 Fauré was plunged into so deep a depression that his friends were seriously concerned about his health.Winnaretta de Scey-Montbéliard, always a good friend to Fauré, invited him to Venice, where she had a "palazzo" on the Grand Canal.He recovered his spirits and began to compose again, writing the first of his five "Mélodies de Venise", to words by Verlaine, whose poetry he continued to admire despite the operatic debacle.