I – Cassandre

Les Amours de Ronsard – Premier Livre

Les Amours de Cassandre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ronsard and Cassandre     

 

download PDF – – – Amours de Cassandre

 

 

Ronsard’s first book of sonnets dates from his earliest, ‘rebellious’ period when he was boldly seeking to create something new in French poetry. Although he had turned away from Odes, following the failure of the 1550 set to make him indisputably the first French poet, his first sonnets are still full of neologisms, of Italianate references to Petrarchan models and language, of elaborate metaphors, of recherché classical references … Within a couple of years, annotated editions were in print, with elaborate commentaries from his friends Muret and Belleau, explaining all this complex stuff so that ordinary folk could read his poems as well as the learned. What Ronsard thought, either of the need to explain his poems, or of the objective of making them more ‘popular’, is not clear: though we can observe that his second book adopted a much lighter, less learned style; and that he clearly sought after and enjoyed fame and its perquisites!

 

 

	Sonet à son livre Voeu
Sonnet 1 (& here) Sonnet 2 (& here) Sonnet 3 Sonnet 4 Sonnet 5 Sonnet 6 Sonnet 7 Sonnet 8 Sonnet 9 Sonnet 10	Sonnet 11 Sonnet 12 Sonnet 13 Sonnet 14 Sonnet 15 Sonnet 16 Sonnet 17 Sonnet 18 Sonnet 19 Sonnet 20	Sonnet 21 Sonnet 22 Sonnet 23 Sonnet 24 Sonnet 25 Sonnet 26 Sonnet 27 Sonnet 28 Sonnet 29 Sonnet 30
Sonnet 31 Sonnet 32 Sonnet 33 Sonnet 34 Sonnet 35 Sonnet 36 Sonnet 37 Sonnet 38 Sonnet 39 Sonnet 40	Sonnet 41 Sonnet 42 Sonnet 43 Sonnet 44 Sonnet 45 Sonnet 46 Sonnet 47 Sonnet 48 Sonnet 49 Sonnet 50	Sonnet 51 Sonnet 52 Sonnet 53 Sonnet 54 Sonnet 55 Sonnet 56 Sonnet 57 Sonnet 58 Sonnet 59 Sonnet 60
Sonnet 61 Sonnet 62 Sonnet 63 Sonnet 64 Sonnet 65 Sonnet 66 Sonnet 67 Sonnet 68 Sonnet 69 Sonnet 70	Sonnet 71 Sonnet 72 Sonnet 73 Sonnet 74 Sonnet 75 Sonnet 76 Sonnet 77 Sonnet 78 Sonnet 79 Sonnet 80	Sonnet 81 Sonnet 82 Sonnet 83 Sonnet 84 Sonnet 85 Sonnet 86 Sonnet 87 Sonnet 88 Sonnet 89 Sonnet 90
Sonnet 91 Sonnet 92 Sonnet 93 Sonnet 94 Sonnet 95 Sonnet 96 Sonnet 97 Sonnet 98 Sonnet 99 Sonnet 100	Sonnet 101 Sonnet 102 Sonnet 103 Sonnet 104 Sonnet 105 Sonnet 106 Sonnet 107 Sonnet 108 Sonnet 109 Sonnet 110	Sonnet 111 Sonnet 112 Sonnet 113 Sonnet 114 Sonnet 115 Sonnet 116 Sonnet 117 Sonnet 118 Sonnet 119 Sonnet 120
Sonnet 121 Sonnet 122 Sonnet 123 Sonnet 124 Sonnet 125 Sonnet 126 Sonnet 127 Sonnet 128 Sonnet 129 Sonnet 130	Sonnet 131 Sonnet 132 Sonnet 133 Sonnet 134 Sonnet 135 Stances  (135a) Sonnet 136 Sonnet 137 Sonnet 138 Sonnet 139 Sonnet 140	Sonnet 141 Sonnet 142 Sonnet 143 Sonnet 144 Sonnet 145 Sonnet 146 Chanson  (146a) Sonnet 147 Sonnet 148 Sonnet 149 Sonnet 150
Sonnet 151 Sonnet 152 Sonnet 153 Sonnet 154 Sonnet 155 Sonnet 156 Sonnet 157 Sonnet 158 Sonnet 159 Sonnet 160 Madrigal  (160a)	Sonnet 161 Sonnet 162 Sonnet 163 Sonnet 164 Sonnet 165 Sonnet 166 Sonnet 167 Sonnet 168 Sonnet 169 Sonnet 170	Sonnet 171 Sonnet 172 Sonnet 173 Sonnet 174 Sonnet 175 Sonnet 176 Sonnet 177 Sonnet 178 Sonnet 179 Sonnet 180
Sonnet 181 Sonnet 182 Sonnet 183 Sonnet 184 Sonnet 185 Sonnet 186 Sonnet 187 Sonnet 188 Sonnet 189 Sonnet 190	Sonnet 191 Sonnet 192 Sonnet 193 Sonnet 194 Sonnet 195 Sonnet 196 Sonnet 197 Sonnet 198 Sonnet 199 Sonnet 200 Madrigal  (200a)	Sonnet 201 Sonnet 202 Sonnet 203 Sonnet 204 Sonnet 205 Sonnet 206 Sonnet 207 Sonnet 208 Sonnet 209 Sonnet 210
Sonnet 211 Sonnet 212 Sonnet 213 Sonnet 214 Sonnet 215 Sonnet 216 Sonnet 217 Sonnet 218 Sonnet 219 Sonnet 220	Sonnet 221 Sonnet 222 Sonnet 223 Sonnet 224 Sonnet 225 Sonnet 226 Sonnet 227	Baiser  (227a) Élégie  (227b) Élégie  (227c)  Chanson  (227d) Sonnet 228 Chanson  (228a) Elégie (228b) Sonnet 229

 

 

As for that commentary, here is what Muret wrote about the need for it:

Je pense qu’il ne m’est ja besoin de repondre à ceus, qui pourroient trouver estrange que je me suis mis à commenter un livre François, et composé par un homme, qui est encores en vie. Car s’il ni avoit dans ce livre aucune erudition qui ne se peust prendre dans les livres ecris en nostre langue, j’estimeroi bien ma peine asses maigrement emploiée. Mais veu qu’il i a beaucoup de choses non jamais traités mesmes des Latins, qui me pourra reprendre de les avoit communiquées aus François ?

(I think I have no need to reply to those who might think it odd that I have set out to write a commentary on a French book, written by a man who is still alive. [And yet clearly he did feel the need to reply, for he goes on:] For if there were in this book no learning [other than that] which could be gained from books written in our own tongue, I would indeed think my effort rather feebly employed. But since there are plenty of things never discussed even among the Latin authors, who could reprove me for having set them out for the French?)