La Franciade

Franciade, La. Ronsard's unfinished national epi1c—only 4 of the planned 24 volumes were published (1572). It was conceived in 1550 and was designed to trace the origins of France's royal dynasty to the legendary Trojan hero Francus, son of Hector. The Défense et illustration had devoted an entire chapter to the epic and its classical models (Homer, Virgil), but in spite of inspired fragments the Franciade is disappointing: the decasyllabic line (imposed by Charles IX) lacks vigour and amplitude, the narrative structure is slack and repetitious, and fidelity to classical sources (notably Virgil) is constraining. It nevertheless exercised considerable influence on the theory and practice of 16th- and 17th-c. historical epic.

[Malcolm Quainton]