For the couple, the teacher, the wine lover, the Paris lover or the person whose tastes you don't know: a poem to give, one that stays on the wall all year.
See the ideas
Straw-yellow stripes, a pink text set in large capitals, and a line that does all the work: we must love, then say it, then write it. The phrase is attributed to Victor Hugo. Printed on thick matte eco-friendly paper.
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days.
Christmas 2026 · All our Christmas gift ideas, by recipient: triptych wall art and art and poetry prints, for her, for him, for a couple.
Because a poem on the wall is a gift you are still looking at in March. Gift sets run out, objects pile up; a poster gets hung and reread every day. And a text chosen for someone says what no object can: you thought of them, of what they read, of what they love.
So this guide starts from the recipient, the way you shop for a Christmas gift: the couple, the teacher, the wine lover, the Paris lover, the poetry reader, and the person whose tastes you don't know. For her, for him, for Mom or Grandma, our other guide, Christmas gifts for book lovers, offers an entirely different selection.
“Il faut s'aimer, et puis il faut se le dire, et puis il faut se l'écrire.” We must love, then say it, then write it. It is the print you give to two people, for the bedroom or the entryway, and the one to suggest to anyone looking for a Christmas gift for a couple without adding one more object. The straw-yellow stripes and the pink give the phrase a summer cheerfulness in the middle of winter.
The gift works for a first Christmas together as well as for a long-standing couple. Slip in a handwritten card: it is exactly what the phrase asks for.
Il faut s'aimer, et puis il faut se le dire, et puis il faut se l'écrire.Phrase attributed to Victor Hugo
We must love, then say it, then write it.
Among the end-of-year mugs and candles, a framed La Fontaine fable changes everything: it is a gift with class, in both senses of the word. Le Corbeau et le Renard (The Crow and the Fox), the second fable of the first book of the Fables published in 1668, is probably the most recited text in the French language, the very one French classrooms learn by heart.
The poster reproduces the full text, set like the page of an old edition, with its moral spoken by the fox, his mouth full: “tout flatteur vit aux dépens de celui qui l'écoute” (every flatterer lives at the expense of the one who listens to him). The text and its story are in our reading of The Crow and the Fox, and the teacher gift guide offers more ideas.
“Dieu n'avait fait que l'eau, mais l'homme a fait le vin.” God had only made water, but man made wine. The line really is Victor Hugo's: it appears in “La Fête chez Thérèse,” a poem from Les Contemplations, where a comedy character, the lord Pantalon, calls it out in the middle of a party. In capitals on a terracotta ground, the phrase is made for a kitchen, a wine cellar or a tasting corner.
It is the gift for the person who always brings the bottle and tells you where it comes from. It suits an uncle as well as a friend, or the hosts who welcome you on Christmas Eve: give it with a good wine, and the two gifts answer each other.
Four more recipients, four texts. All come in 30x40, 40x50 and 50x70 cm (12x16, 16x20 and 20x28 in).
“Le vent se lève !… Il faut tenter de vivre !” The wind is rising: we must try to live. The line that opens the final stanza of Le Cimetière marin, published in 1920. For the person whose tastes you don't know: everyone loves it.
“Salut monde dont je suis la langue éloquente” (Hello world, of which I am the eloquent tongue): the tower drawn with its own words, in Calligrammes (1918). For a Parisian living abroad or a friend who dreams of Paris.
“La Nature est un temple où de vivants piliers…” (Nature is a temple where living pillars…) The sonnet in which scents, colors and sounds answer one another: the one poetry lovers know by heart.
“Lou m'a percé le cœur et j'aime Lou” (Lou has pierced my heart and I love Lou): a handwritten heart pierced by an arrow, written in Nîmes in March 1915. For a lover who is not afraid of big words.
A poster is a modest-budget gift that does not look like one. Prices appear in your currency on each print's page.
The gentlest couple's gift in this guide, and the most accessible.
The size that slips under the tree and into an off-the-shelf frame, for a teacher, a friend, a colleague.
For the living room or the entryway: the text reads without coming closer.
In December, keeping a few days in hand is still wise: ordering in the first half of the month leaves time to frame it.
In the bedroom, above a dresser, or in the entryway, where you say goodbye in the morning. The straw-yellow stripes brighten a white wall as well as a paneled one, and the pink of the letters stays soft even in full light.
Leaning on the floor against a wall, in a wooden frame, it looks like a vacation poster. Hung, it becomes the phrase of the house.
The phrase “Il faut s'aimer, et puis il faut se le dire, et puis il faut se l'écrire” (We must love, then say it, then write it), attributed to Victor Hugo, on straw-yellow stripes. For a more graphic gift, Apollinaire's Flèche saignante draws a heart pierced by an arrow.
A framed La Fontaine fable, such as Le Corbeau et le Renard (The Crow and the Fox): the full text, the one French classrooms learn, set like the page of an old edition. It comes in 30x40 cm (12x16 in), the size that fits any classroom wall.
30x40 cm (12x16 in) for a modest-budget gift, 40x50 cm (16x20 in) for a main gift, 50x70 cm (20x28 in) for a living room wall. Prices appear in your currency on each print's page, and framing is extra, depending on the frame you choose.
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days. In December, ordering in the first half of the month leaves a comfortable margin.
No, the poster is sold on its own, in standard sizes that fit off-the-shelf frames. The styled photos show framing examples.
A successful Christmas gift is one you are still looking at in March. Choose the recipient, and let the poem do the rest.
See the print
