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<p>[QUOTE="2manybooks, post: 9499275, member: 8267"]It seems that the phrase "despair of genius" was not directly attributed to Chenier.</p><p><br /></p><p>Curiously, it appears in an article titled "Death Scenes of Remarkable Persons" published in "Tegg's Magazine of Knowledge and Amusement" in 1844, by "the author of 'Is It Peace?' and 'Nature Our Teacher' ". Note that the quotation marks are around "To die so young - and there was something here" -</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]448466[/ATTACH]</p><p><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tegg_s_magazine_of_knowledge_and_amuseme/vXUEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Chenier+%22to+die+so+young%22&pg=PA92&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tegg_s_magazine_of_knowledge_and_amuseme/vXUEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Chenier+%22to+die+so+young%22&pg=PA92&printsec=frontcover" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tegg_s_magazine_of_knowledge_and_amuseme/vXUEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Chenier+"to+die+so+young"&pg=PA92&printsec=frontcover</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I have not been able to identify the author of "Death Scenes of Remarkable People", but it may have been Edward Bulwer Lytton. He uses the same phrase in an introductory passage to his poem "Andre Chenier: Farewell to the Beautiful, Within", part of his series "Narrative Lyrics, or the Parcae: In Six Leaves from the Sibyl's Book". The series includes one titled: "Napoleon at Isola Bella", and the one immediately preceding the one on Chenier is titled: "Mazarin: Farewell to the Beautiful, Without". The poems are included in an 1860 edition of "The Poetical Works of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton", but were probably written earlier:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34298/34298-h/34298-h.htm#NARRATIVE_LYRICS" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34298/34298-h/34298-h.htm#NARRATIVE_LYRICS" rel="nofollow">https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34298/34298-h/34298-h.htm#NARRATIVE_LYRICS</a></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4">Each of the poems in the series is prefaced with a brief introductory passage, most including quotations and references to Bulwer's sources. In the case of the Chenier entry, there are double quotes at the beginning and end of the passage, and single quotes (indicating a quote within a quote) only around the phrases 'To die so young' and 'And there was something here!' , and the citation notice points to "Thiers" - </font></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><font size="4">The Parcæ.—Leaf the Third.</font></p> <p style="text-align: center"><font size="3">ANDRÉ CHÉNIER.</font></p> <p style="text-align: center"><font size="3">FAREWELL TO THE BEAUTIFUL, WITHIN.</font></p><p>"André Chénier, the original of whatever is truest to nature and genuine passion, in the modern poetry of France, died by the guillotine, July 27, 1794. In ascending the scaffold, he cried, 'To die so young!' 'And there was something here!' he added, striking his forehead, not in the fear of death, but the despair of genius!"—See Thiers, vol. iv. p. 83.</p><p><br /></p><p>An 1852 article in the Irish Quarterly Review, "Poets of Yesterday and To-Day", also attributes the same quotation to "Thiers" when discussing the poetry of Edward Bulwer Lytton, and makes clear with italics the words spoken by Chenier:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]448467[/ATTACH]</p><p><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Irish_Quarterly_Review/l4sEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22whatever+is+truest+to+nature+and+genuine+passion%22&pg=PA486&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Irish_Quarterly_Review/l4sEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22whatever+is+truest+to+nature+and+genuine+passion%22&pg=PA486&printsec=frontcover" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Irish_Quarterly_Review/l4sEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq="whatever+is+truest+to+nature+and+genuine+passion"&pg=PA486&printsec=frontcover</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The "Thiers" mentioned in the Irish Quarterly Review article and by Lytton probably refers to Marie Joseph Louis Adolph Thiers , who wrote "Histoire de la Revolution Francaise" and "Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire", both published in 1845.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have not been able to pin down where the phrase appears in Thiers's works, perhaps because of translation issues. The only mention of Chenier I could find in "Histoire de la Revolution Francaise" is:</p><p><br /></p><p>"Dans le nombre étaient deux poëtes célèbres , Roucher , l'auteur des Mois , et le jeune Mort de Roucher André Chénier , qui laissa d'admirables ébauches et que la France regrettera autant que tous ces jeunes hommes de génie , orateurs" ...</p><p><br /></p><p>(translation: Among the number were two famous poets, Roucher, the author of Les Mois, and the young Mort de Roucher André Chénier, who left admirable sketches and which France will miss as much as all these young men of genius, orators)...</p><p><br /></p><p>(searching with google Advanced Book Search for Author: Adolph Thiers and Exact Phrase: Andre Chenier)</p><p><br /></p><p>What does all this mean? I have no idea.......</p><p>I imagine Edward Bulwer Lytton would be the most widely known source for the quotation, even though it may have originated with Thiers. On the other hand, a German artist (19th or 20th century) may have studied the French Revolution and read Thiers's work. Either way, the sentiment is clearly associated with Andre Chenier.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="2manybooks, post: 9499275, member: 8267"]It seems that the phrase "despair of genius" was not directly attributed to Chenier. Curiously, it appears in an article titled "Death Scenes of Remarkable Persons" published in "Tegg's Magazine of Knowledge and Amusement" in 1844, by "the author of 'Is It Peace?' and 'Nature Our Teacher' ". Note that the quotation marks are around "To die so young - and there was something here" - [ATTACH=full]448466[/ATTACH] [URL='https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tegg_s_magazine_of_knowledge_and_amuseme/vXUEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Chenier+%22to+die+so+young%22&pg=PA92&printsec=frontcover']https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tegg_s_magazine_of_knowledge_and_amuseme/vXUEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Chenier+"to+die+so+young"&pg=PA92&printsec=frontcover[/URL] I have not been able to identify the author of "Death Scenes of Remarkable People", but it may have been Edward Bulwer Lytton. He uses the same phrase in an introductory passage to his poem "Andre Chenier: Farewell to the Beautiful, Within", part of his series "Narrative Lyrics, or the Parcae: In Six Leaves from the Sibyl's Book". The series includes one titled: "Napoleon at Isola Bella", and the one immediately preceding the one on Chenier is titled: "Mazarin: Farewell to the Beautiful, Without". The poems are included in an 1860 edition of "The Poetical Works of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton", but were probably written earlier: [URL]https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34298/34298-h/34298-h.htm#NARRATIVE_LYRICS[/URL] [SIZE=4]Each of the poems in the series is prefaced with a brief introductory passage, most including quotations and references to Bulwer's sources. In the case of the Chenier entry, there are double quotes at the beginning and end of the passage, and single quotes (indicating a quote within a quote) only around the phrases 'To die so young' and 'And there was something here!' , and the citation notice points to "Thiers" - [/SIZE] [CENTER][SIZE=4]The Parcæ.—Leaf the Third.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]ANDRÉ CHÉNIER. FAREWELL TO THE BEAUTIFUL, WITHIN.[/SIZE][/CENTER] "André Chénier, the original of whatever is truest to nature and genuine passion, in the modern poetry of France, died by the guillotine, July 27, 1794. In ascending the scaffold, he cried, 'To die so young!' 'And there was something here!' he added, striking his forehead, not in the fear of death, but the despair of genius!"—See Thiers, vol. iv. p. 83. An 1852 article in the Irish Quarterly Review, "Poets of Yesterday and To-Day", also attributes the same quotation to "Thiers" when discussing the poetry of Edward Bulwer Lytton, and makes clear with italics the words spoken by Chenier: [ATTACH=full]448467[/ATTACH] [URL='https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Irish_Quarterly_Review/l4sEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22whatever+is+truest+to+nature+and+genuine+passion%22&pg=PA486&printsec=frontcover']https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Irish_Quarterly_Review/l4sEAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq="whatever+is+truest+to+nature+and+genuine+passion"&pg=PA486&printsec=frontcover[/URL] The "Thiers" mentioned in the Irish Quarterly Review article and by Lytton probably refers to Marie Joseph Louis Adolph Thiers , who wrote "Histoire de la Revolution Francaise" and "Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire", both published in 1845. I have not been able to pin down where the phrase appears in Thiers's works, perhaps because of translation issues. The only mention of Chenier I could find in "Histoire de la Revolution Francaise" is: "Dans le nombre étaient deux poëtes célèbres , Roucher , l'auteur des Mois , et le jeune Mort de Roucher André Chénier , qui laissa d'admirables ébauches et que la France regrettera autant que tous ces jeunes hommes de génie , orateurs" ... (translation: Among the number were two famous poets, Roucher, the author of Les Mois, and the young Mort de Roucher André Chénier, who left admirable sketches and which France will miss as much as all these young men of genius, orators)... (searching with google Advanced Book Search for Author: Adolph Thiers and Exact Phrase: Andre Chenier) What does all this mean? I have no idea....... I imagine Edward Bulwer Lytton would be the most widely known source for the quotation, even though it may have originated with Thiers. On the other hand, a German artist (19th or 20th century) may have studied the French Revolution and read Thiers's work. Either way, the sentiment is clearly associated with Andre Chenier.[/QUOTE]
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