Le salpêtre, the pozvder
Page 98. — 1. le clairon, the bugle. 2. le son, the sound of the above-mentioned instruments.
Page 99. — 1. Que de, how many.
Page 101. — 1. aimais: see p. 89, n. 5. 2. sous, from under. 3. loin limits entraînaient. 4. sacrés: because hallowed by early memories. 5. saules . . . pleurez, dear willozus, contemporaries of my (hztdhood, bend doivn your long branches upon {i.e. welcome) the kr other whom y ou mourn [as lost to you] .
Page 102. — 1. S'éveiller: this infinitive and the others in this
172 MÉDITATIONS POÉTIQUES
stanza and the six following are the lcgical subjects of the verb est, in the last verse of the next to the last stanza. 2. eux-même, see p. 96, n. 1.
Page 103. — I. Ce, grammatical subject of est, repeats here the preceding infinitives. 2. divin Génie refers to the esprit capricieux, vvhom in the beginning of the poem the poet invited to corne and préluder à son gré.
LES ÉTOILES
Lamartine is, in French literature, pre-eminently the poet of nature. He grew up far away from the noise of the great city, and never ceased to prefer the natural beauty of the country to the metropolis. In his travels, it is the brooks, bays, islands, mountains, and natural scenery that he loved to contemplate. As no other French poet, Lamartine has voiced the thoughts and feelings that arise in a sensitive soul in direct communion with nature. This poem, as beautiful as it is, is excelled by the lesson on astronomy which the village priest gives to the schoolboys in Jocelyn.
Page 104. — 1. s'enfuyant: to be connected with le crépuscule.
2. De l'absence. Order : pour consoler les cieux de l'absence du jour.
3. s'enfuit, fiées because the stars appear. 4. oiseau: the student of course knows that the stars appear to move from east to west, and the poet here calls them celestial birds. 5. gerbes d'étincelles, flaskes of light. 6. flots is not to be transi ated literally, as the figure would be spoiled. Translate : reef.
Page 105. — 1. semblent, etc. Translate : seem like eyes opened npon, etc. 2. d'un, etc., returning to poi't from a distant shore. The figure rightly apprehended is veiy beautiful. The student will remember that the stars seem to rise upon the horizon, and become ever more distinct as they approach us, or rather rise nearer to us. Hence when flrst seen they seem mere specks, like rocking ships at a great distance making for port. 3. vieillis : différent stars are setting and rising at ail times of the night. Hence some are already old (vieillis) and about to disappear, while others have already been lost from view (se
NOTES
«ont perdus dans la route des cieux). 4. son refers to Dieu. 5. l'orient: the student will remember that the stars rise in the east; hence the allusion in the text to their charming the orient. As they rise (hère s'élancent), one salutes each like a new-born that takes its place in the great family of stars. 6. The student will remember the death of Julie, and will recognize the trend of the poet's thought. Julie constantly rcappears in the great works of the poet.
Page 106. — 1. nous-même: seep. 96, n. i. 2. Fendre: poetry is here the reality. The poet imagines the earth like a vast ship afloat in the océan of air, cutting its way through the noisy éléments. 3. pilote : of course God is meant.
Page 107. — 1. qui has for antécédent éclat. 2. Que ne, see p. 3, n. 5.
Page 108. — 1. maux, plural from mal. 2. l'œil du matin, dawn. 3. l'horizon lointain : référence is to the setting of the stars in the western horizon.
Page 109. — 1. la lyre : see the theory of Pythagoras, p. 27, 11. 2.
LA SOLITUDE
The author says of this poem : Cette méditation de mes meilleurs jours est un cri d'admiration longtemps contenu qui m'échappa en apercevant le bassin du lac Léman [Geneya] et l'amphithéâtre des Alpes, en y plongeant pour la centième fois mon regard du sommet du mont Jura.
Page 110. — 1. S'abreuve d'oubli, drinks in forgetfulness. 2. Il refers to the antécédent of qui in the first verse, which is to be supplied.
