BOUCHOR

bouchor, maurice (1855- ), french poet, was born on the 15th of december 1855 in paris. he published in succession _chansons joyeuses_ (1874), _poemes de l'amour et de la mer_ (1875), _le faust moderne_ (1878) in prose and verse, and _les contes parisiens_ (1880) in verse. his _aurore_ (1883) showed a tendency to religious mysticism, which reached its fullest expression in _les symboles_ (1888; new series, 1895), the most interesting of his works. bouchor (whose brother, joseph felix bouchor, b. 1853, became well known as an artist) was a sculptor as well as a poet, and he designed and worked the figures used in his charming pieces as marionettes, the words being recited or chanted by himself or his friends behind the scenes. these miniature dramas on religious subjects, _tobie_ (1889), _noel_ (1890) and _sainte cecile_ (1892), were produced in paris at the theatre des marionnettes. a one-act verse drama by bouchor, conte de noel, was played at the theatre francais in 1895, but _dieu le veut_ (1888) was not produced. in conjunction with the musician julien tiersot (b. 1857), he made efforts for the preservation of the french folk-songs, and published _chants populaires pour les ecoles_ (1897).