple were married for fifty years until Adrienne’s death. They had no children.
Adrienne was awarded the French title Chevalier of the
Legion d’Honneur. She died on 6th August 1965 at Houga, Gers. and is buried in
the Cemetery at Houga.
With many thanks to Phil Dawes whose patient research is a great help - for finding the photograph of Adrienne Blanc-Péridier
Here is a translation of one of Adrienne Blanc-Peridier's poem from her collection "Le Cantique de la Patrie, 1917" published by TYF, Flou-Nourrit & Cie., Paris, 1918, pp. 23 - 24.With many thanks to Phil Dawes whose patient research is a great help - for finding the photograph of Adrienne Blanc-Péridier
War swept across the plain
Clad in scarlet, her hair aflame !…
The young men followed her every one
Leaving their girl friends all alone !…
War raced down the hillsides,
With feverish mouth and red eyes …
Heedless of the women who wept,
The men followed her every step.
Triumphant, insatiable, war
Runs thru' the fields and across the forest floor,
Her seductive voice exhorting the men
To join her in battle again and again.
Shivering, exhausted, out of breath,
Regardless of the smell of certain death,
They follow war, surrendering to her fatal powers,
Eager to pick her lips' toxic flowers!
Lucy London, 11th and 12th October 2015
Original:
La guerre a passé sur la plaine,
Avec sa robe rouge et ses cheveux épars !…
Les jeunes hommes l'ont suivie
Et les jeunes filles n'ont plus d'amoureux !…
La guerre a descendu le versant des collines,
La bouche fiévreuse et les yeux en feu…
Et sans voir les larmes des femmes,
Les hommes ont couru sur ses pas.
La guerre triomphante et jamais assouvie
Court sur nos champs et sur nos bois,
Et sa voix haletante appelle
Les jeunes hommes au combat.
Tremblants, éperdus, hors d'haleine,
Ils vont, abandonnés à son pouvoir fatal ;
Ils veulent cueillir la fleur de ses lèvres
Dont le parfum donne la mort !
Sources:
