Desbauché, in the sense of * spoilt
6, Rebrassé, literally, ‘turning up his sleeves;’ but app. = “abashed.’
. Fil, It may be well to remind the reader that the use of the
Notes.
, Avette, a pretty word derived from ‘apis,’ was the favourite
Pléiade term for bee instead of ‘ abeille,’ or ‘mouche a miel.’
. My = ‘nid.’ . Premier, ‘for the first time.’ . Neuvaine trope is an expression characteristic of the weaker side
of the Pléiade movement ; it means, ‘ troupe de neuf,’ ‘the band of nine Muses.’
. This piece and the following are printed in modem spelling, in
order that readers may judge whether the Prince of Poets owes his fame to antiquarian partiality only.
. Férue, in the simple sense of ‘ struck,’ ‘ pierced with the share.’ . An instance of a somewhat unjustifiable attempt to transfer
Latin liberty of order in the sentence to French. ‘ Maigres’ goes in sense with ‘ siècles.”
. This is a little bit of coterie spite against Marot, who is
frequently reflected on in the sequel.
Ballans, ‘ fluttering,’ ‘ flitting.’ Ravasser =" revasser’ =‘ rêver.
accented ¢ for a final syllable ending in a consonant was, until recently, very capricious in French; cf. #é for ‘nez,’ diné for ‘ diner,’ etc.
. Lourmener, a common form for ‘ promener.’ . Ferrugue, It is almost needless to say that there is nothing
disrespectful in this use of ‘wig ;’ it is simply a case of the
changed and limited sense of a word.
. Entreront en quartier, ‘will take up their quarters.’
- Ja desjà, ‘now already,’ an emphatic tautology.
. Éphémérides, ‘astrological almanacks.’
. Courans grand erre, ‘ running swiftly.’
. Iam indebted for this excellent cento of one of D’Aubigne’s
finest passages to MM. Darmesteter and Hatzfeld. The author is one of the most unequal in French, and it is seldom that his magnificent Alexandrines hold out for any length of time without something of a breakdown. A careful study of the original has convinced me that it was impossible to do better than follow the writers I have mentioned.
. Qui rien ne le redoute, “who does not fear him at all.’
Ainçois, ‘ but, indeed,’ ‘nay, indeed.’
Mauvaitié, or ‘ mauvaistié,’ ‘ badness.’
Morigérée. This more classical form gradually became in French ‘ morigénée.
et me oor
Notes. | 549
. Jaçoit, ‘though it be,’ ‘although.’ . Quand et elle, ‘with her.’ . Spelling modernised. Nearly all the persons here named will
be found in chapters two and four of the Second Book of the Short History.
. Ores, ‘although.’
Couvré =‘ couvrais.’
This use of cusder is not uncommon at the time. The exact English equivalent would be ‘ to melt as I thought.’
Ætape, in this sense of ‘staff,’ ‘stake,’ is very rare. It is said to be a Germanism.
. Supposed to be a covert hit at his wife.
. Sécher sur pied, or sur le pied =‘ to be worried to death.” An
idiom used as late as Diderot.
. Plage =‘ plaga,’ ‘ wound.’
. Penser of course = ‘ panser.’
. Gougue =‘ gouge,’ ‘ mistress.”
. Oratiocina. This, if it be the right reading, is a word of
Paré’s own coining, on the model of ratioctnari. But one may suspect ‘ratiocina,’ ‘ preserved his reason.’
. Æffleua =‘ cfflavit, another classicism.
. Son nom, Montaigne.
. Retraïct, ‘ cabinet,’ ‘ closet,’ ‘ study.’
. Les Grisons, the highway from the north of Europe to Italy
in the sixteenth century.
. Complexion, in the then technical sense of ‘ temperament.’
Royne, Mary Stuart.
. Luctueuse, ‘luctuosa,’ ‘ sorrowful.’ . Passons en nos fantaisies de tous deux, ‘let us indulge both
our fancies.’
. Durant, ‘in the time of.’
. Fust ou, ‘or whether it was,’ sc. ‘not a wicked quarrel, but.’ . Fiance, ‘confidence.’
. Aucunement, ‘in some wise,’ ‘to a certain extent.’
. Assiette, ‘ placing.’
Votrement =* vraiment.’
. Faire la croix à la cheminée is a phrase signifying to ‘make
a mark,’ take notice of some extraordinary event.
Chuchetans =‘ chuchotants.’
It is necessary, in reading this extract, to remember the singular fashion in which Sully’s Memoirs are written, and that ‘ vous’ is himself.
Notes.
Hocqueton, the uniform tunic of the archer guard.
. De leurs gentils-hommes, ‘some of their gentlemen.” . La saincte union, the League.
. Monter à reculons, probably a suggestion of the gallows.
Adjourner, ‘summons.’
This coarse but vigorous version of the origin of Hippocrene, the ‘Fons Caballinus,’ (which, however, according to the more graceful classical fable, Pegasus produced by stamping with his feet,) is perhaps one of the ‘ rimes cyniques’ which frightened Boileau. It emphasises Regnier’s contempt so forcibly, and is so characteristic, that even in a book of extracts it seems a pity to omit it.
. Trouver la pie au nid, familiar for ‘ making a grand discovery.’
Sades, ‘neat,’ ‘ elegant.’
. Piolés, ‘ pied,’ ‘ particoloured.’
. Peautre, chemicals‘ rouge” or ‘ cosmetic.’
. Où, ‘ whereas.’
. Sespanist =" s'épanouit.”
. The person in whose honour this pretty song was composed
is uncertain. It is curious and characteristic of Malherbe that the idea and almost the words of the first two lines are borrowed from a sonnet of Du Perron’s.
Brodeau, one of the school of Marot, and a clever rondeau writer. This playful letter was written during a tour which Voiture
’ made to Spain and the coast of Morocco. It was addressed
to Mademoiselle Paulet, a famous member of the cdferies of the time, who was surnamed ‘ La Lionne.’ Hence the joke. The lion which accompanied it was of red wax.
. A couplet very coarse in expression, and not necessary to the
context, follows in the original.
. Words expressive of the clinking of glasses (or perhaps gaming
terms ?).
. This is the rival sonnet to Uranie, pp. 142-3. . In the fifth Fable of the Sixth Book, ‘ Le cochet, le chat, et
le souriceau.’
. The versification of the earliest French poems, the Chansons de
Gestes, has a careful scansion and a regular cæsura.
. The exactest rules of ballades and rondeaux are centuries older
than Marot.
. Cf. Regnier, pp. 126-8.
. The Abbé Cotin, victim not only of Boileau but of Moliére, as
Trissotin in the Femmes Savantes.
Notes. 551
CA
