, 1825, and died
December 11th, 1843. When hardly twenty years of age he had already made
his name famous by dithyrambs, the form of which, imitated from the
ancients, enabled him to express in sufficiently poetic manner quite
modern sentiments. Possessed of brilliant and easy imagination,
moderately enthusiastic, and more sober than powerful, he hit upon a
lucky vein which promptly led him to fame. He described the recent
disasters of his country in fine odes entitled 'Messeniennes,' in
allusion to the chants in which the defeated Messenians deplored the
hardships inflicted on them by the Spartans. Those political elegies
were named--'La Bataille de Waterloo' (The Battle of Waterloo); 'La
Devastation du Musee' (The Spoliation of the Museum); 'Sur le Besoin de
S'unir apres le Depart des Etrangers' (On the Necessity of Union after
the Departure of the Foreigners). They expressed emotions agitating the
mind of the country. At the same time they appealed to the heart of the
"liberals" of the period by uttering their regrets for vanished power,
their rancor against the victorious party, their fears for threatened
liberty. The circumstances, the passions of the day, as also the
awakening of young and new talent, all concurred to favor Casimir
Delavigne, who almost from the very first attained high reputation. In
1819 the publication of two more Messeniennes, on the life and death of
Joan of Arc,--inspired like the first with deep patriotic fervor,--was
received with enthusiasm.

Earlier even than the day of Lamartine and Victor Hugo, Casimir
Delavigne had the glory of stirring the heart of France. He had the
added merit of maintaining, after Beaumarchais and before Emile Augier,
the dignity of high comedy. Ingenious scenes of life, lively and
spirited details, grace and delicacy of style, save from oblivion such
pieces as 'L'Ecole des Vieillards' (The School of Age), first performed
by the great artists Mademoiselle Mars and Talma; and 'Don Juan
d'Autriche' (Don John of Austria), a prose comedy. Other dramas of
his--'Marino Faliero,' 'Les Vepres Siciliennes' (The Sicilian Vespers),
'Louis XI.,' 'Les Enfants d'Edouard' (The Children of Edward), and 'La
Fille du Cid' (The Daughter of the Cid)--are still read with admiration,
or acted to applauding spectators. A pure disciple of Racine at first,
Delavigne deftly managed to adopt some innovations of the romanticist
school. 'Marino Faliero' was the first of his productions in whi