The Washington herald., 1920-10-18
POET ABANDONS .
THRILL WOMAN
Duse, Former Love of Dan
nunzio, Battles Poverty
In Rome.
By COUNT DE PAssN.
Cwritten for Universal serv1eel


Paris. Oct. I7.-Her heart broken
by Gabrielle d'Annupzio, the man
she loved and made great, Duse.
the divine diva" is living in pow
erty and obscurity in Rome. the
city Of her Grandest triumphs
Ignorant perhaps, Of her need,
the man to whom she dedicated her
fortune and her love-the love sof
one Of the worlds greatest TRACE
dienres-sits on a dictstor's thron.
in Fiume, the City Of Tragic Des-
tiny.
Do the strings Of pathetic re-
membrance tug at the poets heart
occasionally when be surveys his
present greatness and admits TO
himself that il was over tn. step
ping-stones Of a woman's soul that
his genius reached its so&l7
Tells Of Thrills.
Be that as IL may. there is the
testimony of a Paris beauty. TO
whom the poet made love, and then.
IKE the others, cast aside, and 70
" AoH U AhhunZlO once SAD
You other women are as moth
ing TO me- Duse was the only vo-
man who ever wholly satisfied me.
Many women have thrilled me phvs-
icaIy' and others mentally. but
Duse was the only woman Of them
al who moved me in every way
Duse- in the heydey Of her tri-
umphs was probably the best
known trAgedienne in the world.
She was already famous when she
met d'AnnUnzio, who proved 70 be
her Nemesis BE courted her ar
IDENTIFY, and she, fired by the spIen-
did genius OF his verse, fell pas
sionstely in love with him
Mere Al Friend
One day a friend asked her why
she and d'Annunzio did not NARY.
He has not asked me-" she re
piled and besides, / can do more
for him by remaining simply his
friend"
Gives Lite TO H.
Before she had known the ItAEan
poet a year Duse had consented
her life, her art and herself to him
he was everywhere seen with her.
and would sit in q box at the Ss--
tionsl Theater when she Appeared
obnvious 70 his surroundings SOL
tary and drinking in the loveline,s
OF the woman who had already In
spired two OF his books and poems
without number.
Duse made fabulous SUITS Of
money in her trips through Europe
and America but she spent il al
to further the genius Of dAnpuD-
Iio.
Her whole being was wrapped up
in the srratic poet Leaving for =
tour Of America she said TO SfD-nd
as she was boarding the ship:
Every step I take cuts into ny
heart like a dagger. for it takes me
away from him. and yet ! Undergo
this torture because 1 want To zee
him exalted"
1t was Duse who launched d-An-
nunlio as q dramatic author. Prom
first to last il is certain Duse never
made money on the plays written
by d'Annu unzio that she produced
What caused the break between
Duse and her idol is not known ana
probably never viii be Those
nearest to the diva say, however,
that as far as she went il was no
break. but only a great sOrrow-
that the poet, without q word even
Of gratitude, much less OF love. left
her. being at the tine enthralled by
the glorious Ida Rubinstein-
Duses faith in him remained IN
broken She fOrgsve him as she
had forgiven him before on nUmer-
Gus other occasions.
1T is because he is a poet" she
said. Beauty moves him like hre
and water. And I am growing old.
Compelling as flame.
But when d'Annunzio returned 70
Rome and refused even TO 20 near
the woman who had sacrificed 30
much for him. her spirit dropped
She cancelled her engagements ana
went into seclusion. Even her clos
est friends did not see her for more
than a year. and when they did see
her they reported her passion for
d'Annunzio as great as ever.
u have but one thing TO live for.
she told them, and that is that he
may some day come back TO me-