ACT I

1 vous . . . femme ! a woman's dreams make you hesitate ! S'arrêter éè = " to pay attention to."

2 faibles sujets: paltry reasons. Cf. 109. — troublent: disquiet. Troubler is usually stronger than English "trouble." Cf. 96, 233, 414.

7 Cf. " [songes] produits d'un amas de grossières vapeurs." — Maire t, Sopkonisbe, A. II, se. i.

8 vains objets : shadowy forms.

9 femme: wi/e.

11 après . . . charmer : a/ter we hâve long been a slave to her charms. From what Pauline says in 207-216, it would seem rather that she had married Polyeucte soon after her arrivai in Armenia.

14 songée : dreamt of\ a sensé now rare.

16 The expression yîz/>^ un dessein, blamed by V., is common in C. and was correct then.

18 tâche à : tâcher is now regularly followed by de. Cf. 55, 986, etc.

18 me fait pitié : inspires me with pity. Faire pitié is now generally contemptuous, " to be pitiful." ^Cf. note on loio.

20 possédé : ruled.

22 amanteic literally, " sweetheart " ; translate, bride. Amant did not hâve in the seventeenth century its modem unfavorable sensé ; it meant usually "accepted lover," while the unsuccessful suitor was called amoureux. Cf. 133.

23 remise: delay. — ennui: anxiety. Nicot's T^r^rj^^r (1606) gives as the first définition of ennui'. '■'• Uennuy qu'on prend d'une chose premier qu^ [before] elle advienne. Praemolestia." This meaning is not recognized generally by later dictionaries, nor given by M.-L, or G. Cf. Suivante, 555, P Illusion, 571, Cid, 448, and Horace, 834, where this meaning would fit ; also M. 's Tartuffe, 503 : " Ferez-vous possesseur, sans quelque peu d'ennui. D'une fille comme elle un homme comme lui ? " S'ennuyer de is said to be still used in the sensé " to be anxious about." The usual seventeenth-century meaning of ennui was " grief " (cf. 772) ; it has become weakened, like many other words.

25-26 But are you perfectly certain that you will live or persévère long enough ?

28 vœux : prayers. So in 564 and 1437. Cf. notes on 132 and 508.

— de le pouvoir : that you can do so. le refers vaguely to Polyeucte's plans ; cf. 24 and 37.

29 grâce : grâce, in the theological sensé ; " the mercy of God, as distinguished from His justice." Cf. 681, 694, 697, (1276), (1554), 1742, and Introduction, p. xvii. On 29-36, cf. Horace, 857-860.

30 même : C. and M. frequently omit the article where now required. Cf. 145, 152, 897,898, 1575; Cinna, 919. — efficace: efficacy, regularly used as substantive in the seventeenth century for modem efficacité.

31 que . . . longueurs : which our delay s waste.

32 quitte : lays down. — traits : shafts. Cf. Clitandre, 327, Cid, 1643.

33 l'égaré : thrusts it aside.

35 porter au bien : lead to righteousness. Cf. Imitation, III, 5629. 40 Sa . . . dissipe : its fervor is dying out.

42 effet: fulfilment or realization. So in 131, 235, 267, 668, 928, 1542, and 1713. — se recule : is delay éd.

45 en: refers to the adjective chrétien, in 44, as if this were a noun.

46 salutaire : that gives salvation (salut). Cf. " cette eau salutaire," Rotrou, Saint Genest, A. IV, se. iv; and Boileau, Lutrin, L. VI, 13.

60 bien suprême : probably = the souverain bien, the summum bonum, of philosophy. Cf. Descartes : " le souverain bien, qui consiste en l'exercice de la vertu, ou (ce qui est le même), en la possession de toutes les perfections dont l'acquisition dépend de notre libre arbitre."

— Œuvres, éd. Cousin, T. IX, p. 237.

52 remettre : delay. Cf. 22 var. and note on 23.

56 desseins: intentions. — ébranler: unsettle,

56 rompre : frustrate. So in 64. — pousse : urges.

58 autre : i.e. obstacle.

60 coup d'essai : first attempt. A common expression with C. — illusions : déceptions.

65 Rompez : ward off. So in 1501. Cf. 56, 64. V. points out the disagreeable répétition, — rompre, rompu, rompez.

67 douteux : wavering.

69 Pour hère dénotes cause, not purpose.

74 Cf. Matthew x. 37 and Luke xiv. 26. C.'s Unes seem to be parodied in M.'s Tartuffe, 277-279.

76 Exposer: risk. — sa: his. — son: one^s.

80 Polyeucte : throughout the play, the y in Polyeucte counts metrically as a syllable.

85 étonnez: daunt\ stronger than now. So used later by Regnard and Destouches. — blesse: touches.

87 mes pareils : men like me. Cf. Cid, 408. Cf. the coUoquial " the likes of him," f ormerly good English. — un bel œil : about équivalent to a preity face ; a common précieux expression. French préciosité, which had a parallel in nearly contemporary Gongorism in Spain and euphuism in England, was due largely to Italian influence, especially of the queen Marie de Médicis and the poet Marini, who came to Paris in 161 5, It also had national causes. It was a systematic attempt to mitigate the coarseness of contemporary society ; its objects were quite as much social as literary. With its delicacy weut much affectation, ridiculed by M. The chief center of préciosité was the salon of M'"^ de Rambouillet, which was most brilliant between 1624 and 1648. C. was sometimes a guest hère, and hère Polyetccte is said to hâve had i' .jfirst reading. Préciosité exexteà a powerful influence, clearly visible i .even the greatest authors of the âge. With C. it is évident chiefly ,n the early plays, e.g. Mélite, though he never entirely rid himself «, ftit. See 105-106, 133-135' ZZ^^ 357. 560, 1 327-1331 ; Horace, 578. L. w^ll defines the style précieux as follows : " This style consists in over-studied élégance ; finical affectation ; the abuse of epithets ; the désire to surprise one by unexpected images or long-drawn-out metaphors ; affected contrasts of words ; the absence of ail naturalness in the over-subtle expression of the simplest sentiments, which are refined and gradated endlessly; a trifling perhaps élégant, but often out of place and above aJl too prolonged. Nevertheless, despite the failings of this style, it emploved only

ii6

the vocabulary of the everyday language, without pretending to renew andenrich the language more or less usefully." (T. III, p. 348.) Oxipriciosité cf. C.-L. Livet, Précieux et Précieuses, and Crâne, la Société française au XVIP siècle.

90 appas : C. always used this form, as well in the singular (cf. 11 58 and 1769) as in the plural. Now appât is singular ("bait"), and appas plural only ("charms "). — en . . . délices : delight in them.

94 marque : apparently stamp, character. Cf. note on 469.

99 heur: happiness\ very common in C, but practically obsolète since the end of the seventeenth century, except in the compounds bonheur and malheur and one or two idioms. Cf. 566 and 1 207.

99-100 plus . . . Plus : in modem French we should expect either " Plus elle aura pleuré ... et plus l'heur " etc., or " l'heur ... lui semblera d'autant plus doux qu'elle aura pleuré."

104 défaut: weak point. (Literally, the break between two parts of a cuirass.)

106 tue : i.e. kills Polyeucte's soûl by keeping himfrom baptism. (V.)

113 il le faut: used three times in eleven Unes. (V.)