Vers : We should prefer envers now ; vers is used
for towards, physically speakinç, envers in a figurative or moral sensé. Il vient vers moi, he cornes towards me ; il s'est mal conduit envers moi, he behaved ill towards me.
French grammarians, with the French Academy, condemn the use of vers for envers; but M.
Littré very justly remarks that vers having the same etymology as envers, and, above ail, being used for envers by Corneille (1606-1684), Molière (1622-1673), Pascal (1623-1662), Racine (1639-1699), Voltaire (1694-1778), ought not to be condemned, and may be used in the sensé of envers when found userai.
Vers, Lat versus, turned ; envers, Lat in and versus.
47 I— Désormais : Henceforth. Was in Old Fr., dès
ore mais; dès is a contraction of de-ex; ore 1 cornes from hora; mais from inagis ; so that
dès are mais is literally from this hour (time) more, from this time forward, henceforth. Dès, according to M. Littré, is a contraction of de and ex, as dedans of de and intus. Ore, from Lat. hora ; the Lat h bas been dropped, as in homo, on indef. pronoun ; habere, avoir, etc., the final a has become e as in rosa, rose; cupa, coupe, cup ; fabula, fable; tabula, table, &c Mais, from Lat. magis; the French locution "n'en pouvoir mais," non posse magis, means literally not to be able to do any more, to be tired ouc, or powerless.
47 a— Qu'il comble d'épouvante : May it fill with awe ; combler means to fill up, and in a figurative sensé to load, with particularly good things ;
NOTES. iof
combler de caresses, de biens, de bienfaits, etc., combler d'épouvante, or of any other unpleasant thing, is not frequently used; we should say now remplir d'épouvante* Page 47 Une 5 — Épargne ma honte : Spare me, spare my modesty. Notice.— Ne soyez pas honteux, do not be bashfuL
47 6— Elle fait trop de compte : Reckons too high, values too highly ; elle refers to " majesté," which is féminine. Notice. — Her Majesty or his Majesty would be " Sa Majesté " for a Queen or a Kmg.
47 15— Ne va point dans l'excès: Is not exceedinglj great.
47 22 — Sollicita mon âme : Pressed me, urged me • • .
47 2 5 — Brigade, hère indefinite : Band, troop.
47 29— J'excuse ta chaleur, etc. : I pardon thy too rash vengeance.
47 31— Crois que dorénavant Chimène a beau parler:
You may be certain that henceforth Chimene will speak in vain. Avoir beau, folio wed by an infinitive, means that what the infinitive expresses is done or suffered in vain. Cf. the English slang expression, " it is ail very fine." Your speaking is ail very fine, vous avez beau parler.
48 5— Reprenoient de courage, de governed by tant, the
adverb of quantity at the beginning of the preceding Une.
4S 7 — Lors, synonym of alors, then ; alors stands for à
lors (à l'heure), at the time; lors is hardly used nowbyitself; lors que, alors t pour lors, dès lors. Notice. — Lors de mon séjour à Paris, at the time I Was staying in Paris.
48 12— En fait de même : Does the same. We should prefer now fait de mime. In the seventeenth century en was used in several expressions where we should now deem it unnecessary.
48 16— Obscure clarté : Dim light.
— Point de soldats, etc. An ellipsis for on ne voit
point de soldats, no soldiers. Notice. — Point and pas, commonly joined to the négative to intensify it, are also used negatively before substantives, adjectives, adverbs, &c, or alone, for the sake of rapidity, the verb and négative • bctng then omitteë. Ex. : Qui a fait cela ?
who did that ? Pas moi, not I ; for Ce n'est pas moi, etc.
Page 48/0*127— Poussons jusques au ciel mille cris éclatants: Send to tbe sky lond and repeated cries (rend the sky with . . . ). Mille hère is taken in the same sensé as the Lat. sexaginta, for an indefinitely large number.
48 29 — Les Maures se confondent t Confusion sets in among the Moors.
48 31 —Avattt aw & combattre, avant de . . . avant que, are ail three foand in our best authors ; the last tenn is the one least in use now.
48 37— S'oublient, hère is taken in a passive sensé, are
forgotten.
49 I — Vertu. Corneille ofteu uses this word in the strict
sensé of the Lat; tttrtus (vir) 9 manHness»
courage.
49 2— De pied ferme : Resolutely, firmly.
49 2— *Alfanges: Scimttars; from a Spanish word derived from Arabie.
49 3— 'De notre sang *n leur. Au is used hère for avec le.
49 6— Exploits célèbres: Heroic deeds (worthy of becoming famous). Sont demeurés sans gloire, were lost to famé.
49 10— Les nôtres : Our men. Notice. — Les miens, les tiens, les siens, etc., is used to designate those who hâve some connection with the speaker, the person spoken to, or the one spoken of ; it may mean relations, soldiers, partisans, &c, according to the context
Et ne rai pu savoir : And I could not know il, that is to say, Oà le tort inclinoit, which way fortune inctined.
49 24— Cependant que : We should say now pendant que, or tandis que, whilst.
49 25— Et quelque peu des leurs : And some few of their defenders. — See line 10.
49 3° — Et que is governed by voyant in the preceding line Remark that in line 1324 voyant is construed with the inhmtive, in the next one with •' que." This would be considered qnite incorrect in prose ; it would be necessary to repeat voyant in the second Une, or to continue the same construction with the infinitive.
49 33— «Et le combat cessa faute de combattons. This celebrated line has become a proverb»
