was the first to produce a translation of the _Odes_. Grandichan in
1541, and Pelletier in 1545, published translations of the _Ars Poetica_
which had important consequences. The famous Pleiad, whose most
brilliant star, Pierre de Ronsard, was king of poetry for more than a
score of years, were enthusiastic believers in the imitation of the
classics as a means for the improvement of letters in France. Du Bellay,
the second in magnitude, published in 1550 his _Deffence et illustration
de la langue françoyse_, a manifesto of the Pleiad full of quotations
from the _Ars Poetica_ refuting a similar work of Sibilet published in
1548. Ronsard himself is said to have been the first to use the word
"ode" for Horace's lyrics. The meeting of the two, in 1547, is regarded
as the beginning of the French school of Renaissance poetry. Horace thus
became at the beginning an influence of the first magnitude in the
actual life of modern French letters. In 1579 appeared Mondot's complete
translation. The versions of Dacier and Sanadon, in prose, in the
earlier eighteenth century, were an innovation provoking spirited
opposition in Italy. The line of translators, imitators, and enthusiasts
in France is as numerous as that of other countries. The list of great
authors inspired by Horace includes such names as Montaigne, "The French
Horace," Malherbe, Regnier, Boileau, La Fontaine, Corneille, Racine,
Molière, Voltaire, Jean Baptiste Rousseau, Le Brun, André Chénier, De
Musset.


_iii_. IN GERMANY

In Germany, the Renaissance movement had its pronounced beginning at
Heidelberg. In that city began also the active study of Horace, in the
lectures on Horace in 1456. The _Epistles_ were first printed in 1482 at
Leipzig, the _Epodes_ in 1488, and in 1492 appeared the first complete