Louise Labé, known as "la Belle Cordière," stands as a prominent poet of the French Renaissance, celebrated for her profound exploration of themes such as Neoplatonism and Petrarchism. Her distinctive oeuvre includes elegies and sonnets, notable for their remarkable frankness in addressing eroticism and human desire. Beyond her poetry, Labé penned a feminist preface advocating for women writers and a prose allegory, "Debat de Folie et d'Amour." Her innovative literary voice and daring engagement with complex emotional landscapes have cemented her legacy as a significant figure in literary history.
Louise Labé, one of the most original poets of the French Renaissance, published her complete Works around the age of thirty and then disappeared from history. Rediscovered in the nineteenth century, her incandescent love sonnets were later translated into German by Rilke and appear here in a revelatory new English version by the award-winning translator Richard Sieburth.