260
ul 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 of le Myosotis_, and some others, now make vol. ii. of his _Oeuvres 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.
ALFRED DE MUSSET.
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 the _Revue des Deux Mondes_; they are now collected in _Premières poésies_, 1 vol., containing the poems of the first two volumes and a few others, and _Poésies nouvelles_, 1 vol., containing the Nuits, and the later poems.
For reference: P. de Musset, Biographie d'Alfred de Musset 1877 (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 contemporai