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| Painting of Mr Peirre Corneille |
“Do your duty, and leave the outcome to the God.”
—PIERRE CORNEILLE, 17th-century French playwright
25 “So my counsel is: Don’t worry about things—food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body—and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. .. 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]
Gospel of Matthew vi. 24-27 The Living Bible
Biography
Pierre Corneille was born into a well-to-do, middle-class Norman family. His grandfather, father, and an uncle were all lawyers; another uncle and a brother entered the church; his younger brother, Thomas, became a well-known poet and popular playwright.
Pierre was educated at the Jesuit school in his hometown, won two prizes for Latin verse composition, and became a licentiate in law. From 1628 to 1650 he held the position of king’s counselor in the local office of the department of waterways and forests.
Plays.
Le Cid(published 1637); Horace(1641); Cinna, ou La Clemence d’Auguste(1643); Polyeucte martyr(1643); La Mort de Pompée(1644)—all in English in The Chief Plays of Corneille,trans. by Lacy Lockert, 2nd ed. (1957). (I recommend Le Cid, click here to get all or one of his works.)
In my anguish... 