ラフカディオ・ハーンとレオナ・ケイロウセ

抄録

　In New Orleans, Lafcadio Hearn had many experiences which enriched his life both personally and creatively, one of which was a brief friendship with Leona Queyrouze, a New Orleans writer, who was also a member of a wealthy Creole family. When Hearn met Queyrouze, she was well-known in Creole circles as a writer of essays and poems. He gave her advice on poetic matters, while in return, he engaged her to help him translate some phrases into the Creole language.

　After five months, Hearn departed for the West Indies and they never met again, but such was his impact on her that she never forgot him. She wrote poetry of which he was the subject, one of which, “Fantôme d’Occident : A Lafcadio Hearn au Japon”, is said to have been sent to him in Japan. In addition, thirty years after his death, Queyrouze published his letters to her with a commentary. The collection entitled The Idyl : My Personal Reminiscences of Lafcadio Hearn is suffused with the profound affection she felt for him.

　In this article, it is my intention to present a profile of Leona Queyrouze and to examine the nature of the brief relationship she enjoyed with Hearn, using materials such as the “Hutson Family Papers” and The Idyl : My Personal Reminiscences of Lafcadio Hearn.