French Lyrics
by
Arthur Graves Canfield
Part 7 out of 8
ABEL HERMANT
L'ETOILE
Je suis le Chaldeen par l'Etoile conduit
Vers un but inconnu que moi-meme j'ignore.
Quelle main alluma cet astre dans ma nuit?
Quel spectacle a mes yeux revelera l'Aurore?
N'importe.--Dans la nuit je vais. La nudite
Du jour blessait mes yeux. L'ombre chaste est un voile.
Ce flambeau, qu'il m'egare ou me guide, est clarte:
L'Astre, meme trompeur, est toujours une etoile.
Trouverai-je en sa creche, ainsi que dans un nid,
Un enfant? Me mettrai-je a genoux? Que m'importe!
J'ai recueilli la myrrhe et le baume benit:
Je respire en marchant les parfums que je porte.
NOTES.
The full-face figures refer to the pages; the ordinary figures to the
lines.
N.B. For the poets before MALHERBE the spelling has not been
modernized. Some uniformity however has been sought, and accents are
used when they affect final vowels.
CHARLES D'ORLEANS.
1391-1465.
Father of Louis XII, was taken prisoner in the battle of Agincourt
(1415) and passed the next twenty-five years of his life in captivity
in England. In this long leisure he developed his talent for poetry,
and on his return to France he made his residence at Blois a
gathering-point for men of letters. His poetical work marks the
utmost attainment in outward grace of expression in the treatment of
conventional subjects in the traditional fixed forms. Now and then
there is a more personal strain which suggests the more distinctly
modern lyric of Villon; but he is not to be compared with Villon in
originality of view, sincerity of feeling, or directness and intensity
of utterance.
His works were not published till the eighteenth century. The
best edition is that of Ch. d'Hericault, 2 vols., 1874 (_Nouvelle
collection Jannet-Picard_). Charles d'Orleans also wrote some of his
poems in English; these were published by G. W. Taylor in 1827 for the
Roxburghe Club.
For reference : Constant Beaufils, _Etude sur la vie et les poesies de
Charles d'Orleans_, 1861; Robert Louis Stevenson, _Familiar Studies of
Men and Books_, London, 1882.
1. BALLADE. For the form of the _ballade_ see the remarks on
versification, p. xxi. 2. ESTOYE, _etais_; for initial _e_ from
_es_cf. _esveillera_, l. 14, _Este_, 3, 8. 3. AVOIENT, _avaient_; in
the imperfect and conditional _oi_, from an earlier _ei_, continued
to be written till late in the eighteenth century, long after in
pronunciation it had come to have the value of _ai_. 4. HAYENT,
_haissent_, _y_ is found frequently in the older spelling for _i_,
especially when final. 5. DESCONFORT= _decouragement_. 8. SI FAIS =
_ainsi je fais_; the omission of the pronoun is common at this time;
cf. 8, 24, _direz_. 10. NE ... NE = _ni ... ni_. GREVANCE = _dommage,
malheur_. 14. ACCORT,_accord_. 16. SOYENT, _soient_; here of two
syllables, in modern verse of one. 17. VEOIR, _voir_; here of two
syllables. 22. SORT, _evil spell_. 24. LOING, _loin_.
2. I. VUEIL, _veux_, HOIR = _heritier_. 5. NUL NE PORTE=_ que nul ne
porte_. 6. VENT, _vend_. MARCHIE, _marche_. 7. TIENGNE = _tienne_.
POUR TOUT VOIR = _vraiment_; _let every one consider it a certain
fact_. RONDEL. For the form of the _rondel_ see the remarks on
versification, p. xxi. II. AVECQUES, _avec_. 12. COMBIEN QUE = _bien
que_. 17. RAPAISE = _s'apaise_. 19. TANTOST = _bientot_; _s_ before
_l, m, n_, and _t_ has regularly disappeared; cf. _vestu_, 24,
_beste_, 26, _bruslerent_, 4, 26, _mesme_, 5, 22, _maistre_, 6,1.
RONDEL. _"Le Temps a laissie son manteau._" 22. LAISSIE, _laisse_. 24.
BROUDERYE, _broderie_. 25. LUYANT, _luisant_, CLER, _clair_.
3. 4. LIVREE could be used now in the body of the line only before
a word beginning with a vowel. 6. ABILLE, _habille_. RONDEL. _"Les
Fourriers d'Este sont venus._" 13. VERT, feminine ; in adjectives of
two endings of the Latin third declension, like _grandis, fortis,
viridis_, the feminine ending _e_is due to the influence of adjectives
of three endings, and does not appear in Old French. 16. PIECA =
naguere._ 18. PRENEZ PAIS, _take to the country_, i.e. depart. 19.
YVER, _hiver_.
4. RONDEL. _"Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder_." 2. SCAY, _sais_; _c_
was introduced into the forms of _savoir_ under the mistaken notion
that it was connected with _scire_. 4. UNG, _un_.
FRANCOIS VILLON.
1431-146-?.
Poet and vagabond, he led a most irregular life, twice narrowly
escaped hanging, and composed many of his poems in prison. He was a
poet of great originality, for he broke away from the conventional
subjects and the allegorizing habit of the Middle Ages and gave to the
lyric a personal note and a depth and poignancy of feeling that made
it almost a new creation, though he still adhered mainly to the
traditional forms and showed a special preference for the ballade.
Most of his ballades are introduced into his main works, the _Petit
Testament_ and the _Grand Testament_, which are entirely personal in
contents.
His works were first published in 1489; Marot prepared an edition in
the following century, Paris, 1533; they were not reprinted in the
seventeenth century; convenient recent editions are those of P.
L. Jacob (Paul Lacroix), 1854; P. Jannet (_Nouvelle collection
Jannet-Picard_) and A. Longnon, 1892.
For reference: A. Longnon, _Etude biographique sur Francois Villon_,
1877; Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. xiv; Th. Gautier, _les
Grotesques_; J. Lemaitre, _Impressions de theatre_, troisieme serie,
1889 ; Robert Louis Stevenson, _Familiar Studies of Men and Books_,
London, 1882.
4. BALLADE DES DAMES DU TEMPS JADIS. Dante Gabriel Rossetti has
translated this ballade, which is perhaps the most famous one in the
language. 6. DICTES, _dites_, n'en = _ni en _; in Old French _ne_
could be used for the simple alternative 'or.' 7. FLORA; a late
tradition made of the Roman goddess of flowers and spring a wealthy
and beautiful woman. 8. ARCHIPIDIA, perhaps Hipparchia is meant;
THAIS, an Athenian beauty of the fourth century B.C. 10. ECHO, the
nymph of classical mythology. MAINE, _mene_. 11. ESTAN, _etang_. 13.
ANTAN, _last year_ (from Latin _ante annum_); Rossetti translates
"yesteryear". 14. HELOIS, Heloise, or Eloise. 16. ESBAILLART, Abelard
(1079-1142), a French scholar and philosopher, whose love for the
beautiful and accomplished Heloise, one of his pupils, has passed
into legend, which has quite transformed the fact. SAINCT-DENYS,
Saint-Denis, only four and one half miles from Paris, celebrated for
the cathedral of Saint-Denis in which are the tombs of the kings of
France. Abelard resided for a time in the abbey of Saint-Denis. 17.
ESSOYNE = _peine_. 18. ROYNE, _reine_; Marguerite de Bourgogne, wife
of Louis le Hutin, is meant, the heroine of the legend of the Tour
de Nesle, according to which she had her numerous lovers killed and
thrown into the Seine. Buridan was more fortunate and escaped; he was
afterwards a learned professor of the University of Paris. She herself
was strangled in prison in 1314. 21. LA ROYNE BLANCHE, Blanche de
Castille, mother of Saint Louis. 22. SEREINE, _sirene_. 23. BERTHE AU
GRAND PIED, celebrated in the _chansons de geste_, was the mother of
Charlemagne. BIETRIS, Beatrix de Provence, married in 1245 to Charles,
son of Louis VIII. ALLYS, Alix de Champagne, married in 1160 to Louis
le Jeune. 24. HAREMBOURGES, Eremburge, daughter of Elie de la Fleche,
count of Maine, who died in 1110. 25. JEHANNE, Joan of Arc, who was
burned at the stake at Rouen in 1431.
5.
1. N'ENQUEREZ, _do not seek to know_. SEPMAINE,_semaine_. 3. QUE ...
NE, _lest_. REMAINE = _reste_. LAY ou PLUSTOST RONDEAU. 8. SE, _si_.
12. DEVIE = _meure_. 13. VOIRE = _vraiment_. JE CONNAIS TOUT FORS
QUE MOI-MEME. 15. LAICT. _lait_. 21. BESONGNE = _travaille_. CHOMME,
_chome_. 24. GONNE, _gown_, a monk's garment.
6. 3. PIPEUR, one who whistles in imitation of birds ; _je congnois
pipeur qui jargonne, I know the tricks of the bird-catcher_. 4. FOLZ
NOURRIZ DE CRESME, refers perhaps to the pampered court jesters. 7.
MULLET, _mulet_. 10. GECT, a counter for counting and adding (_qui
nombre et somme_). 12. BOESMES, _Bohemians_; _la faults des Boesmes_
is the heresy of the followers of John Huss (1369- 1415) and Jerome
of Prague (1375-1416). 16. COULEREZ ET BLESMES = _teints colores et
blemes_"
CLEMENT MAROT.
1497-1544.
He abandoned the law to live at court and write verses. After his
first successes, he became page in the household of Marguerite of
Navarre, and continued to enjoy her protection and that of her
brother, Francis I., though this could not save him, when accused
of heresy because of the welcome that he gave to the ideas of the
Reformation, from the necessity of twice fleeing to Italy for safety.
In spite of some deeper notes and in spite of his translation of the
first fifty Psalms, which is used in French Protestant churches, he
was by no means a religious reformer. He was essentially a court poet,
putting into graceful verse, ballades, rondeaux, epistles, epigrams,
etc., the trifles, jests, sallies, and elegant badinage that delighted
courtly society.
Works: _l'Adolescence Clementine_, 1532; _Oeuvres de Clement Marot_,
Lyon, 1538; _Trente Psaumes de David_, 1541; _Cinquante Psaumes de
David_, 1543 ; _les Oeuvres de Clement Marot_, Lyon, 1544; _Oeuvres
completes de Clement Marot_, par M. Guiffrey, 1876-81 (only part has
appeared); _Oeuvres completes_, par P. Jannet, 4 vols., 1868-72;
_Oeuvres choisies_, par E. Voizard, 1890.
For reference: E. Scherer, _Etudes litteraires sur la litterature
contemporaine_, vol. viii; Emile Faguet, _le Seizieme siecle_, 1893;
H. Morley, _C. Marot and other studies_, London, 1871.
RONDEAU. For the form see the remarks on versification.
20. SE DEMENOIT, _expressed itself_. 21. C'ESTOIT DONNE TOUTE LA TERRE
RONDE, i.e. it was as if one had given. 23. "They loved each other for
the heart alone."
24. SI A JOUIR ON VENOIT, _if one's love was returned_. 25.
s'entretenoit, _kept faith_.
7 2. FEINCTS, _feints_. OYT, from _ouir_. 3. Qui = _si quelqu'un_. ME
FONDE, _rely_.
PIERRE DE RONSARD.
1524-1585.
The greatest French poet of the Renaissance, he entered the household
of the Duke of Orleans at the age of ten, spent three years as page
of James V. of Scotland, and traveled much about Europe on various
embassies. At eighteen, attacked by deafness, he withdrew to the
college of Coqueret and was won to poetry by study of the ancients. It
was then that a common love for the classical literatures and a common
zeal for imitating their beauties in French bound him to the other
young men who with him called themselves the Pleiad and set themselves
to the task of renewing French literature in the image of the
literatures of antiquity. In 1550, the year after the appearance of
the manifesto of the young school, the _Defense et Illustration de la
langue francaise_ of du Bellay, he published a volume of odes. His
fame was instant and immense; he returned in glory to court, and for
forty years the authority of his example was hardly questioned. His
talent was exercised in almost all kinds of verse, chansons, sonnets,
elegies, eclogues, hymns, epistles, and even in the epic, where,
however, his experiment, _la Franciade_, was a complete failure,
abandoned when but four of the proposed twelve cantos were finished.
But his genius was essentially lyric. The ode was his special
contribution to French verse; in it he followed the classical form
with its divisions into strophe, antistrophe, and epode, sometimes in
direct imitation of Pindar, Anacreon, Theocritus, or Horace. His best
work is that in which he freed himself most fully from the influence
of a model. His deepest and truest note's are those that celebrate the
pleasures of this life, the delights of nature, and the inevitable
"cold obstruction" of death.
Works: _Odes_ and _Bocage_, 1550; _Amours_, _Odes_, book v, 1552,
1553; _Hymnes_, 1555, book ii, 1556; _Meslanges_, 1555, book ii, 1559;
_Oeuvres_ (_Amours, Odes, Poemes, Hymnes_), 4 vols., 1560; _Oeuvres_,
i vol., 1584; recent editions are _Oeuvres completes_, par P.
Blanchemain, 8 vols., 1857-67 (_Bibliotheque elzevirienne_); par
Marty-Laveaux, 6 vols., 1887 ff.; _Oeuvres choisies_, avec notice de
Sainte-Beuve, I vol.
For reference: Excellent biographical study by Marty-Laveaux in his
edition of the works; Emile Faguet, _le Seizieme siecle_, 1893 ;
Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. xii.
7. A CASSANDRE. 8. DESCLOSE, _opened_. 10. A POINT PERDU; _ne_ was
not, and still is not always, required in the question; cf. 164,
22. VESPREE = _soir_; cf. _vepre_. 13. LAS, _helas_. 20. FLEURONNE=
_fleurit_.
8. CHANSON. 27. AMOUR, _Cupid_. 1. CHENEVIERE = _chanvre_. 3. MY-NUD,
_half naked_. 19. FOL LE PELICAN; cf. for another use of this popular
notion about the pelican the famous picture in the _Nuit de mai_ of
Alfred de Musset, 150, 12 _ff_. A HELENE. 26. OYANT, from _ouir_. 27.
DESJA, _deja_. 29. BENISSANT VOSTRE NOM, etc., i.e. congratulating you
on being immortalized by the poet's praise.
9. 2. OMBRES MYRTEUX, _shadows of the myrtles_. ELEGIE. 8. VENDEMOIS,
one of the old divisions of France, on the Loire. It was the
birth-place of Ronsard. 10. REMORS; has here rather the sense of
regret. 13. AGEZ, _ages_ the spelling _-ez_ for _-es_ was usual.
22. CHEF = _tete_. 23. DE RECHEF = _de nouveau_. 24. PERRUQUE =
_chevelure_. 26. VERDS, _strong, supple_.
10. DIEU VOUS GARD. 7. GARD, the form of the present subjunctive
regularly descended from the Latin subjunctive in verbs of the first
conjugation. The ending _e_, added later, is due to analogy. 8.
VISTES ARONDELLES, _vites_ (_rapides_) _hirondelles_. 10. TOURTRES =
_tourterelles_. 12. VERDELETS, _verts_; such diminutives were quite
in favor in the language of the time; cf. _rossignolet, nouvelet,
fleurettes_. 15. BOUTONS JADIS COGNUS, etc., i.e. the hyacinth and the
narcissus. 29. AU PRIX DE, _in comparison with_.
11. A UN AUBESPIN. 6. LAMBRUNCHE, _a wild vine_. 10. PERTUIS, _holes_.
12. AVETTES = _abeilles_. 30. RUER = _jeter_.
12. ELEGIE CONTRE LES BUCHERONS DE LA FORET DE GASTINE. Cf. the
poem by Laprade, p. 192. Gastine is in Haut-Poitou, in the present
department of Deux-Sevres. 14. PERSE, _perce_. 15. MASTIN, _matin_.
21. PANS, used by Ronsard in the plural as if he thought them a kind
of being, like Satyrs. 22. FANS, now written _faons_, but still
pronounced as if spelled _fans_. 24. PREMIER, used adverbially. 26.
ESTONNER in the older language expressed a physical shock; to _stun_.
28. NEUVAINE, composed of nine. TROPE, _troupe_; the nine muses.
Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, and Euterpe the muse of music
and lyric poetry.
13. 3. ALTEREZ, BRUSLEZ, ETHEREZ, see note on _agez_, 9, 13. 8.
DORDONEENS, referring to the forest of Dordona, in Epirus, where
oracles were rendered from oak trees. According to Greek traditions
the first men lived on acorns and raw flesh. 16. ET QU'EN CHANGEANT DE
FORME, etc., _and that it will change its form and put on a new one_.
JOACHIM DU BELLAY.
1525-1560.
After Ronsard the foremost poet of the Pleiad. He was of an
illustrious family, but, cut off from a brilliant public career by
ill health and deafness, he sought consolation in letters. He even
preceded Ronsard in inaugurating the literary reform, issuing the
manifesto of the new movement, his _Defense et Illustration de la
langue francaise_, his collection of sonnets called _Olive_, and a
_Recueil de poesies_, all in 1549. Shortly afterwards he accompanied
his cousin, Cardinal du Bellay, to Rome; the admiration which the
historic associations of the city excited in him and his disgust
at the intrigues of the court and the corruptions of Italian life,
mingled with homesickness for the pleasant sights and quiet air of his
native Anjou, inspired the two collections of sonnets which are his
best, the _Antiquites romaines_, translated by Spenser in 1591, and
the _Regrets_.
Works: _Olive_, _Recueil de poesies_, 1549; _Premier livre des
antiquites de Rome_, 1558; _Jeux rustiques_, 1558; _les Regrets_,
1559 ; _Oeuvres_, 1569. Recent editions are : Oeuvres completes, par
Marty-Laveaux, 2 vols., 1866-67; _Oeuvres choisies_, par Becq de
Fouquieres, 1876.
For reference: Leon Seche, _Joachim du Bellay_, 1880; E. Faguet, _le
Seizieme siecle_, 1893 ; Sainte-Beuve, _Nouveaux lundis_, vol. xiii;
Walter Pater, _The Renaissance_, London, 1873.
13. L'IDEAL. This is from the first collection of sonnets, _Olive_.
The influence of Petrarch is evident. Compare also the lines of the
sestet with the final stanzas of Lamartine's _Isolement_, p. 65. 22.
En 1'eternel = _dans l'eternite_.
14. L'AMOUR DU CLOCHER. From the _Regrets_. 8. cestuy, old form of
demonstrative, _celui_. The reference is of course to Jason. 9. USAGE,
_experience_. 11. QUAND REVERRAY-JE, etc., cf. Homer's Odyssey, I, 58.
18. LOYRE, the name of the river is now feminine. 19. LIRE, a little
village in Anjou, was the birth-place of du Bellay. D'UN VANNEUR DE
BLE AUX VENTS. From the collection entitled _Jeux rustiques_.
15. 8. CESTE, cette. 10. J'AHANNE = je me fatigue.
AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE.
1550-1630.
Soldier as well as poet, he was a leader of the Huguenots in the wars
that ended with the accession of Henry IV. After the assassination of
Henry IV., his safety became more and more threatened in France, and
he withdrew finally to Geneva. His main work is a long descriptive
and narrative poem, but in many parts essentially lyrical, _les
Tragiques_, a fierce picture of France in the civil wars. In his
lyrics, which comprise _stances, odes_, and _elegies_, he is a
follower of the tradition of Ronsard.
Works: _Les Tragiques_, 1616; a recent edition is by L. Lalanne, 1857;
also in the _Oeuvres completes_, par MM. Reaume et de Caussade, 4
vols., 1873-77.
For reference: Pergameni, _la Satire au seizieme siecle et les
Tragiques d'Agrippa d'Aubigne_, 1881; E. Faguet, _le Seizieme siecle_,
1893.
15. L'HYVER. 14. IRONDELLES, _hirondelles_. 19. N'ESLOIGNE, _ne
s'eloigne de_.
16. 2. COMME IL FIT, i.e. _comme il alluma des flammes_. 10. SEREINES,
_sirenes_. 14. USAGE, _fruition_.
JEAN BERTAUT.
1552-1611.
A man by no means of the poetic stature of Ronsard, du Bellay, and
D'Aubigne; he found great favor in his day, but his lyric note was not
powerful enough to endure long. He is most successful in the graceful
expression of a natural melancholy, as in the example here given. He
was a follower, in moderation, of the Pleiad.
Works : _Recueil des oeuvres poetiques de J. Bertaut_, l601; appeared
again enlarged in 1605 ; _Recueil de quelques vers amoureux_, 1602 :
both collections are included in _Oeuvres poetiques_, 1620; a
recent edition is edited by A. Cheneviere, 1891 (_Bibliotheque
elzevirienne_). CHANSON. 27. DEMEURE, _delay_.
17. 4. FAY, _fais_.
23. VOY, _vois_.
25. VY, _vis_.
MATHURIN REGNIER.
1573-1613.
Though bred to the church and early settled in a good living, he led
a life that was hardly edifying. He possessed brilliant talents, but
failed to make the most of them. He was indolent and fond of good
living, and was restive under discipline, as is evident in his work
and in his irritation at Malherbe. He had a gift of keen observation,
and his satires excelled in interest what he composed in the more
lyrical forms of ode and elegy.
Works : _Oeuvres_, 1608, 1612 ; recent editions are those of Viollet
le Duc, 1853 (_Bibliotheque elzevirienne_), and E. Courbet, 1875.
For reference : J. Vianey, _Mathurin Regnier_, 1896.
FRANCOIS DE MALHERBE.
1555-1628.
He marks an epoch in the history of French letters. Boileau's famous
phrase, "enfin Malherbe vint," dates from him the beginning of worthy
French poetry. What did begin with him was that tradition of refinement,
elegance, polish and perfect propriety of phrase that continued to rule
French literature for two centuries. He lent the influence of a very
positive voice to the growing demand for a standard of authority in
grammar and versification and for recognized canons of criticism. The
lyrical impulse in him was small, but some of his lines live in virtue
of the finished propriety and harmony of expression.
Works: _Oeuvres_, 1628; the best edition is that of L. Lalanne, 5 vols.,
1862-69 {_Collection des Grands Ecrivains_).
For reference: G. Allais, _Malherbe_, 1891; F. Brunot, _la Doctrine
de Malherbe_, 1891; F. Brunetiere, _l'Evolution des genres_, vol. i,
1890; _Etudes critiques sur l'histoire de la litterature francaise_,
vol. v, 1893.
21. CONSOLATION A M. DU PERIER. 5. TITHON, Tithonus, who obtained from
the gods immortality but not eternal youth. After age had completely
wasted and shriveled him he was changed into a grasshopper. 6. PLUTON,
Pluto, god of the nether world, the abode of the dead. 8. ARCHEMORE,
Archemorus or Opheltes, son of Lycurgus, king of Nemea, died in
infancy from the bite of a serpent.
22. I. FRANCOIS, Francis I.; his oldest son, Francis, born in 1517,
died suddenly in 1526, and Charles V. was suspected of having had him
poisoned, and dire vengeance was wreaked upon the person of Sebastian
de Montecuculli, cupbearer of Charles V. The suspicions proved to be
wholly groundless. 5. ALCIDE, Alcides, by which name Hercules was known
till he consulted the oracle of Delphi. 9. LA DURANCE, a river in
southwestern France, flowing into the Rhone below Avignon. After
beginning an agressive campaign in this part of France in the summer of
1536, the Spaniards were in September forced to a disastrous retreat.
13. DE MOI, _for my own part_; Malherbe had lost his first two children,
Henry in 1587 and Jourdaine in 1599. 27. LOUVRE; the palace of the
Louvre, begun in 1541 by Francis
I. on the site of a royal chateau built by Philip Augustus, and added
to by his successors, was a royal residence until the Revolution.
23. CHANSON. 20. en sa liberte, i.e. free from her pursuit. PARAPHRASE
DU PSAUME CXLV. This is Psalm CXLVI in our English Bible.
JEAN RACINE.
1639-1699.
A dramatic genius of the highest order. But besides being a great
dramatist he was a consummate master of language. The choruses in
Esther and Athalie are excellent examples of the kind of lyric that
the tendencies represented by Malherbe permitted. The extract here
given is from Esther, Act III. The approach to the language of the
Psalms is evident throughout.
JEAN-BAPTISTE ROUSSEAU.
1670-1741.
The chief representative of the serious lyric in the eighteenth
century. This ode is a favorable example of the form which lyric
utterance assumed in this philosophizing century and under the
tradition of poetic dignity and propriety.
27. ODE A LA FORTUNE. 16. SYLLA (138-78 B.C.), the enemy of Marius and
author of the bloody proscription against the adherents of his rival.
17. ALEXANDRE, Alexander the Great. 18. ATTILA, king of the Huns from
434 to 453, who ravaged southern and western Europe from 450 to 452
and was known as "the scourge of God."
28. 16. LE RETOUR, i.e. the adverse turn.
EVARISTE-DESIRE DESFORGES DE PARNY.
1753-1814.
He wrote mostly in a lighter and erotic vein. He had many admirers
in his day who styled him the French Tibullus. His influence is
perceptible in the style of Lamartine.
Works: _Poesies erotiques_, 1778; _Opuscules poetiques_, 1779,
enlarged in succeeding editions; _les Rosicroix_, 1807; _Oeuvres_, 5
vols., 1808; _Oeuvres choisies_, 1827.
For reference : Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. xv;
_Portraits contemporains_, vol. iv; George Saintsbury, _Miscellaneous
Essays_, London, 1892.
NICOLAS GILBERT.
1751-1780.
He has often been compared with Chatterton and has owed much of his
fame to the unfounded legend that he was a child of genius brought to
an untimely death by poverty and lack of recognition. His satires on
the vices of his time enjoyed a temporary reputation, but his real
legacy to posterity is the well-known lines here given.
Works: _Oeuvres completes_, 1788, and frequently thereafter.
ROUGET DE L'ISLE.
1760-1836.
Though he wrote much in both prose and verse, nothing of his lives
except the _Marseillaise_, which has become the national song of
France. He composed both words and music in the night of April 25,
1792, while he was an officer of engineers at Strassburg. The last
stanza vas added later by another hand. The name, _la Marseillaise_,
comes from the fact that it was introduced to Paris by the troops from
Marseilles.
Works: _Essais en vers et en prose_, 1796.
For reference: J. Tiersot, _Rouget de l'Isle, son oeuvre, sa vie_,
1892.
32. LA MARSEILLAISE. 6. Beuille, Francois-Claude Amour, marquis de
(1739-1800), a devoted royalist, who planned the flight of Louis XVI.
When the king was captured at Varennes he fled to England, where he
died.
MARIE-ANDRE CHENIER.
1762-1794.
The most genuine poet of the eighteenth century. Born at Constantinople
of a Greek mother, he knew Greek early and fed himself on the Greek
poets, imbibing something of their spirit. His elegies, idyls, and odes
are not mere repetitions of the conventional commonplaces, but new,
original, and vigorous in idea and expression. He anticipated the
Romanticists in breaking over the received rules of versification and
in giving greater flexibility and variety to the Alexandrine line.
Works : _Poesies_, first published by H. de Latouche, 1819; later
editions are by Becq de Fouquieres, 1862 and 1872; G. de Chenier, with
new material, 3 vols., 1874; by Louis Moland, 2 vols., 1878-79.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits litteraires_, vol. i;
_Portraits contemporains_, vols, ii and v; _Causeries du lundi_, vol.
iv; _Nouveaux lundis_, vol. iii; E. Faguet, _le Dix- huitieme siecle_,
1890; E. Caro, _la Fin du dix-huitieme siecle_, vol. ii, 1882; J.
Haraszti, _la Poesie d'Andre Chenier_, 1892.
32. LA JEUNE CAPTIVE. This, as well as the _Iambes_ following, was
written in the Saint-Lazare prison shortly before Chenier was sent
to the guillotine. The young captive was Mlle. Aimee de Coigny; she
escaped the guillotine and afterwards married M. de Montrond; she died
in 1820.
33. 18. PHILOMELE; Philomela was daughter of Pandion, king of Athens.
Pursued by Tereus, king of Thrace, she was changed into a nightingale.
The name is frequently employed in poetry for the nightingale.
34. 16. PALES, a Roman divinity of flocks and shepherds.
35. IAMBES. 23. BAVUS, a conventional name; it is not clear who was in
the poet's mind.
MARIE-JOSEPH CHENIER.
1764-1811.
A younger brother of Andre Chenier, enjoyed a great reputation as a
dramatic poet and critic. Aside from the _Chant du depart_, which had
a reputation approaching that of the _Marseillaise_, he is hardly to
be considered as a lyric poet.
Works: _Oeuvres completes_, 8 vols., 1823-1826; _Poesies_, 1844.
37. LE CHANT du DEPART. 9. De BARRA, DE VIALA; Agricole Viala and
Francois-Joseph Barra (properly Bara) were both young boys, thirteen
and fourteen years of age, who fell fighting with the revolutionary
armies, the former in the Vendee, the latter near Avignon. To both the
Convention voted the honors of burial in the Pantheon. Their names are
often coupled, as here.
ANTOINE-VINCENT ARNAULT.
1766-1834.
He wrote a number of tragedies and a collection of fables that were
admired in their day, but his name is best preserved for the larger
public by this brief elegy, which is found in most anthologies. The
circumstances attending its composition, on the eve of his departure
from France after his banishment in January, 1816, are related by
Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. vii, in the course of his
notice of Arnault, which should be consulted.
FRANCOIS-RENE, VICOMTE DE CHAUTEAUBRIAND.
1768-1848.
An enormous literary force at the beginning of this century; M. E.
Faguet calls him the "greatest date in French letters since the
Pleiad." But the instrument of his power was prose. His attempts in
verse were poor. Yet he exercised a direct influence towards the
renewal of lyric poetry, as has been indicated in the introduction.
For reference: E. Faguet, _Etudes litteraires sur le dix-neuvieme
siecle_, 1887 ; F. Brunetiere, _l'Evolution de la poesie lyrique au
dix-neuvieme siecle_, vol. i, 1894.
39. LE MONTAGNARD EXILE. Introduced into the prose tale, _le Dernier
des Abencerages_ (1807). "J'en avais compose les paroles pour un air
des montagnes d'Auvergne remarquable par sa douceur et sa simplicite."
(Author's note.) 24. la Dore, a rapid stream in the department Puy-
de-Dome, flowing into the Allier. 27. l'airain, i.e. the bell.
MARIE-ANTOINE DESAUGIERS.
1772-1827.
He represents a domain of the lyric that has always been industriously
tilled in France, that of the chanson. The tradition of the song
is distinctly bacchanalian, and rarely has it claimed serious
consideration as literature. But Desaugiers now and then foreshadows
the larger and more serious treatment the _chanson_ was to receive at
the hands of Beranger and Dupont.
Works: _Chansons et Poesies diverses_, 3 vols., 1808-1816; a _Choix de
chansons_ appeared in 1858; another in 1859, and others since.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. v; George
Saintsbury, _Miscellaneous Essays_, London, 1892.
CHARLES NODIER.
1780-1844.
Promoted the romantic movement by his personal contact with the group
of young writers that he drew around him more than by what he himself
wrote. He was one of those who felt and transmitted the influence of
Germany. He is better known by his stories than by his verse.
Works : _Essais d'un jeune barde_, 1804 ; _Poesies diverses_, 1827.
For reference : Mme. Mennessier-Nodier, _Charles Nodier, episodes et
souvenirs de sa vie_, 1867 ; Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits litteraires_,
vol. i.
PIERRE-JEAN DE BERANGER.
1780-1857.
The first in rank of the _chansonniers_. The chanson in his hands took
on a breadth, a meaning, and a seriousness that it had never before
possessed, and that make him secure of a place in the literature of
his country. He used the song largely as a vehicle for his political
opinions, even as a political weapon. The object of his attack was the
monarchy of the restoration and the pre-revolutionary ideas which it
tried to revive, and his weapon was formidable because it was so
well fitted to be caught up and wielded by the masses of the people.
Beranger was popular in the more original sense of the word. He
appealed to the masses by his ideas, which were those of the average
man, and by the form which he gave them and the efficient aid of the
current airs to which he wedded them, so that his words not only
reached the ears of an audience far wider than that of the readers of
books, but found a lodgment in their memories. Works: The successive
collections of _Chansons_ appeared in 1815, 1821, 1825, 1828, 1833;
_Oevres posthumes_, and _Oeuvres completes_, 2 vols., 1857.
For reference: Saint-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. i;
_Causeries du lundi_, vols, ii, xv; _Nouveaux lundis_, vol. i; E.
Caro, _Poetes et romanciers_, 1888; C. Coquelin in _The Century_, vol.
xxiv, with portraits.
43. LE ROI D'YVETOT (May, 1813) is perhaps the most famous of his
songs. Yvetot is a small town in Normandy, near Havre. The lords of
Yvetot were given the title of king in the fifteenth century. The
reference of the song to Napoleon is clear.
44. 11. BAN; _lever le ban_ means to call out one's vassals or
subjects. 13. TIRER AU BLANC, to shoot at a target.
45. LE VILAIN. 30.LE LEOPARD; the French heralds describe the device
of the English coat of arms as a _lion leoparde_; so the French often
use the leopard as a symbol for the English.
46. 3. LA LIGUE, the Catholic League, a union of Catholics between
1576 and 1596, principally to secure the supremacy of their religion;
it became the partisan of the Duc de Guise against Henry I. and Henry
IV., fomented civil strife, allied itself with Spain, and became
guilty of cruel excesses. MON HABIT 20. Socrate: the poverty of
Socrates is notorious. 27. FETE: a person's _fete_ is the day of the
saint whose name he bears.
47. 17. DES RUBANS; little bits of ribbon are worn in the buttonhole
by members of the Legion of Honor, established by Napoleon in 1802.
Membership in it is a purely honorary distinction, conferred by the
government for conspicuous services of any kind, civil as well as
military, and usually much coveted. Beranger refused all such favors
from the government. 26. METTRE POUR JAMAIS HABIT BAS, i.e. _mourir_.
48. LES ETOILES QUI FILENT, "shooting stars" (Jan., 1820). This poem
is based upon the popular superstition that connects human destinies
with the stars, and interprets a shooting star as the passing of a
human life.
49. 2. C'ETAIT A QUI LE NOURRIRAIT, each strove to outdo the other in
feeding him.
50. LES SOUVENIRS DU PEUPLE. This is one of the poems that contributed
to increase the prestige of the name of Napoleon. 9. BIEN ... QUE; the
parts of the conjunction are sometimes thus separated.
51. 10. CHAMPAGNE, previous to the Revolution a political division of
France, having Lorraine on the east and Burgundy on the south. Like
most other provinces it belonged formerly to independent princes. It
came to the kings of France by the marriage of Philip IV. in the
last half of the thirteenth century. Since the Revolution all these
historical divisions have been supplanted by the _departements_, new
administrative districts intended to obliterate the old boundaries.
But the old names are still familiarly used. Champagne was invaded in
1814 by an army of the powers allied against Napoleon. 18. S'ASSOIT,
instead of the usual _s'assied_ of cultivated speech, is in keeping
with the unlettered condition and familar tone of the speaker.
52. LES FOUS. Perhaps the word "cranks" comes nearest to giving the
force of the title. 22. SAUF A, _reserving the privilege of_.
53. 5. SAINT-SIMON; Claude-Henri, comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825),
was the founder of French socialism. He demanded the application of
the principle of association to the production and distribution of
wealth. 13. Francois- Marie-Charles FOURIER (1772-1837), the founder
of Fourierism, advocated a social reform in the direction of
communism, and proposed to reorganize society in large groups, or
phalanxes, living together in a perfect community in one building,
called a phalanstery. Such communities as Brook Farm were attempts at
a practical application of Fourier's ideas. See O. B. Frothingham's
Life of George Ripley. 21. Barthelemy-Prosper ENFANTIN (1796-1864) was
a follower of Saint-Simon and developed his doctrines. His means for
securing the emancipation and equality of woman was the abolition of
marriage.
CHARLES-HUBERT MILLEVOYE.
1782-1816.
Author of several poetical tales of chivalry and a considerable number
of elegies, is remembered for hardly anything but these celebrated
lines:
Works: _Oeuvres_, 5 vols., 1814-16; a collection of his _Poesies_ is
published in one volume, with a notice by Sainte- Beuve.
54. LA CHUTE DES FEUILLES. 19. EPIDAURE; Epidaurus, a town in Argolis
on the Saronic gulf, the chief seat of the worship of Aesculapius, the
god of the healing art.
MADAME MARCELINE DESBORDES-VALMORE.
1786-1859.
Is still ranked well among the lyric poets of the first part of the
century, though the celebrity that she enjoyed for a time has passed.
Though her language still has a flavor of the eighteenth century, the
note of emotion is direct and sincere. The theme that best inspired
her was love--love betrayed and disappointed.
Works: Poesies, 1818; _les Pleurs_, 1833; _Pauvres Fleurs_, 1839;
_Contes en vers pour les enfants_, Lyon, 1840; _Bouquets et prieres_,
1843; there is a selection, with notice by Sainte-Beuve, with the
title: _Poesies de Madame Desbordes-Valmore_.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. ii;
_Causeries du lundi_, vol. xiv; _Nouveaux lundis_, xii; these notices
are collected in a volume: _Madame Desbordes-Valmore, sa vie et sa
correspondance_; Montesquiou-Fezensac, _Felicite, etude sur la poesie
de Marceline Desbordes-Valmore_, 1894.
57. LES ROSES DE SAADI. Saadi (1195-1296) was a Persian poet; one of
his works is the Gulistan, or Garden of Roses.
ALPHONSE-MARIE-LOUIS DE LAMARTINE. 1790-1869
The first great poet of the century and still one of the greatest. He
passed a quiet youth in the shelter of home influences on his father's
estate near Macon, receiving his most lasting impressions from his
mother's instruction, from the fields and woods, and from certain
favorite books, among which were the Bible and Ossian. This education
was supplemented by a visit to Italy in 1811-12, memorable for the
episode of Graziella, and a short service in the royal guards. His
first volume, the _Meditations poetiques_ (1820), was something
entirely new in French letters and made him famous at once. These
poems were saturated with the poet's personality and informed with his
emotions; and to communicate his pervading melancholy he found
the secret of lines which, while they did not yet have the color,
brilliancy, and variety that the Romanticists presently gave to verse,
charmed the ear with a harmony and a music unattained before. His
long poems, with more or less of philosophical intention, especially
_Jocelyn_ (1836), are important works, but it was as a lyric poet that
he made his chief impression.
Works: _Meditations poetiques_, 1820; _Nouvelles Meditations_,
1823; _Harmonies poetiques et religieuses_, 1830; _Recueillements
poetiques_, 1839; _Poesies inedites_, 1839; _Poesies inedites_, 1873;
republished under the same names in various collected editions of his
_Oeuvres_ since 1860.
For reference: Faguet, _Etudes litteraires sur le dix-neuvieme
siecle_, 1887; Sainte-Beuve,_ Premiers lundis_, vol. i; _Portraits
contemporains_, vol. i; F. Brunetiere, _Evolution de la poesie
lyrique_, vol. i; _Histoire et litterature_, vol. iii, 1892; F.
Reyssie, _la Jeunesse de Lamartine_, 1891; E. Deschanel, _Lamartine_,
2 vols., 1893; J. Lemaitre, _les Contemporains_, vol. vi, 1896; E.
Zyromski, _Lamartine poete lyrique_, 1898.
58. LE LAC. Written September 17-23, 1817; from _les Meditations
poetiques_. The lake here celebrated is Lake Bourget in Savoy. Here
the poet met in 1816 Mme. Charles, wife of the well known physicist,
with whom he fell very much in love and who is immortalized by him
under the names Julie and Elvire. She died Dec. 18, 1817. Cf. Anatole
France, _l'Elvire de Lamartine_, 1893. When this poem was written
Lamartine already knew that she was hopelessly ill. This experience
of his colors many poems of his first two volumes. _Le Lac_ has often
been set to music; most successfully by the Swiss composer Niedermeyer
(1802-1861). For interesting variants in the text see Reyssie, _la
Jeunesse de Lamartine_, p. 201.
L'AUTOMNE. November, 1819; from _les Meditations poetiques_.
61. 9. PEUT ETRE L'AVENIR, etc.; "allusion a l'attachement serieux
que le poete avait concu pour une jeune Anglaise qui fut depuis la
compagne de sa vie." (Commentaire de l'auteur.) LE SOIR. Spring of
1819; from _les Meditations poetiques_.
63. LE VALLON. Summer of 1819; from _les Meditations poetiques_. "Ce
vallon est situe dans les montagnes du Dauphine." (Commentaire de
l'auteur.)
65 9. PYTHAGORE; Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher of the sixth century
B.C., who is said to have taught the doctrine that the "organization
of the universe is an harmonious system of numerical ratios."
L'ISOLEMENT. September, 1818; from
_les Meditations poetiques_. Reyssie in the work above cited gives
interesting variants for this poem.
67 LE CRUCIFIX. 1818? From _les Nouvelles Meditations_. "Mon ami M. de
V(irieu), qui assistait aux derniers moments de Julie, me rapporta, de
sa part, le crucifix qui avait repose sur ses levres dans son agonie
... J'ecrivis, apres une annee de silence et de deuil, cette elegie."
(Commentaire de l'auteur.) Compare with this note the eleventh stanza
of the poem, which points back to the time of the Graziella affair.
See below.
70. ADIEU A GRAZIELLA. From _les Nouvelles Meditations_. Graziella,
whose heart Lamartine won during his visit to Naples in the winter
of 1811-12 and whom he abandoned, was the daughter of a Neapolitan
fisherman. She died soon afterward. Later the poet idealized her and
his relation to her and immortalized her memory in his works. Cf. _le
Premier regret_ below.
71. LES PRELUDES. 1822; from _les Nouvelles Meditations_. This poem,
addressed to Victor Hugo, consists of several divisions, in different
meters, only the last of which is here given. It inspired the
symphonic poem of Liszt by the same name.
73. HYMNE DE L'ENFANT A SON REVEIL. From _les Harmonies poetiques et
religieuses_.
76. LE PREMIER REGRET. From _les Harmonies poetiques et religieuses_.
It was inspired by the memory of Graziella. 7. MER DE SORRENTO, bay of
Naples; Sorrento is a small town on the bay, south-east of Naples.
77. 27. NEMI; the lake is in the hollow of an extinct volcano, in the
Alban mountains, a few miles southeast of Rome.
81. STANCES. From _les Nouvelles Meditations_. 18. MEMNON, son of
Tithonus and Eos, king of the Ethiopians, slain by Achilles. The
Greeks connected with Memnon various ancient monuments and buildings,
especially the great temple at Thebes and one of the colossi of
Amenophis III., currently called the statue of Memnon; legend reported
of it that when touched by the first rays of the dawn it gave forth a
musical sound.
83. LES REVOLUTIONS. From _les Harmonies poetiques et religieuses_.
Only the last of the three divisions of the poem is given here.
84. 20. SIBYLLES ANTIQUES; concerning the sibyls, sibylline books,
and sibylline leaves consult a classical dictionary. 23. VERBE; used
currently for the second person of the Trinity; here it goes back to
a passage in the first division of the poem, where speaking of God's
process of creation; he says:
"Son Verbe court sur le neant!
Il court, et la Nature a ce Verbe qui vole
Le suit en chancelant de parole en parole,
Jamais, jamais demain ce qu'elle est aujourd'hui!
Et la creation, toujours, toujours nouvelle,
Monte eternellement la symbolique echelle
Que Jacob reva devant lui! "
85. 8. LES NOEUDS, knots of nautical reckoning.
ALFRED DE VIGNY.
1797-1863.
One of the great poets of the century. He surpassed most, if not all,
of his fellow Romanticists in the intellectual quality of his verse.
His lyrics are not merely the product of a moment of passion or of a
passing emotion; the strings of his lyre were not set vibrating by
every breeze that blew. The personal emotion from which the lyric
springs was with him subjected to the action of an intellectual
solvent, was generalized and made almost impersonal before it was
given form and expression. For this reason partly the bulk of his
poetry is small, not exceeding the limits of one small volume. But
there are few poems that one would be content to lose. One should
read, besides the two given here, _Moise, la Maison du Berger_ and _la
Mort du loup_. De Vigny's influence on the poetry of the latter half
of the century has been considerable.
Works: _Poemes_, 1822; _Poemes antiques et modernes_, 1826; _les
Destinees_, 1864; in the Oeuvres completes_, of which several editions
have appeared, the _Poesies_ make one volume.
For reference : Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. II; E.
Caro, _Poetes et romanciers_, 1888 ; E. Faguet, _Etudes litteraires
sur le dix-neuvieme siecle_, 1887 ; F.Brunetiere, _Evolution de la
poesie lyrique_, vol. ii ; Dorison, Alfred de Vigny, poete philosophe,
1891 ; M. Paleologue, _Alfred de Vigny_, 1891.
86. LE COR. 1828. The story of the surprise of the rearguard of
Charlemagne by the Moors and of the death of Roland (Orlando in the
Italian poems) is told in the Chanson de Roland (end of the eleventh
century), the finest of the old French heroic poems. 19. FRAZONA ;
this name is not found on ordinary maps or in descriptions of this
region. MARBORE, a mountain of the Pyrenees. 21. GAVES, name given in
the Pyrenees to streams that descend from the mountains.
87. 11. RONCEVAUX, a Spanish village at the entrance to one of the
passes of the Pyrenees. 14. OLIVIER, Oli- ver, like Roland and Turpin
mentioned later, one of the twelve peers of Charlemagne, standard
figures in the old French poems that deal with Charlemagne.
88. 4. LUZ, ARGELES, villages in the department of Hautes- Pyrenees.
6. ADOUR, a river of France rising in the Pyrenees and flowing into
the Bay of Biscay. 15. SAINT Denis is the patron saint of France. 24.
Oberon, king of the fairies in mediaeval folk-lore; cf. _A
Midsummernight's Dream_.
89. LA BOUTEILLE A LA MER, 1853. Bears the sub-title: _Conseil a un
jeune homme inconnu_. 19. Chatterton (1752-1770), the precocious
English poet who, failing to get recognition for his talents, was
reduced to destitution and ended his life by poison. Wordsworth wrote
of him in
_The Leech-Gatherer_:
"I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous Boy,
The sleepless Soul that perished in his pride."
For de Vigny he stood almost as the type of the poet; he used his
career as literary material in the narrative _Stello_ (1832) and in
the drama _Chatterton_ (1835). Gilbert, see p. 320. He is also brought
into _Stello_. MALFILATRE (1732-1767), a French poet who was tempted
by the praise given to his ode, _le Soleil fixe au milieu des
planetes_, to try a literary career at Paris and died in great
poverty. He has passed wrongly for an unappreciated genius.
9O. 27. TERRE-DE-FEU, Terra del Fuego.
91. 6. CES PICS NOIRS, _les pics San-Diego, San-Ildefonso_. (Author's
note.) 13. Reims, a city in Champagne, the center of the champagne
trade. 25. Ai, a town in Champagne, near Reims, noted for its wine;
the name is also applied to the wine.
8. DES FLORIDES; in speaking of both coasts of Florida the French
formerly used the plural.
VICTOR HUGO.
1802-1885.
The foremost literary figure of the century in France. His commanding
influence as the chief of the Romantic school and the champion of a
revolution in literary doctrine and practice has led to his being
generally considered in connection with the movement to which he gave
such a powerful impulse. But he was not merely a great party chief and
a great influence. He was also a great poet, and a great lyric
poet. He was that by reason of the breadth and variety of his lyric
performance, the surprising mastery of form that he showed, the new
capacities for picturesque expression that he discovered in the
language or created for it, the new possibilities of rhythm and melody
that he opened to it, and the range, power, and sincerity of many of
the thoughts and feelings to which he gave so sonorous and musical a
body. No doubt in a large part of his early work, as _les Orientales_,
the body was more to him than the spirit that it lodged. Poetry to
him was an art that had its technical side, like any other. The
development of its technical resources had a charm of its own, and he
had the artist's delight in skillful and exquisite workmanship. The
mastery that he attained was so perfect, he seemed so fully to exhibit
the utmost capacities of the language for the most various effects of
rhythm and harmony, that Theodore de Banville said of _la Legende des
siecles_ that it must be the Bible and the Gospel of every writer of
French verse. But he did not stop with the dexterity and virtuosity of
the craftsman. More and more he used the mastery that he had achieved
not for the mere pleasure of practicing or exhibiting it, but to give
fitting and adequate expression to feelings and to thoughts. The
domestic affections, the love of country, and the mystery of death had
the deepest hold upon him, and whenever he approaches these themes he
is almost sure to be genuine and sincere. His pity for the poor and
unfortunate was very tender, and was the real spring of a great deal
of his democracy, and he had a fine gift of wrathful indignation,
which was called into exercise especially by Napoleon III. No part of
his lyrical production is more spontaneous and genuine than many
poems of _Les Chatiments_. There was from the first a bent towards
philosophical reflection observable in him, and in the latter part
of his life, beginning with _les Contemplations_ and _la Legende des
siecles_, it preponderated more and more over the lyrical impulse,
though the latter was never reduced to silence for long.
Works: _Odes et Poesies diverses_, 1822; _Nouvelles Odes_, 1824;
_Odes et Ballades_, 1826, 1828; _les Orientales_, 1829; _les Feuilles
d'Automne_, 1831; _les Chants du crepuscule_, 1835; _les Voix
interieures_, 1837; _les Rayons et les ombres_, 1840; _les
Chatiments_, 1853; _les Contemplations_, 1856; _la Legende des
siecles_, 1859, 1876, 1883; _les Chansons des rues et des bois_, 1865;
_l'Annee terrible_, 1872; _l'Art d'etre grandpere_, 1876; _les Quatre
Vents de l'esprit_, 1881; _Toute la lyre_, 1889, 1893. The most
convenient form in which they are now to be found is the _ne varietur_
edition of Hetzel-Quantin in 16mo, at two francs a volume; the volumes
correspond to those given above, except that the first three are all
included in the one _Odes et Ballades_.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. i; E.
Caro, _Poetes et romanciers_, 1888; A. Barbou, _Victor Hugo_, 1882; E.
Dupuy, _Victor Hugo, l'homme et le poete_, 1887; L. Mabilleau, _Victor
Hugo_, 1893 ; E. Bire, _Victor Hugo avant 1830_, 1883; _Victor Hugo
apres 1830_, 2 vols., 1891; _Victor Hugo apres 1852_, 1894; A. C.
Swinburne, _Victor Hugo_, London, 1886; C. Renouvier, _Victor Hugo,
le poete_, 1893; E. Dowden, _Studies in Literature_, London, 1878; E.
Faguet, _le Dix-neuvieme siecle_, 1887; F. Brunetiere, _Evolution de
la poesie lyrique_, 2 vols., 1894.
95. LES DJINNS. August, 1828; from _les Orientales_. The poem is
especially noteworthy from a technical point of view. The quiet
before the descent of the spirits, their approach, their fury, their
receding, and the quiet that follows, are suggested by the movement of
the lines. The motto is from Dante's _Inferno_, Canto v, 46-49; he is
describing the tormented spirits of the carnal malefactors "Who reason
subjugate to appetite." Djinns are spirits of Mohammedan popular
belief, created of fire, and both good and evil. The vowel is not
nasal.
97. 25. PROPHETE, Mohammed.
99. ATTENTE. 1828; from _les Orientales_. The motto is Spanish, "I was
waiting in despair."
100. EXTASE. November, 1828; from _les Orientales_. The motto is from
the Bible, Rev. i, 10. LORSQUE L'ENFANT PARAIT. May 18, 1830; from
_les Feuilles d'Automne_. _Les Feuilles d'Automne_ were largely the
reflection of the domestic affections of the poet. He had been married
in 1822, and had at this time three children, Leopoldine, Charles, and
Victor.
102. 17. ENNEMIS; the reference is doubtless to the literary opponents
of Hugo; the struggle between the champion of tradition and the
Romanticists brought many personal bitternesses. DANS L'ALCOVE SOMBRE.
Nov. 10, 1831; from _les Feuilles d'Automne_. The motto is from a
poem, _la Veillee_, addressed by Sainte-Beuve to Hugo on the birth of
his son Francois-Victor, Oct. 21, 1828.
103. 19. lys, _lis_; this spelling is usual with Victor Hugo and
frequent in this century, especially with later writers.
1O4. 27. CHIMERE has here more the force of _cauchemar_. NOUVELLE
CHANSON SUR UN VIEIL AIR. Feb. 18, 1834; from _les Chants du
crepuscule_.
106. "PUISQU'ICI-BAS." May 19, 1836; from _les Voix interieures_.
108. OCEANO NOX. July, 1836; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. The
title is from Vergil, _Aen._ ii, 250: _Vertitur interea caelum et ruit
Oceano nox_.
110. NUITS DE JUIN. 1837; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. "LA TOMBE
DIT A LA ROSE." June 3, 1837; from _les Voix interieures_. TRISTESSE
D'OLYMPIO. October, 1837; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. See the
discussion of this poem in Brunetiere, _Evolution de la poesie
lyrique_, i, 200 ff. His view is indicated in the following extract:
"Ces grands themes, les plus riches de tous,--la Nature, l'Amour et la
Mort,--dans le developpement desquels nous sommes convenus de chercher
et de verifier la mesure du pouvoir lyrique, Hugo les mele ou les fond
ensemble, il les enchevetre, il les complique, il les multiplie les
uns par les autres, et de cette complication, admirez les effets qu'il
tire.... C'est en effet ici qu'eclate, a mon avis, la superiorite
de la _Tristesse d'Olympio_ sur le _Lac_ de Lamartine ou sur le
_Souvenir_ de Musset, qu'on lui a si souvent, et a tort, preferes. Non
pas du tout, vous le pensez bien, que je veuille nier le charme pur
et penetrant du _Lac_, ou la douloureuse et poignante eloquence du
_Souvenir_! Incomparable elegie, le _Lac_ de Lamartine a pour lui la
discretion meme, l'elegance, l'ideale melancolie, la caresse ou la
volupte de sa plainte; et, dans le _Souvenir_ de Musset, nous le
verrons bientot, c'est la passion meme qui parle toute pure. Mais,
dans la _Tristesse d'Olympio_, de meme que les voix des instruments se
marient dans l'orchestre, la note aigue, dechirante et prolongee du
violon a la lamentation plus profonde et plus grave de l'alto, le
tumulte eclatant des cuivres aux sons plus percants de la flute,
tandis qu'au-dessus d'eux la voix humaine continue son chant d'amour
ou de colere, de haine ou d'adoration, c'est ainsi que la melodie tres
simple et comme elementaire du souvenir s'enrichit, s'augmente,
se renforce, et se soutient chez Hugo d'un accompagnement d'une
prodigieuse richesse, ou tout concourt ensemble, toute la nature et
tout l'homme, toute la poesie de l'amour, toute celle des bois et des
plaines, toute la poesie de la mort."
116. "A QUOI BON ENTENDRE." July, 1838; from the drama _Ruy Blas_, act
ii, scene I.
117. CHANSON. "SI VOUS N'AVEZ RIEN A ME DIRE." May, 18--; from _les
Contemplations_.
118. "QUAND NOUS HABITIONS TOUS ENSEMBLE." Sept. 4, 1844; from _les
Contemplations_. The poet's daughter Leopoldine had married Charles
Vacquerie in the summer of 1843. On the fourth of September of the
same year she was drowned, together with her husband, in the Seine
near Villequier. Her death was a great shock to Hugo, and the few
verses that we have from these years are full of the bitterness of
loss sweetened by remembrance of happy earlier days. Her memory is
everywhere present in the _Contemplations_; compare the following
poems.
119. 5. SI JEUNE ENCORE; _jeune_ refers of course to the subject; Hugo
was twenty-two when Leopoldine was born. "O SOUVENIRS! PRINTEMPS!
AURORE!" Villequier, Sept. 4, 1846; from _les Contemplations_. Notice
the date.
120. 2. MONTLIGNON, Saint-Leu, small places just out of Paris to the
north.
121. ARIOSTE, Ariosto (1474-1533), a famous Italian poet, author of
_Orlando Furioso_. "DEMAIN, DES L'AUBE." Sept. 3, 1847; from _les
Contemplations_. Notice the date. 21. DEMAIN, i.e. the anniversary of
his daughter's death.
122. 2. HARFLEUR, a small town on the Channel coast, a few miles from
Havre, near the mouth of the Seine. VENI, VIDI, VIXI. April, 1848;
from _les Contemplations_.
123. LE CHANT DE CEUX QUI S'EN VONT SUR MER. Dated: _En mer, 1er aout,
1852_. This and the next following poems, from _les Chatiments_, are
the expression of the poet's hatred for Napoleon III. This volume
was the direct fruit of his exile in consequence of his determined
opposition to the imperial ambitions of Napoleon. He had been active
in trying to organize resistance after the _coup d'etat_, and with
difficulty had evaded arrest and escaped to Brussels. After the
publication of his denunciatory volume, _Napoleon le Petit_, the
Belgian government expelled him. and he took refuge first in England,
whence he passed immediately to the island of Jersey, where he
arrived on the fifth of August, 1852. In 1855 residence in Jersey was
forbidden him and he removed to Guernsey, where he continued to reside
till the downfall of Napoleon I.
124. LUNA. July, 1853. 23. L'AN QUATRE-VINGT-ONZE, 1791, the beginning
of the French Revolution.
126. LE CHASSEUR NOIR. September, 1853. 27. SAINT ANTOINE; Saint
Anthony (250-356) was a native of Upper Egypt, withdrew to the desert,
and gave his life up to ascetic devotion in solitude and voluntary
poverty. Legend represents him as beset by tempting demons.
128. LUX. December, 1853. 9. Capets; the kings of France from the
accession of Hugh Capet in 987 to that of the house of Valois with
Philip VI. in 1328 were Capets.
129. ULTIMA VERBA. December, 1853. 4. Mandrin, a notorious bandit,
executed in 1755.
130. 3. Louvre, see note p. 318. 22. Sylla, see note p. 319. CHANSON.
"_Proscrit, regarde les roses_." May, 1854; from _les Quatre Vents de
l'esprit_, livre lyrique. Concerning the inexact rhyme _semai_: _mai_,
rare with Hugo, see _Revue politique et litteraire_, July 16, 1881.
132. EXIL. Between 1868 and 1881; from _les Quatre Vents de l'esprit_,
_livre lyrique_. 5. COLOMBE, his daughter Leopoldine. 6. ET TOI, MERE;
Mme Victor Hugo died in 1868. SAISON DES SEMAILLES. LE SOIR. From les_
Chansons des rues et des bois_. The poem is not dated; the volume
appeared in 1865.
133. 2. LABOURS, _plowed fields_. This seems almost to have been
written for the well-known painting of "The Sower" by Millet,
exhibited in 1850. However, Millet's sower is a young man. UN HYMNE
HARMONIEUX. From _les Quatre Vents de l'esprit_, the poem bears no
date.
134. PROMENADE DANS LES ROCHERS. From _les Quatre Vents de l'esprit_;
not dated.
AUGUSTE BRIZEUX.
1803-1858.
He is remembered for his simple and touching poems, full of the
landscape and of the rural life of his native Brittany. He also
translated Dante's Divine Comedy.
Works: _Marie_, 1835; _les Ternaires_, 1841 (the title of this
collection was later changed to _la Fleur d'or_); _les Bretons_, 1845;
_Histoires poetiques_, 1855; _Oeuvres completes_, 1861, 2 vols.;
_Oeuvres_, 4 vols., 1879-84.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vols, ii and
iii; Lecigne, _Brizeux, sa vie et ses oeuvres_, Lille, 1898.
AUGUSTE BARBIER.
1805-1880.
He secured immediate fame by the vigorous satire of his first work,
_Iambes_, and he is probably still best remembered for this, though
later volumes, especially _Il Pianto_, contain work of more perfect
finish.
Works: _Iambes_, 1831; _La Popularite_, 1831; _Lazare_, 1833; _Il
Pianto_, 1833 (these are now included in one volume, _Iambes et
poemes_); Nouvelles Satires, 1837; _Chants civils et religieux_, 1841;
_Rimes heroiques_, 1843; _Sylves_, 1865.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. ii.
138. L'IDOLE. May, 1831. The whole poem consists of five parts.
2. MESSIDOR, one of the months of the revolutionary calender,
beginning with the nineteenth of June. It was the first of the summer
months.
MADAME D'AGOULT.
1806-1876.
Marie-Sophie Catherine de Flavigny, comtesse d'Agoult, wrote under
the pseudonym Daniel Stern. Her work is mainly in prose, in history,
criticism and fiction, but she wrote a few lyrics marked by deep and
true sentiment. A biographical notice by L. de Ronchand will be found
in the second edition of her _Esquisses morales_, 1880.
FELIX ARVERS.
1806-1851.
He wrote mainly for the stage, and left but one volume of poems, _Mes
Heures perdues_, which are all forgotten save this famous sonnet. The
lady who inspired it is said to have been the daughter of Charles
Nodier, afterwards Mme. Mennessier-Nodier. _Mes Heures perdues_ was
reprinted in 1878, with a notice of Arvers by Th. de Banville.
GERARD DE NERVAL.
1808-1855.
Gerard Labrunie, known in letters as Gerard de Nerval, was one of the
group of young Romanticists who gathered around Hugo. Symptoms of
insanity developed early, and at different times he was an inmate
of an asylum. He finally committed suicide. He felt profoundly the
influence of German literature, and his lyrics show something of this
in the spiritual quality of their sentiment.
Works: _Elegies nationales et satires politiques_, 1827; translation
of Goethe's _Faust_, 1828; _la Boheme galante_, 1856; _Oeuvres
completes_, 5 vols., 1868.
For reference: Th. Gautier, _Histoire du romantisme_; _Portraits et
souvenirs litteraires_; Arvede Barine, _Nevroses_, 1898.
140. FANTAISIE. Gioacchino Antonio ROSSINI (1792-1868), one of the
foremost Italian composers of the century, author of William Tell
(1829), and other well-known operas. Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART was a
native of Austria, and one of the greatest musical geniuses that ever
lived. Among his works are the operas _Le Nozze di Figaro_ (1786),
_Don Giovanni_ (1787), _Die Zauberfloete_ (1791); the famous _Requiem_;
the _symphony in G minor_, etc. Karl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826),
one of the founders of German as opposed to Italian opera. _Der
Freischuetz_ is his most famous work.
HEGESIPPE MOREAU.
1810-1838.
In his short and unhappy struggle with poverty and illness he produced
a few graceful short stories and a thin volume of verse, _le Myosotis_
(1838), that reveals a genuine, though not remarkable, lyric gift.
See Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. iv. The poems of _le
Myosotis_, and some others, now make vol. ii. of his _Oeuvres
completes_, 2 vols., 1890-91.
141. LA FERMIERE. This poem was sent as a New Year's gift to Madame
Guerard, who had taken the poet in and entertained him when ill.
142. 31. FILS DE LA VIERGE, "debris de toiles d'araignee que le vent
emporte"; air-thread, gossamer.
ALFRED DE MUSSET.
1810-1857.
A lyric poet of a comparatively narrow range, but within it
surpassingly genuine and spontaneous. Almost his only theme was the
passion of love, in some form or degree. But what he lacked in breadth
he made up in the directness and intensity of his accent, and these
eminently lyric qualities give his lyrics a distinction among those of
his country. He began as a Romanticist, but soon grew away from the
school of Hugo as it developed. With his negligence of form and his
surrender to the passion of the moment, he is the opposite of Gautier;
and the poets of the later school which derives from Gautier have
neglected and depreciated him.
Works: _Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie_, 1830; _le Spectacle dans un
fauteuil_, 1833; after this most of his poems appeared in the _Revue
des Deux Mondes_; they are now collected in _Premieres poesies_, 1
vol., containing the poems of the first two volumes and a few others,
and _Poesies nouvelles_, 1 vol., containing the _Nuits_, and the later
poems.
For reference: P. de Musset, _Biographie d'Alfred de Musset_ 1877
(naturally partial); A. Barine, _Alfred de Musset_, 1893; Spoelberch
de Lovenjoul, _la Veritable histoire de "Elle et Lui"_ 1897;
Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains, vol. ii; _Causeries du lundi_,
vols, i and xiii; E. Montegut, _Nos Morts contemporains_, 1883; E.
Faguet, _le Dix-neuvieme siecle_, 1887; F. Brunetiere, _Evolution
de la poesie lyrique_, vol. i, 1894; M. Clouard, _Bibliographie des
oeuvres d'Alfred de Musset_, 1883; O. L. Kuhns, _Selections from
de Musset_, Boston, 1895, for the sympathetic and interesting
introduction.
143. Au LECTEUR. This sonnet was prefixed in 1840 to a new edition of
his poems.
145. STANCES. 1828; from _Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie_.
3. VESPREES; see note on 7, 10. LA NUIT DE MAI. May 1835. The
poet's _liaison_ with the novelist George Sand, begun in 1833, and
culminating in the Italian journey of 1834, with its successions of
passion, violent ruptures, and penitent reconciliations, was the
profoundest experience of his life, and the inspiration of many of
his poems, including the famous _Nuits_ of May, August, October and
December.
146. 21. PARESSEUX ENFANT; the charge of indolence had often already
been brought against Musset; cf. _ton oisivete_, 150. 3.
147. 29. ARGOS, the capital of Argolis, in the Peloponnesus. PTELEON,
Pteleum, an ancient town of Thessaly (Iliad ii, 697.) 30. MESSA, city
and harbor of Laconia (Iliad ii, 582); Homer's epithet is "abounding
in doves." 31. PELION, a mountain in Thessaly ; Homer (Iliad ii, 757)
calls it "quivering with leaves."
148. 1. TITARESE, a river in Thessaly. Homer's epithet (Iliad ii, 751)
is "lovely". 3. OLOOSSONE, a city in Thessaly, called "white" also by
Homer (Iliad ii, 739). Camyre, no doubt Homer's Kameiros (Iliad ii,
656), which he calls "shining." It was situated on the island of
Rhodes; Musset neglects the geographical fact in bringing it into
connection with Oloossone.
149. 6. SON TERTRE VERT, St. Helena.
150. 13. LORSQUE LE PELICAN; this passage is one of the most famous of
French poetry. Compare Ronsard's reference to the pelican, p. 8,
1. 19. With this view of the poet's lot and mission compare that
expressed in _les Montreurs_ of Leconte de Lisle, p. 199, and in
_l'Art_ of Gautier, p. 190. The fable of the pelican giving his blood
to his young is current in the literature of the middle ages.
152. LA NUIT DE DECEMBRE. November, 1835. 18. EGLANTINE; a wild rose
was one of the prizes given the victors in the poetical contests
called the _Jeux Floraux_ held at Toulouse; it symbolizes distinction
in poetry.
153. 11. UN HAILLON DE OURPRE EN LAMBEAU symbolizes the power of youth
wasted in debauchery. 12. MYRTE; the myrtle was sacred to Venus.
154. 10. PISE, Pisa. 14. BRIGUES, a small town in the Rhone valley in
Switzerland, at the foot of the Simplon pass. 16. GENES, Genoa. 17.
VEVAY, a town on Lake Geneva. 19. LIDO, an island between Venice and
the sea, a favorite resort of the inhabitants of the city. Musset
calls it _affreux_, because with it he associated his quarrel with
George Sand.
159. STANCES A LA MALIBRAN. October, 1836. 11. MARIA FELICITA,
daughter and pupil of Manuel Garcia, afterwards Madame Malibran, by
which name she is remembered, was a remarkable singer (1808-1836).
24. PARTHENON: the Parthenon, completed in 438 B.C., was built under
the direction of Phidias, who was also the sculptor of the colossal
statue of Athena within the temple. The most famous work of Praxiteles
Was the statue of Aphrodite of Cnidus, not extant, but represented in
the Venus of the Capitol and the Venus de Medicis.
160. 26. CORILLA, a character in one of Rossini's operas. 27. ROSINA,
heroine of Rossini's _Il Barbiere di Seviglia_ (1816). 29. LE SAULE,
the song of "The Willow" in Rossini's _Otello_ (1816); cf. Shakspere's
_Othello_, iv, 3.
161. 9. LONDRE, usually spelled _Londres_; the _s_ is omitted here for
the metre. 21. GERICAULT, an important French painter (1790-1824); his
most famous picture is _Le Radeau de la Meduse_, now in the Louvre.
CUVIER, a great
French naturalist (1769-1852).
162. 3. ROBERT, Leopold (1794-1835), a French painter of merit.
BELLINI, Vincenzo (1802-1835), an Italian composer of operas; among
his works are _La Somnambula_ (1831), _Norma_ (1831), and _I Puritani_
(1835). 5. CARREL, Armand (1800-1836), a French publicist, fatally
wounded in a duel with Emile de Girardin.
163. 18. LA PASTA; Giuditta Pasta (1798-1865) was one of the famous
sopranos of her day; for her Bellini wrote _La Somnambula_ and
_Norma_.
164. CHANSON DE BARBERINE. From the comedy _Barberine_ (1836).
165. CHANSON DE FORTUNIO. From _le Chandelier_ ( 1836), where it is
sung by a character named Fortunio. 25. MA MIE, instead of _m'amie_;
this is a remnant of what was the regular practice in the earliest
period of French, the use of the feminine forms, ma, ta, sa, with
elision of the vowel, before nouns beginning with a vowel; the
substitution of the masculine forms in such cases begins in the
twelfth century.
166. 167. TRISTESSE. June 14, 1840. "RAPPELLE-TOI." 1842. SOUVENIR.
February, 1841. This poem is of the same order of thought as _le Lac_
of Lamartine and the _Tristesse d'Olympia_ of Victor Hugo; see note on
the latter poem.
169. 17. DANTE, POURQUOI DIS-TU; the passage referred to is in the
_Inferno_, canto v, 1. 121 ; Francesca da Rimini (in French Francoise)
begins the short and immortal story of her love for Paolo with these
words :
"There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery."
170. 24. PIE, an old spelling of _pied_, used here to satisfy the
rules of rhyme. Cf. following page, 1. 26.
172.17. MA SEULE AMIE. George Sand. The latest revelations from the
correspondence of George Sand and Musset give us a more favorable view
of her part in their unhappy affair and fail to justify the terms in
which he refers to her here. See the volume of Vicomte de Spoelberch
de Lovenjoul cited among the works for reference.
174. SUR UNE MORTE. October, 1842; the lady referred to was the
Princess Belgiojoso (1808-1871), who after the unsuccessful movement
for Italian liberty in 1831 left Italy and resided in Paris, where
Musset came often to her salon, i. LA NUIT, one of the famous
allegorical statues made by Michaelangelo for the tombs of Giuliano
and Lorenzo de Medici.
175 A M. VICTOR HUGO. April. 26, 1843. CHANSON. "ADIEU, SUZON." 1844.
THEOPHILE GAUTIER.
1811-1872.
One of the most important poets of the century, though he can not be
called in any large sense one of the greatest. His importance is due
to the emphasis that he placed on the element of form both by his
precept and by his practice. The directness and sincerity of the
emotional cry are lost sight of in the pursuit of exquisite and
perfect workmanship in the representation of outward beauty. _L'Art_,
p. 190, sums up his poetic art. Later poetry has been profoundly
influenced by this doctrine. His natural gifts adapted him perfectly
to the role that he played, for, while he was without great
intellectual depth or emotional intensity, he had a rare power of
seeing the forms and colors of things.
Works: _Poesies_, 1830; _Albertus_, 1833; _la Comedie de la mort_,
1838; the preceding were republished in one volume with additions
in 1845; _Emaux et Camees_, 1852; _Poesies nouvelles_, 1863; in the
edition of his _Oeuvres completes_ the _Poesies completes_ make two
volumes, _Emaux et Camees_, one.
For reference : E. Bergerat, _Theophile Gautier_, 1879; M. Du Camp,
_Theophile Gautier_, 1890; Vicomte Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, _Histoire
des oeuvres de Th. Gautier_, 2 vols., 1887; Sainte-Beuve, _Premiers
lundis_, ii; _Portraits contemporains_, ii, v; _Nouveaux lundis_, vi;
E, Faguet, _XIXe siecle_, 1887; Brunetiere, _Evolution de la poesie
lyrique_, vol. ii.
177. VOYAGE. From the _Poesies_ of 1830. The line of the motto from La
Fontaine is from the one-act comedy _Clymene_, line 35. Catullus 87-47
B.c.) was a Latin poet whose lyrics show intensity of feeling and rare
grace of expression. The lines here quoted are from the _Carmina_,
xlvi. The idea of the poem is quite characteristic of Gautier, who
delighted especially in the picturesque aspects of travel, as his
famous descriptions of foreign lands show (_Voyage en Espagne, Voyage
en Russie, Voyage en Italie,_ etc.).
178. 17. ENRAYE, puts on the brakes. Of the other poems of Gautier
here given all but CHOC DE CAVALIERS, LES COLOMBES, LAMENTO,
TRISTESSE, and LA CARAVANE are from _Emaux et Camees_; these five will
be found in vol. i of the _Poesies completes_ under the title _Poesies
diverses_.
186. PREMIER SOURIRE DU PRINTEMPS. 15. HOUPPE DE CYGNE, powder puff.
188. L'AVEUGLE, i. LES PUITS DE VENISE; the dungeons of Venice are
famous.
189. LE MERLE. 18. The Arve joins the Rhone just after the latter
issues from Lake Geneva. The water of the Rhone is very clear and
blue, while that of the Arve, especially when swollen by rain and
melted snow, is muddy and grayish-yellow.
19O. 4. _mettre en demeure_, to summon by legal process.
191. L'ART, i. CARRARE, PAROS, marbles especially fine and white and
adapted for statuary, the former from Carrara, Italy, the latter from
Paros, an island in the Aegean Sea. 21. NIMBE TRILOBE; the Virgin was
often represented in early paintings with a halo of three rounded
lobes, in the shape of a trefoil, symbolizing the Trinity.
VICTOR DE LAPRADE.
1812-1883.
A poet of elevation and purity, whose worth is rather greater than his
reputation, which has been somewhat eclipsed by that of his greater
contemporaries.
Works: _Psyche_, 1840; _Odes et Poemes_, 1844; _Pointes evangeliques_,
1852; _Symphonies_, 1855; _Idylles heroiques_, 1858; _Pernette_,
1868; _Poemes civiques_, 1873; _le Livre d'un pere_, 1878; collected
edition, _Oeuvres poetiques_, 4 vols., 1886-89.
For reference: E. Bire, _Victor de Laprade, sa vie et ses oeuvres_,
1886; Sainte-Beuve, _Nouveaux lundis_, vol. i; E. Caro, _Poetes et
romanciers_, 1888.
193. A UN GRAND ARBRE. 1840; from _Odes et Poemes_. 5. CYBELE, or
Rhea, goddess of the earth. LE DROIT D'AINESSE. 1875; from _le Livre
d'un pere_. 15. ECHERRA, from _echoir_.
MME. ACKERMANN.
1813-1890.
Louise-Victorine Choquet, who became Mme. Paul Ackermann by her
marriage in 1844 and was left a widow
in 1846, lived a life of great retirement and seclusion. Her work,
the fruit of long solitude, bears the impress of a strong, reflective
mind. It is deeply linged with pessimism.
Works: _Contes et poesies_, 1863; _Poesies philosophiques_, 1874;
collected in one volume, _Poesies_, 1877.
For reference: Comte d'Haussonville, _Mme. Ackermann, d'apres des
lettres et des papiers inedits_, 1891.
CHARLES-MARIE LECONTE DE LISLE.
1818-1894.
Born on the island of Bourbon, the tropical landscape that was
familiar to his boyhood recurs constantly in his poems. Coming to
France to complete his studies and to reside, he became the master
spirit among the poets of the middle of the century and the recognized
leader of the Parnassiens. From the beginning he protested vigorously
against the Romanticists of 1830, not only as making an immodest and
on the whole vulgar display of self (cf. _les Montreurs_, p. 199), but
also as inevitably falling short of artistic perfection because, being
possessed, or at least moved, by the emotion they were expressing,
they could not be wholly masters of the instrument of expression. To
be thus wholly master of the resources of poetic art one must be quite
untroubled by one's own personal joys and sorrows, have the brain
clear and free. This call to the poet to rid himself of the personal
element was emphasized by the reflection that individual emotions are
of little importance or interest, being dwarfed by the collective life
of humanity in general, which in turn is overshadowed by the vast
phenomenon of life as a whole, while this again is but a transient
vapor on the face of the immense universe. So the poetic creed of
an impersonal and impassive art was more or less blended with a
materialism pervaded with a buddhistic pessimism that is vexed and
wearied with the vain motions of this human world, and longs for the
rest of Nirvana; and this vexation and weariness frequently rise to a
poignant intensity. However far he may then be thought to be from the
impassive impersonality of his doctrine, there is but one opinion as
to his rare command of form and the exquisite perfection of his art,
which have won for him the epithet _impeccable_.
Works: _Poemes antiques_, 1853; _Poemes et poesies_, 1855; _Poesies
completes_, 1858 (contains the two previous collections); _Poemes
barbares_, 1862; _Poemes tragiques_, 1884; _Derniers poemes_, 1894. He
was also an industrious translator of the Greek poets and of Horace.
For reference: P. Bourget, _Nouveaux essais de psychologie
contemporaine_, 1885; J. Lemaitre, _les Contemporains_, vol. ii, 1887;
F. Brunetiere, _Evolution de la poesie lyrique_, vol. ii, 1894; also
in Contemporary Review, vol. lxvi.
199. LES MONTREURS. From _Poemes barbares_. MIDI and NOX are from the
_Poemes antiques_. The poems from L'ECCLESIASTE to REQUIES inclusive,
and also LE MANCHY, are from the _Poemes barbares_. The rest, except
the last, are from the _Poemes tragiques_.
203. LA VERANDAH, I. HUKA, oriental pipe.
215. SI L'AURORE. 10. PITONS, mountain peaks; the word is used in the
French colonies. 21. VARANGUE, a kind of porch, cf. verandah.
LE MANCHY. A _manchy_ is a kind of sedan-chair, or litter.
217. LE FRAIS MATIN DORAIT. 28. LETCHIS, a tropical plant.
218. TRE FILA D'ORO. The words of the title, which is Italian, are
found in the final line of each stanza, _trois fils d'or_.
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE.
1821-1867.
His was a perverse nature, endowed with rare gifts which he
persistently abused. Pure physical sensation supplied a large part of
the material for his poetry, and among the senses it was especially
the one that has the remotest association with ideas that he drew upon
most constantly--the sense of smell. In his desperate search for new
and strange sensations he went the round of violent and exhausting
dissipations, and as his senses flagged he spurred them with all sorts
of stimulants. Meanwhile he observed himself curiously ; the result
in his poems is an impression of peculiarly wilful depravity. They
reflect his physical and mental experience, are always without
sobriety, often lacking in sanity. The title, _les Fleurs du mal_, is
both appropriate and suggestive; they invite no epithets so much as
"unhealthy" and "unwholesome."
He was extremely fond of Edgar A. Poe, and translated his works.
Works: _les Fleurs du mal_, 1857, new edition, 1861; _Oeuvres
posthumes_, 1887.
For reference : Gautier, _Portraits et souvenirs litteraires_;
E. Crepet, _Oeuvres posthumes et correspondance inedite de Ch.
Baudelaire, precedees d'une etude biographique_, 1887; Bourget,
_Essais de psychologie contemporaine_, 1883, F. Brunetiere in _Revue
des Deux Mondes_, Sept. 1st, 1892; Henry James, _French Poets and
Novelists_, London, 1884; George Saintsbury, _Miscellaneous Essays_,
London, 1892.
The poems given here are all from _les Fleurs du mal_.
221. 19. BOUCHER; Francois Boucher (1703-1770) was a painter of
pastoral and genre subjects.
PIERRE DUPONT.
1821-1870.
He enjoyed a moment of great popularity about 1848, paid for since by
being too much forgotten. His chansons are simple, sincere, and sweet,
breathing a delight in rural life and sympathy with the lot of the
poor. Works: Chansons, 1860; _Chansons et poesies_ is the title of the
current edition of his poems.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. iv.
ANDRE LEMOYNE.
1822.
Has achieved especial success by his poetic descriptions of nature,
which proceed from a close and loving observation and a quick
responsiveness to her moods. Works: _Stella Maris.--Ecce Homo_, etc.,
1860; _les Roses d'Antan_, 1865; _les Charmeuses_, 1867; _Legendes des
Bois et Chansons marines_, 1871; _Fleurs des ruines_, 1888; _Fleurs du
soir_, 1893.
232. 12. CHANSON MARINE. CAP FREHEL, on the north coast of Brittany,
just south of the Channel Islands. 24. GRANVILLE and AVRANCHES are
small towns on the Channel coast, between St. Malo and Cherbourg. 26.
The ORNE and VIRE are small streams flowing northward into the Channel
in the same region.
THEODORE DE BANVILLE.
1823-1891.
A precocious and voluminous writer, who delighted in playing with the
technical difficulties of lyric forms. His devotion to form was his
chief excellence and gave him a considerable influence on the group of
_Parnassiens_. He was especially responsible for the revival of the
fixed forms of the older French poetry. He took up and developed the
dictum of Saint-Beuve that rhyme is "_l'unique harmonie du vers_" and
his _Odes funambulesques_ sought even to make it a main means of comic
effect. His work is deficient in substance.
Works : _Les Cariatides_, 1842; _les Stalactites_, 1846; _Odelettes_,
1856; _Odes funambulesques_, 1857; _les Exiles_, 1860; _Idylles
prussiennes_, 1871; _les Princesses_, 1874; _Sonnailles et
Clochettes_, 1890; _Dans la fournaise. Dernieres poesies_, 1892.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. xiv; J.
Lemaitre, _les Contemporains_, vol. i, 1886; A. Lang, _Essays in
Little_, London, 1891.
234. LA CHANSON DE MA MIE. MA MIE, see note on 165, 25.
235. BALLADE DES PENDUS. From the comedy _Gringoire_ (1866). 20.
FLORE, the Roman goddess of fruits and flowers. 26. _du roi Louis_
; Louis XI. (1461-1487), whose measures to break down feudalism and
establish the power of the monarchy are notorious.
HENRI DE BORNIER.
1825.
Primarily a dramatic poet, he obtained one of the striking successes
of the latter half of the century by his drama _la Fille de Roland_
(1875) which, evoking memories of recent disaster and the dearest
hopes of France, deeply touched the patriotic sentiment of his
country. His lyric poems make but one volume.
Works: _Les Premieres Feuilles, 1845_; the volume _Poesiescompletes,
1881_, contains, besides the poems of the first volume, a number
that appeared at intervals, several of which received prizes from
the Academy, as _l'Isthme de Suez_, 1861, and _la France dans
l'extreme Orient_, 1863; _Poesies completes,_ new edition, 1894.
ANDRE THEURIET.
1833.
Though now best known as a novelist, he began as a poet, and it is not
certain that he will not finally be best remembered for his verse.
His eyes and his sympathies are for the woods and fields and for the
simple toilers whose lives lie close to them. He has instilled into
his poems something of the odors of the forest and of the soil.
Works: _Le Chemin des bois_, 1867 ; _les Paysans de l'Argonne, 1792._
1871; _le Bleu et le Noir_, 1873; _le Livre de la Payse_, 1882.
For reference: E. Besson, _Andre Theuriet, sa vie et ses oeuvres_,
1890.
237. BRUNETTE. From _le Bleu et le Noir._
238. LES PAYSANS. From _le Livre de la Payse._
GEORGES LAFENESTRE.
1837.
Though he is perhaps more widely known as a critic of art than as a
poet, his poems have a certain distinction by reason of their deep and
serious thought and their clear and noble expression.
Works: _Les Esperances_, 1864; _Idylles et Chansons_, 1874. The poems
here given are from _Idylles et Chansons_.
240. 21. MICHEL-ANGE, Michaelangelo.
FELIX FRANK.
1837.
He is chiefly known to the world of scholars by his studies in
literary history and his editions of writers of the Renaissance.
Works : _Chants de colere_, 1871; _le Poeme de la Jeunesse_, 1876; _la
Chanson d'amour_, 1885.
243. C'ETAIT UN VIEUX LOGIS. From _le Poeme de la Jeunesse_.
ARMAND SILVESTRE.
1838.
A prolific writer of both prose and verse. He has a rich gift of
style, but he appeals to his reader more often by the sensuous charm
of his lines than by their originality or depth.
Works: _Rimes neuves et vieilles_, 1866; _Renaissances_, 1870; _la
Gloire du souvenir_, 1872; these three volumes are collected in
_Premieres poesies_, 1875; _la Chanson des heures_,1878; _les Ailes
d'or_, 1880; _le Pays des roses_, 1882; _le Chemin des etoiles_, 1885:
_Roses d'octobre_, 1889; _l'Or des couchants_, 1892; _les Aurores
lointaines_, 1895.
For reference: J. Lemaitre, _les Contemporains_, vol. ii, 1887.
245. LE PELERINAGE. From _les Ailes d'or_.
ALBERT GLATIGNY.
1839-1873.
Led a wandering and adventurous life. He was at different times actor
in a travelling company, prompter, and writer. In his poems he shows
a native gift of expression that made him a favorite of the
_Parnassiens_.
Works: _Les Vignes folles_, 1857; _les fleches d'or_, 1864; _Gilles et
Pasquins_, 1872.
For reference: J. Lazare, _A. Glatigny, sa vie, son oeuvre_; Catulle
Mendes, _Legende du Parnasse contemporain_, 1884.
SULLY PRUDHOMME.
1839.
Rene-Francois-Armand Prudhomme, known as Sully Prudhomme, combines the
artistic punctiliousness of a _Parnassien_ with sincere emotion and
a deeply philosophic mind. The intellectual quality of his work is
conspicuous, but hardly less so the grace and finish of its form. It
bears deep traces of the influence of the scientific movement of our
time and of the transformation it has wrought in our ideas of man and
nature and their relations. The personal emotion from which his lyrics
spring appears always intellectually illumined, with its background of
scientific corollaries and logical consequences. It is not abandoned
to itself, to wreak itself on expression, but is checked by the
challenge of doubt or scientific curiosity or moral scruple. His
verse thus unites in rare degree the qualities of lyrical impulse and
philosophical reflection.
Works: _Stances et Poemes_, 1865; _les Epreuves_, 1866; _les
Solitudes_, 1869; _les Destins_, 1872; _les Vaines Tendresses_, 1875;
_la Justice_, 1878; _le Prisme_, 1886; _le Bonheur_, 1888; these have
appeared in a new edition as _Oeuvres_, 5 vols., 1883-1888.
For reference: J. Lemaitre, _les Contemporains_, vol. i, 1886; E.
Caro, _Poetes et romanciers_, 1888; G. Paris, _Penseurs et poetes_,
1896; F. Brunetiere, _Evolution de la poesie lyrique_, vol. ii, 1894.
The first eleven poems are from _Stances et Poemes_. LES DANAIDES, UN
SONGE and LE RENDEZ VOUS are from _les Epreuves_; LA VOIE LACTEE
is from _les Solitudes_; REPENTIR, from _Impressions de la Guerre_
(1872;) CE QUI DURE, LES INFIDELES, LES AMOURS TERRESTRES and
L'ALPHABET, from _les Vaines Tendresses_; and the last two sonnets,
from _la Justice_.
255. LE LEVER DU SOLEIL. 5. _Hellade_, Hellas, country inhabited
by the Hellenes, or Greeks, a name at first given to a district of
Thessaly, later to all Greece.
257. LES DANAIDES. The Danaides were the fifty daughters of Danaus,
twin-brother of Aegyptus, whose fifty sons they married and then
murdered. As a punishment they were condemned to pour water forever
into a sieve. 2. _Theano_, _Callidie_, _Amymone_, _Agave_ are names of
four of the daughters.
ALPHONSE DAUDET.
1840-1897.
Though of world-wide fame as a brilliant novelist, he introduced
himself to the public by a volume of verse, _les Amoureuses_, which
contains many poems delicate in sentiment and exquisite in style.
HENRI CAZALIS (JEAN LAHOR).
1840.
The poems of Henri Cazalis, who has preferred to give his later works
to the public under the nom de plume Jean Lahor, have the grave
pessimism of Leconte de Lisle, but with more of buddhistic
resignation. They are often sustained by a high moral fortitude, and
though they are clothed in a less rich and brilliant garment than
the poems of Leconte de Lisle, they have a charm of their own,
"_inquietant et penetrant_," says Paul Bourget, "_comme celui des
tableaux de Burne Jones et de la musique tzigane, des romans de
Tolstoi et des_ lieder _de Heine_."
Works: _Vita tristis_, 1865 (under the pseudonym Jean Caselli;)
_Melancholia_, 1866; _le Livre du neant_, 1872; _l'Illusion_, 1875;
the preceding were collected in one volume and published under the
name Jean Lahor and with the title _l'Illusion_, 1888; under the
same name, _le Cantique des cantiques_, a translation of the Song of
Solomon, 1885; _les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali_, 1896.
For reference; J. Lemaitre, _les Contemporains_, vol. iv.
CHARLES FREMINE.
1841.
He holds an honorable place among the _poetae minores_ by poems
distinguished for the sincerity and simple truth of their record of
nature and humble experience.
Works: _Floreal_, 1870; _Vieux Airs et Jeunes Chansons_. 1884;
_Bouquet d'automne_, 1890.
FRANCOIS COPPEE.
1842.
He is especially the poet of the _vie des humbles_. His talent is not
pre-eminently lyric, and he has tended to escape
from the lyric domain in different directions, into the narrative
poem, the drama, and the novel, in each of which he has achieved
success. He is probably the most popular living French poet.
Works: _Le Reliquaire_, 1866; _Intimites_, 1868; _Poemes modernes_,
1869; _les Humbles_, 1872; _Promenades et interieurs_, 1872; _le
Cahier rouge_, 1874; _Olivier_, 1875; _l'Exilee_, 1876; _les Mois_,
1877; _Contes en vers et poesies diverses_, 1881 and 1887;
_Poemes et recits_, 1886; _Arriere-saison_, 1887; _les Paroles
sinceres_, 1890; _Oeuvres_, 5 vols., 1885-91.
For reference: M. de Lescure, Francois Coppee; _L'Homme, la Vie, et
l'Oeuvre_ (1842-1889), 1889; J. Lemaitre, _les Contemporains_, vol. i,
1886; F. Brunetiere. _Evolution de la poesie lyrique_, vol. ii, 1894;
Alcee Fortier, _Sept Grands Auteurs du XIXe Siecle_, Boston, 1889.
271. JUIN. From _les Mois_.
272. L'HOROSCOPE. From _le Reliquaire_.
273. L'ATTENTE. From _Poemes modernes_.
275. CHANSON D'EXIL, "QUAND VOUS ME MONTREZ UNE ROSE," LIED and
ETOILES FILANTES are from _l'Exilee_.
277. A UN ELEGIAQUE. From _Contes en vers et poesies diverses_. The
story of the Spartan boy and the fox may be found in Plutarch's
Lycurgus, 18. The idea should be compared with the artistic doctrine
of the _impassibles_.
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