9 – The Forest in Nivernais – The good spring

The ninth postcard of the series “The Forest in Nivernais” depicts a young boy drinking the water of a spring. This child is probably one of the young people from the Assistance Plan of Paris placed with Achille Millien before they reach full age.

This postcard also illustrates the omnipresence of water in the forest of Bertranges, and, by extension, in the Nivernais Plateau where the rivers, the springs, the ponds and the wet areas (“mardelles”) are very common.

Achille Millien embellishes the postcard « Spring XIV – The good spring » with some verses on the spring where the young boy is refreshing himself: “Au creux du ravin d’où fuyait le lièvre, / A ton flot limpide, ô source du bois, / J’ai, combien de fois ! humecté mes doigts, / Rafraîchi mon front et trempé ma lèvre ! / J’ai rêvé souvent sous l’arbuste en fleur, / – Rose ou chèvrefeuille, – abri protecteur / Où se plait ton onde au sortir de terre, / Ton onde propice et qui désaltère / Oiseau, bûcheron, chevreuil et chasseur. »