Ronsard, Pierre de, << rawn SAR, pyair duh >> (1524-1585), often called the Prince of Poets, led an influential group of French poets called the Pléiade. The Sonnets for Hélène (1578), perhaps his best-known work, explored the joys and sorrows of love in masterful and descriptive verse. Ronsard’s Odes (1550-1556) were inspired by Greek and Latin poetry. Ronsard also wrote many volumes of love poetry in addition to the Sonnets for Hélène, and the moral and philosophical Hymnes (1555-1556). In Discours (1560-1563), he wrote stirring attacks against the Protestant movement during the religious wars that shook France in the 1560’s.
Ronsard was born on Sept. 11, 1524, near Vendôme, France. He trained to be a diplomat. He turned to literature after he became partially deaf. He died on Dec. 27, 1585.
