Pierre-Joseph Bernard (26 August 1708 – 1 November 1775), called Gentil-Bernard by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

for the measured grace of his discreetly erotic verses, was a French military man and salon poet with the reputation of a rake, the author of several

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

for

Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera a ...

Mme de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French Royal court, court. She was the official maîtresse-en-titre, chief mistress of King Lou ...

arranged to have him appointed a royal librarian, at the

château de Choisy The Château de Choisy was a royal French residence in the commune of Choisy-le-Roi in the Val-de-Marne department, not far from Paris. The commune was given its present name by Louis XV, when he purchased the manor of Choisy and its château in ...

, where she had a little pavilion built for him. He was born in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

. He received a Jesuit education at

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and joined the staff of Marshal François de Franquetot de Coigny, rising to become the Marshal's chief secretary and serving him in this capacity for a decade. On his return he was taken up by the young Mlle Poisson, not yet marquise de Pompadour. His libretto for

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

's ''

Castor et Pollux ''Castor et Pollux'' (''Castor and Pollux'') is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 24 October 1737 by the Académie royale de musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris. The librettist was Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard ...

'' (1737), a resounding success, rendered him fashionable in the salons. He translated

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's ''

Ars amatoria The (''The Art of Love'') is an instructional elegy series in three books by the ancient Roman poet Ovid. It was written in 2 AD. Content Book one of was written to show a man how to find a woman. In book two, Ovid shows how to keep her. These ...

'' (''L'Art de l'Amour'') but never intended to publish it, or much else of his fugitive verses. The publisher Leroux noted it in the salons where Bernard often declaimed it, and printed it. Bernard was also known for his ''Epistle to Claudine''. For Rameau Bernard also provided libretti for the operas ''

Les surprises de l'Amour ''Les surprises de l'Amour'' is an ''opéra-ballet'' in two ''entrées'' (three or four in later versions) and a prologue by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was first performed in Versailles on 27 November 1748. The opera is set to ...

'' (1748) and '' Anacréon'' (1757). His poem "Ô! Fontenay" was set as a

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

by Joseph Denis Doche. In his book of biographical essays,

Arsène Houssaye Arsène Houssaye (28 March 181526 February 1896) was a French novelist, poet and man of letters. His 1879 book '' Des destinées de l'âme'' is notable for having been bound in human skin. Biography Houssaye was born in Bruyères (Aisne), near ...

devoted a chapter to Gentil-Bernard, the " French Anacreon". After some years either senile or gently mad, he died at

Choisy-le-Roi Choisy-le-Roi () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department, in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. History The current Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1988. Geography Choisy-le-Roi is located southeast from the center of ...

in 1775. Arsène Houssaye asserted that "the poor poet had a devout niece for his heir, who burnt everything as a sacrifice except the will."Houssaye.

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Pierre-Joseph 1708 births 1775 deaths Military personnel from Grenoble French erotica writers French opera librettists 18th-century French poets 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights 18th-century French translators Writers from Grenoble