The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1913-01-25

whose life Is fRHNCOiS WILLOW
shrouded in mystery. 1t is the story
of an angel-devil, an inspired black
guard, a slum-hero, pickpocket-poet,
a thief and murderer whose poetical
genius was scarce short Of sublime.
In the low taverns of Paris, about
the middle of the fifteenth century.
the riff-raff of the local underworld
raised for themselves an idol, in the
shape of brilliant youth of high edu-
cation, who preferred to choose his
chums from the sordid criminal class
rather than from among his equals.
He fought, stole, caroused and killed
with rufians, then wrote wondrousI
poems that were so musical that even
his besotted comrades loved them.
The slang of the Thieves Kitchens
was his. So was flow Of the most
beautiful language known to man.
This youth was variously known by
a string of aliases. Among these
names we're Corbier, Piton, De Mont.
corbier. Des Leges. Corbeuil and Fran.
co.'s Villon. Which, If any, of the
names was really his own is uncer
tain. 1t was almost surely not evil.
lon" Yet by that alone he is known
to history. Some say he borrowed
the name "villon" from his rich
guardian, Guillaume de villon. Others
claim that it was merely a nickname.
and that it was whimsically chosen
by him because 1t was French term
for Crook" or "blackguard."
I'll
friends. First and last, he needed all
their influence and appropriated not
little of their wealth. His earliest
known clash with the law was in
1455, when he was twenty-four years
old. He was at that time college
graduate and a master of arts. Re-
turning from a drunken revel one
night he met a. priest. A quarrel en-
sued and Villon stabbed the priest to
death. Then he fed to some kindly
shelter in the slums where the laws
grip could not reach him, and hid
among his criminal admirers until
family influence could win a pardon
for him.
A year or two later he was in trou.
BILE again. This time it was tavern
brawl. Villon did not figure very
favorably in the affair. In fact. after
a severe beating be ran away from
Paris; more to avoid ridicule than to
escape punishment. In the early
spring Of 1456 he became a student
at the College of Navarro. near An
gers. France. A few weeks later the
treasure chest in the college chapel
was robbed A band Of student thieves
was arrested. One of them confessed
that Villon was the ringleader Of the
gang who had broken into the chapel,
and that the poet was even then plan
ming new robberies.
Vlllon was put to the torture and
then sentenced to be hanged. As he
lay in prison, waiting for execution,
he wrote one Of his greatest poems;
a grim. wonderful bit of verse, en-
titled. "Banade Of the Hanged Again
his friends influence, coupled with his
own wit came to the poets aid. His
death sentence was commuted to ban.
ishment,
Villon then drifted from one Euro
pean capital to another; sometimes
living In doubtful fashion by his wits,
sometimes hobnobbing with such
princes and mobiles as could appreciate
his rare genius Of his life during
these wanderings little is known. But
four years later, he was cast into
prison once more. This time, It is
said. for the crime Of sacrilege He
spent the summer Of 1851 in cell,
but was set free in a general jail de-
/ livery in October Of that year.
His old spirit of Wild, reckless adj
venture seemed gone. Soon afterward
he wrote his famous Grand Tesla
ment," work that breathes Of weari
ness, regret and utter dependency.
! Broken by prison and by dissipation,
he is said to have died OF consumption
at the age Of thirty zone or two his.
| torians believe he lived to be an old
man; but, from his thirtieth year 70
I no record Of him can be found.
vllon's poetic genius stands ont
/ like q gem in q mire The strange
/ twist OF brain that made him q GRIM
/ inaI also enabled him to write such
1 verso as no man OF his time he'd at.
tempted. His poetry has servea "a
example for many later bard ard
has found hosts of-usually unzucce3s.
ful-@imitators.
OF the man himself, nothinr good
/ can be said. His writings I've 4. spite
Of his personal career.
J