NOTES TO SELECTIONS IN POETRY. THE references to sections in these notes, unless otherwise stated, refer to the rules of versification, in Part III. § 48.-1§§ 3, 4, 8; 9, R. 1; 30, R. 2; 32, 2; see also § 55, 1-6. The six general rules for stanzas are here all observed. —2 Orra (oira), an ancient future of ouir, to hear. 3 Merveille is here employed in its primitive sense-that of astonishment. — 4 Vergogne: this ancient form, from the Latin verecundia, is the modern honte, shame, disgrace. -5 §§ 39, 6; 29, 3 and Note. - 6 § 33, 5, R. 1. 7 Exemplaire, model. The word is now obsolete in this sense; its usual acceptation is a copy of a book, or engraving, a specimen of a medal, &c. 8 § 34, 1.9 Dedans, within, is herc a preposition. In modern writers au dedans de is used in this sense. — 10 i. e., the protection of the king. 11 § 34, 7.- 12 Heur, good fortune. This word, now obsolete, has given rise to the adjective heureux, happy. 13 Malherbe was introduced by his friend François du Perrier to the young princess when at Aix, on her way from Florence to share the throne of Henry IV. The result was this ode, which is one of the earliest and finest specimens of French lyric poetry.— 1 §§ 45, 63. 15 § 34, 6. .16 § 5. 17 Courages: this word was formerly used in the sense of esprits, spirits. —18 Doute, now masculine, was formerly feminine. Malherbe always used it as feminine, both in prose and verse. — 19 S'alambiquer belongs to the familiar style, and is equal to se tourmenter, to trouble one's self. -20 Climatérique: this word, derived from the Greek κλ1μактηрikós, literally signifies, by steps or degrees. It is applied to human life, the climacteric years being the dangerous or eventful epochs in life, which are believed by some to be those years which are multiples of seven. In the passage in question, the term is applied to the fleur de lis, the emblem of the French nation.. 21 Etruria, or Tuscany, the native country of Marie de Médicis. 22 Oyaient, the obsolete past progressive of ouïr, to hear. The proper form of entendre is now used instead. 23 i. e., his career of conquest shall commence as soon as he arrives at years of maturity. The inversion of subject and verb (§ 34, 6), and the prepositional phrases (§ 34, 1), render this passage somewhat complicated. - 24 i. e., the Turkish nation. 25 François du Perrier, a gentleman of Aix en Provence, an intimate friend of Malherbe.. — 26 §§ 47, 57. — 27 Trépas is frequently used for mort in poetry and elevated prose. 28 § 40, 1. These stanzas present an admirable illustration of the regular recurrence of the fixed, and the harmonious arrangement of the movable, accents. (442) $49. -1 Epist., v. 8: "Si rationem posteritatis habeas, quidquid non est peractum pro non inchoato est."—2 -2 §§ 9, R. 1; 10, R. 1; 40, 1; 59. — 3 See Note, § 48, 12.4 Chenues (a poetical word), hoary, white with foam. 5 § 11, R. 1, Ex. 6 He was the son of Henry IV., surnamed the Great, and Marie de Médicis, and father of Louis XIV. - -7 §§ 45, 63.8 i. e., has triumphed over death; monument being used for tombeau, or mort. — 9 § 7, ieu, 1. — 10 Quoi que, i. e., quelque chose que.—11 This expression, now entirely obsolete, is equivalent to quoique après, or bien que après. 12 Assouvie de, i. e., comblée de, loaded with. 13 Octroyer is now rarely used; it is here equal to accorder, to grant, to accord. -14 The ancient name of Constantinople. § 50.-1i. e., his band of followers. —— 2 §§ 9, R. 1; 10, R. 1; 32, 1. 3 Lors, for alors, common in the familiar style, was formerly frequently used in poetry; § 38, 4. 4 In this sense, aider is now used actively: aider mon stratagème. 5 Tous being here used substantively, the s is sounded; but see § 16, Note. 6 Avant que de: instead of this form, avant de is more frequently used. -7 Alfange, a Spanish word, signifying sabre, cutlass. 8§ 34, 1.. 9 The subject, je, occurs three lines back; for its omission, see § 37, 1. ————— -10 § 39, 6. 11 § 26.- 12 Flavian, a soldier of the Alban army. -13 Curiatius was betrothed to Camilla, the sister of Horatius; and Sabina, the wife of Horatius, was the sister of Curiatius. -14 Miroirs is here used in the sense of models, examples. 15 i. e., would be ambitious to.—16 Consulter, to deliberate, is here used in a neuter sense.17 This use of faire, to prevent the repetition of a previous verb, as do is used in English, once common, is no longer allowed in French. -18 Encore que, for bien que, is now obsolete. —19 Faire vanité, to vaunt one's self, to boast. 20 § 39, 5.. — 21 The "pitiless patriotism" of these brave words has been greatly admired. 22 Observe the contrast between the stern Roman and the soul of the Alban, though brave, yet full of natural affection. -23 This construction is now used only in the most simple and familiar style. 24 It would be necessary to use à prendre in prose, as the preposition should be repeated. - -25 § 33, 5. 26 § 38. -27 S'efforcer de would be used in this sense at the present day. -28 Valerius, the accuser of Horatius, and a former suitor of Camilla. — 29 An affectation common in the time of Corneille. Even this great man did not escape the influence of the age in which he lived. 30 § 39, 2. ‚ ———— 31 Souffrirai-je is understood, and would be repeated in prose. 32 The sound of é at the end of three successive hemistichs produces a disagreeable effect; see § 38, 9. — 33 This is an allusion to the indiscriminate massacre ordered by Mithridates, king of Pontus, of all the Roman subjects in his kingdom. - -34 § 33, 2. § 51.-1§ 53..-21. c., it is the wealth which is least likely to fail. 3 Venir à bout de to succeed in. 4 Oût, an ancient word for harvest, because it was collected in the month of August (août). – 5 Vous is here redundant. It is the dativus ethicus of the Latin. Of its use in French, Bescherelle says, "Il n'ajoute rien au discours, il ne lui donne pas non plus d'élégance, de clarté, ni d'énergie; au contraire, il nuit au style loin de l'embellir." — 6 Coche, i. e., une diligence, a stage-coach: coche is obsolete in French in this sense, but it gives rise to the word cocher, a coachman, driver. —7 This is generally regarded as among the best of the fables of La Fontaine, and was so considered by the author himself. 8 Cependant que, used in poetry for pendant que, or tandis que. — 9 § 33, 5. 10 The student will be at once reminded of the valida quercus of Eneid IV. of Virgil: ". quantum vertice ad auras." — 11 Rodillard, i. c., rongeur de lard. A cat of this name had been mentioned in a previous fable. 12 Attila, king of the Huns (A. D. 434), who was called the "Scourge of God."—— 13 Au prix de = en comparaison de. ———— 14 Mitis, a name invented by La Fontaine, from the Latin mitis, mild. obsolete. 15 Affiner, to deceive by a trick: this meaning is now 16 Trotte-menu, slow trotting; little used; applied by our author to rats and mice. 52.-1 This admirable representation of a character not yet obsolete is taken from les Fâcheux, a comedy represented for the first time at a fête given to Louis XIV., by his Superintendent of Finances, the unfortunate Fouquet.. 2 § 33, 1. — 3 . 3 § 33, 5, R. 1. ————— 4 § 40, R. 4. This Latin termination would ordinarily have the s sounded, and hence not rhyme with vertus; but see 16, Rem. 6 § 21. - Posture is here used for position. 8 8 § 36.9 Je fonde, for je me fonde. — 10 Mécène, minister of Augustus, and patron of Virgil, Horace, and other literary men of his day: hence, in general, a patron of science, literature, or art. -11 Acrostiche, acrostic. This word, as in English, refers to a brief poem, of which the first letters of the lines taken together form a proper name, phrase, &c. It will be seen that our savant proposes to take the first letter of each hemistich. -12 Céans, here within, in this house, is now obsolete. It was seldom employed, except in comedy and other writings in the familiar style. 13 Vaugelas was a distinguished grammarian of the time of Molière. His name was pronounced rô-je-lâs, and hence this is a" rhyme for the eye" (§ 16,Rem.). - - 14 § 26. -15 § 34,7. 15 § 20.17 17 § 33.18 This selection is taken from les Femmes savantes, Act. III., Sc. 5.-19 Ithos and pathos are words of Greek origin, the former anciently signifying language calculated to move gently, and the latter that calculated to move deeply, the mind of the hearer. The latter word only is now in use, in the sense of bombast, fustian. The final s of these Greek words is sounded, thus presenting another example of a "rhyme for the eye."-20 Rien in this and the following lines is = quelque chose, i. e., it retains the affirmative meaning indicated by its derivation from the Latin rem.21 Bouts-rimés, rhymes given upon which to construct verses on a given subject, or a subject taken at will.— 2j. e., a bad poet, whose rhymes are fit only to wrap packages (balles) of merchandise. – 23 i. e., to mangle, by a miserable translation of his verses.24 i. c., to Boileau. - 25 Barbin, a distinguished bookseller of that period. $53.-11. e., in America. — 2 Cuzco, a city of Peru, formerly the capital of the Incas. 3 In this " advice to poets," the author has imitated the Ars Poetica of Horace. - Inferior poets of the time of Boileau. 5 This Epistle was addressed to the Marquis de Seignelay, the son of Colbert, the famous Minister and Secretary of State under Louis XIV. 6 En un enfant; § 39, 6. —— -7 § 31. 8 Ais (ès), a plank, board. 9 Let down at the end of a rope from the top of a house upon which laborers are renewing the roof, to warn passers to take another direction.10 From this spirited description, one is half inclined to believe that, even in the time of Boileau, Paris had its Baron Haussman superintending the demolition of old buildings, to give place for new and spacious boulevards. § 54.-1§ 34, 2. -2 § 20.—3 § 53. — 4 Baal, a Syriac word, signifying lord, prince, or king. 5 This charming idyl was written ia 1685, at the request of Seignelay, son of Colbert, when Louis XIV., at the acme of his renown, had conquered a general peace. It has been said, by some, to be the joint production of Racine and Boileau. The position of Bellone, between this and the previous verb, the subject of both, is quite irregular. — 7 The classical student will at once perceive the implied comparison between Augustus and Louis XIV. (See Virgil, Ecl. I. 6.)- 8 The city of Luxemburg, then, as now, an important stronghold, taken by Louis XIV. in the previous year. 9 This is a translation of the cry with which the Romans saluted their emperors: "Cæsar! de nostris tibi Juppiter augeat annos!". 10 The literal translation of this idyl into English presents a beautiful prose-poem. § 55.-1A lyric in verses of different measures. -2 The date of the birth of Rousseau is variously stated, from 1667 to 1671. Feugère refers to a letter of Rousseau's dated July 2, 1737, in which he himself gives the date of his birth as 1671.3 - 3 §§ 42, 47, 59. — 4 For a description of the changeable form of Proteus, see Virgil, Georgics IV., 405, and the lines following. 5 For a similar description of the influence of Apollo upon the Sibyl, see Virgil, Æneid VI., 46, and the lines following. - — 6 For a description of Fama, rumor, in several respects quite similar to this, see Virgil, Æneid IV., 174-188.- -7§ 45. -8 §§ 46, 63. -9 Psalm xix. 2. 10 Psalm xix. 4, 5.- -11 Matthew xi. 29, 30. 8 $56.-1 See Note, § 48, 1. ———— 2 2§ 16, Rem. -3 §§ 44, 63. 4 4 § 17. 5 The reference in this verse is to the description of the civil war between Cæsar and Pompey in Corneille's tragedy of Pompée. 6 This stanza refers to Racine's tragedies of Esther and Athalie. 7 See § 51, Part II., Le Chêne et le Roseau. 8 Boileau. —9 J. B. Rousseau; see § 55, Part II. — 10 Alcæus, a Greek poet of Mitylene. Rousseau is so called because the metre generally employed in his lyrics is similar to the Alcaics invented by Alcæus.11 Orithyia, daughter of Erectheus, sixth king of Athens, carried off by Boreas, who is hence frequently called by the poets the husband of Orithyia, and the winds her children. 12 A river of Asia Minor, between ancient Lydia and Caria, proverbial for its windings, and renowned for the swans which frequented it. See Virgil, Eneid VII., 699-702. $57.-1 Gaspard de Coligny, a prominent leader of the Protestant party in France, opponent of the Guises, and one of the first victims of St. Bartholomew. See Note, § 48, 1. -3 Catharine de Medici, the wife of Henry II. She was the chief instigator of the bloody massacre of St. Bartholomew. 4 Final s of tous would here be sounded in prose; but see § 16, Rem.—5 Charles IX, the reigning king, son of Henry II. and Catharine de Medici. 6 Henry IV., surnamed the Great, and the hero of the Henriade, "le seul poème épique que la France possède.". 7 The reader will not fail to recall to mind the description of the battle between Eneas and Turnus, Æneid XII., 704, and the lines following. -8 See the words of Mezentius, Æneid X., 773, 774:— 9 § 33, 5. "Dextra, mihi deus, et telum, quod missile libro, 10 § 24, R. 3. 11 See Eneid VI., 493. 12 A son of the Duke of Guise, and a prominent leader of the Catholic party in France in the time of Henry IV. -13 Richelieu, prime minister of France during the regency of Anne of Austria and the minority of Louis XIV. $58.-1§ 45. -2 -2 §§ 14, 19. Note, § 48, 1. -3 § 24, R. 4. 4§ 27, R. 1.- 5 See $59. -1 See Eneid IV., 365, and the lines following; also 590, and the lines following. - See Note, § 48, 1.-———— 3 -3 §§ 45, 63.—4 Orpheus, torn into pieces by the Thracian women in their Bacchanalian orgies. - 5 The laurel over Virgil's grave, at the entrance of the grotto of Posilippo, at Naples, persistently refuses to remain green, though often renewed by pious hands, among others by those of Petrarch. The last one, planted by a German scholar a few years since, was dead and leafless in the summer of 1868.6 Rousseau died at Brussels; see § 55, Part II. -This ode, and that of Racine fils upon the poets of the age of Louis XIV., have been characterized by La Harpe as two of the finest in the French language. § 60. -1 See Note, § 48, 1. § 61.-1 See Note, § 48, 1.2" Roue dentelée qui fait partie d'un moulin à café, à poivre, etc., et qui sert à broyer la graine." BESCHERELLE. — 3 Sugar, formerly called by the French " Indian honey” (miel indien), and afterwards “cane honey" (miel de roseau). It was then used only in medicine. The French have no longer occasion to call sugar "American honey," as they have the best of sugar of their own extracted from the juice of the beet. 4 Antigone, the daughter of Edipus and Jocasta, was a model of filial piety. She served as a guide for her father when he was blind and banished. § 62. -18 53. -2 The appropriateness of this term will be at once seen; and it is naturally associated with every landscape to one familiar with the interminable lines of poplars skirting the horizon on every side in Central and Southern France. 3 The student will at once recall to mind the beautiful lines of Gray's Elegy,- "The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me;" and the expression of a similar idea in the second Eclogue of Virgil, — "Aspice, aratra jugo referunt suspensa juvenci, Et sol crescentes decedens duplicat umbras." 4 Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese adventurer, the first European who navigated the Indian Ocean, though Diaz incurred, ten years before him, the formidable dangers of the Cape of Good Hope.. -5 § 59. 6 Melinda, a seaport on the east coast of Africa, visited by De Gama in 1498, who met here Christian merchants from India, who guided him across the Indian Ocean. 7 The ancient name of the Island of Ceylon. § 63.-1 For this notice and several others, in whole or in part, in this portion of the volume, the editor is indebted to M. Bescherelle aîné. -2 § 57. - 3 § 16. eye 4 § 33, 3. § 64.-1§ 53. — 2 The 8 is pronounced in prose. This is a "rhyme for the "(see § 16, Rem.), so common a century earlier than the time of Bertin. 3 The fall of the Anio, or modern Teverone, is so rapid that throughout almost its entire course its rushing waters resemble a torrent at all seasons of the year, and the grandeur of the falls of Tivoli, where, on leaving its winding course among the mountains, it makes its final plunge before entering upon the level Campagna, must be seen to be appreciated. § 68.-1i. e., of his windmill.—2 Ancient Vulturnus, modern Volturno, a river of ancient Campania, flowing past the city of Capua. · -3 Que is used here instead of repeating pourquoi from the previous line. $69.-1 See Note, § 48, 1.2 The name of this mountain, which the traveller climbs on his ascent from Chamouni to the Mer de Glace, is now spelled Montanvert, which would, of course, be pronounced in the same way as the name |