François Villon

François Villon (ca.1431 - ca.1474) was a French poet, thief, and general vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison. It has been claimed that the villanelle is named after him, although few scholars today defend that theory. His question, "Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?", translated by Algernon Charles Swinburne as "Where are the snows of yesteryear?", is one of the most famous non-biblical lines of translated poetry in the English-speaking world.

Reference

• The introduction and "Life" section of this article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please update as needed.