Te souviens-tu de même Te souviens-tu des guerres Te souviens-tu, ma chère, Tandis que je soupire Ma bouche en vain répète C'est le temps qui n'est plus ! Philippe Dumanoir. XXXIV LES TROIS ÂGES Mes enfants, quand j'avais votre âge, Plus tard, moins folle et moins rieuse, Je demandais à l'Eternel Qu'un ange descendît du ciel Pour l'aimer comme aime une mère ! C'est ainsi, mes petits enfants, Que j'étais quand j'avais trente ans. 18 Plus tard encor . . . mais le temps passe, Mais si notre front se couronne Marc Constantin. 18 POEM NOTES BOOK I. I. JEAN BERTAUT (1552?-1611) began by being private secretary to King Henry III. During the civil war of the Ligue, he prudently retired from active life, and reappeared only when Henry IV. was firmly established on the throne. The share which Bertaut took in the conversion of that prince to the Roman Catholic faith was rewarded-first, by the gift of the abbey of Aulnay (1594), and afterwards by his appointment to the bishopric of Séez. Respecting the last stanza of this poem, M. SainteBeuve remarks: "De ces couplets le dernier surtout (fortune singulière !) a survécu durant deux siècles; nos mères le savent encore et l'ont chanté, Léonard et La Harpe l'avaient rajeuni en romance. Fontenelle a remarqué que les solitaires de Port Royal le trouvèrent si beau, qu'ils le voulurent consacrer en le citant." (Histoire de la Poésie Française au xvi. Siècle, edit. 1848, p. 381.) II. The author of this delightful little sonnet is not known. It was published originally in a collection of Protestant hymns, entitled Chansons Spirituelles à l'honneur et louange de Dieu, et à l'édification du prochain (16mo. 1619, part i. p. 121).-Line 5. Déduit, from de and ducere. III. FRANÇOIS DE MALHERBE, born at Caen in 1555, of an illustrious family, the elder branch of which had followed the dukes of Normandy into England. After highly distinguishing himself in several engagements, young Malherbe quitted the army, and devoted himself to literature. On his arrival in Paris, in 1585, Henry IV., to whom he was known by fame, desired that he should be presented to him, and ordered him to compose some verses on a journey which he was on the point of undertaking. The result was one of his best odes, "Prière pour le Roi," with which the king was so delighted that he settled a pension upon him for life. Malherbe was known, not only as a poet, but as a critic. In this capacity he mercilessly attacked Ronsard, a better poet than himself, and did so with such success that, as a French writer expresses it, "Malherbe le detrôna." So far did he carry the severity of his taste that he obtained POEM the name of "Le tyran des mots et des syllabes." He died in Paris in 1628, aged 73 years. FRANÇOIS DU PERIER, barrister at the Parliament of Aix, was a great friend of Malherbe, who often alludes to him in his letters. His daughter's real name was Margaret. -Lines 23, 24. See Horace : Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas, IV. This has been sometimes erroneously ascribed to Mathurin Régnier. V. PIERRE PATRIX (1585-1672) was a great favourite of Gaston, Duke of Orleans. The objectionable character of his early poetry struck his conscience in after years, and, as a kind of atonement, he devoted to sacred subjects the last efforts of his genius. VI. PIERRE CORNEILLE, "Créateur du Théâtre Français," was born at Rouen, 6th June, 1606. Educated by the Jesuits, for whom through life he entertained a deep attachment, he was early intended for the bar. Want of success caused him to give that up in disgust, and an accident awakened in him the talent which has made him famous. His first comedy, "Mélite," was eminently successful; it met with immense applause, and made its author known at Court and to Cardinal Richelieu. "Mélite" was followed by a vast number of plays and other poems, among others by "Les Horaces,' and by 66 Cinna," pronounced by many to be his chefd'œuvre. Corneille died 1st October, 1684, at the age of 78 years. This version of the Forty-sixth Psalm is taken from Corneille's devotional work, entitled L'Office de la Sainte Vierge, les Sept Psaumes, et les Hymnes de l'Église traduits en vers français, 1670. VII. One of the numerous poems suggested by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. It was found a few years ago on the fly-leaf of an old family Bible, and published in the Bulletin de la Société du Protestantisme Français, 1853. VIII. JEAN RACINE (1639-1699) was born at La Ferté Milon, a small town in what is now the department of Aisne. He received his education at Port Royal, and was destined by his family, first for the church, and then for the bar. Racine, however, adopted neither of these professions, but, to the great horror of Jansenist friends, began writing tragedies and epigrams. This circumstance, added to his natural penchant for satire, led him into a controversy with Nicole, controversy which did not redound much to his credit. Besides his well-known dramatic works, Racine has also left a short history of Port Royal, an interesting correspondence, and a few C C |