Élégies. – André Chénier
I.
Ll. 1-4. Horace, Od. iii, 12.
Ll. 7, 8. Tibulius, I. viii. 7.
L. 20. Le suit encor. This hyperbole, frequent in poetry, Chénier
seems to have been particularly fond of. Cf. note to p. 62, l. 39.
L. 22. nymphes. Nymphe, as well as coursier (l. 24), belonging to
the poetic diction of those days, strike us as blemishes. But if we were
to demur at such details we could hardly read anything written in the
now accepted style.
II.
Ll. 1-8. Imitated from Horace, Od. iii. 4.
L. 13. Seul Elliptical: ‘when I am alone.’
L. 19. distraits, diverted from their uneasy, anxious thoughts.
Ll. 21-28. Imitated from Horace, Od. III. iv.
Ll. 23. Catile. Catilus and Tibur are one and the same place, now
Tivoli (l. 26): Moenia Catile in Horace.
L. 24. Blandusie. Horace, Od. iii. 13, celebrates its fountain.
L. 26. Tivoli, i.e. Tibur, where Horace’s villa stood.
L. 27. Horace, Od. II. xix.
L. 35. Theocritus, Id. iii. 12. Bruyante abeille is of course a
nominative in apposition to Je. So with rose, &c.
L. 36. les délices, the sweets.
Ll. 37. Anthol. v. 84.
L. 38. étamine. A. Chénier seems to have used étamine, properly
the stamen or male organ of flowers, for the pollen or fecundating dust
which is secreted by the stamen. Cf. note to p. 27, l. 30.
L. 47. Anacreon, Od. xx. The thought, as a lover’s wish, is hackneyed.
L. 61. périsse l’amant que satisfait la crainte! The meaning, not very
obvious, but explained by the following lines, is: Beshrew that lover
who is content to frighten his mistress into fidelity.
