Musset, Louis Charles Alfred de

mu-sa', Louis Charles Alfred de (1810-1857), a celebrated French poet. His father was a man of letters, and the son grew up with a strong taste for literature. He tried various professions, but decided at last to devote himself to a literary life. His first volume of poems, Tales of Spain and Italy, was published in 1830. Musset was the author of many poems, some of them ranking among the finest in the French language. He also wrote novels and several dramatic works. Irregular and dissolute living destroyed his health. He became morbid and melancholy. The autobiographic novel, Confession d'un Enfant du Siecle, contains the analysis of a diseased mind.