Logic and illogic in Ronsard’s poetry : three examples from the Second livre des Amours Trois exemples du Second livre des Amours

The deliberative rhetoric implied by the exhortation carpe diem uses, in part, logical arguments. These are part of other variations of amorous discourse. I analyze the implicit presence of dialectical argumentation, in the form of syllogisms, in three sonnets of the Second livre des Amours. These syllogisms demonstrate the use and especially the limits of dialectic in lyric, when singular experience and general propositions are combined.