SEGRAIS (John Renaud de), a French poet, born at Caen in 1624. Poetry was far from proving unprofitable to him; for it enabled him to rescue himself, four brothers, and two sisters, from the unhappy circumstances in which the extravagance of a father had left them. His prose writings, as novels and romances, though for the most part frivolous enough, have great merit as to their style, which may be considered as a standard. Of this kind are his Nouvelles Françaises, and the romances called La Princesse de Cleves, and Zayde; the latter of which has been often printed, with Mr Huet's Origine des Romans prefixed. This piece was written on purpose for it; and is, says Voltaire, a work of great use. But it is principally for his poetical works that Segrais is distinguished. These consist of, 1. Diverses Poëties, 4to, Paris 1658;
2. Athis, a pastoral; and, 3. A translation of Virgil's Georgics and Eneid.