Roman de la Rose (redirected from Le Roman de la Rose)

Roman de la Rose

(French; “Romance of the Rose”)

One of the most popular French poems of the late medieval period. Modeled on Ovid's Art of Love, it survives in more than 300 manuscripts. Its first 4,058 lines were written c. 1225–30 by Guillaume de Lorris; they form a charming dream allegory drawing on traditions of courtly love. About 1280 Jean de Meun wrote the rest of the more than 21,000 lines, incorporating a vast mass of encyclopaedic information and opinions on many contemporary topics, which secured the poem's fame. The Roman was translated by Geoffrey Chaucer and was one of the most important literary influences on his writings.