The Daughters of Fire

This 1854 collection of short stories includes the beautiful Sylvie, an influential work in which the author recalls the women he loved and the French countryside where he spent the innocent days of his youth, Jemmy, a kind of adventure story set in the American Midwest, Octavie, which tells of strange encounters in the area around Naples, Isis, reflections on the Egyptian religion, its practices, and its common points with Christianity, Émilie, a tragic tale from the French...
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This 1854 collection of short stories includes the beautiful Sylvie, an influential work in which the author recalls the women he loved and the French countryside where he spent the innocent days of his youth, Jemmy, a kind of adventure story set in the American Midwest, Octavie, which tells of strange encounters in the area around Naples, Isis, reflections on the Egyptian religion, its practices, and its common points with Christianity, Émilie, a tragic tale from the French Revolution, Angélique, the split narrative of an impetuous 17th noblewoman and a writer's struggle to find an elusive historical book and The Chimeras, a collection of poetry including the famous El Desdichado. The book begins with a dedication where the author, who had recently been institutionalized and would commit suicide the following year, gives a vivid description of his experience with madness. There is also an essay where the writer collects and examines French folk songs.