François de Malherbe

French poet. Born in Caen. His early Italian-inspired baroque work The Tears of St. Peter (1587) was unsuccessful, but after he turned 40, his elegant poetry began to attract attention, and his poems dedicated to Marie de' Medici, who married Henry IV, were recognized, and he entered Henry IV's court at the age of 50. He continued to write poetry as a court poet throughout the reign of Louis XIII, mainly for the royal court. He is praised as one of the greatest poets of his time. His major work is Consolation à Dupérier (1559). However, his works, which pursue pure French and clear poetic ideas, are lacking in imagination and appeal, and his teaching ability to young poets and his theory on language and poetry are more important. Although he did not leave behind a systematic theory of poetry, his "Commentary on Desportes," written in the margins of Desportes's poetry collection, broke away from the 16th century literary humanism and the traditions of the Pleiade school of poetry, and insisted on purifying the French language by eliminating neologisms, archaicism, and ambiguous terminology, and instead expressing it in words that are understandable to all and using strict poetic methods based on reason. Thus, he made Boileau say, "Finally, Malherbe has arrived," and he was revered as a pioneer of classicism and had absolute authority, bringing his teachings to fruition in classical drama and the Académie Française.

[Isamu Takada]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの詩人。カーンに生まれる。若いころのイタリア趣味によるバロック的な『聖ペテロの涙』（1587）は成功せず、40歳過ぎから端正な詩が注目され、アンリ4世に嫁ぐマリ・ド・メディシスに捧(ささ)げる詩が認められ、50歳でアンリ4世の宮廷に入る。こうしてルイ13世時代をも通じて宮廷詩人として御用詩を中心に詩作。当代最良の詩人の1人とたたえられる。主要作品は『デュ・ペリエを慰めるスタンス』Consolation à Dupérier（1559）。だが、純粋なフランス語と明晰(めいせき)な詩想を追求する彼の作品は想像力に欠け、魅力に乏しく、若い詩人たちへの指導力と、言語と詩に対する理論のほうが重要。体系的な詩論は残さなかったが、デポルトの詩集の余白に書いた『デポルト註釈(ちゅうしゃく)』は16世紀の文学的ユマニスムとプレイアード詩派の伝統と決別し、フランス語の純化のため新造語、古語趣味、あいまいな用語を排し、理性に基づき万人に理解されることばと厳密な作詩法で表現せよと主張。かくて「ついにマレルブきたれり」とボアローにいわしめ、古典主義の先駆者と崇(あが)められ絶対の権威をもち、その教えを古典劇とアカデミー・フランセーズに実らせた。

［高田　勇］

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