La révélation portugaise de Giraudoux

Giraudoux stayed in Portugal in September–October 1940, in the hope of finding his son. It was his second sojourn in the country, the first (a military mission) having taken place in 1916. In his poetic text, Giraudoux composes a hymn to this country of refuge, consolation of a collapsing Europe. These beautiful pages culminate in a sort of revelation: the light and colors of Portugal restore the sight of the writer, who says nothing, leaving only the prosopopeia of the begonia and its offering to mankind of a lesson in peace.