Parnassian School
Preserved but no longer current.
The name given to a group of French poets flourishing from about 1850 to 1890, from a collection of their poems entitled Parnasse contemporain (1866). They were followers of De Musset, and include Leconte de Lisle, Baudelaire, Francois Coppee, and Sully-Prudhomme.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Parnassian School” mean?
The name given to a group of French poets flourishing from about 1850 to 1890, from a collection of their poems entitled Parnasse contemporain (1866). They were followers of De Musset, and include Leconte de Lisle, Baudelaire, Francois Coppee, and Sully-Prudhomme.
Is “Parnassian School” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.