After leaving, he devoted himself to poetry and began with an ode on the birth of the Duke of Burgundy entitled Mars au berceau (1751, in-8°).
If one believes mademoiselle Clairon, the fifth act, which the actors were not satisfied with, was re-built this very day by the author, yet the curtain rose at half past five.
His play, remarkable in several respects and remained as one of the best second-rate tragedies, however, was abused by Fréron, Grimm and Geoffroy who called it a "burlesque farce," an "extravagant hodgepodge."
In imitation of the Greeks, or simply following the example of Collé, the author fulfilled his subject, without introducing any love episodes, and maintaining the simplicity of Euripides' plan failed not of interest nor pathetic.
As for style, it was said that the heavy, monotonous, versification, the declamatory pieces and Iphigénie en Tauride language mistakes were saved by the energy and heat that animated all of the work that was printed several time (Paris, 1758, 1784, 1811, 1815, 1818, in-8°).