Rosemonde Gérard

Who was Rosemonde Gérard?

Louise-Rose-Étiennette Gérard, known as Rosemonde Gérard was a French poet and playwright. She was the wife of Edmond Rostand, and was a granddaughter of Étienne Maurice Gérard, who was a Marshal and a Prime Minister of France.

Gérard is perhaps best known today as the author of the lines:

Car, vois-tu, chaque jour je t’aime davantage,

Aujourd’hui plus qu’hier et bien moins que demain.

This couplet is taken from a poem, variously known as "L'éternelle chanson" or "Les Vieux", that she wrote to Rostand in 1889. The poem was published in 1890, but did not enjoy immediate success. The phrase became celebrated as an expression of ever-growing love when, in 1907, a Lyons jeweler, Alphonse Augis, had the idea of making a medallion with the core portion of the verse engraved on it. The medallions became quite popular, and led to the production of other, similarly-decorated jewelry items, such as earrings and matchboxes; many older examples include Augis' name. A very common variation on the design presents the line with the words "plus" and "moins" replaced by the mathematical + and − signs, respectively. The mathematical signs are frequently rendered in tiny gemstones, often in contrasting colors.