Senses of Style: Poetry before Interpretation. Jeff Dolven. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017. viii + 254 pp. $25.
and then for the newly crowned Henri IV. Maynard situates Du Bartas’s final poem, “Le Cantique d’Ivry,” within the context of legitimizing Henri IV and demonstrates how the portrayal of Henri as a warrior nonetheless downplays violence and highlights Henri’s capacity for toleration. Similarly, Maynard demonstrates how Garnier’s Henriade, discussed in chapter 3, works to unify France, both through the characterization of an outside enemy, Spain, and through the representation of Henri’s acts of forgiveness and clemency. The work of Cayet, the focus of chapter 4, allows the reader to appreciate another step in the construction of Henri IV’s unified France. Maynard compares Cayet’s Heptaméron de la Navarride to key passages from Virgil’s Aeneid and Eclogues to highlight the depiction of a golden age that is dawning as Henri IV and Marie de’ Medici marry and produce an heir. In this journey across the work of five epic poets, Maynard not only provides ample evidence for the importance and the vitality of the French epic, but also provides a productive lens through which to consider these difficult, formative decades of French history. Beyond the very clear argument about the epic genre, however, further conclusions are left up to the reader, and the short final chapter leaves the reader wanting more. Written clearly with ample explanation for a nonspecialist, the book offers a textually grounded opportunity to contemplate the deep connections between war, religion, memory, place, and community.