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Honorat de Bueil, seigneur de Racan (sometimes mistakenly listed as "marquis de Racan", although he never held this title) (5 February 1589 – 21 January 1670) was a French aristocrat, soldier, poet, dramatist and a founding member of theAcadémie française.
Racan was born atAubigné-Racan,Maine (province) into a noble family (originally of Italian origin) from the region ofTours (site of the Racan fief and the château of La Roche-Racan),Maine andAnjou.
An orphan at the age of 13 (both his uncle and father were killed in the wars), Racan came under the protection of the Count de Bellegarde (first gentleman of the king's chamber) and became a page for kingHenry IV of France. His education was minimal, and by his own account he learned only the rudiments of Latin, and was bored by most of his subjects, exception being made to French verse. Racan's successes as a courtier were limited by his physical appearance and hisstuttering (he reputedly had difficulties with both the letters r and c). In 1605, he met the esteemed poetFrançois de Malherbe at the court, and the elder poet would become for Racan both a father figure and teacher. In 1621 Racan participated in theWars of Religion and his military career would continue through the next decades (including thesiege of Sancerre and thesiege of La Rochelle).
Around 1619, Racan'spastoral play in verseLes Bergeries (originally entitledArthénice) - inspired byVirgil,Tasso'sAminta,Giambattista Guarini'sIl pastor fido,Honoré d'Urfé'sL'Astrée, and, to a certain extent, the writings ofSaint François de Sales - was performed to great acclaim. Racan had equal success with hisStances de la retraite (1618), his translations of thePsalms - in an initial version in 1631, and later with hisOdes sacrées (tirées des psaumes de David) (1651) andDernières œuvres et poésies chrétiennes (1660) - and his memoirs on the life of Malherbe (1651). Not knowing Hebrew, Racan relied on accurate French paraphrases of the sacred texts (such as those byClément Marot), but departed from the literal translations in the interest of poetic grace. Racan's acceptance speech for the Académie françaiseContre les Sciences (1635), was an oration against "rules" and affectation, and in praise of "naturalness" (prefiguringJean-Jacques Rousseau by over a hundred years).
Racan's poetry was rigorous (he reworked his poems throughout his life and his works were often published with last minute errata), but he did not completely reject the authors of Renaissance (unlike Malherbe, Racan appreciatedPierre de Ronsard andMichel de Montaigne) and was less inflexible on the question of thethree unities. Hiselegies and pastoral show a sensitivity to the natural sights of his native region, and his poetry is often informed by a melancholy inspired by his youthful disappointments in love and the financial and personal tragedies of his life.
He died in Paris in 1670.
