C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
François de Malherbe (1555–1628)
Malherbe, François de (mä-lãrb’). A famous French poet; born at Caen, 1555; died in Paris, Oct. 16, 1628. He became court poet in 1605. He was the inaugurator of French classicism, and made Parisian French the standard for the kingdom. His poems were marked by purity of diction and harmony of versification, rather than by great poetic feeling. Besides translations from Latin, he wrote but one volume of poetry, containing ‘Stanzas,’ ‘Odes,’ ‘Sonnets,’ ‘Epigrams,’ and ‘Songs.’ The best edition of his works is in Lalanne’s ‘Great Writers’ (Paris, 5 vols., 1860–65).