Armand Silvestre had actually wanted to pursue a military career, but then worked in a senior position in the French Ministry of Finance. He increasingly devoted himself to his real passion: literature. Numerous composers felt inspired by Silvestre's poetry, above all Gabriel Faure. Faure even set Mystere to music before the official publication of the poem in the volume "Le pays des roses" (The Land of Roses, 1882). He gave his "Melodie" the different title "Le secret": mysterious and melancholy, accompanied by simple yet harmonically rich piano sounds.
