La fin des Antiquitez de Rome: Vision pessimiste ou espoir de renouveau?

Abstract

In his collection of sonnets, The Antiquities of Rome, Joachim Du Bellay evokes at length the monumentality of ruins and the effects of time on human creation. He chooses to end his collection, however, by calling forth forces that triumph over time, through the enduring powers of poetic voice. This article considers to what extent Du Bellay's project to reaffirm French poetry, announced in The Defense and Illustration of the French Language, confers a restrained optimism on the final sonnets of the Antiquities. This hopeful vision can be seen to call into question the pessimistic interpretation of the Antiquities given by Thomas M. Greene in The Light in Troy, Imitation and Discovery in Renaissance Poetry.

Keywords:

• Antiquitez de Rome
• Joachim Du Bellay
• French poetry
• French Renaissance poetry