The Parnassian poets were a group of nineteenth-century French poets who favored precision, formal control, and emotional restraint. Reacting against Romantic excess, they aimed for polished verse, clear imagery, and an impersonal tone, often valuing craftsmanship over self-expression.
Leconte de Lisle is one of the best-known figures associated with the movement.
Example
The marble statue stands in noonlight still,
Each line exact, each image hard and bright;
No sighing heart spills over into rhyme-
Only the shaped and patient work of art.