Alfred de Musset - Paris, France
Posted by: Groundspeak Charter Member neoc1
N 48° 52.743 E 002° 18.427
31U E 449198 N 5414241
A statue of French poet Alfred de Musset is located in Parc Monceau in Paris, France.
Waymark Code: WMGY9K
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 04/23/2013
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member silverquill
Views: 15

A marble statue of Alfred de Musset created by Antonin Mercié in 1906 stands in a prominent location in Parc Monceau in the 8th Arrondissement of Paris. Musset is depicted seated on a bench wearing a long coat. A woman is standing behind him looking down upon him.

On the pedestal there is the inscription:

ALFRED de MUSSET
1810 - 1857



Alfred de Musset was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist. He was most famous for his poetry and the autobiographical La Confession d'un enfant du siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Century).

He was born on December 11, 1810 in Paris into an upper-class family and entered the collège Henri-IV at the age of nine, where at age 16 he won the Latin essay prize in the Concours général. At the age of 17 he entered the Cénacle, the literary salon of Charles Nodier at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. He became a leader in the Romantic writers movement with the publication of his first collection of poems in 1829 - Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie (Tales of Spain and Italy).

He carried out a celebrated love affair with George Sand, (neé: Amantine Lucile Dupin) which lasted from 1833 to 1835. The affair inspired his famous poems Nuits (Nights), written from 1935 -1937, in which he traces the emotional effects of his love for George Sand, ranging from despair to final resignation.

Alfred de Musset died of heart failure in Paris on May 2, 1857 and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Musset's Poetry
Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie, 1829
Un Spectacle dans un fauteuil, 1832
Poésies complètes, 1840
Poésies nouvelles, 1850
Les Nuits (Nuits de mai, d'août, d'octobre, de décembre), 1835–1837
Œuvres posthumes, 1860

A stanza from Nuits de Mai appears on the pedestal of the statue.

RIEN DE NOUS REND SI GRANDS QU'UNE
GRANDE DOULEUR ...

LES PLUS DÉSESPÉRÉS SONT CHANTS
LES PLUS BEAUX

ET J'EN SAIS D'IMMORTELS QUI SONT
DE PURS SANGLOTS

(La Nuit de Mai)


NOTHING WE MAKE SO GREAT A
GREAT PAIN...

THE MOST DESPERATE ARE SONGS
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL

AND I KNOW OF IMMORTALS WHO ARE
PURE TEARS

(The Night of May)
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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