Henri Cazalis (; 9 March 1840,

Cormeilles-en-Parisis Cormeilles-en-Parisis (, literally ''Cormeilles in Parisis'') is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in Northern France. Inhabitants are called ''Cormeillais(e)''. Neighbouring communes * Argenteuil * La Frette-sur-Seine ...

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.

– 1 July 1909,

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

) was a French

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who was a symbolist

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and man of letters and wrote under the pseudonyms of Jean Caselli and Jean Lahor. His works include: *''Chants populaires de l'Italie'' (1865) *''Vita tristis, Reveries fantastiques, Romances sans musique'' (1865) *''Melancholia'' (1868) *''Le Livre du néant'' (1872) *''Henry Regnault, sa vie et son œuvre'' (1872) *''L'Illusion'' (1875-1893) *''Cantique des cantiques'' (1885) *''Les Quatrains d'Al-Gazali'' (1896) *''

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

'' (1897). The author of the ''Livre du néant'' had a predilection for gloomy subjects and especially for pictures of death. His oriental habits of thought earned for him the title of the ''Hindou du Parnasse contemporain'' (cf. ''

Le Parnasse contemporain Le Parnasse contemporain ("The Contemporary Parnassus", e.g., the contemporary poetry scene) is composed of three volumes of poetry collections, published in 1866, 1871 and 1876 by the editor Alphonse Lemerre, which included a hundred French poets ...

''). Some of his poems have been set to music by Camille Saint-Saëns, Henri Duparc,

Charles Bordes Anne-Marie Charles Bordes-Bonjean (12 May 1863 – 8 November 1909) was a French music teacher and composer. Timeline Bordes was born in La Roche-Corbon, Indre-et-Loire. He studied pianoforte with Antoine François Marmontel and composition wit ...

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of ...

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – '' mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas ...

, Edouard Trémisot and

Paul Paray Paul Marie-Adolphe Charles Paray () (24 May 1886 – 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. He was the resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1952 until 1963. Early life and education Paul Paray was ...

. He also maintained a correspondence of interest with the poet Stéphane Mallarmé from 1862 to 1871. See a notice by

Paul Bourget Paul Charles Joseph Bourget (; 2 September 185225 December 1935) was a French poet, novelist and critic. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Life Paul Bourget was born in Amiens in the Somme ''département'' of Picar ...

in ''Anthologie des poétes fr. du XIXieme siècle'' (1887-1888);

Jules Lemaître François Élie Jules Lemaître (27 April 1853 – 4 August 1914) was a French critic and dramatist. Biography Lemaître was born in Vennecy, Loiret. He became a professor at the University of Grenoble in 1883, but was already well known for his ...

, ''Les Contemporains'' (1889);

Émile Faguet Auguste Émile Faguet (; 17 December 18477 June 1916) was a French author and literary critic. Biography Faguet was born at La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée, and educated at the École normale supérieure in Paris. After teaching for some time in La R ...

in the ''Revue bleue'' (October 1893).

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...

's ''Poetry and Religion'' (1900) has an essay on his concept of ''La gloire du néant''.

Danse Macabre

Saint-Saëns'

Danse Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...

(Dance of Death) is based on this poem written by Henri Cazalis. Zig, zig, zig, Death in cadence, Striking with his heel a tomb, Death at midnight plays a dance-tune, Zig, zig, zig, on his violin. The winter wind blows and the night is dark; Moans are heard in the linden-trees. Through the gloom, white skeletons pass, Running and leaping in their shrouds. Zig, zig, zig, each one is frisking. The bones of the dancers are heard to crack- But hist! of a sudden they quit the round, They push forward, they fly; the cock has crowed.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cazalis, Henri 1840 births 1909 deaths People from Cormeilles-en-Parisis French poets 19th-century French writers French male poets French medical writers 19th-century poets 19th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers