223. Philippe Quinault. Poet.
[Born at Felletin, in France, 1635. Died in Paris, 1688. Aged 53.]
A lyrical poet of great reputation, and the most famous writer of French operas. His earliest works were tragedies and comedies, but in 1670, after his election to the Royal Academy, he allied his verse to music, and did not sever the union until he altogether eschewed dramatic composition. He furnished to Lully, the musician, the words for his first opera, and continued to aid that composer until Lully’s death. Towards the close of his days, Quinault, influenced by religious scruples, ceased to write for the stage. His lyrical productions have great tenderness, and melodious sweetness, and are happily and eminently adapted to their alliance with the sister art.
[From a bust in terra cotta, by Caffieri, which was the model for that in marble placed in the public room of the Opera, at Paris, and for another in the Bibliothèque Généviève, at Paris.]
224. Nicolas Boileau. Poet and Satirist.
[Born at Crosne, in France, 1636. Died at Paris, 1711. Aged 75.]
One of the illustrious writers of his time. His labours went far to fix the character and purity of the French language, and his sharp criticisms have exercised ever since his day a salutary influence upon the literature of his country. He ridiculed with singular acuteness the false taste of his generation, and endeavoured to point out the true principles of composition. His “Art Poétique” is considered by many, as rivalling the “Ars Poëtica” of Horace. His humorous and heroic poem of “Le Lutrin,” written to illustrate his theory that an epic ought to have a slender groundwork, abounds in fanciful and sportive wit. He was the friend of Molière, Racine, and Lafontaine, and the great Condé was his patron. A generous and charitable man, an upholder of religion, but a sworn hater of hypocrisy. Constant in his friendships, and always ready to forgive injuries.
[From a marble, by François Girardon, in the Louvre, a sculptor born at Troyes, in Champagne, 1630, and died 1715.]
225. Jean Racine. Dramatist.
[Born at La Ferté Milon, in France, 1639. Died there, 1699. Aged 60.]