Fathers say they need nothing, and almost mean it. Here is something other than an object: a line of French poetry to keep on the wall.
See the ideas
“La mer est ton miroir ; tu contemples ton âme.” The sea is your mirror; you contemplate your soul. Baudelaire's four stanzas, set like the page of an old edition: the poet's name, number XIV of Les Fleurs du mal, the title in capitals. Printed on thick matte eco-friendly paper.
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days.
Start from him rather than from the poem. A father who spends his vacations facing the water, a father who reads at night, a father starting something new at sixty, a father who opens a good bottle on Sunday: each one has his line. Three markers are enough to decide.
A quote in large capitals reads at a glance, like a motto. It is the right choice for a father who would never open a book of verse but will recognize “Homme libre, toujours tu chériras la mer !” (Free man, you will always cherish the sea).
The whole poem, set like the page of a book, rewards a close reading and never wears out. L'Homme et la mer and L'Albatros each run sixteen alexandrines: the right length for a study wall.
Quotes are the most accessible prints, and poems follow, in a standard 30x40 cm (12x16 in) size that slips into an off-the-shelf frame. Two prints for the same father, or one for each parent, make a gift with two hands.
Six ideas, from Baudelaire's sea to Hugo's wine. All are texts by great French authors, typeset by the studio.
The opening line of L'Homme et la mer, in large capitals over a sunset gradient of pink, orange and blue. The poem first appeared in 1852 under the title L'Homme libre et la Mer: this line was already its heart.
The prince of the clouds whose giant wings keep him from walking: Baudelaire's most famous sea poem, for a father who sails, travels, or is simply too large for habit. The text and a reading of it are in our article on L'Albatros.
“Le vent se lève !… il faut tenter de vivre.” The wind is rising: we must try to live. The most famous line of Le Cimetière marin, in capitals on sea-green stripes: the gift for a retirement, a fresh start, a change of course.
The same line, but within its whole stanza: the last one of Le Cimetière marin, set like the page of an old edition. For the father who wants what comes next, the wind and the waves.
“Dieu n'avait fait que l'eau, mais l'homme a fait le vin.” God had only made water, but man made wine. A line from Les Contemplations that Hugo gives to the lord Pantalon, who sells sweet lemons in La Fête chez Thérèse. In capitals on a terracotta ground, for a wine cellar or a tasting corner.
“Chaque homme dans sa nuit s'en va vers sa lumière.” Each man, in his night, goes toward his light. An alexandrine from Les Contemplations, in lavender capitals on pale stripes: a line that does not promise everything will be fine, only that the road exists.
Above the desk, where he spends his mornings; in the entryway, to pass it on the way out; in the vacation house, facing the window onto the water. A whole poem takes its full place at 50x70 cm (20x28 in); a quote stands perfectly well at 30x40 cm (12x16 in).
The prints are sold without a frame, in standard sizes: you choose the frame that suits him, light oak or dark wood. For more ideas, our Father's Day guide widens the choice, and every Baudelaire poem is in the Baudelaire collection.
Baudelaire's sea poems are the safe choices: L'Homme et la mer, whose opening line “Homme libre, toujours tu chériras la mer” (Free man, you will always cherish the sea) also exists alone as a print, and L'Albatros. For a fresh start, Paul Valéry's “Le vent se lève !… il faut tenter de vivre” (The wind is rising: we must try to live).
Both: a print has no season and stays on the wall all year. Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days.
A quote in 30x40 cm (12x16 in) is the most accessible gift; a whole poem shows at its best in 50x70 cm (20x28 in). Prices appear in your currency on each print's page, and the frame is extra, depending on the one you choose.
No, the print is sold on its own, in standard sizes that fit off-the-shelf frames. The photos show framing examples.
From Victor Hugo, in Les Contemplations (1856), in the poem La Fête chez Thérèse. It is the lord Pantalon, a character from Italian comedy who sells sweet lemons during the party, who calls it out to the guests. In English: God had only made water, but man made wine.
A father who says he wants nothing deserves a gift he would never ask for. Choose the line that sounds like him, and if you are still unsure, read L'Homme et la mer in full: the right gift shows itself by the first stanza.
See L'Homme et la mer
