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Majestic Success?Louis XIV once solicited Nicolas Boileau's opinion of several poems which he had composed. Though hardly impressed with the king's poetry, Boileau, an honest man to a fault, was in a tight spot. What to say...? "Sire, nothing is impossible for Your Majesty," Boileau ventured tactfully. "Your Majesty has set out to write bad verses - and has succeeded!"
[Before he grew too old (and too obese) to continue, Louis performed in thirty ballets for which Jean Baptiste Lully composed the music.]
Boileau-Despreaux, Nicolas (1636-1711) French satirist and critic, official historian (with Jean Racine) to Louis XIV (from 1677) [noted for his influential L'Art politique (1674), which outlined the basic principles of classic French literary criticism]
[Sources: V. Cronin, Louis XIV]More Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
Critics Poetry Amateurs Poets Tact Diplomacy Royalty Honesty Bad Reviews Criticism Success Quips
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