Publisher's Synopsis
Ronsard's Franciad appeared at a crucial point in French history. The first four books, after many years of elaboration, finally left the presses of Parisian printer Gabriel Buon on September 13, 1572, less than a month after the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre-an event normally thought to have been ordered by Catherine de Medici, the mother of King Charles IX, Ronsard's patron. France thus sorely lacked national unity; Ronsard's unfinished epic, on the other hand, sought to bolster national (Catholic) pride by providing a shared genealogy that made the French King a descendant of Hector and the Trojan War. The contrast between the historical reality and Ronsard's poetic monument underscores the epic's underlying ideology and its inscription in a slightly earlier, more positive, belief in the destiny of the French nation.
"Phillip John Usher's vibrant and highly readable translation, along with its wide-ranging notes and introduction, make the case that the poem as it stands merits a wider audience. . . . A work of scholarship and a labor of love, this volume will deepen the appreciation of new and old readers alike. . . ." -Kathleen Wine, Renaissance Quarterly
"[T]his work should not be overlooked." -C. E. Campbell, Choice
