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''Le Testament'' is a collection of poetry composed in 1461 by
The 2,023 lines of the ''Testament'' are marked by the immediate prospect of death by hanging and frequently describe other forms of misery and death. It mixes reflections on the passing of time, bitter derision, invective, and religious fervor. This mixed tone of tragic sincerity stands in contrast to the other poets of the time.
In one of these poems, '' Ballade des dames du temps jadis'' ("Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past"), each stanza and the concluding ''
Complete works
at Project Gutenberg
François Villon: Poems
translated by David Georgi {{DEFAULTSORT:Testament French poetry collections French poems Medieval literature 15th century in France 15th-century poems Poetry by François Villon
François Villon
François Villon (Modern French: , ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these ex ...
. ''Le Testament'', comprising over twenty essentially independent poems in octosyllabic verse The octosyllable or octosyllabic verse is a line of verse with eight syllables. It is equivalent to tetrameter verse in trochees in languages with a stress accent. Its first occurrence is in a 10th-century Old French saint's legend, the '' Vie de ...
, consists of a series of fixed-form poems, namely 16 ballades and three rondeaux,* and is recognized as a gem of medieval literature.
Analysis
The 2,023 lines of the ''Testament'' are marked by the immediate prospect of death by hanging and frequently describe other forms of misery and death. It mixes reflections on the passing of time, bitter derision, invective, and religious fervor. This mixed tone of tragic sincerity stands in contrast to the other poets of the time.
In one of these poems, '' Ballade des dames du temps jadis'' ("Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past"), each stanza and the concluding ''envoi
Envoi or envoy in poetry is used to describe:
* A short stanza at the end of a poem such as a ballad, used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem.
* A dedicatory poem about sending the book o ...
'' asks after the fate of various celebrated women, including Héloise and Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...
, and ends with the same semi-ironic question:
This same "''Ballade des dames du temps jadis''" was famously translated into English in 1870 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
as "Ballade of Dead Ladies". Rossetti translated the refrain as "But where are the snows of yester-year?"
Poems
Poems included in ''Le Testament'' are: * Ballade des dames du temps jadis (1458–59) (see also main article: Ballade des dames du temps jadis) * Ballade des seigneurs du temps jadis * Ballade en vieux language françois * Les regrets de la belle Heaulmiere * Ballade de la Belle Heaulmière aux filles de joie * Double ballade sur le mesme propos * Ballade pour prier Nostre Dame * Ballade à s'amie * Lay ou rondeau * Ballade pour Jean Cotart * Ballade pour Robert d'Estouteville * Ballade des langues ennuieuses * Les Contredits de Franc Gontier * Ballade des femmes de Paris * Ballade de la Grosse Margot * Belle leçon aux enfants perdus * Ballade de bonne doctrine * Rondeau ou bergeronnette * Épitaphe * Rondeau * Ballade de conclusionSee also
*Ballade des pendus
The ''Ballade des pendus'', literally "ballad of the hanged", also known as ''Epitaphe Villon'' or ''Frères humains'', is the best-known poem by François Villon. It is commonly acknowledged, although not clearly established, that Villon wrote it ...
* Poetical testament
Poetical testament is a poem genre, somewhat similar to a brief autobiography or last will in verse, in which the poet usually conveys his or her ideologies and beliefs, as well as wishes and hopes.
The oldest poetical testament was "Non omnis m ...
* Neuss Testament
Wolfgang Neuss (3 December 1923 – 5 May 1989) was a German actor and Kabarett artist. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he also became famous for his political engagement, first for the SPD, then for the extra-parliamentary opposition, ''APO''. H ...
*
*
References
External links
Complete works
at Project Gutenberg
François Villon: Poems
translated by David Georgi {{DEFAULTSORT:Testament French poetry collections French poems Medieval literature 15th century in France 15th-century poems Poetry by François Villon