author
José-Maria de Heredia
1842–1905
A master of the French sonnet, this Cuban-born poet became one of the defining voices of the Parnassian movement. His poems are admired for their precision, vivid historical scenes, and jewel-like language.
1 Audiobook
Les trophées
by José-Maria de Heredia
About the author
Born near Santiago de Cuba in 1842, he was the son of a Spanish father and a French mother. He was educated in France and eventually made his literary life there, becoming closely associated with the Parnassian poets, who valued formal control, clarity, and artistic finish.
His reputation rests above all on Les Trophées (1893), a celebrated collection of sonnets that draws on history, myth, travel, and art. Although he published relatively little, his carefully crafted verse made a lasting impression, and he was widely seen as one of the great sonnet writers in French.
In 1894, he was elected to the Académie française, a sign of the esteem he had earned in French literary life. He died in 1905, but his work still stands out for its exactness, richness of image, and sense of sculpted beauty.