Casimir Delavigne
Jean François Casimir Delavigne ( born April 4, 1793 in Le Havre, † December 11, 1843 in Lyon) was a French poet.
Life
Delavigne proved already as a student of the Lycée Napoléon in Paris unusual poetic talent by a dithyramb on the birth of Napoleon II (1811 ), the son of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1813 he published his dithyramb on the death of the poet Jacques Delilles 1814 his poem Charles XII à Narva, 1815 La découverte de la vaccine, which he won the first prize of the Académie française addition, and in 1818 his Messéniennes that were very popular. These political action songs were the outflow of a glowing patriotism after the defeat of Napoleon.
Delavigne received the post of librarian at the State, but lost him in 1822 again when he sang in the new " Messéniennes " the liberation struggle of the Greeks (see Greek Revolution). But the Duke of Orléans, later King ( Louis Philippe ) made him a librarian of the Palais Royal; this office he held until his death.
Delavigne also worked as a playwright: he wrote in 1819 the tragedy Vêpres Siciliennes that despite the rejection by the Théâtre français had great success. This piece was followed by the comedy Les Comédiens (1820 ), the tragedy Le Paria (1821 ) and the comedy L' école des vieillards (1823 ) and La princesse Aurélie (1828 ). The former, his best comedy, him in 1825 wearing a seat in the Académie française. A pension, Charles X. offered him, beating out Delavigne.
From a trip to Italy, he made because of his weakened health, he brought her back out of seven new Messéniennes a significant change in his poetic intuitions, which was documented first in 1829 in the tragedy Marino Faliero. Because if Delavigne had previously been connected as closely as possible to the rules of classical drama, he now approached the camp of the romantics with the intention to reconcile the two schools.
His attempt had brilliant success. The July Revolution of 1830 inspired him to become popular songs: La Parisienne (composed by Daniel -François- Esprit Auber ), La Varsovienne and others. Two of his best Messéniennes: Une semaine à Paris and Le chien du Louvre. 1832 be was Louis XI listed as Marino Faliero, a mixture of the tragic and the light genre, but decidedly contemporary taste homage.
The tragedy Les enfants d' Edouard (1833 ) and especially the comedy Don Juan d'Autriche (1835 ) are due to the liveliness of the action and of his own poetic swing at the best plays of the poet.
The one-act tragedy Une famille au temps de Luther ( 1836) raised, as well as the political comedy ' La Popularité (1838 ) and the tragedy La fille du Cid (1839 ), only moderate interest.
His last works were the comedy Le conseiller - rapporteur (1841 ) and his brother Germain Delavigne written text to the opera, Charles VI (1843, Jacques Fromental Halévy of music ).
Delavigne is next to Pierre -Jean de Beranger of the main representatives of the liberal direction of the French literature of the time. With great skill and taste, he was able to dress the mood of the people, their hatred and their love in poetic forms. Delavigne is primarily a poet, some of his poems, especially the choirs of Paria, surprised by heat and tenderness of feeling, elegance and purity of expression.
His style includes on the one hand closely to the classic Jean Racine and allows himself the other hand, especially since his Louis XI, certain liberties that no longer corresponded to the strict, classical taste.