Mathurin Régnier

author

Mathurin Régnier

1573–1613

A sharp-tongued French poet of the late Renaissance, he became known for lively satires that pushed back against overly polished verse. His writing mixes wit, plainspoken energy, and a very human eye for vanity and folly.

1 Audiobook

Œuvres complètes de Mathurin Regnier accompagnées d'une notice biographique et bibliographique, de variantes, de notes, d'un glossaire et d'un index

Œuvres complètes de Mathurin Regnier accompagnées d'une notice biographique et bibliographique, de variantes, de notes, d'un glossaire et d'un index

by Mathurin Régnier

About the author

Born in Chartres on December 21, 1573, Mathurin Régnier was a French poet best remembered for his satires. He was related to the poet Philippe Desportes, and that literary connection helped shape his early path, though Régnier went on to develop a voice very much his own.

He spent part of his career in Rome in the service of Cardinal François de Joyeuse, and his experience of courtly and urban life fed the social observation in his poems. Readers have long valued him for writing with vigor and natural ease at a time when some French poetry was becoming more formal and mannered.

Régnier died in Rouen on October 22, 1613. Even centuries later, he is still remembered as one of the strongest satirical voices in early modern French literature.