Musset, Alfred de

the premier poet of modern French literature, born in Paris of good parentage; wayward and impulsive in youth, he would settle to no occupation, till his already awakened taste for poetry receiving a powerful stimulus through contact with Victor Hugo, led him to embrace the profe ion of letters; two volumes of poetry were published before he achieved, in 1833, his first signal succe with the dramas "André del Sarto" and "Les Caprices de Marianne"; in the same year began his famous liaison with George Sand ( q. v .), involving him in the ill-fated expedition to Venice, whence he returned in the spring of 1834 shattered in health and disillusioned; from one unhappy love intrigue he pa ed to another, seeking in vain a solace for his restle spirit, but reaping an experience which enriched his writings; "Confe ions d'un Enfant du Siècle" appeared in 1836, and is a significant confe ion of his life at this time; two years later he was appointed librarian at the Home Office, and in 1847 his charming comedy, "Un Caprice," was received with enthusiasm; in 1852 he was elected to the Academy, but his work was done, and already an ill-controlled indulgence in alcohol had fatally undermined his never robust strength; his writings, besides po e ing the charm of an exquisite style, heightened by an undertone of true tenderne , are chiefly remarkable for the intense sincerity of feeling, albeit of a limited range, which animates them, and which finds its highest expre ion in his four great lyrical pieces, "Les Nuits"; his fine instinct for dramatic situation and gift of witty dialogue are manifest in the dramas already mentioned, as also in many others; of his prose works, "Le Fils du Titien," "Mademoiselle Mimi Pinson," and the "Confe ions" are his best; he was a handsome man, with fascinating manners (1810-1857).