Henri Cazalis Biography | Poet

CAZALIS, HENRI (1840-1909), French poet and man of letters, was born at Cormeilles-en-Parisis (Seine-et-Oise) in 1840. He wrote under the pseudonyms of Jean Caselli and Jean Lahor. His works include: Chants populaires de l’Italie (1865); Vita tristis, Réveries fantastiques, Romances sans musique (1865); Le Livre du néant (1872); Henry Regnault, sa vie et son oeuvre (1872); L’Illusion (1875-1893); Melancholia (1878); Cantique des cantiques (1885); Les Quatrains d’Al-Gazali (1896); William Morris (1897). The author of the Livre du néant has 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.” He died in July 1909.