author
Évariste Parny
1753–1814
Best known for graceful love poetry and the striking Chansons madécasses, this late-18th-century French poet brought a lighter, more intimate voice to his era. Born on the island then called Bourbon, he also left behind sharp, skeptical works that stirred debate in his own time.
1 Audiobook
Poésies érotiques
by Évariste Parny
About the author
Born on February 6, 1753, on the island of Bourbon (now Réunion), he was sent to France as a child and educated there before serving in the army. His writing first won notice with Poésies érotiques in 1778, poems admired for their elegance, feeling, and freshness at a time when much verse still followed stiff classical models.
He is also remembered for Chansons madécasses (1787), a book that presented itself as translations of songs from Madagascar and later became famous for its unusual voice and atmosphere. Readers and critics have often seen it as an important step toward the prose poem in French.
Later in life, he wrote more biting and openly irreverent works, showing a very different side of his talent. He died in Paris on December 5, 1814, after a career that moved from love elegies to satire, and his reputation has continued to interest readers of both French poetry and colonial-era literature.