in, which gave their poetry the charms of freshness and
spontaneity. The true members of 'La Pleiade,' according to Ronsard's
own statement, were, besides himself, Joachim du Bellay (1524-1560);
Estienne Jodelle (1532-1573); Remy Belleau (1528-1577); Jean Dinemandy,
usually known as Daurat or Dorat (1508-1588), Ronsard's classical teacher
in early life; Jean-Antoine de Baif (1532-1589); and Ponthus de Thyard
(1521-1605). Others of Ronsard's literary allies are often loosely
reckoned among the 'Pleiade.' These writers include Jean de la Peruse
(1529-1554), Olivier de Magny (1530-1559), Amadis Jamyn (1538?-1585),
Jean Passerat (1534-1602), Philippe Desportes (1546-1606), Estienne
Pasquier (1529-1615), Scevole de Sainte-Marthe (1536-1623), and Jean
Bertaut (1552-1611). These subordinate members of the 'Pleiade' were no
less devoted to sonnetteering than the original members. Of those in
this second rank, Desportes was most popular in France as well as in
England. Although many of Desportes's sonnets are graceful in thought
and melodious in rhythm, most of them abound in overstrained conceits.
Not only was Desportes a more slavish imitator of Petrarch than the
members of the 'Pleiade,' but he encouraged numerous disciples to
practise 'Petrarchism,' as the imitation of Petrarch was called, beyond
healthful limits. Under the influence of Desportes the French sonnet
became, during the latest years of the sixteenth century, little more
than an empty and fantastic echo of the Italian.

Chief collections of French sonnets published between 1550 and 1584.

The following statistics will enable the reader to realise how closely
the sonnetteering movement in France adumbrated that in England. The
collective edition in 1584 of the works of Ronsard, the master of the
'Pleiade,' contains more than nine hundred separate sonnets arranged
under such titles as 'Amours de Cassandre,' 'Amours de Marie,' 'Amours
pour Astree,' 'Amours pour Helene;' besides 'Amours Divers' and 'Sonnets
Divers,' complimentary addresses to friends and patrons. Du Bellay's
'Olive,' a collection of love sonnets, first published in 1549, reached a
total of a hundred and fifteen. 'Les Regrets,' Du Bellay's sonnets on
general topics, some of which Edmund Spenser first translated into
English, numbered in the edition of 1565 a hundred and eighty-three. De
Baif published two long series of sonnets, entitled respectively 'Les
Amours de Meline' (1552) and 'L