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Selected Poems
'Live now and listen, do not wait in vain
Until tomorrow; pluck life's rose today.'
Joachim du Bellay and Pierre de Ronsard are two of the major sixteenth-century French poets and leaders of the extraordinary group known as 'La Pléiade'. Determined to create a national vernacular literature, the Pléiade poets profited from an intense study of Greek and Roman models and from a creative use of classical mythology to produce a body of verse that reflects the vigour and variety of European Renaissance culture. Du Bellay broke new ground with the gritty realism and resentment of the Regrets and with his meditation in the Antiquities on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. In a series of sonnet sequences (Cassandre, Marie, Astrée, Hélène) Ronsard developed the Petrarchan tradition of love poetry with a wider range of situations, a richer imagery, and more robust sensuality. His reputation as France's greatest love-poet should not, however, obscure his excellence in an astonishing variety of forms and genres such as elegies, odes, philosophical hymns, and religious
controversy.
Anthony Mortimer's verse translations cover this many-faceted achievement in a version that functions as English poetry in its own right without departing from the letter and spirit of the original. The French text is given on facing pages and a useful appendix contains extracts from seminal manifestos by the two poets. A critical introduction, a glossary of names and places, and abundant notes encourage the reader to place the poems in their social and cultural context.
ABOUT THE For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Until tomorrow; pluck life's rose today.'
Joachim du Bellay and Pierre de Ronsard are two of the major sixteenth-century French poets and leaders of the extraordinary group known as 'La Pléiade'. Determined to create a national vernacular literature, the Pléiade poets profited from an intense study of Greek and Roman models and from a creative use of classical mythology to produce a body of verse that reflects the vigour and variety of European Renaissance culture. Du Bellay broke new ground with the gritty realism and resentment of the Regrets and with his meditation in the Antiquities on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. In a series of sonnet sequences (Cassandre, Marie, Astrée, Hélène) Ronsard developed the Petrarchan tradition of love poetry with a wider range of situations, a richer imagery, and more robust sensuality. His reputation as France's greatest love-poet should not, however, obscure his excellence in an astonishing variety of forms and genres such as elegies, odes, philosophical hymns, and religious
controversy.
Anthony Mortimer's verse translations cover this many-faceted achievement in a version that functions as English poetry in its own right without departing from the letter and spirit of the original. The French text is given on facing pages and a useful appendix contains extracts from seminal manifestos by the two poets. A critical introduction, a glossary of names and places, and abundant notes encourage the reader to place the poems in their social and cultural context.
ABOUT THE For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
304 pages, Paperback
Published November 10, 2023
2 people are currently reading
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About the author
Joachim du Bellay
227 books21 followersborn perhaps 1522
Joachim du Bellay, French poet, founded a group, known as the Pléiade, and wrote sonnets, satires on literary conventions, and a manifesto of the principles.
Joachim du Bellay or Du Bellay, a critic and member, authored Defense and Illustration of the French Language . From 1553, Les Regrets , his most famous work, collects elegy and then finally encomia on the occasion of his stay in Rome to 1557.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim...
Joachim du Bellay, French poet, founded a group, known as the Pléiade, and wrote sonnets, satires on literary conventions, and a manifesto of the principles.
Joachim du Bellay or Du Bellay, a critic and member, authored Defense and Illustration of the French Language . From 1553, Les Regrets , his most famous work, collects elegy and then finally encomia on the occasion of his stay in Rome to 1557.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 1, 2025
Je vous envoie un bouquet, que ma main
Vient de trier de ces fleurs épanies,
Qui ne les eût à ce vêpre cueillies,
Chutées à terre elles fussent demain.
Cela vous soit un exemple certain
Que vos beautés, bien qu'elles soient fleuries,
En peu de temps cherront toutes flétries
Et, comme fleurs, périront tout soudain
Vient de trier de ces fleurs épanies,
Qui ne les eût à ce vêpre cueillies,
Chutées à terre elles fussent demain.
Cela vous soit un exemple certain
Que vos beautés, bien qu'elles soient fleuries,
En peu de temps cherront toutes flétries
Et, comme fleurs, périront tout soudain
November 16, 2025
As romantic and eyeroll inducing as 16th century French poetry can get. Though I did enjoy du Bellays Rome poems
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews