deal of criticism, favorable and otherwise. Gautier wrote much and widely. During the latter half of his life he devoted himself to journalism, adjusting himself to the Empire of 1848, and, after its downfall, to the altered conditions consequent upon the War of 1870. But his hopes had passed with the Empire and his health had passed with his hopes. In 1872 he died. His most important works are:in poetry, Albertus (1833); in fiction-besides Mademoiselle de Maupin-Nouvelles (1845), Le Capitaine Fracasse (1863); in travel, Voyage en Russie (1867); in criticism, six volumes, History of Dramatic Art during Twenty-five Years. Also may be mentioned Les Grotesques, a collection of studies of odd seventeenth-century figures. His work is characterized by a wonderful mastery over the use of language; "His articles can be read again and again for the mere beauty of them." He had the artistic nature in a high degree, and all his writing bears the impress of true art. The fact is the more remarkable when one considers that it is true of so wide a range of subjects. Gautier's influence upon French Literature has been an abiding one. ALFRED DE MUSSET has been called the enfant terrible of the romantic movement. His life was a strange compound of splendid natural gifts, feeble will and determination, and continuous debauchery. With every power that should make him great he lacked the essential strength of temperament. He was born in 1810 and early fell in with Victor Hugo. It was about 1828 that Sainte-Beuve said, referring to some of De Musset's verse: "We have among us a child full of genius." He gained a high reputation among the leaders of the romantic school. About 1832 he passed through the crisis of his life in his intimacy with George Sand. Her treatment of him cast a gloom over his existence; in fact for a time he was utterly miserable. His peculiar temperament ruined his life—he was possessed by a certain morbid inability for determined work, which is not uncommon with a certain type of character, and which requires a strong and continued effort of will for its subjection. Such an effort De Musset could not make. He refused a good diplomatic position; he rejected a commission from the Revue des Deux Mondes for some short stories. He was elected to the Academy in 1852, and from then on to his death, in 1857, wrote very little. Alfred de Musset is primarily a love-poet. His passion is very real and pervades all his work. "His plays constitute one long hymn to love." His output is of no very great extent, but it is of very great value. As usual, the critics differ as to his exact place. One says: "The three greatest French poets of the nineteenth century are Lamartine, Hugo and Musset. The first one touches us deeply by his harmonious and simple verses; the second impresses us with the force of his genius; and the third is sometimes light and gay, and sometimes intensely passionate and sad. Musset wrote several poems which cannot be surpassed by any in the French language." Among his prose works may be mentioned the Confession of a Child of the Century, which tells his own story; Emmeline; Frédéric et Bernerette. Chief among his dramas are The Cup and the Lips (1833); Lorenzaccio, the scene of which is laid in France of the sixteenth century; and One must not play with Love. A few stanzas of his poetry may be given : Again I see you, ah, my queen,- Do you remember or forget- How the last summer days were blest? Ah, lady, when we think of this,- How fleet, how sweet, how hard to hold! And I am twenty winters old. ... Think of our loves, our feuds of old, And how all night I lay awake To touch and kiss it for your sake,— The season bears upon its wing ... And days that were, and days that flit; The loved, lost hours are far away ; And hope and fame are scattered spray For me, that gave you love a day, For you that not remember it. -From Library of the World's Best Literature. Opinions differ as to the exact meaning and force of the romantic movement, but the names enumerated above stand for whatever was most representative in the work of the school. One other should not be overlooked-it stands by itself. ALFRED DE VIGNY (1797-1863) was called by Théophile Gautier "the purest glory of the romantic school." He was a romanticist by "blood, birth and tradition, not by profession of faith." After fourteen years of inglorious service in the army, he went to Paris, and retired into his "ivory tower,”—his life of seclusion. His first poems appeared in 1822. Some of the best were Moses, Eloa, The Deluge. The central idea of his poetry seems to have been the conception of the loneliness of genius-the gift which "imprisons man in his own greatness." This is seen in Moses :— ... He said unto the Lord :-" Shall I ne'er be done? I am the Great: my feet tread nations' necks, Alas, my Lord! I am great-I am alone: Give me—oh, give me leave to sleep the sleep of earth ! De Vigny's reputation was first gained by the fine historical novel Cinq Mars (1826). This brief sketch must suffice for the chief formers of the romantic triumph. Of the importance of mil-huit-cent-trente there can be no doubt. It was the culminating year of romanticism. It was preluded by trumpet-blasts of defiance in such periodicals as Le Conservateur Littéraire, Les Annales Romantiques (which contained a remarkable list of contributors), and Le Globe, started respectively in 1819, 1823 and 1822. The struggle was carried forward upon the definite line of romanticism v8. classicism, and reached final issue in Hernani. |