Line 705. Qui soit; see M. Fr. C., § 77 (a) 1. 706. Vous voilà, see note to 1. 511. 709. De ce pas, lit. with this step, instantly; forthwith. 710. À la barbe, in the face of; cp. the Engl. "to beard" "barbe" is often thus used figuratively: "rire dans sa barbe," to laugh in one's sleeve. ACT III. FIRST SCENE. 713. Je brûle .; l'on s'en meurt, etc. (see also 1. 835), such hyperbolical expressions were considered in excellent taste; so in Préc. Ridic. (see Introd.) 1. 149. que ce qui, after ce the verb is often made 714. Ce sont . . . ce ne furent plus les the use of que before the logical subj. when placed after its compl., see M. Fr. C., § 82 (a). 718. Tôt, we should rather say now "vite." 722. Et c'est dans votre cour que j'en viens d'accoucher, this line shows how merely outwardly conventional were the notions of propriety in the circle of the Précieuses; cp. Mol. Misanthr., I. 2,— "Ce style figuré dont on fait vanité, Sort du bon caractère et de la vérité ; Ce n'est que jeu de mots, qu'affectation pure, SECOND SCENE. 727. De toutes vos oreilles, a pedantic adaptation to the expression "de tout mon cœur." 730. Et ce n'est pas mon fait que line; for the constr. see note to 1. 714. 731. Aussi bien ai-je, see note to 1. 443. are not in my 737. De quoi s'asseoir, lit. wherewith to sit upon; for another paraphrase for chair cp. Mol.'s Préc. Rid., 1. 47-les commodités de la conversation. 738. Choir (fr. Lat. cadere, old Fr. chéoir; for c = catena = = ch cp. croire ; for a = é cp. dentatus denté; for ĕ = oi cp. fallere chaîne; for the loss of d cp. credere = falloir), obsol. and defect., to fall. Line 742. Centre de gravité; the law of gravitation had but just been discovered by Newton (1665), but here, of course, the allusion is simply to what was already known in antiquity about the laws of equilibrium. 744. Bien lui prend de, it is lucky for him; in this idiom the verb "prendre" is used in the sense of to overtake, to betide; so “mal vous prendra,” ill will betide you ; cp. note to 1. 79. 746-9. Some more preposterous metaphors in the same bad taste as in 1. 722. 750. Madrigal, a then very fashionable form of vers de societé; (1) originally, "pièce de musique composée pour les voix sans accompagnement; (2) pièce de poésie renfermant, en un petit nombre de vers, une pensée ingénieuse et galante." Littré. 751. Le ragoût (fr. ragôuter, comp. of re and agoûter from à goûter, lit. to stimulate the taste again), here— relish, zest. 753. Sel attique, the well-known Attic wit (salt) peculiar to the Athenians (i. e. inhabitants of Attica). 757. Entêtement, generally only used in a bad sense: stub. bornness, etc.; here-to distraction; aimer à l'entêtement, to dote upon. 761. This sonnet is not by M., but by Cotin (our Trissotin), under the title, "Sonnet à Mademoiselle de Longueville, sur la fièvre quarte," etc. Euvres Mêleés de M. Cotin, Paris, 1659; see Introd. 766. Qu'il a le tour galant, "que" for "combien ;" see M. Fr. C., § 120. 767. Vers aisés, i.e. madrigaux, sonnets, rondeaux, and all those elegant forms of poetry so much relished by the literary coteries of those times. 771. Font, here intransitive in the sense of the English intrans. to do, i.e. to produce an effect. 780. Die for dise, frequent in Corneille and M., but already on the wane then, hence less frequent in Racine. 786-7. On se sent . . . couler, "se sentir," to have the feeling (consciousness) of; je ne sais quoi, with couler, dir. obj. of sent: a certain something (I do not know what). 91. Impayable, lit.: that cannot be paid, i.e. priceless, matchless, as here; fig. and fam.: capital, rich. Line 796. Heureux, felicitous, a happy expression. 797. Pièce, here play. 801. Que, for "quoique," although. 808. Dit plus de choses qu'il n'est gros, conveys a deeper meaning than its size seems to warrant (imply), an adaptation to the proverbial expression, "il a plus d'esprit qu'il n'est gros." 813. Avoir fort dans la tête, to have the head full of. 816-7. Quatrains, tiercets (now tercets), triplets; a sonnet is composed of fourteen lines, divided (grouped) into two quatrains (of four 1. each) with two rhymes only, and two tercets (of three lines each) : "Apollon Voulut qu'en deux quatrains de mesure pareille, 829. Se prendre à, to attack; "s'en pendre à," to lay the blame on. 833. Marchander, (1) to bargain, (2) to do by contract (job), (3) to spare; "sans marchander davantage ": without making more ado. 835. N'en pouvoir plus, to be exhausted, to be more than one can bear; on pâme, for the more usual, though obsol., on se pâme, see note to Cid, 1. 1347. 836. De mille doux frissons v. v. sentez saisir, see note to 1. 786; frisson, here thrill. 850. Et bel esprit, il ne l'est pas qui veut; l' is neutr. pron. referring to "bel esprit" used adjectively; in modern Fr. we should say celui . qui, instead of "il. qui" ("il" is used here in analogy with its lat. parent ille"). More concisely-" n'est pas bel esprit qui veut." 853. This epigram too is really by Cotin, Œuvres Galantes, Paris, 1663. Carrosse (fr. Ital. carrozza, and hence orig. fem.), obsol. for "voiture." "Carrosse implique une idée de luxe et de faste qui n'en permet l'emploi que dans certains cas. Littré. Une dame de ses amies, a lady friend of his (acquaintance). 854. Quelque chose de rare, see M. Fr. C., § 4, Obs. 2. 855. Traits d'esprit, flashes of wit. 860. Se relever en bosse, to be embossed; in alto-rilievo. Line 863-4. Laïs l'enveloppe, i.e. clothing the word "maîtresse" under the name (Laïs) of two famous Grecian courtesans. 870. Rente, here in its original meaning of yearly income. 871. Celui-là (i.e. trait), ne s'attend point du tout; the Fr. reflexive V. generally answers to the Engl. passive (see also 1. 875); lit.: is not all expected, i.e. takes you quite by surprise; unexpectedly bursts upon you. 872. Puisse, see M. Fr. C., § 77 (b). 877. Sur votre sujet, in your favour; avoir l'esprit, see M. Fr. C., § 8 (b) 1; prévenu means both prepossessed as here, and "prejudiced" (biassed). 879. De vous is complement of "quelque chose." 883. Plan de notre académie, see Introd. 884-5. "Women's Rights" are no new-fangled theory; cp. Plato's Republ., V. 455 passim: Women indeed are weaker, but nevertheless fit for every kind of culture, mental and physical, and music, etc. etc. 886. L'effet entier, utmost consequences. 887. Accommodée, in the style Précieux for "mise" or "jetée." 888. Je me sens; see note to 1. 786 and 836. 889. Du côté de, in matters of; as regards; with respect to. 890. Toutes tant que n. sommes, lit. all, as many as we are, i.e. every one of us. 896. L'air, here-shape, make, cut. 897. Point, lace; so p. d'Angleterre, p. d'Alençon, etc.; brocart (fr. brocher, to weave in patterns), brocade. 899. Mettre hors de page, "Au moyen âge, les grands seigneurs s'entourèrent de jeunes gentilshommes qui faisaient auprès d'eux l'apprentissage des armes à l'âge de 14 ans, ces jeunes gens étaient mis hors de page et reçus écuyers." Dict. des Sciences. Here-to emancipate. 901. Brillant, unusual in plur., for "éclat, lustre." 902. Les lumières, fig. enlightenment. 906. Meublées, lit. furnished (stored) with; fig. endowed with; this fig. use of meubler is quite common in modern Fr.: "il a la bouche bien meublée," he has a fine set of teeth; "meubler sa mémoire (sa tête)," etc. 908-909. En cela... que, inasmuch as; here, in so far as; ordres, here-rules. ... Line 909. Qu'on y veut, etc., is compl. to " en cela." 913. Faire entrer, to open the doors wide to. 914. Pour, we should say now, "à cause de'... au péripatétisme (fr. péripatéticien, Gr. πepiñatηtikòs, from πерITатεiv, se promener; Aristote donnait ses leçons en se promenant dans le Lycée): the doctrine of Aristotle. 915. Abstractions, i.e. the metaphysical theories of Plato. 916. Épicure, see Class. Dict.; the philosophy of E. had just then been renewed by Gassendi, M.'s teacher in the Collège de Clermont"; see Biogr. Notice. 917-8. Petits-corps, see note to l. 616. Le vide; according to Epicurus there must be a vacuum between two atoms, else all atoms would necessarily cohere, and form but one body. 919. Matière subtile; Descartes, on the contrary, places a "materia subtilis" between his corpuscules (petits corps, see 1. 616); Bélise, with her horror vacui," has strangely mixed up the two conflicting theories. 920-1. L'aimant (fr. Lat. adamantem), loadstone, magnet; here as understood by Descartes. Tourbillons; according to Descartes' system, every heavenly body has its own vortex (tourbillon). Mondes tombants, probably heavenly bodies involved in the vortex of other bodies. 926. En refers to "découverte." 929. This seems to have been a standing joke-“ Helvetius raconte une anecdote d'un curé et d'une femme, qui tâchaient, le télescope en main, d'en reconnaître les habitants. Je vois deux ombres qui s'inclinent l'une vers l'autre, dit la dame, que dites-vous? s'écria le curé, ce sont les deux clochers d'une cathédrale." Auger. 937. Y faire des remuements, we mean to remould it; it cannot, however, be denied that in spite of Molière and Boileau, the Précieuses have left their mark on the Fr. language. 940. Soit ou... ou, we say either ... ou," or "soit. soit." ou", or "soit 941. Que mutuellement nous nous abandonnons, which by mutual consent we sacrifice. 948. Et qui; "et" before the relat. pron., to indicate that it refers to "dessein" and not to gloire: and one which. |