Alfred de Vigny
Overview
 

Alfred Victor de Vigny (27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

, and novelist.
Alfred de Vigny was born in Loches
Loches
Loches is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.It is situated southeast of Tours by railway, on the left bank of the Indre River.-History:...

 (a town to which he never returned) into an aristocratic family. His father was an aged veteran of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

 who died before Vigny's 20th birthday; his mother, twenty years younger, was a strong-willed woman who was inspired by Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...

 and took responsibility herself for Vigny's early education.

As was the case for every noble family, the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 diminished the family's circumstances considerably.
Quotations

L'existence du Soldat est (après la peine de mort) la trace la plus douloureuse de barbarie qui subsiste parmi les hommes.

The soldier's lot is the most melancholy relic of barbarism (next to capital punishment) that lingers on among mankind.

Tout homme a vu le mur qui borne son esprit.

Every man has seen the wall that limits his mind.

L'histoire est un roman dont le peuple est l'auteur.

History is a novel whose author is the people.

On étouffe les clameurs, mais comment se venger du silence?

Clamour can be stifled, but how avenge oneself on silence?

Les acteurs sont bien heureux, ils ont une gloire sans responsabilité.

Actors are lucky, they have glory without responsibility.

La presse est une bouche forcée d'être toujours ouverte et de parler toujours. De là vient qu'elle dit mille fois qu'elle n'a rien à dire.

The press is a mouth forced to be forever open and forever talking. Consequently it says a thousand times that it has nothing to say.

Un livre est une bouteille jetée en pleine mer sur laquelle il faut coller cette étiquette: attrape qui peut.

A book is a bottle thrown into the sea on which this label should be attached: Catch as catch can.

Le théâtre n'a jamais été en Angleterre qu'une mode des hautes classes ou une débauche du bas peuple.

In England the theatre has never been anything but a fashion for the upper classes or a debauch for the common people.

 
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