Portrait of Joachim Du Bellay
Amazing! The coffin of the poet Joachim Du Bellay was identified in the archaeological excavations carried out under the cathedral, the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) announced on September 17. It is one of the two lead-lined coffins found in April 2022 under the crossing of the transept.
Photo of the crossing of the transept of Notre-Dame de Paris. On the left, we can see the sarcophagus identified as that of Joachim Du Bellay. © Denis Gliksman/Inrap
Excavation of the sarcophagus of Joachim Du Bellay at the Toulouse University Hospital. © Denis Gliksman, Inrap
For the record, he is the author of the most famous sonnet in French literature included in Les Regrets, a collection of poems written during his trip to Rome from 1553 to 1556. Here it is:
“Happy is he who, like Ulysses, has made a beautiful journey,
Or like the one who conquered the fleece,
And then returned, full of use and reason,
Live with your parents for the rest of your life!
When will I see again, alas, my little village
Smoking the chimney, and in what season,
Will I see the enclosure of my poor house again,
Which is a province to me, and much more?
I like the place my ancestors built more,
That the bold brow of Roman palaces,
More than hard marble I like fine slate,
More my Gallic Loire than the Latin Tiber,
More my little Liré, than the Palatine Hill,
And more than the sea air, the sweetness of Anjou.
Text: Axel G.
23.09.24
