Esthetique De La Langue Francaise: La Deformation, La Metaphore, Le Cliche, Le Vers Libre, Le Vers Populaire

While laying claim to "a quite violent esthetic feeling," Remy de Gourmont places his Esthetique de la langue francaise (1899) under the patronage of the great names of contemporary linguistics and seeks to "add a new principle to those which guide the study of languages, namely the esthetic principle."