ABSTRACT
The average French reader knows Andre Hardellet, if at all, only as the poet who wrote the lyrics for "Le Bal chez Temporel", a song composed by Guy Beait in late 1950s and first sung by the unforgettable Patachou at the Olympia Theater in Paris. All his writings, whether overtly or discreetly autobiographical, are written straight from the heart, from a feeling of irreparable loss, and at the same time with an eye trained on occult mysteries transcending his own existence. The area around the former Halles was Hardellet's favorite haunt; he lived on the nearby rue Beaubourg from 1918 until death. Yet Hardellet instructs his readers on the art of being attentive, wherever they are. Passages also compare Hardellet's views on time, mind and matter to those of physicists such as Erwin Schrodinger. Darol's spirited advocacy of Hardellet's vision is challenging and closely argued, reminding one that similar essays about neglected figures in modern French literature are sorely needed.
