Louis Racine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Louis Racine (November 6, 1692 - January 29, 1763), was a French poet.

The second son of the dramatist Jean Racine, he was born in Paris. Interested in poetry from childhood, he had been dissuaded from trying to make it his career by Boileau on the grounds that the gift never existed in two successive generations. In 1722, Louis Racine's small means induced him to accept a position in the revenue in Provence, but a marriage with a certain Mademoiselle Presle secured his independence. In 1755 he lost his son in the disasters consequent on the Lisbon earthquake. This misfortune, commemorated by Écouchard Lebrun, broke Racine's spirit. He sold his library, and gave himself up to the practice of religion.

In 1719 he had become a member of the Académie des Inscriptions, but had never offered himself as a member of the Académie Française, for fear, it is said, of incurring refusal on account of his Jansenist opinions. La Grace (1720) and Religion (1742), his most important work, are inspired by a sincere piety, and are written in verse of uniform clearness and excellence. His other works include epistles, odes, among which the Ode sur l'harmonie (1736) should be mentioned, Mémoires (1747) of Jean Racine, and a prose translation of Paradise Lost (1755).

He was characterized by Voltaire as "le bon versificateur Racine, fils du grand poète Racine." His Œuvres complètes were collected (6 vols.) in 1808.