1811-1872.
One of the most important poets of the century, though he can not be
called in any large sense one of the greatest. His importance is due
to the emphasis that he placed on the element of form both by his
precept and by his practice. The directness and sincerity of the
emotional cry are lost sight of in the pursuit of exquisite and
perfect workmanship in the representation of outward beauty. _L'Art_,
p. 190, sums up his poetic art. Later poetry has been profoundly
influenced by this doctrine. His natural gifts adapted him perfectly
to the rôle that he played, for, while he was without great
intellectual depth or emotional intensity, he had a rare power of
seeing the forms and colors of things.
Works: _Poésies_, 1830; _Albertus_, 1833; _la Comédie de la mort_,
1838; the preceding were republished in one volume with additions
in 1845; _Émaux et Camées_, 1852; _Poésies nouvelles_, 1863; in the
edition of his _Oeuvres complètes_ the _Poésies complètes_ make two
volumes, _Emaux et Camées_, one.
For reference : E. Bergerat, _Théophile Gautier_, 1879; M. Du Camp,
_Théophile Gautier_, 1890; Vicomte Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, _Histoire
des oeuvres de Th. Gautier_, 2 vols., 1887; Sainte-Beuve, _Premiers
lundis_, ii; _Portraits contemporains_, ii, v; _Nouveaux lundis_, vi;
E, Faguet, _XIXe siècle_, 1887; Brunetière, _Évolution de la poésie
lyrique_, vol. ii.
177. VOYAGE. From the _Poésies_ of 1830. The line of the motto from La
Fontaine is from the one-act comedy _Clymene_, line 35. Catullus 87-47
B.c.) was a Latin poet whose lyrics show intensity of feeling and rare
grace of expression. The lines here quoted are from the _Carmina_,
xlvi. The idea of the poem is quite characteristic of Gautier, who
delighted especially in the picturesque aspects of travel, as his
famous descriptions of foreign lands show (_Voyage en Espagne, Voyage
en Russie, Voyage en Italie,_ etc.).
178. 17. ENRAYE, puts on the brakes. Of the other poems of Gautier
here given all but CHOC DE CAVALIERS, LES COLOMBES, LAMENTO,
TRISTESSE, and LA CARAVANE are from _Émaux et Camées_; these five will
be found in vol. i of the _Poésies completes_ under the title _Poésies
diverses_.