The French poet François Villon (1431-ca. 1463), the greatest writer of 15th-century France, was the first creative, modern French lyric poet. His work is remarkable for its rare inspiration and sincerity.

François Villon, whose real name was François de Montcorbier or François des Loges, was born in 1431, the year Joan of Arc was burned at Rouen. English soldiers still occupied Paris. It was an era of social troubles and manifold evils, partly accounting for the vast output of mediocre literature aimed at general edification and filled with lugubrious didacticism. One mystery play popular in France at the time contains 60,000 lines, but the two literary highlights of the period are short: the Pathelin, a farce of some 2,000 lines, and the poems of Villon, which total about 3,000 lines.

François was born into a poor family. His mother was pious but illiterate...