Hippolyte, 1573. A dramatic writer, who eclipsed all his predecessors by the harmony of his verse.-Enc. Am. Regnier, 1573. His satires are the principal basis of his reputation: his colouring is vigorous, but his style is incorrect; yet he is not destitute of true poetical turns, delicate wit, and a pleasing humour.-Enc. Am. 8vo, $1 00. Hardy, 1580. A dramatist, who, possessed of very extensive reading, made some efforts to deviate from the beaten track of his predecessors; but his genius was not equal to his boldness and facility.-Enc. Am. 6 vols., $8 00. Dufresny, 1610. He wrote good conversational pieces.-Enc. Am. Molière, 1620. His comedies, properly read, may supply experience, because he has not depicted mere passing events, but human nature, which does not change. He is a writer for those of riper age and the gray-haired; their experience corresponds to his observations, and their memory to his genius.-Enc. Am. He is allowed to have brought the French dramatic poetry to the highest pitch of excellence which it has ever attained. We cannot say that Corneille has not availed himself of the compositions in other languages; for, besides that the correct regularity of his pieces demonstrates a thorough acquaintJance with the rules of the drama, he has borrowed some of his plots both from the Greek tragedians, and some of the dramatists of Spain. The tragedy of the Cid, Rhodogune, Cinna, Les Horaces, have never been surpassed by any dramatic writer of the French.-Tytler, 2 vols. 8vo, $4 50. Madame Deshoulières, 1634. She wrote with feminine tenderness.-Enc. Am. 2 vols., $200. Boileau, 1636. His poems display a graceful versification, a natural and sustained style, vigorous and well-connected ideas.-Enc. Am. Boileau, Malherbe, and Rousseau, 1 vol. 8vo, $2 25. Racine, 1639. Corneille, with more of the sublime of poetry, had less acquaintance with the tender passions. It is here that the forte of Racine lay. The pathetic of Britannicus is superior to nything that Corneille has attempted in the same style. thalie is full of grandeur and dignity of sentiment; and the comedy of the Plaideurs shows that the genius of Racine was as universal as that of Corneille.-Tytler. 8vo, $2 25. Reynard, 1647. He has some celebrity as a comic writer.-Enc. Am. (See third part.) Fénélon, 1651. Fontenelle, 1657. His idyls are written with a cold elegance.—Enc. Am. 3 vols., $4 00. Chenier, 1664. He possessed a brilliant imagination and a philosophical mind, and has infused much grace and elegance into all his compositions. His dramatic pieces are highly praised, of which "Tiberius" is his best effort.-Am. Quart. Rev. J. B. Rousseau, 1669. Celebrated as a lyric writer, who treats every subject with ease.-Enc. Am. Voltaire, 1694. Among his works, his dramas hold the first place. Among all the French writers, he perhaps displays in the fullest degree the peculiarities of his nation.-Enc. Am. 8vo, $5 00. Crebillon, 1707. He is the only one of the French poets of the stage, if we except Voltaire, who has drawn his images from the sources of terror. In all his pieces virtue and morality are powerfully inculcated.-Tytler. 3 vols., $275. Diderot, 1713. He was a man of brilliant talent and warm imagination, but his works are deficient in plan and connexion, yet are characterized by energy and eloquence.-Enc. Am. Le Brun, 1729. His odes rise to a higher flight than most of the French poems.-Enc. Am. 8vo, $1 50. Beaumarchais, 1732. He was a singular instance of versatility of talent, being at once an artist, politician, projector, merchant, and dramatist.-Enc. Am. 7 vols., $3 50. Delile, 1738. Lively feelings, richness of conception, animated description, purity and great elegance of expression, harmonious and easy versification are his chief excellences.-Enc. Am. Andrieux, 1759. A distinguished dramatic poet, alike for his easy wit, the striking characters, and beautiful language of his pieces.Enc. Am. 4 vols., $3 50. Ducis, 1759. He has introduced with eminent success upon the French stage the tragedies Hamlet, Romeo, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello. For vigorous description and the art of exciting tender emotions, qualifications so essential for the tragic author, he is thought to have few equals, and perhaps no superior, among the modern French writers.-Am. Quart. Rev. Arnault, 1766. He has gained some celebrity as a tragic poet.-Enc. Am. Picard, 1769. On account of his skilful delineation of character, was styled "Le petit Molière."-Enc. Am. Chateaubriand, 1769. His writings breathe a poetical spirit. They are composed with warmth, replete with images, spirited, and not without power; many of his descriptions may be called excellent. Enc. Am. Le Mercier, 1770. A poet, and the most talented dramatic writer of his age. In his tragedy of "Agamemnon," he strove, with signal success, to combine with felicity of plot and purity of style more original and striking attractions.-Penny Cyclop. Béranger, 1780. The man of letters must set a high value upon his works, for he is aware that the national song, a portion of the French literature, which may be said to have taken its rise in the Chant Marseillais and the Chant du Départ, owes the prolongation of its existence almost entirely to the talents of Béranger. Lamartine, 1802. The best of the late lyric writers.-Enc. Am. 1 vol., $3 50. Victor Hugo. Most of his odes are sufficiently happy in poetical conception, but frequently disfigured by unnatural refinement, by vague and enigmatic phraseology.-Am. Quart. Rev. $6 00. 3. GERMAN. Martin Luther, 1483. His excellent hymns are well known.-Enc. Am. Hans Sachs, 1494. His poems are distinguished for naiveté, feeling, invention, wit, and striking description.-Enc. Am. Fischart, 1560. In the broad comic he is not to be surpassed; and even in his most satirical effusions there is an honesty and good nature always observable.-Enc. Am. Opitz, 1597. He was the creator of a new and more correct poetical style in Germany, founded on the model of the ancient classics.-Enc. Am. Hagedorn, 1708. A celebrated poet; his style is pure and flowing. Gellert, 1715. He wrote fables, stories, didactic poems, with several pieces intended for the improvement of the stage.-Enc. Am. Kleist, 1715. His idyls are much admired for their elegance and simplicity. Gleim, 1719. His poems are very numerous, and contain successful attempts in almost every species of poetry. A. W. Schlegel, 1721. He has become celebrated for his translation of Shakspeare, which may well be called a German reproduction of the original.-Enc. Am. Klopstock, 1724. He gained the brightest and quickest fame by his "Epopee," ," the first cantos of which, by their prophetic grandeur and the magnificence of their description, their genuine patriarchal tone and unfeigned sincerity of love and devotion, announced him a rival of Milton.-Enc. Am. Compare Coleridge, Biog. Lit. 8vo, $5 00. Lessing, 1729. One of the greatest dramatic writers Germany has produced.-Enc. Am. 8vo, $4 00. Wieland, 1733. He has enriched German literature with works, which have made known to his countrymen the merits of the French and English writers.-Enc. Am. 36 vols., $13 50. Herder, 1744. He contributed much to a more active study of nature, brought before the public the poetry of past times of Europe and Asia, and awakened a taste for national song. He effected more by his various accomplishments and fine taste than by his creative power, yet he has produced fine songs.— Enc. Am. 7 vols., $6 00. |