Best Romance poet?

[Comte Arnau]

Who is the best European poet in a Romance language? :writing_thinking:

Note: The names in the poll are in chronological order. Only 40 options are available, so many good ones are missing. Feel free to add them if you consider them worth of it. :)


http://imageshack.us/m/200/49/appoetrom.jpg

[Cato]

P. Virgilius Maro.

[Comte Arnau]

P. Virgilius Maro.

Great one. But Latin is not a Romance language. ;)

[Cato]

Great one. But Latin is not a Romance language. ;)

Latin is the parent of all Romance languages.

[Comte Arnau]

Latin is the parent of all Romance languages.

I've already left out dozens of good poets of the daughter languages. If I had to add Latin to the list... I keep a classic poll in mind for the future, with Latins and ancient Greeks then. :)

[Cato]

Romance not Hellene. :)

[Comte Arnau]

Romance not Hellene. :)

So you've only read Latin poets? Isn't there anyone in a Neolatin language you may like? :)

[Cato]

So you've only read Latin poets? Isn't there anyone in a Neolatin language you may like? :)

I've read Homer, of course, and Hesiod. And Sappho. But you said Romance and not Hellene. :) Neo-Latin, hm.. Does Dante count?

[Comte Arnau]

I've read Homer, of course, and Hesiod. And Sappho. But you said Romance and not Hellene. :) Neo-Latin, hm.. Does Dante count?

Of course. He's in the poll. :)

[Magister Eckhart]

While I understand the omission of Chaucer, I have to mention him, Middle English being more French than even modern English. It was the period when almost all romance influence on the English language happened; I think he deserves at least a little consideration.

Aside from him, however, Chrétien de Troyes and Francesco Petrarca are definitely the best poets of the Romance languages.

[Comte Arnau]

While I understand the omission of Chaucer, I have to mention him, Middle English being more French than even modern English. It was the period when almost all romance influence on the English language happened; I think he deserves at least a little consideration.


While I understand the enormous influence of Latin and Norman in Middle English, I do not think there is doubt about the Germanic nature of any text in English, even from such a period. The wonderful Canterbury Tales are clearly written in a Germanic language, since the core is Germanic. Have no doubt that Chaucer will be included in a future poll for the Best Germanic poet. :)

[Rouxinol]

Well, I voted considering only the Portuguese ones - I haven't read the others. My votes went to Fernando Pessoa and Luís de Camões since of the three Portuguese poets listed - and not listed too - in the poll I deem them the all time crème de la crème of Portuguese poetry. I'm looking forward to read some of the others listed when I have the time to.

[Ouistreham]

J'ai voté Arthur Rimbaud, car la moindre phrase de cet auteur porte une incomparable charge émotionnelle, mais j'aurais dû choisir Chrétien de Troyes.

Non seulement en raison de la qualité poétique pionnière de son style, mais à cause de l'influence démesurée de son Perceval, qui a marqué l'imaginaire européen pour toujours.

Chrétien de Troyes a inventé la narration en français, la structure romanesque, le Graal et (en laissant le roman inachevé) son mystère.

[Comte Arnau]

Well, I voted considering only the Portuguese ones - I haven't read the others. My votes went to Fernando Pessoa and Luís de Camões since of the three Portuguese poets listed - and not listed too - in the poll I deem them the all time crème de la crème of Portuguese poetry. I'm looking forward to read some of the others listed when I have the time to.

If you add Galician Rosalía de Castro, you can count four in the group. ;)

The other Portuguese I'd have included, if the poll could be wider, would have been Almeida Garrett. But I agree with you that no other Portuguese poet can be compared to Camões and Pessoa. :thumb001:

I tried to be more or less balanced in the distribution of poets and languages, but it's a hard task. Maybe I should have included one or two Italians more, which would have mean leaving out a good poet from the French or Spanish literature, and I have already left out many great ones. Besides, you can't always consider the number of speakers. Romanian (24 millions) has got twice as many speakers as Galician/Portuguese (13 millions) and Catalan (9 millions), but a shorter literary tradition, so everything must be regarded in its proper context. Any selection is biased, but I try to be as fair as possible in most cases. :)

[Xochi]

Almost every French poet. :D

[Rudel]

J'ai manqué ce fil, mais je vais réparé mon erreur. Pour des raisons purement émotionnelles j'aurais tendance à dire Jaufré Rudel, dont j'ai usurpé le nom, Bernart de Ventadour, Chrétien de Troyes, François Villon, Pétrarque, Eustache Deschamps...

De manière plus objective je retiens en sus du Bellay et Ronsard pour les rôles qu'on connait, Malherbe dont est né tout le classicisme français, et Boileau, La Fontaine, La Bruyère, Bossuet entre autres qui en furent les piliers.

[Ianus]

Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca