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…
“The principal point is invention, which comes as much from a good nature as from the reading of good and ancient authors.”
Neighbourhood:
Italian Renaissance Poets, Love Poets, Political Poets, Renaissance Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sensuality, Tenderness
William Shakespeare was baptized on 26 April 1564 in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and tradition places his birth three days earlier, on about 23 April. He died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in the same church where he had been baptized. Between those dates lies a life that is at once unusually well documented for a non-nobleman of the Elizabethan age and persistently elusive in its inward…
Neighbourhood:
Dramatic Poets, Elizabethan Poets, Love Poets, Renaissance Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Longing, Despair