Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869)
France

Sentiment is the poetry of the imagination.

De Lamartine traveled trough Italy, and spent much time to Naples, the place that most influenced his works and his life. In France, he began a political life as a diplomat (Secretary of embassy), traveling to Naples and Florence. He, as well as Victor Hugo, participated in government and politics (1848) and withdrew from public life after the coup d'état of Napoleon. The more important woman of his life was Julie Charles, and her death was constantly alluded to in his poetry. In 1820 he published "Les Méditations Poétiques," which was very much appreciated for its personal, emphatic, and confident tone. In 1830 "Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses" was a success, turned out of a spiritual inner-search that he underwent to face deeper and more ambitious topics. When "Meditations" first appeared France was shown an entirely new kind of poetry that used "cessait d'etre un jeu stérile de l'esprit pour renaître fille de l'enthousiasme et de l'inspiration". He was able to write with a great Christian love, but later in his life he became a spiritualist. However, he was a poet of rare elevation. De Lamartine was not only a lyric poet, but also wrote many novels and speeches.

Works

Graziella (1849)
Jocelyn (1836)
Méditations poétiques (1820)
Les Confidences (1852).
The Fallen of an Angel (1838)
Histoire des Girondins (1847)
Les Secondes Méditations (1823)
Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses (1830)
La Chute d'un Ange (1838)
Recueillements Poétiques (1839)
Voyage en Orient (1835)

Additional Information
Alphonse de Lamartine http://poetes.com/lamartine http://le-village.ifrance.com/Tadine/lamar01.html