Tag Archives: poetry

VILLON CHAPTER LINKS

a stranger in villonHere is my usual post-completion collection of chapter links, in this case for The Villon Legend.

PART ONE – Francois Villon, poet and outlaw, is born in 1431 into a nearly post-apocalyptic France in the wake of the Hundred Years War and the Plague. He grows up idolizing and defending the memory of the controversial Joan of Arc, who was not made a saint until 1920.

           Villon begins writing irreverent poems in his teens and through his years getting a Master’s Degree at the Sorbonne.

           After that, he falls into a career as a thief in Paris while still churning out poetry. CLICK HERE.

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THE VILLON LEGEND: SEVENTH AND FINAL PART

This is the final part of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the swashbuckling legends that surround Francois Villon (1431-1463?), remembered as one of France’s greatest poets and a notorious outlaw.

villon in swordfightFRANCOIS VILLON PART SEVEN – We pick up this time in 1460, as Villon’s roaming career as a highwayman and armed burglar among the Coquillards was fast approaching its end, though the poet seems not to have realized it. None of his poetry from 1458 and 1459 has survived, unfortunately.

Accounts vary wildly, but Francois and some of his outlaw colleagues had supposedly been taking advantage of the feud between Archbishop Thibaud d’Aussigny of Orleans and his subordinate clergy members. Prior to Villon’s fugitive status, the Archbishop might have been a figure who appealed to him. D’Aussigny was a genuine reformer whose appointment was opposed by the Pope and the King, but whose political allies had maneuvered him into position despite all that. Continue reading

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THE VILLON LEGEND: PART SIX

This is the sixth part of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the swashbuckling legends that surround Francois Villon (1431-1463?), remembered as one of France’s greatest poets and a notorious outlaw.

villon portrayedFRANCOIS VILLON PART SIX – We pick up at the point in 1457 when the fugitive outlaw Villon found a warm and unexpected welcome in the court of Rene, Duke of Anjou. This figure was also known as “Good King Rene” because technically the crown of the Kingdom of Sicily was part of his royal inheritance.

Rene was renowned for his interest in science and literature and, despite Francois Villon’s criminal notoriety, the Duke was far more interested in the poetry Villon had churned out over the years. Some of that poetry had scandalized France, but intrigued Rene to the point where his court became a sanctuary of sorts for our man.

The Duke’s castle stood on a promontory above the confluence of the Sarth, Loir (with no e) and Mayenne Rivers, near where they poured into the Loire (with an e). The path along the land outside the castle walls was known as the Promenade of the End of the World. Continue reading

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THE VILLON LEGEND: PART FIVE

This is the fifth part of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the swashbuckling legends that surround Francois Villon (1431-1463?), remembered as one of France’s greatest poets and a notorious outlaw.

ronald colman as villon againFRANCOIS VILLON PART FIVE – We left off last time with Villon on the run again, having fled Paris after the Navarre College job in which he and his fellows robbed a record amount of gold for the time period.

Formerly, despite his criminal career most of the notoriety Francois had earned was for his scandalous, irreverent poetry regarding The Powers That Be in France of his era. The December 20th, 1456 Navarre caper changed that. 

villon the life dissoluteFrom early 1457 and for a few years more, Villon continued his outlaw existence in and around the French province of Anjou and the Loire River Valley. Depending on the source, Francois either officially became a member of the criminal fraternity called the Coquillards at this time or was already a member and deepened his ties to them.

Falling in with a gang of highwaymen, Villon helped prey on the carriage trade, which enhanced his underdog/ quasi-Robin Hood reputation because only the wealthy and the high-born traveled by carriage in that era. No one else could afford to.  Continue reading

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THE VILLON LEGEND PART FOUR

francois villon movie poster 1945This is the fourth part of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the swashbuckling legends that surround Francois Villon (1431-1463?), remembered as one of France’s greatest poets and a notorious outlaw.

FRANCOIS VILLON PART FOUR – We left off last time with Villon back in Paris, where, in December of 1456, he gathered nine criminal colleagues for one of the most well-known thefts of his life.

Among those in Francois’ ad hoc gang were the usual names like Guy Tabary and Colin de Cayeux as well as a new name, Father Nicolas, the inside man for this robbery. Continue reading

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THE VILLON LEGEND PART THREE

This is the third part of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the swashbuckling legends that surround Francois Villon (1431-1463?), remembered as one of France’s greatest poets and a notorious outlaw.

je francois villonFRANCOIS VILLON PART THREE – We left off last time with Villon forced to flee Paris after killing the priest Sermoise in a duel over a woman named Isabeau. Already well-versed in the criminal underworld of the region from his career as a thief, Francois hid out just 17 miles southwest of Paris at the Abbey of Port Royal-des-Champs.

In that June of 1455 the abbey was often called “l,abesse de Pourras (rotten)” because it was in the era when the infamous Abbess Huguette du Hamel ran the place. Typical of the chaotic tableau and moral ambiguity of the time, though the Abbess played the game of public piety, on the side she was as corrupt as many of her male counterparts. 

The Abbess often disguised herself as a man to enter tawdry establishments that were barred to women. She was also noted for drinking like a man and cursing like a man.  Continue reading

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THE VILLON LEGEND PART TWO

This is the second part of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the swashbuckling legends that surround Francois Villon (1431-1463?), remembered as one of France’s greatest poets.

villon coverFRANCOIS VILLON – This part picks up with one of the most infamous incidents from Villon’s career as an outlaw and iconoclast. He graduated from the Sorbonne as a Master of Arts and had acquired such a reputation for youthful rebellion and hard-drinking bad craziness that “Villonerie” had become a catch-all term for disorder and disobedience. 

Along the way Francoise had turned out a body of verse attacking and satirizing callous royalty and hypocritical religious leaders. In 1451 Villon and some of his rowdier cohorts targeted an elaborate theft as a prank against one Mademoiselle de Bruyeres, a huffy woman who led a personal crusade against every woman she believed to be a prostitute.

Recently she had harassed the honest young women who worked as linen weavers in the Marche au Fille, her paranoid mind labeling them all as sex workers based on no evidence. Villon and company sought to strike for the honor of those slandered ladies.  Continue reading

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THE VILLON LEGEND

a stranger in villonFRANCOIS VILLON (1431-1463?) – The swashbuckling legends that surround this real-life French poet have sometimes been compared to tales of Robin Hood or Dick Turpin. Like Dick Turpin, Villon really did exist, but in his case he left behind an impressive body of literary work and he is still considered one of France’s greatest poets.

However, a vast body of folklore embellishing the man’s outlaw career and romantic speculation surrounding his final fate make it difficult to separate fact from fiction. Villon’s lifetime output of poetry – much of which has been lost – went on to influence generations of artists to this very day.

The Pre-Raphaelites including Lord Byron translated the Frenchman’s works, embraced his aesthetic philosophies and circulated the tall tales and legends surrounding him. Composers like Debussy based some of their musical works on Francois’ captivating verse. 

Often called the poet of rebels, outlaws and the oppressed, Villon’s moving depiction of the suffering endured by the underclasses at the hands of uncaring royalty and corrupt religious leaders has been called “keening for the living.” Francois’ legacy as the poet who led French literature out of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance Era is undeniable, so this item will instead emphasize his swashbuckling legend. Continue reading

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CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER (1909): ALEISTER CROWLEY FOR APRIL 1st

Clouds Without WaterWhat better way to mark April Fool’s Day than by commemorating one of the wittiest and most daring of practical jokes, one perpetrated by Aleister Crowley in those brilliant years before drugs and/or self-delusion fogged his mind. Decades before the pathetic “Peekaboo Crowley” of much renown Aleister was still churning out some very enjoyable poetry – some of it brilliant. The Sword of Song and Konx Om Pax are my favorite volumes of verse by “the Laird of Boleskine” … AFTER Clouds Without Water, that is.  

Clouds Without Water was not Crowley’s only literary practical joke, of course, but the humor of it resonates to this very day, thanks mainly to the never-changing air of pious self-righteousness that afflicts most of the world’s clergy-members. And not just pious self-righteousness but a habit of condemning in the strongest language works of art which their self-limited minds clearly don’t understand.

THE JOKE: Clouds Without Water was published under one of Crowley’s pseudonyms – Reverend Charles Verey. It was circulated to various ministries and teaching colleges allegedly as a condemnation of “the type of atheism and socialism” that the young and the bohemian were embracing. Crowley – writing as Reverend Verey – wrote a foreward and a closing prayer for the volume of poetry as well as (when you know the full story) HILARIOUS footnotes expressing the kind of simplistic moral outrage that only the most narrow-minded of holy-rollers can spout.  Continue reading

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BRIANNA WRIGHT: BALLADEER’S BLOG INTERVIEWS A TALENTED YOUNG WRITER

Brianna Wright: Poet, swimmer and dramatic performer on Youtube

Brianna Wright: Poet, swimmer and dramatic performer on Youtube

Brianna Wright is a very talented and lovely young lady from the U.K. She is an inventive writer and gifted poet who has a wonderful way of giving dramatic readings of her own work on her Youtube channel. This teen of many gifts is also an excellent swimmer and is home-schooled by her parents. Brianna’s family’s dog George the Whippet was a big hit here at Balladeer’s Blog a few years back so I was thrilled to get this interview with his intriguing owner. Read on for Brianna’s blog and Youtube information. 

BALLADEER’S BLOG: Who are your favorite poets?  

BRIANNA WRIGHT: Walt Whitman, Lewis Carroll but I also read a lot of contemporary poetry.

BB: Are you still interested in operas?

BW: Yes, I am still interested in operas although I am no longer aiming to Continue reading

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