La Comédie de la mort

by Théophile Gautier

"La Comédie de la mort" by Théophile Gautier is a poetry collection published in 1838. This Romantic masterpiece explores the diverse aspects of death through three major sections. Influenced by Shakespeare, Goethe, and Dante's Divine Comedy, Gautier takes a young dead woman as his guide—representing beauty and his theory of art for art's sake. Six poems from this collection were set to music by Hector Berlioz in his famous song cycle "Les Nuits d'été."