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Albert Victor Samain (3 April 1858 – 18 August 1900) was aFrench poet and writer of theSymbolist school.
Born inLille, his family wereFlemish and had long lived in the town or its suburbs. At the time of the poet's birth, his father, Jean-Baptiste Samain, and his mother, Elisa-Henriette Mouquet, conducted a business in "wines and spirits" at 75 rue de Paris.[1] Samain's father died when he was quite young; it was necessary for him to leave school and seek a trade. He moved toParis in around 1880, where his poetry won him a following and he began mixing withavant-gardeliterary society, and began publicly reciting his poems atLe Chat Noir. His poems were strongly influenced by those ofBaudelaire, and began to strike a somewhat morbid andelegiac tone. He also was influenced byVerlaine; his works disclose a taste for indecisive, vague imagery. Samain helped found theMercure de France, and also worked on theRevue des Deux Mondes.
Samain published three volumes of verse:Au Jardin de l'Infante (1893), which made him famous;Aux flancs du vase (1898) andLe Chariot d'or (1901). His poetic dramaPolyphème was set to music byJean Cras. Samain died oftuberculosis.
Many composers set Samain's poetry to music, includingLili Boulanger,Nadia Boulanger,Alfredo Casella,Édouard Devernay,George Enescu,Gabriel Fauré,Swan Hennessy,Charles Koechlin,Jacques Leguerney,Adela Maddison,Georges Migot,Paul Paray,Ottorino Respighi,Adrien Rougier,Camille Saint-Saëns,Alice Sauvrezis,Marcelle Soulage, and others.
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