Villon is one of the first great French lyric poets and one of the greatest French poets of any age. His "testaments" are mock wills, written in a racy blend of French and underworld slang. Scattered here and there among the ironic items of bequest are exquisite ballads and lyrics, some crystallizing classic themes of medieval literature. Villon's poetry uses traditional forms to create a powerful poetic personality during a period in which poetic individualism was rare. Indeed, his exquisite "Ballad of the Hanged Men" ("Ballade des Pendus") (1489) offers one of the most immediate depictions of death in Western poetry. Moreover, his dissolute life, lived among thieves and prostitutes, makes him a prototype of later decadent or bohemian poets. He was at various times arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and nearly put to death; his final sentence was commuted to exile by King Louis XI on accession to the throne, when he declared amnesties of all sorts, according to the usual practice of the time. It is not known how Villon spent his last years, after his release from prison. Villon's poetry has been translated by Rossetti (see Vol. 1), Synge (see Vol. 1), and Swinburne (see Vol. 1).
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