New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-01

York +. ". ChristeIl'
The noems of Alfred de Nigny are all con'dlheu
in y single small volume of some three h"hui'u
,o,,as ond moro than third of his verse remained
unnublshcd until after his death HIS PioNo
,yorks are "Cinq Mars" a romance hardly 10 De
called historical which has recently been h'hoie'
with q new illustrated edition III Qudh'lns nue.
.orios NJ Romans Contemporaries DE |lgnys
+. Sorvi+ude ct Grandcurs Militaires Is among 'hc
most nerfect examples of the short story III All
literature He wrote several plays oil ""ion
"Cbatterton" achieved an immediate ana lds'inS
success arousing at the same time Tue Je"iouSS VI
Victor Hugo, who up to that time h'" 'cch vi
terms of intimate friendship with the aIthOr' W.
Paeologues interesting sketch OF the seloer-Poe'
incidentally reveals some curious instances vi ulc
meanness induced by similar JealolseS among inc
circle of Young poets, dramats'> ana Prosc Mil''s
who formed the literary hope and glory of France
at the time of the Restoration. Alfred dc 'lShS'
though in this circle, was not of it. Even then he
was tending toward the line OF thought whlch III
later wears WAS TO isolate him and make HIM dwell
an.rt and which stopped his literary produc-
tivitv when he was at the height OF his fame, ana
soon after the portals Of the Academy hdd peeh
opened to him. and he had taken his seat among
the Immortal Forty"
Rorn Of a gooS family Alfred de Nigny In his
vouth and early manhood was prone to magnify
his descent beyond warrant Coming on the scene
lust after the Napoeenc wars 1T was natural tha'
he should have yeaned for military glory ana
family influence procured him. while still In his
teens "a commission in crack reSlmeht-'He
Gensdarmes Rouges-where he had little TO do Dut
occasionally turn out at glard-mounting, and wear
n SNOWY and expensive uniform HIS poe,lcal
Gifts were exhibited early, ard there was even IN
his first crude verses an originality dehcacy OF
fancy and a depth of thought which fixed the
attention of good judges. His military career
soon became wearisome through lack OF actioH'
Once. when war IN Spain threatened. Ii, thought
the opportunity for distinguishing himself hal
come: but having marched to the foot oil IN"
Pyrenees. his command was halted there ana held
as a reserve To occupy his leisure at TINS taie
u. wrote that poem. Eloa," which first gave him
assured reputation. THIS, together with tue me
nccm Noise" and lie peluge" were written in
the Vosges in 1923, Int held by the author for
some wears before publication. Realizing that a
military career under the circumstances of the TINE
held out no prospect of advancement or glory De
Vipnv presently resigned his commission, and I1-
turned 10 private life, having reached the grade
of captain. The production Of his play Chatter
ton" led TO an unhappy love-alar with tie actress
Madame Dorval. VI. Paleologue thinks that lie
Vigny never fully recovered from the shock, thoueh
n time came when all earthly loves. ana indeed all
earthly affairs seemed 10 him but dream shadow.
In due course he married IA family arrangement
the daughter of a wealthy Anglolndian, of whose
cccentricity NJ PaleolOgue gives the following
illustration, upon the authority of Saintc-H fuVe:
Iamartine was Secretary of Embassy at Florence,
and in the ab.cnce Of the Ambassador Gld the
honors of the Embassy. At dinner one day
rich English traveller, Mr.. Bunbuy, was present
and remarked to Lamartne that he had a daughter
riaA 20 opao t no II
poets of France Lamartine asked the poets name
when the stranger hesitated, pondered, and at last
declared that he could not remember il. LamaItne
then ran over the names of all the French poets
and at each name Mr.. Bunbury said, That isn't
him." But presently Lamartine having named
Count Alfred de Vigny, the Englishman cried
"Oh yes / believe that is him" There was never
any love between De Vigny and his wife, for she
was as prosaic he was poetic. They lived To-
Cether without friction by keeping apart as much
as possible But the poet ceased TO care about
anything but his reveries, and came TO live
a life as self-contained and virtually secluded as
that of an anchorite. TO him ideas were the only
realities Unconsciously TO himself he fell into
that State of contemplation sought by the mystics
in all ages and cultivated from immemoria antiq
uity by the sages of India Ii remarked by
his friends that he no longer lived on this earth,
but in higher sphere, and his remarkable countc-
nance, pure and delicate III It's outlines always,
assumed frequently Iapt and ecstatic an aspect
that as lie paced the streets, unconscious OF his
material surroundings, he regarded with
wonder and kind of awe-for 81 must the
Prophets have appeared in their hours OF inSpiIa-
ton.
1t was during this period that DE Nigny began
TO shrink from literary expression more and more.
1t seemed 10 his faStdous spirit that the soul of
poetry degraded in some way by cmbodying 4
in language, which at the best could only catch
and hold its least lofty and subtle concepts Never
theess he wrote at intervals more TO relieve hms' If
than with view TO publication, for all or ne irly
all the work of his last twenty-five years remained
unpublished at his death This work. which APP
peared under the title Les Destinces," together
with the extracts from his Journal Intme7 given
TO the world by his literary executor indicate the
changes which had taken place in his views OF
life. beginning his career as one of the most brlll
liant of the young romantic school he gradually
adopted philosophy almost of Pessimism. His
latest poems breathe a spirit which Omar Khayyam
would have hailed fraternally. Yet there is in his
pessimism nothing offensive or irrevcrent and
neither is there any touch Of unInanly whining,
such as is apt to revolt the reader of Leopard.
De Vigny spends time in spcculations or gucsscs
at the deep mystery of life He frankly accepts
the insolubility of the problem But he eA presses
the opinion that at bottom all the religions the
world has known pessilnisic, -Ot excepting
Christianity. What he means by this may bc
ascertaned with some deiinteneSs by reading his
poem lie Mont des 0livicrs,7 which is arong
Les Destinees." Another of these poems. la
Mason du Berger" is illustrative, and indeed the
whole line of thought in Les Deslinecs" is re-
markably suggestive and illumnativc
1t is somewhat singular that Alfred de Vigny
has not appeared in English translation. for his
tone is essentially modern, and in hi, forms of
preston he not only anticipates but often exceeds
in vigor and breadth of thought the English poet,
who have written most impresSivcly upon similar