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La Pléiade
La Pléiade () was a group of 16th-century French Renaissance poets whose principal members were Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jean-Antoine de Baïf. The name was a reference to another literary group, the original Alexandrian Pleiad of seven Alexandrian poets and tragedians (3rd century B.C.), corresponding to the seven stars of the Pleiades star cluster. Major figures Notable members of "La Pléiade" consisted of the following people: * Pierre de Ronsard * Joachim du Bellay * Jean-Antoine de Baïf The core group of the French Renaissance "Pléiade"—Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jean-Antoine de Baïf—were young French poets who met at the Collège de Coqueret, where they studied under the famous Hellenist and Latinist scholar Jean Dorat; they were generally called the "Brigade" at the time. Ronsard was regarded as the leader of the "Brigade", and remained the most popular and well-known poet of the group. The Pléiade's "manifesto" was penned by Joach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Renaissance
The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define the artistic and cultural "rebirth" of Europe. Notable developments during the French Renaissance include the spread of humanism, early exploration of the "New World" (as New France by Giovanni da Verrazzano and Jacques Cartier); the development of new techniques and artistic forms in the fields of printing, architecture, painting, sculpture, music, the sciences and literature; and the elaboration of new codes of sociability, etiquette and discourse. The French Renaissance traditionally extends from (roughly) the French invasion of Italy in 1494 during the reign of Charles VIII until the death of Henry IV in 1610. This chronology notwithstanding, certain artistic, technological or literary developments associated with the Renaissance ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anacreon (poet)
Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ancient Ionic dialect. Like all early lyric poetry, it was composed to be sung or recited to the accompaniment of music, usually the lyre. Anacreon's poetry touched on universal themes of love, infatuation, disappointment, revelry, parties, festivals and the observations of everyday people and life. Life Anacreon was born around 582 BC at Teos, an Ionian city on the coast of Asia Minor. The name and identity of his father is a matter of dispute, with different authorities naming four possibilities: Scythianus, Eumelus, Parthenius, or Aristocritus. It is likely that Anacreon fled into exile with most of his fellow-townsmen who sailed to Thrace when their homeland was attacked by the Persians. There they founded a colony at Abdera, r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franciade (poem)
''La Franciade'' (known in English as the ''Franciad'') is an unfinished epic poem written in decasyllabic verse by Pierre de Ronsard. Ronsard began writing the poem in the 1540s for Henry II of France, but it was only in 1572 that the poet published, now for Charles IX, the first four books of a planned twenty-four. Various reasons have been given to explain why the poem was never finished. Obviously, the death of his dedicatee Charles IX meant that Ronsard would have to have made certain changes. Another factor might have been the verse form: Ronsard wrote in decasyllables, not alexandrines. Other reasons, too, have been put forward. More recently, it has been stated that " nyattempt to pin down why the ''Franciade'' was left unfinished, while potentially interesting, is probably futile" and that "we must read it despite he fact it is unfinished not as a fragment of what might have been, but as a text in its own right". Plot The poem begins in Epirus, where its hero Francus is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history. Homer's ''Iliad'' centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The ''Odyssey'' chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epic Poetry
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. Etymology The English word ''epic'' comes from Latin ''epicus'', which itself comes from the Ancient Greek adjective (''epikos''), from (''epos''), "word, story, poem." In ancient Greek, 'epic' could refer to all poetry in dactylic hexameter (''epea''), which included not only Homer but also the wisdom poetry of Hesiod, the utterances of the Delphic oracle, and the strange theological verses attributed to Orpheus. Later tradition, however, has restricted the term 'epic' to ''heroic epic'', as described in this article. Overview Originating before the invention of writing, primary epics, such as those of Homer, were composed by bards who used complex rhetorical and metrical schemes by which they could memorize the epic as received i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carpe Diem
is a Latin aphorism, usually translated "seize the day", taken from book 1 of the Roman poet Horace's work ''Odes'' (23 BC). Translation is the second-person singular present active imperative of '' carpō'' "pick or pluck" used by Horace to mean "enjoy, seize, use, make use of". ''Diem'' is the accusative of '' dies'' "day". A more literal translation of would thus be "pluck the day s it is ripe—that is, enjoy the moment. It has been argued by various authors that this interpretation is closer to Horace's original meaning. History Sources Text from ''Odes'' 1.11: In ancient literature Perhaps the first written expression of the concept is the advice given by Siduri to Gilgamesh, telling him to forgo his mourning and embrace life, although some scholars see it as simply urging Gilgamesh to abandon his mourning, "reversing the liminal rituals of mourning and returning to the normal and normative behaviors of Mesopotamian society." Meaning In Horace, the phrase is par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonnet Cycle
A sonnet cycle or sonnet sequence is a group of sonnets, arranged to address a particular person or theme, and designed to be read both as a collection of fully realized individual poems and as a single poetic work comprising all the individual sonnets. A sonnet cycle may have any theme, but unrequited love is the most common. The arrangement of the sonnets generally reflects thematic concerns, with chronological arrangements (whether linear, like a progression, or cyclical, like the seasons) being the most common. A sonnet cycle may also have allegorical or argumentative structures which replace or complement chronology. While the thematic arrangement may reflect the unfolding of real or fictional events, the sonnet cycle is very rarely narrative; the narrative elements may be inferred, but provide background structure, and are never the primary concern of the poet's art. Notable sonnet cycles have been written by France Prešeren, Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Pierre de Ronsard, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture. Melete, Aoede, and Mneme are the original Boeotian Muses, and Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania are the nine Olympian Muses. In modern figurative usage, a Muse may be a source of artistic inspiration. Etymology The word ''Muses'' ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai) perhaps came from the o-grade of the Proto-Indo-European root (the basic meaning of which is 'put in mind' in verb formations with transitive function and 'have in mind' in those with intransitive function), or from root ('to tower, mountain') since all the most important cult-centres of the Muses were on mountains or hills. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontus De Tyard
Pontus de Tyard (also Thyard, Thiard) (c. 1521 – 23 September 1605) was a French poet and priest, a member of "La Pléiade". Life He was born at Bissy-sur-Fley in Burgundy, of which he was ''seigneur'', but the exact year of his birth is uncertain. He became a friend of Antoine Héroet and Maurice Scève. His first published work, ''Erreurs amoureuses'' 1549, was augmented with other poems in successive editions till 1573. His work anticipated that of Pierre de Ronsard and Joachim du Bellay. He was one of the first to write sonnets in the French language (preceded by Clément Marot and Mellin de Saint-Gelais). He is also said to have introduced the ''sestina'', originally a Provençal invention, into French poetry. Tyard contributed to the poetic and metaphysical program of La Pléiade by elaborating, in his ''Solitaire Premier, ou Prose des Muses, et de la fureur poétique'' (1552), a full theory of divine fury, derived in large part from the Latin translations and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vernacular Literature
Vernacular literature is literature written in the vernacular—the speech of the "common people". In the European tradition, this effectively means literature not written in Latin nor Koine Greek. In this context, vernacular literature appeared during the Middle Ages at different periods in the various countries; the earliest European vernacular literatures are Irish literature (the earliest being Tochmarc Emire (10th century), transcribed from a lost manuscript of the 8th century), Welsh literature, English literature and Gothic literature. The Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in his ''De vulgari eloquentia'', was possibly the first European writer to argue cogently for the promotion of literature in the vernacular. Important early vernacular works include Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', Giovanni Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' (both in Italian), John Barbour's ''The Brus'' (in Scots), Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'' (in Middle English) and Jacob van Maerlant's ''Spieghel Histori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists.Quint. ''Inst.'' 10.1.93 Although Ovid enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime, the emperor Augustus banished him to Tomis, a Dacian province on the Black Sea, where he remained a decade until his death. Overview A contemporary of the older poets Virgil and Horace, Ovid was the first major Roman poet to begin his career during Augustus's reign. Collectively, they are considered the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian described Ovid as the last of the Latin love elegists.Quint. ''Inst.'' 10.1.93 He enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime, but the emperor Augus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ''Odes'' as just about the only Latin lyrics worth reading: "He can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words."Quintilian 10.1.96. The only other lyrical poet Quintilian thought comparable with Horace was the now obscure poet/metrical theorist, Caesius Bassus (R. Tarrant, ''Ancient Receptions of Horace'', 280) Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses (''Satires'' and '' Epistles'') and caustic iambic poetry ('' Epodes''). The hexameters are amusing yet serious works, friendly in tone, leading the ancient satirist Persius to comment: "as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about the heartstrin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_-_Homer_and_his_Guide_(1874).jpg "Click for more on -> Homer")
