108. OCEANO NOX. July, 1836; fromles Rayons et les ombres. The title is from Vergil,Aen.ii, 250:Vertitur interea caelum et ruit Oceano nox.
110. NUITS DE JUIN. 1837; fromles Rayons et les ombres. "LA TOMBE DIT À LA ROSE." June 3, 1837; fromles Voix intérieures. TRISTESSE D'OLYMPIO. October, 1837; fromles Rayons et les ombres. See the discussion of this poem in Brunetière,Évolution de la poésie lyrique, i, 200 ff. His view is indicated in the following extract: "Ces grands thèmes, les plus riches de tous,—la Nature, l'Amour et la Mort,—dans le développement desquels nous sommes convenus de chercher et de vérifier la mesure du pouvoir lyrique, Hugo les mêle ou les fond ensemble, il les enchevêtre, il les complique, il les multiplie les uns par les autres, et de cette complication, admirez les effets qu'il tire…. C'est en effet ici qu'éclate, à mon avis, la supériorité de laTristesse d'Olympiosur leLacde Lamartine ou sur leSouvenirde Musset, qu'on lui a si souvent, et à tort, préférés. Non pas du tout, vous le pensez bien, que je veuille nier le charme pur et pénétrant duLac, ou la douloureuse et poignante éloquence duSouvenir! Incomparable élégie, leLacde Lamartine a pour lui la discrétion même, l'élégance, l'idéale mélancolie, la caresse ou la volupté de sa plainte; et, dans leSouvenirde Musset, nous le verrons bientôt, c'est la passion même qui parle toute pure. Mais, dans laTristesse d'Olympio, de même que les voix des instruments se marient dans l'orchestre, la note aiguë, déchirante et prolongée du violon à la lamentation plus profonde et plus grave de l'alto, le tumulte éclatant des cuivres aux sons plus perçants de la flûte, tandis qu'au-dessus d'eux la voix humaine continue son chant d'amour ou de colère, de haine ou d'adoration, c'est ainsi que la mélodie très simple et comme élémentaire du souvenir s'enrichit, s'augmente, se renforce, et se soutient chez Hugo d'un accompagnement d'une prodigieuse richesse, ou tout concourt ensemble, toute la nature et tout l'homme, toute la poésie de l'amour, toute celle des bois et des plaines, toute la poésie de la mort."
116. "A QUOI BON ENTENDRE." July, 1838; from the dramaRuy Blas, act ii, scene I.
117. CHANSON. "SI VOUS N'AVEZ RIEN À ME DIRE." May, 18—; fromles Contemplations.
118. "QUAND NOUS HABITIONS TOUS ENSEMBLE." Sept. 4, 1844; fromles Contemplations. The poet's daughter Léopoldine had married Charles Vacquerie in the summer of 1843. On the fourth of September of the same year she was drowned, together with her husband, in the Seine near Villequier. Her death was a great shock to Hugo, and the few verses that we have from these years are full of the bitterness of loss sweetened by remembrance of happy earlier days. Her memory is everywhere present in theContemplations; compare the following poems.
119. 5. SI JEUNE ENCORE;jeunerefers of course to the subject; Hugo was twenty-two when Léopoldine was born. "O SOUVENIRS! PRINTEMPS! AURORE!" Villequier, Sept. 4, 1846; fromles Contemplations. Notice the date.
120. 2. MONTLIGNON, Saint-Leu, small places just out of Paris to the north.
121. ARIOSTE, Ariosto (1474-1533), a famous Italian poet, author ofOrlando Furioso. "DEMAIN, DÈS L'AUBE." Sept. 3, 1847; fromles Contemplations. Notice the date. 21. DEMAIN, i.e. the anniversary of his daughter's death.
122. 2. HARFLEUR, a small town on the Channel coast, a few miles from Havre, near the mouth of the Seine. VENI, VIDI, VIXI. April, 1848; fromles Contemplations.
123. LE CHANT DE CEUX QUI S'EN VONT SUR MER. Dated:En mer, 1er août, 1852. This and the next following poems, fromles Châtiments, are the expression of the poet's hatred for Napoleon III. This volume was the direct fruit of his exile in consequence of his determined opposition to the imperial ambitions of Napoleon. He had been active in trying to organize resistance after thecoup d'état, and with difficulty had evaded arrest and escaped to Brussels. After the publication of his denunciatory volume,Napoléon le Petit, the Belgian government expelled him. and he took refuge first in England, whence he passed immediately to the island of Jersey, where he arrived on the fifth of August, 1852. In 1855 residence in Jersey was forbidden him and he removed to Guernsey, where he continued to reside till the downfall of Napoleon I.
124. LUNA. July, 1853. 23. L'AN QUATRE-VINGT-ONZE, 1791, the beginning of the French Revolution.
126. LE CHASSEUR NOIR. September, 1853. 27. SAINT ANTOINE; Saint Anthony (250-356) was a native of Upper Egypt, withdrew to the desert, and gave his life up to ascetic devotion in solitude and voluntary poverty. Legend represents him as beset by tempting demons.
128. LUX. December, 1853. 9. Capets; the kings of France from the accession of Hugh Capet in 987 to that of the house of Valois with Philip VI. in 1328 were Capets.
129. ULTIMA VERBA. December, 1853. 4. Mandrin, a notorious bandit, executed in 1755.
130. 3. Louvre, see note p. 318. 22. Sylla, see note p. 319. CHANSON. "Proscrit, regarde les roses." May, 1854; fromles Quatre Vents de l'esprit, livre lyrique. Concerning the inexact rhymesemai:mai, rare with Hugo, seeRevue politique et littéraire, July 16, 1881.
132. EXIL. Between 1868 and 1881; fromles Quatre Vents de l'esprit,livre lyrique. 5. COLOMBE, his daughter Léopoldine. 6. ET TOI, MÈRE; Mme Victor Hugo died in 1868. SAISON DES SEMAILLES. LE SOIR. From les_ Chansons des rues et des bois_. The poem is not dated; the volume appeared in 1865.
133. 2. LABOURS,plowed fields. This seems almost to have been written for the well-known painting of "The Sower" by Millet, exhibited in 1850. However, Millet's sower is a young man. UN HYMNE HARMONIEUX. Fromles Quatre Vents de l'esprit, the poem bears no date.
134. PROMENADE DANS LES ROCHERS. Fromles Quatre Vents de l'esprit; not dated.
1803-1858.
He is remembered for his simple and touching poems, full of the landscape and of the rural life of his native Brittany. He also translated Dante's Divine Comedy.
Works:Marie, 1835;les Ternaires, 1841 (the title of this collection was later changed tola Fleur d'or);les Bretons, 1845;Histoires poétiques, 1855;Oeuvres complètes, 1861, 2 vols.;Oeuvres, 4 vols., 1879-84.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve,Portraits contemporains, vols, ii and iii; Lecigne,Brizeux, sa vie et ses oeuvres, Lille, 1898.
1805-1880.
He secured immediate fame by the vigorous satire of his first work,Iambes, and he is probably still best remembered for this, though later volumes, especiallyIl Pianto, contain work of more perfect finish.
Works:Iambes, 1831;La Popularité, 1831;Lazare, 1833;Il Pianto, 1833 (these are now included in one volume,Iambes et poèmes); Nouvelles Satires, 1837;Chants civils et religieux, 1841;Rimes héroïques, 1843;Sylves, 1865.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve,Portraits contemporains, vol. ii.
138. L'IDOLE. May, 1831. The whole poem consists of five parts.
2. MESSIDOR, one of the months of the revolutionary calender, beginning with the nineteenth of June. It was the first of the summer months.
1806-1876.
Marie-Sophie Catherine de Flavigny, comtesse d'Agoult, wrote under the pseudonym Daniel Stern. Her work is mainly in prose, in history, criticism and fiction, but she wrote a few lyrics marked by deep and true sentiment. A biographical notice by L. de Ronchand will be found in the second edition of herEsquisses morales, 1880.
1806-1851.
He wrote mainly for the stage, and left but one volume of poems,Mes Heures perdues, which are all forgotten save this famous sonnet. The lady who inspired it is said to have been the daughter of Charles Nodier, afterwards Mme. Mennessier-Nodier.Mes Heures perdueswas reprinted in 1878, with a notice of Arvers by Th. de Banville.
1808-1855.
Gérard Labrunie, known in letters as Gérard de Nerval, was one of the group of young Romanticists who gathered around Hugo. Symptoms of insanity developed early, and at different times he was an inmate of an asylum. He finally committed suicide. He felt profoundly the influence of German literature, and his lyrics show something of this in the spiritual quality of their sentiment.
Works:Élégies nationales et satires politiques, 1827; translation of Goethe'sFaust, 1828;la Bohême galante, 1856;Oeuvres completes, 5 vols., 1868.
For reference: Th. Gautier,Histoire du romantisme;Portraits et souvenirs littéraires; Arvède Barine,Névrosés, 1898.
140. FANTAISIE. Gioacchino Antonio ROSSINI (1792-1868), one of the foremost Italian composers of the century, author of William Tell (1829), and other well-known operas. Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART was a native of Austria, and one of the greatest musical geniuses that ever lived. Among his works are the operasLe Nozze di Figaro(1786),Don Giovanni(1787),Die Zauberflöte(1791); the famousRequiem; thesymphony in G minor, etc. Karl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826), one of the founders of German as opposed to Italian opera.Der Freischützis his most famous work.
1810-1838.
In his short and unhappy struggle with poverty and illness he produced a few graceful short stories and a thin volume of verse,le Myosotis(1838), that reveals a genuine, though not remarkable, lyric gift. See Sainte-Beuve,Causeries du lundi, vol. iv. The poems ofle Myosotis, and some others, now make vol. ii. of hisOeuvres complètes, 2 vols., 1890-91.
141. LA FERMIÈRE. This poem was sent as a New Year's gift to Madame Guérard, who had taken the poet in and entertained him when ill.
142. 31. FILS DE LA VIERGE, "débris de toiles d'araignée que le vent emporte"; air-thread, gossamer.
1810-1857.
A lyric poet of a comparatively narrow range, but within it surpassingly genuine and spontaneous. Almost his only theme was the passion of love, in some form or degree. But what he lacked in breadth he made up in the directness and intensity of his accent, and these eminently lyric qualities give his lyrics a distinction among those of his country. He began as a Romanticist, but soon grew away from the school of Hugo as it developed. With his negligence of form and his surrender to the passion of the moment, he is the opposite of Gautier; and the poets of the later school which derives from Gautier have neglected and depreciated him.
Works:Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie, 1830;le Spectacle dans un fauteuil, 1833; after this most of his poems appeared in theRevue des Deux Mondes; they are now collected inPremières poésies, 1 vol., containing the poems of the first two volumes and a few others, andPoésies nouvelles, 1 vol., containing theNuits, and the later poems.
For reference: P. de Musset,Biographie d'Alfred de Musset1877 (naturally partial); A. Barine,Alfred de Musset, 1893; Spoelberch de Lovenjoul,la Véritable histoire de "Elle et Lui"1897; Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains, vol. ii;Causeries du lundi, vols, i and xiii; E. Montégut,Nos Morts contemporains, 1883; E. Faguet,le Dix-neuvième siècle, 1887; F. Brunetière,Évolution de la poésie lyrique, vol. i, 1894; M. Clouard,Bibliographie des oeuvres d'Alfred de Musset, 1883; O. L. Kuhns,Sélections from de Musset, Boston, 1895, for the sympathetic and interesting introduction.
143. Au LECTEUR. This sonnet was prefixed in 1840 to a new edition of his poems.
145. STANCES. 1828; fromContes d'Espagne et d'Italie. 3. VESPRÉES; see note on 7, 10. LA NUIT DE MAI. May 1835. The poet'sliaisonwith the novelist George Sand, begun in 1833, and culminating in the Italian journey of 1834, with its successions of passion, violent ruptures, and penitent reconciliations, was the profoundest experience of his life, and the inspiration of many of his poems, including the famousNuitsof May, August, October and December.
146. 21. PARESSEUX ENFANT; the charge of indolence had often already been brought against Musset; cf.ton oisiveté, 150. 3.
147. 29. ARGOS, the capital of Argolis, in the Peloponnesus. PTÉLEON, Pteleum, an ancient town of Thessaly (Iliad ii, 697.) 30. MESSA, city and harbor of Laconia (Iliad ii, 582); Homer's epithet is "abounding in doves." 31. PÉLION, a mountain in Thessaly ; Homer (Iliad ii, 757) calls it "quivering with leaves."
148. 1. TITARÈSE, a river in Thessaly. Homer's epithet (Iliad ii, 751) is "lovely". 3. OLOOSSONE, a city in Thessaly, called "white" also by Homer (Iliad ii, 739). Camyre, no doubt Homer's Kameiros (Iliad ii, 656), which he calls "shining." It was situated on the island of Rhodes; Musset neglects the geographical fact in bringing it into connection with Oloossone.
149. 6. SON TERTRE VERT, St. Helena.
150. 13. LORSQUE LE PÉLICAN; this passage is one of the most famous of French poetry. Compare Ronsard's reference to the pelican, p. 8, 1. 19. With this view of the poet's lot and mission compare that expressed inles Montreursof Leconte de Lisle, p. 199, and inl'Artof Gautier, p. 190. The fable of the pelican giving his blood to his young is current in the literature of the middle ages.
152. LA NUIT DE DÉCEMBRE. November, 1835. 18. ÉGLANTINE; a wild rose was one of the prizes given the victors in the poetical contests called theJeux Florauxheld at Toulouse; it symbolizes distinction in poetry.
153. 11. UN HAILLON DE OURPRE EN LAMBEAU symbolizes the power of youth wasted in debauchery. 12. MYRTE; the myrtle was sacred to Venus.
154. 10. PISE, Pisa. 14. BRIGUES, a small town in the Rhone valley in Switzerland, at the foot of the Simplon pass. 16. GÊNES, Genoa. 17. VEVAY, a town on Lake Geneva. 19. LIDO, an island between Venice and the sea, a favorite resort of the inhabitants of the city. Musset calls itaffreux, because with it he associated his quarrel with George Sand.
159. STANCES À LA MALIBRAN. October, 1836. 11. MARIA FELICITÀ, daughter and pupil of Manuel Garcia, afterwards Madame Malibran, by which name she is remembered, was a remarkable singer (1808-1836).
24. PARTHÉNON: the Parthenon, completed in 438 B.C., was built under the direction of Phidias, who was also the sculptor of the colossal statue of Athena within the temple. The most famous work of Praxiteles Was the statue of Aphrodite of Cnidus, not extant, but represented in the Venus of the Capitol and the Venus de Medicis.
160. 26. CORILLA, a character in one of Rossini's operas. 27. ROSINA, heroine of Rossini'sIl Barbiere di Seviglia(1816). 29. LE SAULE, the song of "The Willow" in Rossini'sOtello(1816); cf. Shakspere'sOthello, iv, 3.
161. 9. LONDRE, usually spelledLondres; thesis omitted here for the metre. 21. GÊRICAULT, an important French painter (1790-1824); his most famous picture isLe Radeau de la Méduse, now in the Louvre. CUVIER, a great
French naturalist (1769-1852).
162. 3. ROBERT, Léopold (1794-1835), a French painter of merit. BELLINI, Vincenzo (1802-1835), an Italian composer of operas; among his works areLa Somnambula(1831),Norma(1831), andI Puritani(1835). 5. CARREL, Armand (1800-1836), a French publicist, fatally wounded in a duel with Émile de Girardin.
163. 18. LA PASTA; Giuditta Pasta (1798-1865) was one of the famous sopranos of her day; for her Bellini wroteLa SomnambulaandNorma.
164. CHANSON DE BARBERINE. From the comedyBarberine(1836).
165. CHANSON DE FORTUNIO. Fromle Chandelier( 1836), where it is sung by a character named Fortunio. 25. MA MIE, instead ofm'amie; this is a remnant of what was the regular practice in the earliest period of French, the use of the feminine forms, ma, ta, sa, with elision of the vowel, before nouns beginning with a vowel; the substitution of the masculine forms in such cases begins in the twelfth century.
166. 167. TRISTESSE. June 14, 1840. "RAPPELLE-TOI." 1842. SOUVENIR. February, 1841. This poem is of the same order of thought asle Lacof Lamartine and theTristesse d'Olympiaof Victor Hugo; see note on the latter poem.
169. 17. DANTE, POURQUOI DIS-TU; the passage referred to is in theInferno, canto v, 1. 121 ; Francesca da Rimini (in French Françoise) begins the short and immortal story of her love for Paolo with these words :
"There is no greater sorrowThan to be mindful of the happy timeIn misery."
170. 24. PIÉ, an old spelling ofpied, used here to satisfy the rules of rhyme. Cf. following page, 1. 26.
172.17. MA SEULE AMIE. George Sand. The latest revelations from the correspondence of George Sand and Musset give us a more favorable view of her part in their unhappy affair and fail to justify the terms in which he refers to her here. See the volume of Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul cited among the works for reference.
174. SUR UNE MORTE. October, 1842; the lady referred to was the Princess Belgiojoso (1808-1871), who after the unsuccessful movement for Italian liberty in 1831 left Italy and resided in Paris, where Musset came often to her salon, i. LA NUIT, one of the famous allegorical statues made by Michaelangelo for the tombs of Giuliano and Lorenzo de Medici.
175 A M. VICTOR HUGO. April. 26, 1843. CHANSON. "ADIEU, SUZON." 1844.
1811-1872.
One of the most important poets of the century, though he can not be called in any large sense one of the greatest. His importance is due to the emphasis that he placed on the element of form both by his precept and by his practice. The directness and sincerity of the emotional cry are lost sight of in the pursuit of exquisite and perfect workmanship in the representation of outward beauty.L'Art, p. 190, sums up his poetic art. Later poetry has been profoundly influenced by this doctrine. His natural gifts adapted him perfectly to the rôle that he played, for, while he was without great intellectual depth or emotional intensity, he had a rare power of seeing the forms and colors of things.
Works:Poésies, 1830;Albertus, 1833;la Comédie de la mort, 1838; the preceding were republished in one volume with additions in 1845;Émaux et Camées, 1852;Poésies nouvelles, 1863; in the edition of hisOeuvres complètesthePoésies complètesmake two volumes,Emaux et Camées, one.
For reference : E. Bergerat,Théophile Gautier, 1879; M. Du Camp,Théophile Gautier, 1890; Vicomte Spoelberch de Lovenjoul,Histoire des oeuvres de Th. Gautier, 2 vols., 1887; Sainte-Beuve,Premiers lundis, ii;Portraits contemporains, ii, v;Nouveaux lundis, vi; E, Faguet,XIXe siècle, 1887; Brunetière,Évolution de la poésie lyrique, vol. ii.
177. VOYAGE. From thePoésiesof 1830. The line of the motto from La Fontaine is from the one-act comedyClymene, line 35. Catullus 87-47 B.c.) was a Latin poet whose lyrics show intensity of feeling and rare grace of expression. The lines here quoted are from theCarmina, xlvi. The idea of the poem is quite characteristic of Gautier, who delighted especially in the picturesque aspects of travel, as his famous descriptions of foreign lands show (Voyage en Espagne, Voyage en Russie, Voyage en Italie,etc.).
178. 17. ENRAYE, puts on the brakes. Of the other poems of Gautier here given all but CHOC DE CAVALIERS, LES COLOMBES, LAMENTO, TRISTESSE, and LA CARAVANE are fromÉmaux et Camées; these five will be found in vol. i of thePoésies completesunder the titlePoésies diverses.
186. PREMIER SOURIRE DU PRINTEMPS. 15. HOUPPE DE CYGNE, powder puff.
188. L'AVEUGLE, i. LES PUITS DE VENISE; the dungeons of Venice are famous.
189. LE MERLE. 18. The Arve joins the Rhone just after the latter issues from Lake Geneva. The water of the Rhone is very clear and blue, while that of the Arve, especially when swollen by rain and melted snow, is muddy and grayish-yellow.
19O. 4.mettre en démeure, to summon by legal process.
191. L'ART, i. CARRARE, PAROS, marbles especially fine and white and adapted for statuary, the former from Carrara, Italy, the latter from Paros, an island in the Aegean Sea. 21. NIMBE TRILOBE; the Virgin was often represented in early paintings with a halo of three rounded lobes, in the shape of a trefoil, symbolizing the Trinity.
1812-1883.
A poet of elevation and purity, whose worth is rather greater than his reputation, which has been somewhat eclipsed by that of his greater contemporaries.
Works:Psyché, 1840;Odes et Poèmes, 1844;Pointes évangéliques, 1852;Symphonies, 1855;Idylles héroïques, 1858;Pernette, 1868;Poèmes civiques, 1873;le Livre d'un père, 1878; collected edition,Oeuvres poétiques, 4 vols., 1886-89.
For reference: E. Biré,Victor de Laprade, sa vie et ses oeuvres, 1886; Sainte-Beuve,Nouveaux lundis, vol. i; E. Caro,Poètes et romanciers, 1888.
193. A UN GRAND ARBRE. 1840; fromOdes et Poèmes. 5. CYBÈLE, or Rhea, goddess of the earth. LE DROIT D'AÎNESSE. 1875; fromle Livre d'un père. 15. ÉCHERRA, froméchoir.
1813-1890.
Louise-Victorine Choquet, who became Mme. Paul Ackermann by her marriage in 1844 and was left a widow
in 1846, lived a life of great retirement and seclusion. Her work, the fruit of long solitude, bears the impress of a strong, reflective mind. It is deeply linged with pessimism.
Works:Contes et poésies, 1863;Poésies philosophiques, 1874; collected in one volume,Poésies, 1877.
For reference: Comte d'Haussonville,Mme. Ackermann, d'après des lettres et des papiers inédits, 1891.
1818-1894.
Born on the island of Bourbon, the tropical landscape that was familiar to his boyhood recurs constantly in his poems. Coming to France to complete his studies and to reside, he became the master spirit among the poets of the middle of the century and the recognized leader of the Parnassiens. From the beginning he protested vigorously against the Romanticists of 1830, not only as making an immodest and on the whole vulgar display of self (cf.les Montreurs, p. 199), but also as inevitably falling short of artistic perfection because, being possessed, or at least moved, by the emotion they were expressing, they could not be wholly masters of the instrument of expression. To be thus wholly master of the resources of poetic art one must be quite untroubled by one's own personal joys and sorrows, have the brain clear and free. This call to the poet to rid himself of the personal element was emphasized by the reflection that individual emotions are of little importance or interest, being dwarfed by the collective life of humanity in general, which in turn is overshadowed by the vast phenomenon of life as a whole, while this again is but a transient vapor on the face of the immense universe. So the poetic creed of an impersonal and impassive art was more or less blended with a materialism pervaded with a buddhistic pessimism that is vexed and wearied with the vain motions of this human world, and longs for the rest of Nirvana; and this vexation and weariness frequently rise to a poignant intensity. However far he may then be thought to be from the impassive impersonality of his doctrine, there is but one opinion as to his rare command of form and the exquisite perfection of his art, which have won for him the epithetimpeccable.
Works:Poèmes antiques, 1853;Poèmes et poésies, 1855;Poésies complètes, 1858 (contains the two previous collections);Poèmes barbares, 1862;Poèmes tragiques, 1884;Derniers poèmes, 1894. He was also an industrious translator of the Greek poets and of Horace.
For reference: P. Bourget,Nouveaux essais de psychologie contemporaine, 1885; J. Lemaître,les Contemporains, vol. ii, 1887; F. Brunetière,Évolution de la poésie lyrique, vol. ii, 1894; also in Contemporary Review, vol. lxvi.
199. LES MONTREURS. FromPoèmes barbares. MIDI and NOX are from thePoèmes antiques. The poems from L'ECCLÉSIASTE to REQUIES inclusive, and also LE MANCHY, are from thePoèmes barbares. The rest, except the last, are from thePoèmes tragiques.
203. LA VERANDAH, I. HÛKA, oriental pipe.
215. SI L'AURORE. 10. PITONS, mountain peaks; the word is used in the French colonies. 21. VARANGUE, a kind of porch, cf. verandah.
LE MANCHY. Amanchyis a kind of sedan-chair, or litter.
217. LE FRAIS MATIN DORAIT. 28. LETCHIS, a tropical plant.
218. TRE FILA D'ORO. The words of the title, which is Italian, are found in the final line of each stanza,trois fils d'or.
1821-1867.
His was a perverse nature, endowed with rare gifts which he persistently abused. Pure physical sensation supplied a large part of the material for his poetry, and among the senses it was especially the one that has the remotest association with ideas that he drew upon most constantly—the sense of smell. In his desperate search for new and strange sensations he went the round of violent and exhausting dissipations, and as his senses flagged he spurred them with all sorts of stimulants. Meanwhile he observed himself curiously ; the result in his poems is an impression of peculiarly wilful depravity. They reflect his physical and mental experience, are always without sobriety, often lacking in sanity. The title,les Fleurs du mal, is both appropriate and suggestive; they invite no epithets so much as "unhealthy" and "unwholesome."
He was extremely fond of Edgar A. Poe, and translated his works.
Works:les Fleurs du mal, 1857, new edition, 1861;Oeuvres posthumes, 1887.
For reference : Gautier,Portraits et souvenirs littéraires; E. Crépet,Oeuvres posthumes et correspondance inédite de Ch. Baudelaire, précédées d'une étude biographique, 1887; Bourget,Essais de psychologie contemporaine, 1883, F. Brunetière inRevue des Deux Mondes, Sept. 1st, 1892; Henry James,French Poets and Novelists, London, 1884; George Saintsbury,Miscellaneous Essays, London, 1892.
The poems given here are all fromles Fleurs du mal.
221. 19. BOUCHER; François Boucher (1703-1770) was a painter of pastoral and genre subjects.
1821-1870.
He enjoyed a moment of great popularity about 1848, paid for since by being too much forgotten. His chansons are simple, sincere, and sweet, breathing a delight in rural life and sympathy with the lot of the poor. Works: Chansons, 1860;Chansons et poésiesis the title of the current edition of his poems.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve,Causeries du lundi, vol. iv.
1822.
Has achieved especial success by his poetic descriptions of nature, which proceed from a close and loving observation and a quick responsiveness to her moods. Works:Stella Maris.—Ecce Homo, etc., 1860;les Roses d'Antan, 1865;les Charmeuses, 1867;Légendes des Bois et Chansons marines, 1871;Fleurs des ruines, 1888;Fleurs du soir, 1893.
232. 12. CHANSON MARINE. CAP FRÈHEL, on the north coast of Brittany, just south of the Channel Islands. 24. GRANVILLE and AVRANCHES are small towns on the Channel coast, between St. Malo and Cherbourg. 26. The ORNE and VIRE are small streams flowing northward into the Channel in the same region.
1823-1891.
A precocious and voluminous writer, who delighted in playing with the technical difficulties of lyric forms. His devotion to form was his chief excellence and gave him a considerable influence on the group ofParnassiens. He was especially responsible for the revival of the fixed forms of the older French poetry. He took up and developed the dictum of Saint-Beuve that rhyme is "l'unique harmonie du vers" and hisOdes funambulesquessought even to make it a main means of comic effect. His work is deficient in substance.
Works :Les Cariatides, 1842;les Stalactites, 1846;Odelettes, 1856;Odes funambulesques, 1857;les Exilés, 1860;Idylles prussiennes, 1871;les Princesses, 1874;Sonnailles et Clochettes, 1890;Dans la fournaise. Dernières poésies, 1892.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve,Causeries du lundi, vol. xiv; J.Lemaître,les Contemporains, vol. i, 1886; A. Lang,Essays inLittle, London, 1891.
234. LA CHANSON DE MA MIE. MA MIE, see note on 165, 25.
235. BALLADE DES PENDUS. From the comedyGringoire(1866). 20. FLORE, the Roman goddess of fruits and flowers. 26.du roi Louis; Louis XI. (1461-1487), whose measures to break down feudalism and establish the power of the monarchy are notorious.
1825.
Primarily a dramatic poet, he obtained one of the striking successes of the latter half of the century by his dramala Fille de Roland(1875) which, evoking memories of recent disaster and the dearest hopes of France, deeply touched the patriotic sentiment of his country. His lyric poems make but one volume.
Works:Les Premières Feuilles, 1845; the volumePoésiescomplètes, 1881, contains, besides the poems of the first volume, a number that appeared at intervals, several of which received prizes from the Academy, asl'Isthme de Suez, 1861, andla France dans l'extrême Orient, 1863;Poésies complètes,new edition, 1894.
1833.
Though now best known as a novelist, he began as a poet, and it is not certain that he will not finally be best remembered for his verse. His eyes and his sympathies are for the woods and fields and for the simple toilers whose lives lie close to them. He has instilled into his poems something of the odors of the forest and of the soil.
Works:Le Chemin des bois, 1867 ;les Paysans de l'Argonne, 1792.1871;le Bleu et le Noir, 1873;le Livre de la Payse, 1882.
For reference: E. Besson,André Theuriet, sa vie et ses oeuvres, 1890.
237. BRUNETTE. Fromle Bleu et le Noir.
238. LES PAYSANS. Fromle Livre de la Payse.
1837.
Though he is perhaps more widely known as a critic of art than as a poet, his poems have a certain distinction by reason of their deep and serious thought and their clear and noble expression.
Works:Les Espérances, 1864;Idylles et Chansons, 1874. The poems here given are fromIdylles et Chansons.
240. 21. MICHEL-ANGE, Michaelangelo.
1837.
He is chiefly known to the world of scholars by his studies in literary history and his editions of writers of the Renaissance.
Works :Chants de colère, 1871;le Poème de la Jeunesse, 1876;laChanson d'amour, 1885.
243. C'ÉTAIT UN VIEUX LOGIS. Fromle Poème de la Jeunesse.
1838.
A prolific writer of both prose and verse. He has a rich gift of style, but he appeals to his reader more often by the sensuous charm of his lines than by their originality or depth.
Works:Rimes neuves et vieilles, 1866;Renaissances, 1870;la Gloire du souvenir, 1872; these three volumes are collected inPremières poésies, 1875;la Chanson des heures,1878;les Ailes d'or, 1880;le Pays des roses, 1882;le Chemin des étoiles, 1885:Roses d'octobre, 1889;l'Or des couchants, 1892;les Aurores lointaines, 1895.
For reference: J. Lemaître,les Contemporains, vol. ii, 1887.
245. LE PÈLERINAGE. Fromles Ailes d'or.
1839-1873.
Led a wandering and adventurous life. He was at different times actor in a travelling company, prompter, and writer. In his poems he shows a native gift of expression that made him a favorite of theParnassiens.
Works:Les Vignes folles, 1857;les flèches d'or, 1864;Gilles etPasquins, 1872.
For reference: J. Lazare,A. Glatigny, sa vie, son oeuvre; CatulleMendès,Légende du Parnasse contemporain, 1884.
1839.
René-François-Armand Prudhomme, known as Sully Prudhomme, combines the artistic punctiliousness of aParnassienwith sincere emotion and a deeply philosophic mind. The intellectual quality of his work is conspicuous, but hardly less so the grace and finish of its form. It bears deep traces of the influence of the scientific movement of our time and of the transformation it has wrought in our ideas of man and nature and their relations. The personal emotion from which his lyrics spring appears always intellectually illumined, with its background of scientific corollaries and logical consequences. It is not abandoned to itself, to wreak itself on expression, but is checked by the challenge of doubt or scientific curiosity or moral scruple. His verse thus unites in rare degree the qualities of lyrical impulse and philosophical reflection.
Works:Stances et Poèmes, 1865;les Épreuves, 1866;les Solitudes, 1869;les Destins, 1872;les Vaines Tendresses, 1875;la Justice, 1878;le Prisme, 1886;le Bonheur, 1888; these have appeared in a new edition asOeuvres, 5 vols., 1883-1888.
For reference: J. Lemaître,les Contemporains, vol. i, 1886; E. Caro,Poètes et romanciers, 1888; G. Paris,Penseurs et poètes, 1896; F. Brunetière,Évolution de la poésie lyrique, vol. ii, 1894.
The first eleven poems are fromStances et Poèmes. LES DANAÏDES, UN SONGE and LE RENDEZ VOUS are fromles Épreuves; LA VOIE LACTÉE is fromles Solitudes; REPENTIR, fromImpressions de la Guerre(1872;) CE QUI DURE, LES INFIDÈLES, LES AMOURS TERRESTRES and L'ALPHABET, fromles Vaines Tendresses; and the last two sonnets, fromla Justice.
255. LE LEVER DU SOLEIL. 5.Hellade, Hellas, country inhabited by the Hellenes, or Greeks, a name at first given to a district of Thessaly, later to all Greece.
257. LES DANAÏDES. The Danaïdes were the fifty daughters of Danaus, twin-brother of Aegyptus, whose fifty sons they married and then murdered. As a punishment they were condemned to pour water forever into a sieve. 2.Théano,Callidie,Amymone,Agavéare names of four of the daughters.
1840-1897.
Though of world-wide fame as a brilliant novelist, he introduced himself to the public by a volume of verse,les Amoureuses, which contains many poems delicate in sentiment and exquisite in style.
1840.
The poems of Henri Cazalis, who has preferred to give his later works to the public under the nom de plume Jean Lahor, have the grave pessimism of Leconte de Lisle, but with more of buddhistic resignation. They are often sustained by a high moral fortitude, and though they are clothed in a less rich and brilliant garment than the poems of Leconte de Lisle, they have a charm of their own, "inquiétant et pénétrant," says Paul Bourget, "comme celui des tableaux de Burne Jones et de la musique tzigane, des romans de Tolstoi et desliederde Heine."
Works:Vita tristis, 1865 (under the pseudonym Jean Caselli;)Mélancholia, 1866;le Livre du néant, 1872;l'Illusion, 1875; the preceding were collected in one volume and published under the name Jean Lahor and with the titlel'Illusion, 1888; under the same name,le Cantique des cantiques, a translation of the Song of Solomon, 1885;les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, 1896.
For reference; J. Lemaître,les Contemporains, vol. iv.
1841.
He holds an honorable place among thepoetae minoresby poems distinguished for the sincerity and simple truth of their record of nature and humble experience.
Works:Floréal, 1870;Vieux Airs et Jeunes Chansons. 1884;Bouquet d'automne, 1890.
1842.
He is especially the poet of thevie des humbles. His talent is not pre-eminently lyric, and he has tended to escape
from the lyric domain in different directions, into the narrative poem, the drama, and the novel, in each of which he has achieved success. He is probably the most popular living French poet.
Works:Le Reliquaire, 1866;Intimités, 1868;Poèmes modernes, 1869;les Humbles, 1872;Promenades et intérieurs, 1872;le Cahier rouge, 1874;Olivier, 1875;l'Exilée, 1876;les Mois, 1877;Contes en vers et poésies diverses, 1881 and 1887;
Poèmes et récits, 1886;Arrière-saison, 1887;les Paroles sincères, 1890;Oeuvres, 5 vols., 1885-91.
For reference: M. de Lescure, François Coppée;L'Homme, la Vie, et l'Oeuvre(1842-1889), 1889; J. Lemaître,les Contemporains, vol. i, 1886; F. Brunetière.Évolution de la poésie lyrique, vol. ii, 1894; Alcée Fortier,Sept Grands Auteurs du XIXe Siècle, Boston, 1889.
271. JUIN. Fromles Mois.
272. L'HOROSCOPE. Fromle Reliquaire.
273. L'ATTENTE. FromPoèmes modernes.
275. CHANSON D'EXIL, "QUAND VOUS ME MONTREZ UNE ROSE," LIED and ÉTOILES FILANTES are froml'Exilée.
277. A UN ÉLÉGIAQUE. FromContes en vers et poésies diverses. The story of the Spartan boy and the fox may be found in Plutarch's Lycurgus, 18. The idea should be compared with the artistic doctrine of theimpassibles.
l842.
He was born in Cuba, but was educated and has resided in France. He attracted notice among theParnassiensby the degree of perfection with which he rendered in words the element of plastic beauty and the rare finish and precision of his style. He has used almost exclusively the form of the sonnet, to which he has given a new power and amplitude.
Works:Les Trophies, 1893 (many of the sonnets composing this volume had appeared in theRevue des Deux Mondesand elsewhwere and had long been admired).
For reference: J. Lemaitre,les Contemorains, vol. ii, 1887; F.Brunetière,Évolution de la poésie lyrique, vol. ii, 1894; M. deVogüé,Devant le siècle, 1896; Edmund Gosse,Critical Kit-Kats,New York, 1896.
278. ANTOINE ET CLÉOPÂTRE. LE CYDNUS. This is the name of the river on which Tarsus is situated. 18. LAGIDE; the line of the Ptolemies, to which Cleopatra belonged, was descended from Lagus; the first Ptolemy was commonly called the son of Lagus.
279. 18. BUBASTE ET SAÏS; Bubastis and Saïs were ancient cities of importance in the Delta of the Nile.
280. 6. LES CONQUÉRANTS. PALOS, the famous Spanish port from which Columbus sailed. MOGUER, a small town a little above Palos. 9. CIPANGO, the name given by Marco Polo in the account of his travels to an island or islands east of Asia, supposed to be Japan.
1844-1896.
The most striking and original figure among the poets of the latter half of the century. In the irregularity of his life he might count as a modern Rutebeuf or Villon. He certainly possessed a rich poetic endowment, which only occasionally produced what it seemed capable of. He began under the influence of theParnassiens, but his most characteristic work is as far removed as possible from the plastic objectivity of that school. He pursues the expression of the most elusive sensations, and is so little concerned about clear ideas and precise forms and outlines that even grammatical coherence often fails, and the mind gropes in a mist of unintelligibility—in which direction, however, his disciples have gone very far beyond him. But in the rendering of pure feeling and sensation, in direct emotional appeal of tone and accent, he discovered powerful secrets for his verse that others have not known. He seems now to have been one of the original poetic forces of the century.
Works:Poèmes saturniens, 1866;Fêtes galantes, 1869;la Bonne Chanson, 1870;Romances sans paroles, 1874;Sagesse, 1881;Jadis et naguère, 1885;Amour, 1888;Parallèlement, 1889;Bonheur, 1891;Chansons pour elle, 1891;Dans les limbes, 1894;Chair, 1896;Invectives, 1896; selections from the volumes to and includingBonheurare given inChoix de poésies, 1891.
For reference: Ch. Morice,Paul Verlaine, l'homme et l'oeuvre; J. Lemaître, inRevue Bleue, Jan. 7, 1888; F. Brunetière,Évolution de la poésie Iyrique, vol. ii, 1894; A. Cohn, inThe Bookman, vol. i, with portraits.
28O. COLLOQUE SENTIMENTAL. FromFêtes galantes.
288. 1. The quotation is from Dante'sPurgatorio, canto iii, 79-84. ART POÉTIQUE. FromJadis et naguère.
289. UN VEUF PARLE and PARABOLES are fromAmour.
291. PARABOLES. 1. LE POISSON; the use of the fish in Christian art as a symbol of Christ is well known. Its origin is commonly said to be in the initials of the Greek [Greek: Iaesus Christos Theou Tios Sotaer] which make the wordIchthus(fish). 2. L'ÂNON; cf. St. Mark xi. 3. LES PORCS, etc.; cf. St. Mark v, 13.
1845.
Widely known under the name of Caliban as the alert and wittychroniqueurof the Figaro and as the facile rhymester of itslyre comique, has written a few serious poems of direct and vigorous expression, especially under the inspiration of the memory of the war of 1870-71.
Works:Poèmes de la guerre, 1871;la Lyre comique, 1889.
291. PAROLES DORÉES. 17. CYLINDRE, the cylinder or toothed roller of the hand-organ.
1846.
The son of poor peasants, he has perpetuated the scenes and the simple life of his boyhood and the poverty and rude toil of his country home in verse of deep, pure, and tender feeling.
Works:La Poésie des Bêtes, 1886;le Clocher, 1887;la Bonne terre, 1889;Voix rustiques, 1892; these are collected in the edition ofPoésies, 2 vols., 1891-94. 293. LES GENÊTS. Fromle Clocher.
1846.
Politician, as well as man of letters, he is known especially for his war lyrics, which have achieved a wide popularity. They are recommended more by the vigor of their patriotic sentiment than by their technical qualities.
Works:Chants du Soldat, 1872;Nouveaux Chants du Soldat, 1875;Marches et Sonneries, 1881;Refrains militaires, 1888;Chants duPaysan, 1894.
For reference: G. Larroumet,Études de littérature et d'artvol. iii.
296. LE BON GÎTE. FromNouveaux Chants du Soldat.
1846.
He has won the attention of the smaller public of men of letters by the finish and delicacy of the short poems, which justify the titles of the volumes in which they have been collected by suggesting the art of the miniature painter and the worker in stained glass.
Works:Poèmes en miniature, 1881;le Vitrail, 1887; _les
Cimes_, 1893.
297. LE COLIBRI. FromPoèmes en miniature.
298. LES DEUX OMBRES. Fromle Vitrail.
1849.
His work is distinguished by sentiment that is usually pure and sweet, sometimes deep and tender.
Works:Les Asphodèles, 1873;l'Oasis, 1880;les Anniversaires, 1887;les Cloches, 1891;Sur la Harpe, 1897.
298. LE PETIT ENFANT. Froml'Oasis. For the form of the triolet see the remarks on versification.
1850-1893.
This famous master of the short story began his literary career, like Daudet, Theuriet, and Bourget, with a volume of verse.Des Vers, 1880.
1852.
Like Maupassant, he early forsook poetry for the novel, and for literary criticism. His verse, like his prose, is the work of a psychologist, who observes and analyzes his own experiences. He is never so far possessed by his emotion as to cease to inspect it curiously. In the restlessness of his spirit, the unsettled currents of his moral atmosphere, his doubts and longings, he represents a large fraction of his generation.
Works:La Vie inquiète, 1874;Edel, 1878;les Aveux, 1882; collected in two volumes with the titlePoésies, 1885-87.
For reference: J. Lemaître,les Contemporains, vol. ii, 1887; A. N. van Daell,Extraits choisis des oeuvres de Paul Bourget, Boston, 1894 (introduction andlettre autobiographique).
302. PRAETERITA is fromla Vie inquiète; the other poems here given are fromles Aveux. 13, 14; the second of November,jour des Trépasses, is in the church calendar the day of the special commemoration of the dead.
1862.
Another who seems to have been won from poetry to the novel, in which field he has achieved some striking successes. His one volume of verse isles Mépris, 1883. See G. Pellissier,Nouveaux essais de littérature contemporaine, 1895.
305. L'ÉTOILE. 17. LE CHALDÉEN; see St. Matthew ii, i-ii.
ACKERMANN, MADAME LOUISE (1813-1890).L'Homme.
AGOULT, SOPHIE DE FLAVIGNY, COMTESSE D' (1806-1876).L'Adieu.
ARNAULT, ANTOINE-VINCENT (1766-1834).La Feuille.
ARVERS, FÉLIX (1806-1851).Un Secret.
AUBIGNÉ, THÉODORE-AGRIPPA D' (1550-1630).L'Hyver.
BANVILLE, THÉODORE DE (1823-1891).La Chanson de ma mie.A Adolphe Gaïffe.Ballade des pendus.
BARBIER, HENRI-AUGUSTE (1805-1882).L'Idole.
BAUDELAIRE, PIERRE-CHARLES (1821-1867).Le Guignol.La Vie antérieure.La Beauté.La Cloche fêlée.Spleen.Le Goût du néant.La Rançon.Le Coucher du soleil romantique.Hymne.La Mort des pauvres.L'Homme et la mer.
BÉRANGER, PIERRE-JEAN DE (1780-1857).Le Roi d'Yvetot.Le Vilain.Mon Habit.Les Étoiles qui filent.Les Souvenirs du peuple.Les Fous.
BERGERAT, AUGUSTE-ÉMILE (1845- ).Paroles dorées.
BERTAUT, JEAN (1552-1611).Chanson. "Les Cieux inexorables".
BORNIER, VICOMPTE HENRI DE (1825- ).Résignons-nous.
BOURGET, PAUL (1852- ).Praeterita.Romance. "Pourquoi cet amour insensé."Départ.Nuit d'été.Épilogue.
BOUTELLEAU, GEORGES (1846- ).Le Colibri.Les Deux ombres.
BRIZEUX, AUGUSTE (1805-1858).Le Livre blanc.
CAZALIS, HENRI (1840- ).La Bête.Réminiscences.
CHARLES D'ORLÉANS (1391-1465).Ballade. "Nouvelles ont couru en France".Rondel. "Laissez-moy penser à mon aise".Rondel. "Le temps a laissié son manteau".Rondel. "Les fourriers d'Esté sont venus".Rondel. "Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder".
CHATEAUBRIAND FRANÇOIS-RENÉ de (1768-1848).Le Montagnard exilé.
CHÉNIER, MARIE-ANDRÉ DE (1762-1794).La Jeune captive.Iambes.
CHÉNIER, MARIE-JOSEPH DE (1764-1811).Le Chant du départ.
COPPÉE, FRANÇOIS (1842- ).Juin.L'Horoscope.L'Attente.Chanson d'exil.Romance. "Quand vous me montrez une rosé".Lied.Étoiles filantes.A un Élégiaque.
DAUDET, ALPHONSE (1840-1897).Aux Petits enfants.L'Oiseau bleu.
DÉROULÈDE, PAUL (1846- ).Le Bon gîte.
DÉSAUGIERS, MARIE-ANTOINE-MADELEINE (1772-1827).Moralité.
DESBORDES-VALMORE, MARCELINE (1786-1859).S'il avait su.Les Rosés de Saadi.Le Premier amour.
DU BELLAY, JOACHIM (1525-1560).L'Idéal.L'Amour du clocher.D'un Vanneur de bled aux vents.
DUPONT, PIERRE (1821-1870).La Véronique.Les Boeufs.Le Chant des ouvriers.Le Repos du soir.
FABIÉ, FRANÇOIS-JOSEPH (1846- ).Les Genêts.
FRANK, FÉLIX (1837- )."C'était un vieux logis ".
FRÉMINE, CHARLES (1841- ).Retour.
GAUTIER, THÉOPHILE (1811-1872).Voyage.Tombée du jour.Noël.Fumée.Choc de cavaliers.Les Colombes.Lamento.
Tristesse.La Caravane.Plaintive tourterelle.
Premier sourire du printemps.L'Aveugle.La Source.Le Merle.L'Art.
GÉRARD DE NERVAL (1808-1855).Fantaisie.Vers dorés.
GILBERT, NICOLAS-JOSEPH-LAURENT (1751-1780).Adieux à la vie.
GLATIGNY, ALBERT (1839-1873).Ballade des Enfants sans souci.
HEREDIA, JOSÉ-MARIA DE (1842- ).Antoine et Cléopâtre.Les Conquérants.
HERMANT, ABEL (1862- ).L'Étoile.
HUGO, VICTOR-MARIE (1802-1885).Les Djinns.Attente.Extase."Lorsque l'enfant paraît"."Dans l'alcôve sombre".Nouvelle chanson sur un vieil air.Autre chanson."Puisqu'ici-bas toute âme".Oceano nox.Nuits de juin."La Tombe dit à la rose".Tristesse d'Olympio."A quoi bon entendre".Chanson. "Si vous n'avez rien à me dire"."Quand nous habitions tous ensemble"."O souvenirs! printemps! aurore!"."Demain, dès l'aube".Veni, vidi, vixi.Le Chant de ceux qui s'en vont sur mer.Luna.Le Chasseur noir.Lux.Ultima verba.Chanson. "Proscrit, regarde les roses".Exil.Saison des semailles.Un Hymne harmonieux.Promenades dans les rochers.
LAFENESTRE, GEORGES (1837- ).L'Ébauche.Le Plongeur.
LAMARTINE, ALPHONSE MARIE-LOUIS DE (1790-1869).Le Lac.L'Automne.Le Soir.Le Vallon.L'Isolement.Le Crucifix.Adieu à Graziella.Les Préludes.Hymne de l'enfant à son réveil.Le Premier regret.Stances.Les Révolutions.
LAPRADE, PIERRE-MARIN-VICTOR RICHARD DE (1812-1883).A un grand Arbre.Béatrix.Le Droit d'aînesse.
LECONTE DE LISLE, CHARLES-MARIE-RENÉ (1818-1894).Les Montreurs.Midi.Nox.L'Ecclésiaste.La Verandah.Les Elfes.Les Éléphants.La Chute des Étoiles.Mille ans après.Le Soir d'une bataille.In Excelsis.Requies.Dans le ciel clair.La Lampe du ciel."Si l'Aurore".Le Manchy."Le frais matin dorait".Tre fila d'oro.
LEMOYNE, CAMILLE-ANDRÉ (1822- ).Chanson marine.Un Fleuve à la mer.
MALHERBE, FRANÇOIS DE (1555-1628).Consolation à Monsieur du Périer.Chanson. "Ils s'en vont, ces rois de ma vie".Paraphrase du Psaume CXLV.
MAROT, CLÉMENT (1496-1544).Rondeau. "Au bon vieulx temps".
MAUPASSANT, HENRI-RENÉ-ALBERT-GUY DE (1850-1893).Découverte.L'Oiseleur.
MILLEVOYE, CHARLES-HUBERT (1782-1816).La Chute des feuilles.
MOREAU, HÉGÉSIPPE (1810-1838).La Fermière.
MUSSET, LOUIS-CHARLES-ALFRED DE (1810-1857).Au Lecteur.Stances.La Nuit de mai.La Nuit de décembre.Stances à la Malibran.Chanson de Barberine.Chanson de Fortunio.Tristesse.Rappelle-toi.Souvenir.Sur une Morte.A M. Victor Hugo.Adieu, Suzon.
NODIER, CHARLES-EMMANUEL (1780-1844).La Jeune fille.Le Buisson.
PARNY, ÉVARISTE-DÉSIRÉ DESFORGES DE (1753-1814).Sur la Mort d'une jeune Fille.
RACINE, JEAN (1639-1699).Choeur d'Esther.
RÉGNIER, MATHURIN (1573-1613).Ode. "Jamais ne pourray-je bannir."
RONSARD, PIERRE DE (1524-1581).A Cassandre.Chanson. "Pour boire dessus l'herbe tendre."Sonnet. A Hélène.Élégie. "Quand je suis vingt ou trente mois."Dieu vous garde.A un Aubespin.Élégie contre les bûcherons de la forêt de Gastine.
ROUGET DE L'ISLE, CLAUDE-JOSEPH (1760-1836).La Marseillaise.
ROUSSEAU, JEAN-BAPTISTE (1670-1741).Ode à la Fortune.
SILVESTRE, PAUL-ARMAND (1837- ).Le Pèlerinage.
SULLY-PRUDHOMME, RENÉ-FRANÇOIS-ARMAND (1839- ).Les Chaînes.Le Vase brisé.A l'Hirondelle.Ici-bas.Intus.Les Yeux.L'Idéal.Séparation.Qui peut dire.Le Lever du soleil.A un Désespéré.Les Danaïdes.Un Songe.Le Rendez-vous.La Voie lactée Repentir.Ce qui dure.Les Infidèles.Les Amours terrestres.L'Alphabet."Nous prospérons".Le Complice.
THEURIET, ANDRÉ (1833- ).Brunette.Les Paysans.
TIERCELIN, LOUIS (1849- ).Le Petit enfant.
VERLAINE, PAUL (1844-1896).Colloque sentimental."Puisque l'aube grandit.""La lune blanche.""Il pleure dans mon coeur.""Il faut, voyez-vous.""Dans l'interminable.""Écoutez la chanson bien douce.""Un grand sommeil noir.""Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit.""Je ne sais pourquoi.""Vous voilà, vous voilà, pauvres bonnes pensées."Art poétique.Un Veuf parle.Paraboles.
VIGNY, ALFRED-VICTOR, COMTE DE (1797-1863).Le Cor.La Bouteille à la mer.
VILLON, FRANÇOIS (1431-14??).Ballade des Dames du temps jadis.Lay ou plustost Rondeau."Je connais tout fors que moi-même."