The Rhetoric of Expansion in the Odes The Example of the “Avantvenue du Printemps”

The status of expansion in Ronsard’s poetics illustrates the issues that are raised by rhetorical copia: expansion is, by definition, optional, yet it is necessary for the constitution of images, and makes it possible to interrogate the motivation of poetic arrangements. This article explores the various realizations of expansive nominal groups, conceived as semantic and figurative reserves, and shows the support that they bring both to the enrichment of tropes and to the general economy of the ode.