BERTAUT, JEAN DE CAEN

born 1552, Donnay?, France died June 8, 1611, Sez, Normandy French poet notable as a writer of polished light verse. As a young man Bertaut was tutor to the children of a noble family and accompanied them to court. There he wrote lyric and elegiac poetry that shows the influence of the poets Pierre de Ronsard and Philippe Desportes. He composed love lyrics and poems celebrating the events of court life, usually in graceful alexandrine (12-syllable) lines, free of both Grecism and patois. In his later work he turned to religious themes and paraphrases of the psalms. His poems are collected in two works: Recueil des oeuvres poetiques (1601; Collection of Poetic Works) and Recueil de quelques vers amoureux (1602; Collection of Some Amorous Verse).