Maurice Scève’s
Microcosme,
a long encyclopedic poem that describes the technical and moral progress of humanity, was published by Jean de Tournes in 1562, yet its final verses indicate that it was completed in 1559. The poem is divided into three books of 1,000 alexandrines each, followed by a three-line stanza spatially separated from the body of the poem, and is accompanied by an opening and a closing sonnet, also composed by Scève. Such meticulous organization is a characteristic of Scève's poetic production: one might recall his
Délie(1544), a highly symmetrical collection of 449 love poems separated into groups by fifty elaborate emblems. Likewise, the syntax of
Microcosmeis very complex and dense; the text is overloaded with archaic words, Latinisms, Italianisms, as well as…
1664 words
Citation: Lyulekina, Elizaveta. "Microcosme". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 May 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38905, accessed 22 November 2024.]
