Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Isaac de Benserade (French Poet, Dramatist)

Isaac de Benserade (1613–91) was a French dramatist and a minor French poet of the courts of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. He was also the librettist for Jean-Baptiste Lully’s ballets.

Born in Lyon-la-Forêt, Normandy, Benserade began visiting the salon of the Marquise de Rambouillet, the literary center of Paris, in 1634 and became famous with a succession of romantic verses. During the “sonnets controversy” of 1649, his sonnet “Job” lost against poet Vincent Voiture’s “Uranie” in a spirited court discussion over poetic style.

Benserade evolved into a court favorite and was frequently called upon to compose libretti for royal ballets, a commitment he undertook with a wit often regarded by his audience as brazen.

Selected to the French Academy in 1674, Benserade was condemned for his Metamorphoses d’Ovide en rondeaux (1676.) He distinguished himself, nevertheless, by his support of the candidacy of fabulist Jean de La Fontaine for the Academy and by his justification of the rationalism of philosopher Pierre Bayle, which the censorship threatened.

Charles I. Silin wrote Benserade and his Ballets de cour (1940.)

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Isaac de Benserade

In bed we laugh; in bed we cry; in bed are born; in bed we die; the near approach the bed doth show, of human bliss to human woe.
Isaac de Benserade

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