Isaac de Benserade

Isaac de Benserade, born on November fifth, sixteen thirteen, in Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy, was a distinguished French poet and playwright. His family had connections to Cardinal Richelieu, who granted him a pension of six hundred livres. However, following Richelieu's death, Benserade lost this financial support yet continued to thrive at court, particularly winning the favor of Anne of Austria.

At the young age of twenty-three, Benserade made his mark in the theatrical world with his first tragedy, Cleopatra, written for the actress Mademoiselle Bellerose. His comedic debut came earlier in sixteen thirty-four with Iphis and Iante, a play that explored themes of female homosexuality through cross-dressing, a common motif in seventeenth-century French literature.

Benserade's contributions extended beyond plays; he provided the lyrics for court ballets and was inducted into the French Academy in sixteen seventy-four, where he held significant influence. In the following year, he crafted quatrains for the hydraulic sculptures depicting Aesop's fables in the labyrinth of Versailles. Despite a setback in sixteen seventy-six with the failure of his work Métamorphoses d'Ovide, his popularity among contemporaries remained intact.

Perhaps most famously, Benserade is remembered for his sonnet on Job, penned in sixteen fifty-one. This piece sparked a literary rivalry with Voiture's Urania, dividing the court into factions known as the Jobelins and the Uranists, with notable figures like the prince de Conti and Mlle de Scudéry supporting Benserade. In his later years, he retired to Gentilly, dedicating himself to translating the Psalms, a project he nearly completed before his passing.