Ronsard the Rhétoriqueur? A discussion of his Discours des Miseres de ce temps

In his Discours des Miseres de ce temps, Ronsard at times refers very precisely to the conception of the writer as defined by rhetoricians and to the role the latter assigned themselves in relation to power. These references can be explained in the context of a defense of past customs in the face of the Reformation, but also from a poetic perspective, whereby Ronsard promotes a variety of genres and sources. This parallel also offers a way of understanding the poet’s change in direction in his Responce.