In the annals of Victorian literature and art, few figures burn as brightly or as contradictorily as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882). Born Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti on May 12, 1828, in London, he would reverse his given names to honor the great Italian poet who profoundly influenced his work and worldview. A man of extraordinary artistic vision who helped revolutionize British poetry and painting, Rossetti em…
“The purpose of art is not to copy nature, but to create a beautiful equivalent.”
Neighbourhood:
Love Poets, Pre-Raphaelite Poets, Victorian Poets
Emotional landscape: Wonder, Tenderness, Sorrow
In the golden autumn of French Renaissance literature, one name shines with particular brilliance: Pierre de Ronsard, the master lyricist who transformed French poetry and established himself as the supreme voice of his generation. Born in September 1524 at the Château de la Possonnière in the Vendômois region of France, Ronsard would live until December 27, 1585, leaving behind a literary legacy that would influence…
“In the first age poetry was only an allegorical theology, to bring into the minds of coarse men, by pleasant and coloured fables, the secrets they could not grasp when truth was shown too openly.”
Neighbourhood:
Italian Renaissance Poets, Love Poets, Political Poets, Renaissance Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sensuality, Tenderness
