Reading Boileau

by Robert T. Corum

In French literary history Nicolas Boileau has enjoyed legendary status as the great codifier of French classicism, the vaunted and discerning critic who could demolish or elevate several generations of French poets. This view of Boileau's role has led to an emphasis on his poetics rather than on his poems, which in turn has generated a widespread disdain for his poetic art. Robert Corum dispels these misconceptions about Boileau by focusing rigorous critical attention on Boileau's first nine Satires and the accompanying Discours au Roy, composed between 1657 and 1668. His reading takes into account many factors, including sources, genesis, relation to one another, coherence, and continuity of argument. This examination reveals Boileau to be a gifted poet, not just a talented and acerbic versifier or a straitlaced mouthpiece for French classical doctrine.