Scène iv Notes Griiigoire
Page 25, Une 4. façons, compliments^ hère. 9. bien, '^ you knoWy^ hère. 10. Tantalus is said by some classical mythmakers to hâve stolen a dog that Jupiter (Zeus) had put iii guard of his temple in Crète (^Crete). See classical dietionary.
Page 26, line 8. Plessis. The castle of Plessis-les-tours did not becorae the favorite retreat of Louis till much later. Then, indeed, he made it and the surrounding forest famous by his eccentric cruelty. 9. force gens branchés, manypeople hung from branches. 15. Ballade. Three rhymes suffice for ail thèse stanzas. The metrical scheme is : a, b, a, b, b, c, b, c, with the envoi in b, c, b, c. Note that Banville is perhaps the greatest master of rhyme of ail French poets, and conipare p. 4, 1. 4. 17. Flore, Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and gardens. 22. More, Moors, then still powerful in Spain,
though nearing the time of their expulsion.
Page 27, line 27. s'y connaît. Cp. p, 5, 1. 17,
Page 28, line 2. Envoi. This obligatory close to every ballad indicated the coming end by the changed mètre and also by the address to the Prince or patron of the poet. 4. profane, uninitiated. 8. Argus in classical mythology had an hundred eyes, which for his failure to guard lo were taken from him and fixed in the tail of a peacock, the bird of Juno (Hera). 13. See Introduction, p. vii., but the chronology is forced, for he who is meant hère by Duke of Normandy was Duke of Guyenne in 1469. 18. ses vérités, the truth about himself. 19. Qui, etc. Cp. Hebrews xii. 6. 26. saurait, could. 28. boufion, comic or comical.
Page 29, line 10. mie, at ail. From the Latin mica, " bit," "morsel," and almost obsolète. Distinguish from the also nearly obsolète mie, p. 57, 1. 13.
Page 30, line 16. bon jour, i.e. the "good day'' accorded to criminals before exécution. •
Gringoire Notes Scènes iv,v
Page 31, line 10. donjons et tours. Such imitations of mediseval fortresses are still occasionally to be seen in pastrycooks' Windows. 28. victuailles, viands. Nearly obso-
lète.
Page 32, line 6. The poet is hère called a nursling of Calliope because she was the muse of éloquence and heroic poetry in the choir of Mount Parnassus, sacred in Greek mythology to the muses, Apollo and Bacchus. 10. Amadis de Gaule was the title of one of the best and most famous romances of chivalry. Some hâve thought it of French origin, though its earliest known form (before 1400) is Portuguese. Perséus was a less noted mediaeval romance. 23. mystères, Mystery Plays. See any history of French literature. 27. n'est pas, is not worth.
Page 2>Zy li^e 18. Mail du Chardonneret, noted avenue in Tours. Cp. English "Pall Mail," etc. 19. mailles, settings of the little old-fashioned window panes, but cp. p. 53, 1. 19. 28. farouche, timorous, hère. 29. Phœbé, one of the names of Diana as huntress.
Page 34, line 25. Chimères, Chimœras, fabulous monsters mentioned in Ovid, Virgil, and Homer. 27. Baltassar, Belshazzar. See Daniel v. 1-4.
Page 35, line 13. rien plus ne me soucie, I care for nothing more. The order suggests a certain recklessness. 29. fils, threads. Cp. Lowell's "puppets jerked by unseen strings," but note that Louis was very far in 1469 from holding any part of the world in the hollow of his hand.
Page 36, line 5. obsession, persistency, hère.
Page 37, line 5. tout à fait, i.e. as though marriage were a second death. 12. douairière, dowager, and so presumably old and stately. Charlemagne, or Karl, Emperor of the Franks, died 814. 26. Tout de bon, '' Really andtruly'' [118]
Scènes v-viii Notes Gringoire
Page 38, line 2. n'oblige pas à demi, am not gênerons by halves. 12. Autant, see p. 17, 1. 6. Iliade, the famous Grcek epic of Homer.
Page 39, line 19. Péronne. See Introduction, p. vil. 25. Ses ... à lui, His own, not the duke's.
Page 40, line 9. se pétrit, can be nioulded. 15. à gorge déployée, heartily. Compare Keats' '* in full-throated ease." 16. Diana. See p. 38, 11. 19-28.
Page 43, line 14. enjôleur, cajoler. 15. mannequin,
" scarecrow^^ hère.
Page 45, line 9. La Balue. See Introduction, p. viii.
Page 46, line 24. Elle, i.e. the aune. en bas, down stairs. He is confused, and so answers with foolish literalness.
Page 47, line 13. With ail his shrewdness Louis was very superstitious. Cp. p. vi.
Page 52, line 24. ceux . . . les. Observe how the irregular order indicates her émotion.
Page 53, line 4. petits, children, hère. 18. The ballad is given complète on p. 62. Its metrical scheme is a, b, a, b, b, c, c, d, c, d; but the second stanza (p. 63) drops the fifth line, a very irregular proceeding from the mediœval point of view. The envoi has the metrical scheme c, c, d, c, d. For Prince (p. 63, 1. 20), see p. 28, 1. 2. 19. maille, " stitch," i.e. clothing, or more probably farthing, for the old French coin maille, now obsolète. 20. tout amour, ail full of loving loyalty. 21. taille, one of the most hated taxes of mediaeval France. It was imposed on the persons and property of ail subjects not noble or clérical. 22. charrue, agriculture. bataille, war.
Page 54, Une 4. fouaille, scourge, hère. The word is now confined to familiar coUoquy. ,
Gringoire Notes Scene ix
Page 56, line 9. ne saurait se passer de, could not get on without.
Page 57, line 9. à s'en remettre, in relying or coufiding. II. Meulan, an important military post on the Seine below Paris. 1 2. en serai quitte, shall be rid of him. 1 3. mie, darling. Obsolète. Cp. p. 29, 1. 10. 24. bien, ironical.
Page 58, line 4. A mon aune. See p. 46, 1. 22. 10. rancune. Nicole bas observed that people are most apt to bear grudges toward those they hâve wronged.
Page 59, line 16. Compare p. 15, 11. 16-21. 26. This speech is scarcely veiled irony.
Page 60, line 15. à âme qui vive, to a living soûl.
Page 63, line 22. égrenant son rosaire, " telling the beads of her rosary," i.e. praying.
