PAUL VERLAINE

First Article, " Un Petit Fils de Villon."

Paul Verlaine was born in Metz in 1844. His first published poems were: Poèmes Saturniens, Les Fêtes galantes, and La Bonne Chanson. Then folio wed twelve years during which the poet led an adventurous life, spending some of his time in the hospital. In 1881 he reappeared before the public with Sagesse, a poem of singular sweetness, full of the expression of the deepest and sincerest repentance. His last works are : Les Poètes Maudits, Jadis et Naguère, Romances sans Paroles, Amour, Bonheur, Parallèlement. Verlaine is considered as the father of Symbolism, and has a great influence over the young poets of our day. His poetry, sometimes obscure, is often full of the richest beauties of rhythm.

Page 112. — z. François Villon. The true name of this poet is François de Moncorbier ; he took that of Villon as a token of gratitude to his benefactor Guillaume Villon. He is the greatest poet of the fifteenth century, despite his more than lawless life. His Grand Testament and Petit Testament are full of beauties. A great naturalness pervades the whole of his writings, together with a profound melancholy and sadness. His short ballads, such as Les Dames des Temps passés, Epîtres à mes Amis, are the bwit that had ever been written. The dates of his birth and death are not exactly known. He seems to hâve been born in Paris in 1431. Villon is really the first French modem poet.