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uncle's steps, was tonsured at eight years old. Little is known of his youth, and it is chiefly conjecture which fixes the date of his visit to See also:

Italy in a humble position in the See also:

SUITE (Suite de pieces; Ordre; Partita)

suite of the See also:

CARDINAL (Lat. cardinalis)

cardinal, See also:

FRANCOIS (1558-1614)

Francois de Joyeuse, in 1587. The cardinal was accredited to the papal court in that See also:

YEAR

year as " protector " of the royal interests. Regnier found his duties irksome, and when, after many years of See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant travel in the cardinal's service, he returned definitely to See also:

France about 1605, he took See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage of the hospitality of Desportes. He See also:

early began the practice of satirical See also:

writing, and the enmity which existed between his uncle and the poet See also:

MALHERBE, FRANCOIS DE (1555-1628)

Malherbe gave him occasion to attack the latter. In 1606 Desportes died, leaving nothing to Regnier, who, though disappointed of the See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession to Desportes's abbacies, obtained a See also:

PENSION (Lat. pensio, a payment, from pendere, to weigh, to pay)

pension of 2000 livres, chargeable upon one of them. He was also made in 1609 See also:

CANON

canon of Chartres through his friendship with the lax See also:

bishop, Philippe Hurault, at whose See also:

abbey of Royaumont he spent much See also:

time in the later years of his See also:

LIFE

life. But the See also:

DEATH

death of See also:

Henry IV. deprived him of his last See also:

hope of great preferments. His later life had been one of dissipation, and he died at See also:

ROUEN

Rouen at his hotel, the Ecu d'See also:

Orleans, on the 22nd of See also:

OCTOBER

October 1613. About the time of his death numerous collections of licentious and satirical poems were published, while others remained in See also:

MANUSCRIPT

manuscript.

Gathered from these there has been a floatingmass of licentious epigrams, &c., attributed to Regnier, little of which is certainly See also:

AUTHENTIC (from Gr. aOO 'rns, one who does a thing himself)

authentic, so that it is very rare to find two See also:

EDITIONS

editions of Regnier which exactly agree in contents. His undoubted See also:

WORK

work falls into three classes: See also:

REGULAR

regular satires in alexandrine couplets, serious poems in various metres, and satirical or jocular epigrams and See also:

LIGHT

light pieces, which often, if not always, exhibit considerable See also:

LICENCE (through the French from Lat. licentia, licere, to be lawful)

licence of See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language. The real greatness of Regnier consists in the vigour and See also:

POLISH

polish of his satires, contrasted and heightened as that vigour is with the exquisite feeling and See also:

MELANCHOLY (Gr. µe)tayXotia, from µEtas, black, and Xotii, bile)

melancholy See also:

MUSIC

music of some of his See also:

minor poems. In these Regnier is a See also:

DISCIPLE

disciple of See also:

RONSARD, PIERRE DE (1524-1585)

Ronsard (whom he defended brilliantly against Malherbe), without the occasional pedantry, the affectation or the undue fluency of the Pleiade; but in the satires he seems to have had no See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master except the ancients, for some of them were written before the publication of the satires of See also:

VAUQUELIN, LOUIS NICOLAS (1763-1829)

Vauquelin de la Fresnaye, and the Tragiques of D'See also:

Aubigne did not appear until 1616. He has sometimes followed See also:

HORACE [QuINTus HORATIUS FLACCUS] (65-8 B.C.)

Horace closely, but always in an entirely See also:

ORIGINAL

original spirit. His vocabulary is varied and picturesque, and is not marred by the maladroit classicism of some of the Ronsardists. His See also:

VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse is extraordinarily forcible and See also:

NERVOUS

nervous, but his See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief distinction as a satirist is the way in which he avoids the commonplaces of See also:

SATIRE (Lat. satira, satura; see below)

satire. His keen and accurate knowledge of human nature and even his purely See also:

LITERARY

literary qualities extorted the admiration of Boileau. Regnier displayed remarkable in-dependence and acuteness in literary See also:

criticism, and the famous passage (Satire ix., A See also:

MONSIEUR (Fr., formed from men, my, and sieur, lord)

Monsieur See also:

RAPIN, PAUL DE (1661-1725)

Rapin) in which he satirizes Malherbe contains the best denunciation of the merely" correct " theory of See also:

POETRY

poetry that has ever been written. Lastly, Regnier had a most unusual descriptive See also:

FACULTY (through the French, from the Lat. facultas, ability to do anything, from facilis, easy, facere, to do; another form of the word in Lat. facilitas, facility, ease, keeps the original meaning)

faculty, and the vividness of what he called his narrative satires was not approached in France for at least two centuries after his death. All his merits are displayed in the masterpiece entitled Macette ou l'Hypocrisie deconcertee, which does not suffer even on comparison with Tartuffe; but hardly any one of the sixteen satires which he has See also:

LEFT

left falls below a very high See also:

standard. See also:

Les Premieres Mimes ou satyres de Regnier (See also:

Paris, 1608) included the Discours au roi and ten satires.

There was another in 1609, and others in 1612 and 1613. The author had also contributed to two collections--Les See also:

MUSES, THE (Gr. Mo6o-at, the thinkers)

Muses gaillardes in 1609 and Le See also:

Temple d'Apollon in 1611. In 1616 appeared Les Satyres et autres oeuvres folastres du sieur Regnier, with many additions and some poems by other hands. Two famous editions by See also:

ELZEVIR

Elzevir (See also:

LEIDEN

Leiden, 1642 and 1652) are highly prized. The chief editions of the 18th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century are that of See also:

CLAUDE, JEAN (1619-1687)

Claude Brossette (printed by See also:

Lyon & Woodman, See also:

LONDON

London, 1729), which supplies the standard commentary on Regnier, and that of Lenglet Dufresnoy (printed by J. See also:

TONSON

Tonson, London, 1733). The editions of Prosper Poitevin (Paris, 186o), of Ed. de See also:

Barthelemy (Paris, 1862), and of E. See also:

COURBET, GUSTAVE (1819-1877)

Courbet (Paris, 1875), may be specially mentioned. The last, printed after the originals in See also:

ITALIC

italic type, and well edited, is perhaps the best. See also Vianey's Mathurin Regnier (1896); M. H. Cherrier, Bibliographie de Mathurin Regnier (1884).

End of Article: REGNIER, MATHURIN (1573–1613)

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