BRIZEUX

brizeux, julien auguste pelage (1803-1858), french poet, was born at lorient (morbihan) on the 12th of september 1803. he belonged to a family of irish origin, long settled in brittany, and was educated for the law, but in 1827 he produced at the theatre francais a one-act verse comedy, _racine_, in collaboration with philippe busoni. a journey to italy in company with auguste barbier made a great impression on him, and a second visit (1834) resulted in 1841 in the publication of a complete translation of the _divina commedia_ in _terza rima_. with _primel el nola_ (1852) he included poems written under italian influence, entitled _les ternaires_ (1841), but in the rustic idyl of _marie_ (1836) turned to breton country life; in _les bretons_ (1845) he found his inspiration in the folklore and legends of his native province, and in _telen-aroor_ (1844) he used the breton dialect. his _histoires poetiques_ (1855) was crowned by the french academy. his work is small in bulk, but is characterized by simplicity and sincerity. brizeux was an ardent student of the philology and archaeology of brittany, and had collected materials for a dictionary of breton place-names he died at montpellier on the 3rd of may 1858. his _oeuvres completes_ (2 vols., 1860) were edited with a notice of the author by saint-rene taillandier. another edition appeared in 1880-1884 (4 vols.). a long list of articles on his work may be consulted in an exhaustive monograph, _brizeux; sa vie et ses oeuvres_ (1898), by the abbe c. lecigne.