Joachim du Bellay
French Renaissance poet who cofounded the Pleiade and wrote the group's manifesto Defence and Illustration of the French Language. Les Antiquites de Rome and Les Regrets are his finest collections.
Works
- La Defense et Illustration de la Langue FrancaiseManifesto promoting the enrichment of French language through literary innovation
- Les RegretsSonnets expressing regret and nostalgia for lost youth and love
- Les Antiquites de RomeMeditative sonnets on ruins of Rome symbolizing transience and decay
- L'Olive