MENDS, CATULLE

born May 22, 1841, Bordeaux, Fr. died Feb. 9, 1909, Paris prolific French poet, playwright, and novelist, most noted for his association with the Parnassians, a group of French poets who advocated a controlled, formal art for art's sake in reaction to the formlessness of Romanticism. A banker's son, Mends founded in Paris La Revue fantaisiste (1861), which became a vehicle for the late works of Thophile Gautier (whose daughter Mends married) and such poets as Charles Baudelaire and Villiers de L'Isle-Adam. Mends edited Le Parnasse contemporain (1866, 1871, 1876; The Contemporary Parnassians), which named their movement, and he became their historian in La Lgende du Parnasse contemporain. He also encouraged members of a younger generation of poets who were to found the important Symbolist movement. Mends' Posies (1892) and Posies nouvelles (1893) imitate many other poets, and it is difficult to tell his verse from theirs. His plays Les Mres ennemies (1882; The Enemy Mothers) and La Femme de Tabarin (1887; The Woman of Tabarin) were more successful. He also wrote several novels and licentious tales, such as Pour lire au bain (Readings for the Bath). His critical work Rapport sur le mouvement potique franais de 18671900 (1902; Thoughts on the French Poetic Movement of 18671900) is still read.