Alfred de Musset was born in December of 1810, in Paris, France.  At the age of seventeen, in 1827, he recieved first place in an open competition of French essay, vowing to dedicate himself to the theatre, stating "I want to be Shakespeare or Schiller." Two years later, he published his first poetic collection, entitled Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie ( Contes of Spain and Italy).  This first publication recieved much praise, and made him an immediate success.

In 1830, spurned by the failure of his second collection, La Nuit Vénitienne (The Venetian Night), Musset distanced himself from the literary scene.  He returned two years later, after the death of his father from cholera, with the publication of A quoi rêvent les jeunes filles (With What the Girls Dream).



The following year, in 1833, Musset began a brief relationship with novelist George Sand, and the pair fled to Venice, Italy, where Musset soon became taken with illness and supposed madness.  He spent weeks in bed, and began to have a series of rather vivid hallucinations.  When Musset regained his strength, he ended the relationship with Sand, returning to Paris.



Between the years of 1834 and 1839, Musset continued to publish volumes of poetry, including Fantasio, Night of May, and Night of December. In 1836, Musset published an autobiographical novel, Confession d'un enfant du siècle. In 1839, his health began to wane, and he started to sink deeper into a depressive state, and spent less time writing. Around this time, he was named librarian with the Ministry of the Interior, which gave him the opportunity for a comfortable lifestyle.  



1840 saw the publication of Musset's Complete Works in two volumes, and his writing from this time until 1847 became sporadic.  It was in that year that Musset finally started to become a dramatic author, fulfilling his earlier prophecy of being in the theatre.  In 1848, he lost his title of librarian.



In 1852, Musset met Louise Colet, and they shared a short lived romance.  In this time, he dedicated a poem to Colet, professing his undeniable love to her.  It is presumed that Musset told Colet of his relationship with George Sand, for following Musset's death, Colet published the novel Lui, which used the romance as it's framework.



Alfred de Musset died on May 2, 1857 in Paris.  His years of illness and depression, as well as heartbreak, had finally taken their toll on him.  Few turned out for his funeral, and he is buried, according to his wishes, in the shade of a willow tree.



bibliographical information from alalettre.com   and wam.umd.edu