Ponce Denis Écouchard Lebrun
Encyclopedia
Ponce Denis Écouchard Lebrun (11 August 1729 – 31 August 1807) was a French
lyric poet
.
He was born in Paris
at the house of the prince de Conti, to whom his father was valet.
Among Lebrun's school friends was a son of Louis Racine
, whose disciple he became. In 1755 he published an Ode sur les désastres de Lisbonne. In 1759 he married Marie Anne de Surcourt, addressed in his Élégies as Fanny. In the early years of his marriage he produced his poem, Nature. His wife suffered much from his violent temper, and when in 1774 she brought an action against him to obtain a separation, she was supported by Lebrun's own mother and sister.
He had been secrétaire des commandements to the prince de Conti, and on his patron's death he lost this position. He also lost financially as a result of the bankruptcy of the prince de Guemene. To this period belongs a long poem, the Veillées des Muses, which remained unfinished, and his ode to Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
, which ranks among his best works. Dependent on government pensions he changed his politics with the times. He praised Calonne
, comparing him with the great Sully
, and likened Louis XVI
to Henry IV of France
, but he ended up as the Reign of Terror
's official poet. He occupied rooms in the Louvre
, and fulfilled his obligations by shameless attacks on the king and queen. His excellent ode on the Vengeur and the Ode nationale contre l'Angleterre on the occasion of the projected invasion of Britain were written in honour of the power of Napoleon.
This "versatility" damaged Lebrun's reputation, making it difficult to appreciate his real merit. He had a genius for epigram, and the quatrains and dizains directed against his many enemies have a verve generally lacking in his odes. The one directed against La Harpe
is called by Sainte-Beuve
the "queen of epigrams." La Harpe has said that the poet, called by his friends, perhaps with a spice of irony, Lebrun-Pindare, had written many fine strophes but not one good ode. The critic exposed mercilessly the obscurities and unlucky images which occur even in the ode to Buffon, and advised the author to imitate the simplicity and energy that adorned Buffon's prose. His works were published by his friend PL Ginguené in 1811. The best of them are included in Prosper Poitevin's "Petits poètes français," which forms part of the "Panthéon littéraire."
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
lyric poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
He was born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the house of the prince de Conti, to whom his father was valet.
Among Lebrun's school friends was a son of Louis Racine
Louis Racine
Louis Racine was a French poet.The second son of the dramatist Jean Racine, he was born in Paris. Interested in poetry from childhood, he had been dissuaded from trying to make it his career by Boileau on the grounds that the gift never existed in two successive generations...
, whose disciple he became. In 1755 he published an Ode sur les désastres de Lisbonne. In 1759 he married Marie Anne de Surcourt, addressed in his Élégies as Fanny. In the early years of his marriage he produced his poem, Nature. His wife suffered much from his violent temper, and when in 1774 she brought an action against him to obtain a separation, she was supported by Lebrun's own mother and sister.
He had been secrétaire des commandements to the prince de Conti, and on his patron's death he lost this position. He also lost financially as a result of the bankruptcy of the prince de Guemene. To this period belongs a long poem, the Veillées des Muses, which remained unfinished, and his ode to Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopedic author.His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier...
, which ranks among his best works. Dependent on government pensions he changed his politics with the times. He praised Calonne
Charles Alexandre de Calonne
Charles Alexandre, vicomte de Calonne was a French statesman, best known for his involvement in the French Revolution.-Rise to prominence:...
, comparing him with the great Sully
Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully
Maximilien de Béthune, first Duke of Sully was the doughty soldier, French minister, staunch Huguenot and faithful right-hand man who assisted Henry IV of France in the rule of France.-Early years:...
, and likened Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
to Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
, but he ended up as the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
's official poet. He occupied rooms in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, and fulfilled his obligations by shameless attacks on the king and queen. His excellent ode on the Vengeur and the Ode nationale contre l'Angleterre on the occasion of the projected invasion of Britain were written in honour of the power of Napoleon.
This "versatility" damaged Lebrun's reputation, making it difficult to appreciate his real merit. He had a genius for epigram, and the quatrains and dizains directed against his many enemies have a verve generally lacking in his odes. The one directed against La Harpe
Jean-François de La Harpe
Jean-François de La Harpe was a French playwright, writer and critic.-Life:La Harpe was born in Paris of poor parents. His father, who signed himself Delharpe, was a descendant of a noble family originally of Vaud...
is called by Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history.-Early years:...
the "queen of epigrams." La Harpe has said that the poet, called by his friends, perhaps with a spice of irony, Lebrun-Pindare, had written many fine strophes but not one good ode. The critic exposed mercilessly the obscurities and unlucky images which occur even in the ode to Buffon, and advised the author to imitate the simplicity and energy that adorned Buffon's prose. His works were published by his friend PL Ginguené in 1811. The best of them are included in Prosper Poitevin's "Petits poètes français," which forms part of the "Panthéon littéraire."