Nicolas+Boileau

Nicolas Boileau was a highly respected and well known French poet and critic. He was born on November 1, 1636, youngest of 15 siblings. Unfortunately, his mother died two years after his birth. This event affected Nicolas’ attitude towards many things and had a significant impact on his life. He was a very critical person and one who longed for a mother’s love -- something he did not have. His brothers and sisters did their best to raise him and he went on to get a good education. Nicolas was very indecisive when choosing a profession and making a future. First, he studied theology. He later dropped that and studied law, which he eventually found he also did not enjoy. After his father passed and Nicolas was left with a bit of wealth, he decided to use the rest of his time focusing on writing poems.

Nicolas’ early poems were not well received and many criticized them. Nicolas went on to agree with this criticism. He later published a book of poems called Satires du Sieur which got better reviews. Nicolas, however, was very cynical about his work. At one point when asked by King Louis XIV, who was a big fan, to pick out his favorite part of the book, Boileau said he would choose his “least bad” lines. This outlook on his life and work may have been contributed by his lack of motherly affection, which he so badly wanted.

In 1674, he published a piece called L’Art poétique which was a guide for classical poetic writing. This piece inspired many poets such as Samuel Johnson, John Dryden and Alexander. This shows just a glimpse of how Nicolas made an impact on the world of poetry. In 1677 he became the French King’s historiographer (a historian who is appointed to write an official history of a group, time period, or institution). Later in life his satires ended up stirring a bit of a ruckus with the Catholic church and civilians. Many women did not like the things he said in his poems and some citizens even got a crowd of people together to mob him in protest of his satires. High ranking officials in the catholic church pronounced certain Boileau pieces to be impure and immoral.

Sadly, he died on the 13th of March, 1711. People knew Nicolas to be a kind-hearted, outspoken, and honest man. In his life, Boileau made his mark on the art of poetry and will be remembered for generations to come.