SOURCE: "Ironic Equilibrium," in Jules Laforgue and the Ironic Inheritance, Oxford University Press, Inc., 1953, pp. 133-69.

In addition to Laforgue, Ramsey has written about such French poets as Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Valéry, Leon-Paul Fargue, Guillaume Apollinaire, and Jules Supervielle. In the following excerpt, he assesses the relative merits of the stories in Moral Tales.

Among the unpublished papers of Laforgue is the following note, inspired no doubt by his own and his brother's art studies: 'In the great glassed-in hall of ancient art, especially about midday, when he was alone sketching among the white and calm statues. The room was deserted. It was the great silence of noon. There were echoes of footsteps on the tiles as the pupils of the school went to lunch—But he stayed on, forgetting his hunger—A nearby bell (St.-Sulpice or St.-Germain-des-Prés) tolled, adding a further note...