Eustache Deschamps: L'art de Dictier (Medieval Texts and Studies : No 17)

The first major French poet to disassociate lyric poetry from its musical setting, Eustache Deschamps gives poetry a value independent of music. This work, Deschamps' ars poetica, examines many aspects of medieval attitudes towards poetry as well as the historical conditions of medieval life. Despite remaining incomplete, L'art de dictier is considered remarkable for its acceptance of the vernacular, its deemphasis of medieval setting, and its author's place in historical poetic tradition. In fact, Geoffrey Chaucer borrowed extensively from his French contemporary, and Deschamps returned the compliment, calling him "grand translateur" in his "Ballade adresse a Geoffrey Chaucer."