French Lyrics
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For reference: Saint-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. i;
_Causeries du lundi_, vols, ii, xv; _Nouveaux lundis_, vol. i; E.
Caro, _Poetes et romanciers_, 1888; C. Coquelin in _The Century_, vol.
xxiv, with portraits.
43. LE ROI D'YVETOT (May, 1813) is perhaps the most famous of his
songs. Yvetot is a small town in Normandy, near Havre. The lords of
Yvetot were given the title of king in the fifteenth century. The
reference of the song to Napoleon is clear.
44. 11. BAN; _lever le ban_ means to call out one's vassals or
subjects. 13. TIRER AU BLANC, to shoot at a target.
45. LE VILAIN. 30.LE LEOPARD; the French heralds describe the device
of the English coat of arms as a _lion leoparde_; so the French often
use the leopard as a symbol for the English.
46. 3. LA LIGUE, the Catholic League, a union of Catholics between
1576 and 1596, principally to secure the supremacy of their religion;
it became the partisan of the Duc de Guise against Henry I. and Henry
IV., fomented civil strife, allied itself with Spain, and became
guilty of cruel excesses. MON HABIT 20. Socrate: the poverty of
Socrates is notorious. 27. FETE: a person's _fete_ is the day of the
saint whose name he bears.
47. 17. DES RUBANS; little bits of ribbon are worn in the buttonhole
by members of the Legion of Honor, established by Napoleon in 1802.
Membership in it is a purely honorary distinction, conferred by the
government for conspicuous services of any kind, civil as well as
military, and usually much coveted. Beranger refused all such favors
from the government. 26. METTRE POUR JAMAIS HABIT BAS, i.e. _mourir_.
48. LES ETOILES QUI FILENT, "shooting stars" (Jan., 1820). This poem
is based upon the popular superstition that connects human destinies
with the stars, and interprets a shooting star as the passing of a
human life.
49. 2. C'ETAIT A QUI LE NOURRIRAIT, each strove to outdo the other in
feeding him.
50. LES SOUVENIRS DU PEUPLE. This is one of the poems that contributed
to increase the prestige of the name of Napoleon. 9. BIEN ... QUE; the
parts of the conjunction are sometimes thus separated.
51. 10. CHAMPAGNE, previous to the Revolution a political division of
France, having Lorraine on the east and Burgundy on the south. Like
most other provinces it belonged formerly to independent princes. It
came to the kings of France by the marriage of Philip IV. in the
last half of the thirteenth century. Since the Revolution all these
historical divisions have been supplanted by the _departements_, new
administrative districts intended to obliterate the old boundaries.
But the old names are still familiarly used. Champagne was invaded in
1814 by an army of the powers allied against Napoleon. 18. S'ASSOIT,
instead of the usual _s'assied_ of cultivated speech, is in keeping
with the unlettered condition and familar tone of the speaker.
52. LES FOUS. Perhaps the word "cranks" comes nearest to giving the
force of the title. 22. SAUF A, _reserving the privilege of_.
53. 5. SAINT-SIMON; Claude-Henri, comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825),
was the founder of French socialism. He demanded the application of
the principle of association to the production and distribution of
wealth. 13. Francois- Marie-Charles FOURIER (1772-1837), the founder
of Fourierism, advocated a social reform in the direction of
communism, and proposed to reorganize society in large groups, or
phalanxes, living together in a perfect community in one building,
called a phalanstery. Such communities as Brook Farm were attempts at
a practical application of Fourier's ideas. See O. B. Frothingham's
Life of George Ripley. 21. Barthelemy-Prosper ENFANTIN (1796-1864) was
a follower of Saint-Simon and developed his doctrines. His means for
securing the emancipation and equality of woman was the abolition of
marriage.
CHARLES-HUBERT MILLEVOYE.
1782-1816.
Author of several poetical tales of chivalry and a considerable number
of elegies, is remembered for hardly anything but these celebrated
lines:
Works: _Oeuvres_, 5 vols., 1814-16; a collection of his _Poesies_ is
published in one volume, with a notice by Sainte- Beuve.
54. LA CHUTE DES FEUILLES. 19. EPIDAURE; Epidaurus, a town in Argolis
on the Saronic gulf, the chief seat of the worship of Aesculapius, the
god of the healing art.
MADAME MARCELINE DESBORDES-VALMORE.
1786-1859.
Is still ranked well among the lyric poets of the first part of the
century, though the celebrity that she enjoyed for a time has passed.
Though her language still has a flavor of the eighteenth century, the
note of emotion is direct and sincere. The theme that best inspired
her was love--love betrayed and disappointed.
Works: Poesies, 1818; _les Pleurs_, 1833; _Pauvres Fleurs_, 1839;
_Contes en vers pour les enfants_, Lyon, 1840; _Bouquets et prieres_,
1843; there is a selection, with notice by Sainte-Beuve, with the
title: _Poesies de Madame Desbordes-Valmore_.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. ii;
_Causeries du lundi_, vol. xiv; _Nouveaux lundis_, xii; these notices
are collected in a volume: _Madame Desbordes-Valmore, sa vie et sa
correspondance_; Montesquiou-Fezensac, _Felicite, etude sur la poesie
de Marceline Desbordes-Valmore_, 1894.
57. LES ROSES DE SAADI. Saadi (1195-1296) was a Persian poet; one of
his works is the Gulistan, or Garden of Roses.
ALPHONSE-MARIE-LOUIS DE LAMARTINE. 1790-1869
The first great poet of the century and still one of the greatest. He
passed a quiet youth in the shelter of home influences on his father's
estate near Macon, receiving his most lasting impressions from his
mother's instruction, from the fields and woods, and from certain
favorite books, among which were the Bible and Ossian. This education
was supplemented by a visit to Italy in 1811-12, memorable for the
episode of Graziella, and a short service in the royal guards. His
first volume, the _Meditations poetiques_ (1820), was something
entirely new in French letters and made him famous at once. These
poems were saturated with the poet's personality and informed with his
emotions; and to communicate his pervading melancholy he found
the secret of lines which, while they did not yet have the color,
brilliancy, and variety that the Romanticists presently gave to verse,
charmed the ear with a harmony and a music unattained before. His
long poems, with more or less of philosophical intention, especially
_Jocelyn_ (1836), are important works, but it was as a lyric poet that
he made his chief impression.
Works: _Meditations poetiques_, 1820; _Nouvelles Meditations_,
1823; _Harmonies poetiques et religieuses_, 1830; _Recueillements
poetiques_, 1839; _Poesies inedites_, 1839; _Poesies inedites_, 1873;
republished under the same names in various collected editions of his
_Oeuvres_ since 1860.
For reference: Faguet, _Etudes litteraires sur le dix-neuvieme
siecle_, 1887; Sainte-Beuve,_ Premiers lundis_, vol. i; _Portraits
contemporains_, vol. i; F. Brunetiere, _Evolution de la poesie
lyrique_, vol. i; _Histoire et litterature_, vol. iii, 1892; F.
Reyssie, _la Jeunesse de Lamartine_, 1891; E. Deschanel, _Lamartine_,
2 vols., 1893; J. Lemaitre, _les Contemporains_, vol. vi, 1896; E.
Zyromski, _Lamartine poete lyrique_, 1898.
58. LE LAC. Written September 17-23, 1817; from _les Meditations
poetiques_. The lake here celebrated is Lake Bourget in Savoy. Here
the poet met in 1816 Mme. Charles, wife of the well known physicist,
with whom he fell very much in love and who is immortalized by him
under the names Julie and Elvire. She died Dec. 18, 1817. Cf. Anatole
France, _l'Elvire de Lamartine_, 1893. When this poem was written
Lamartine already knew that she was hopelessly ill. This experience
of his colors many poems of his first two volumes. _Le Lac_ has often
been set to music; most successfully by the Swiss composer Niedermeyer
(1802-1861). For interesting variants in the text see Reyssie, _la
Jeunesse de Lamartine_, p. 201.
L'AUTOMNE. November, 1819; from _les Meditations poetiques_.
61. 9. PEUT ETRE L'AVENIR, etc.; "allusion a l'attachement serieux
que le poete avait concu pour une jeune Anglaise qui fut depuis la
compagne de sa vie." (Commentaire de l'auteur.) LE SOIR. Spring of
1819; from _les Meditations poetiques_.
63. LE VALLON. Summer of 1819; from _les Meditations poetiques_. "Ce
vallon est situe dans les montagnes du Dauphine." (Commentaire de
l'auteur.)
65 9. PYTHAGORE; Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher of the sixth century
B.C., who is said to have taught the doctrine that the "organization
of the universe is an harmonious system of numerical ratios."
L'ISOLEMENT. September, 1818; from
_les Meditations poetiques_. Reyssie in the work above cited gives
interesting variants for this poem.
67 LE CRUCIFIX. 1818? From _les Nouvelles Meditations_. "Mon ami M. de
V(irieu), qui assistait aux derniers moments de Julie, me rapporta, de
sa part, le crucifix qui avait repose sur ses levres dans son agonie
... J'ecrivis, apres une annee de silence et de deuil, cette elegie."
(Commentaire de l'auteur.) Compare with this note the eleventh stanza
of the poem, which points back to the time of the Graziella affair.
See below.
70. ADIEU A GRAZIELLA. From _les Nouvelles Meditations_. Graziella,
whose heart Lamartine won during his visit to Naples in the winter
of 1811-12 and whom he abandoned, was the daughter of a Neapolitan
fisherman. She died soon afterward. Later the poet idealized her and
his relation to her and immortalized her memory in his works. Cf. _le
Premier regret_ below.
71. LES PRELUDES. 1822; from _les Nouvelles Meditations_. This poem,
addressed to Victor Hugo, consists of several divisions, in different
meters, only the last of which is here given. It inspired the
symphonic poem of Liszt by the same name.
73. HYMNE DE L'ENFANT A SON REVEIL. From _les Harmonies poetiques et
religieuses_.
76. LE PREMIER REGRET. From _les Harmonies poetiques et religieuses_.
It was inspired by the memory of Graziella. 7. MER DE SORRENTO, bay of
Naples; Sorrento is a small town on the bay, south-east of Naples.
77. 27. NEMI; the lake is in the hollow of an extinct volcano, in the
Alban mountains, a few miles southeast of Rome.
81. STANCES. From _les Nouvelles Meditations_. 18. MEMNON, son of
Tithonus and Eos, king of the Ethiopians, slain by Achilles. The
Greeks connected with Memnon various ancient monuments and buildings,
especially the great temple at Thebes and one of the colossi of
Amenophis III., currently called the statue of Memnon; legend reported
of it that when touched by the first rays of the dawn it gave forth a
musical sound.
83. LES REVOLUTIONS. From _les Harmonies poetiques et religieuses_.
Only the last of the three divisions of the poem is given here.
84. 20. SIBYLLES ANTIQUES; concerning the sibyls, sibylline books,
and sibylline leaves consult a classical dictionary. 23. VERBE; used
currently for the second person of the Trinity; here it goes back to
a passage in the first division of the poem, where speaking of God's
process of creation; he says:
"Son Verbe court sur le neant!
Il court, et la Nature a ce Verbe qui vole
Le suit en chancelant de parole en parole,
Jamais, jamais demain ce qu'elle est aujourd'hui!
Et la creation, toujours, toujours nouvelle,
Monte eternellement la symbolique echelle
Que Jacob reva devant lui! "
85. 8. LES NOEUDS, knots of nautical reckoning.
ALFRED DE VIGNY.
1797-1863.
One of the great poets of the century. He surpassed most, if not all,
of his fellow Romanticists in the intellectual quality of his verse.
His lyrics are not merely the product of a moment of passion or of a
passing emotion; the strings of his lyre were not set vibrating by
every breeze that blew. The personal emotion from which the lyric
springs was with him subjected to the action of an intellectual
solvent, was generalized and made almost impersonal before it was
given form and expression. For this reason partly the bulk of his
poetry is small, not exceeding the limits of one small volume. But
there are few poems that one would be content to lose. One should
read, besides the two given here, _Moise, la Maison du Berger_ and _la
Mort du loup_. De Vigny's influence on the poetry of the latter half
of the century has been considerable.
Works: _Poemes_, 1822; _Poemes antiques et modernes_, 1826; _les
Destinees_, 1864; in the Oeuvres completes_, of which several editions
have appeared, the _Poesies_ make one volume.
For reference : Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. II; E.
Caro, _Poetes et romanciers_, 1888 ; E. Faguet, _Etudes litteraires
sur le dix-neuvieme siecle_, 1887 ; F.Brunetiere, _Evolution de la
poesie lyrique_, vol. ii ; Dorison, Alfred de Vigny, poete philosophe,
1891 ; M. Paleologue, _Alfred de Vigny_, 1891.
86. LE COR. 1828. The story of the surprise of the rearguard of
Charlemagne by the Moors and of the death of Roland (Orlando in the
Italian poems) is told in the Chanson de Roland (end of the eleventh
century), the finest of the old French heroic poems. 19. FRAZONA ;
this name is not found on ordinary maps or in descriptions of this
region. MARBORE, a mountain of the Pyrenees. 21. GAVES, name given in
the Pyrenees to streams that descend from the mountains.
87. 11. RONCEVAUX, a Spanish village at the entrance to one of the
passes of the Pyrenees. 14. OLIVIER, Oli- ver, like Roland and Turpin
mentioned later, one of the twelve peers of Charlemagne, standard
figures in the old French poems that deal with Charlemagne.
88. 4. LUZ, ARGELES, villages in the department of Hautes- Pyrenees.
6. ADOUR, a river of France rising in the Pyrenees and flowing into
the Bay of Biscay. 15. SAINT Denis is the patron saint of France. 24.
Oberon, king of the fairies in mediaeval folk-lore; cf. _A
Midsummernight's Dream_.
89. LA BOUTEILLE A LA MER, 1853. Bears the sub-title: _Conseil a un
jeune homme inconnu_. 19. Chatterton (1752-1770), the precocious
English poet who, failing to get recognition for his talents, was
reduced to destitution and ended his life by poison. Wordsworth wrote
of him in
_The Leech-Gatherer_:
"I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous Boy,
The sleepless Soul that perished in his pride."
For de Vigny he stood almost as the type of the poet; he used his
career as literary material in the narrative _Stello_ (1832) and in
the drama _Chatterton_ (1835). Gilbert, see p. 320. He is also brought
into _Stello_. MALFILATRE (1732-1767), a French poet who was tempted
by the praise given to his ode, _le Soleil fixe au milieu des
planetes_, to try a literary career at Paris and died in great
poverty. He has passed wrongly for an unappreciated genius.
9O. 27. TERRE-DE-FEU, Terra del Fuego.
91. 6. CES PICS NOIRS, _les pics San-Diego, San-Ildefonso_. (Author's
note.) 13. Reims, a city in Champagne, the center of the champagne
trade. 25. Ai, a town in Champagne, near Reims, noted for its wine;
the name is also applied to the wine.
8. DES FLORIDES; in speaking of both coasts of Florida the French
formerly used the plural.
VICTOR HUGO.
1802-1885.
The foremost literary figure of the century in France. His commanding
influence as the chief of the Romantic school and the champion of a
revolution in literary doctrine and practice has led to his being
generally considered in connection with the movement to which he gave
such a powerful impulse. But he was not merely a great party chief and
a great influence. He was also a great poet, and a great lyric
poet. He was that by reason of the breadth and variety of his lyric
performance, the surprising mastery of form that he showed, the new
capacities for picturesque expression that he discovered in the
language or created for it, the new possibilities of rhythm and melody
that he opened to it, and the range, power, and sincerity of many of
the thoughts and feelings to which he gave so sonorous and musical a
body. No doubt in a large part of his early work, as _les Orientales_,
the body was more to him than the spirit that it lodged. Poetry to
him was an art that had its technical side, like any other. The
development of its technical resources had a charm of its own, and he
had the artist's delight in skillful and exquisite workmanship. The
mastery that he attained was so perfect, he seemed so fully to exhibit
the utmost capacities of the language for the most various effects of
rhythm and harmony, that Theodore de Banville said of _la Legende des
siecles_ that it must be the Bible and the Gospel of every writer of
French verse. But he did not stop with the dexterity and virtuosity of
the craftsman. More and more he used the mastery that he had achieved
not for the mere pleasure of practicing or exhibiting it, but to give
fitting and adequate expression to feelings and to thoughts. The
domestic affections, the love of country, and the mystery of death had
the deepest hold upon him, and whenever he approaches these themes he
is almost sure to be genuine and sincere. His pity for the poor and
unfortunate was very tender, and was the real spring of a great deal
of his democracy, and he had a fine gift of wrathful indignation,
which was called into exercise especially by Napoleon III. No part of
his lyrical production is more spontaneous and genuine than many
poems of _Les Chatiments_. There was from the first a bent towards
philosophical reflection observable in him, and in the latter part
of his life, beginning with _les Contemplations_ and _la Legende des
siecles_, it preponderated more and more over the lyrical impulse,
though the latter was never reduced to silence for long.
Works: _Odes et Poesies diverses_, 1822; _Nouvelles Odes_, 1824;
_Odes et Ballades_, 1826, 1828; _les Orientales_, 1829; _les Feuilles
d'Automne_, 1831; _les Chants du crepuscule_, 1835; _les Voix
interieures_, 1837; _les Rayons et les ombres_, 1840; _les
Chatiments_, 1853; _les Contemplations_, 1856; _la Legende des
siecles_, 1859, 1876, 1883; _les Chansons des rues et des bois_, 1865;
_l'Annee terrible_, 1872; _l'Art d'etre grandpere_, 1876; _les Quatre
Vents de l'esprit_, 1881; _Toute la lyre_, 1889, 1893. The most
convenient form in which they are now to be found is the _ne varietur_
edition of Hetzel-Quantin in 16mo, at two francs a volume; the volumes
correspond to those given above, except that the first three are all
included in the one _Odes et Ballades_.
For reference: Sainte-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. i; E.
Caro, _Poetes et romanciers_, 1888; A. Barbou, _Victor Hugo_, 1882; E.
Dupuy, _Victor Hugo, l'homme et le poete_, 1887; L. Mabilleau, _Victor
Hugo_, 1893 ; E. Bire, _Victor Hugo avant 1830_, 1883; _Victor Hugo
apres 1830_, 2 vols., 1891; _Victor Hugo apres 1852_, 1894; A. C.
Swinburne, _Victor Hugo_, London, 1886; C. Renouvier, _Victor Hugo,
le poete_, 1893; E. Dowden, _Studies in Literature_, London, 1878; E.
Faguet, _le Dix-neuvieme siecle_, 1887; F. Brunetiere, _Evolution de
la poesie lyrique_, 2 vols., 1894.
95. LES DJINNS. August, 1828; from _les Orientales_. The poem is
especially noteworthy from a technical point of view. The quiet
before the descent of the spirits, their approach, their fury, their
receding, and the quiet that follows, are suggested by the movement of
the lines. The motto is from Dante's _Inferno_, Canto v, 46-49; he is
describing the tormented spirits of the carnal malefactors "Who reason
subjugate to appetite." Djinns are spirits of Mohammedan popular
belief, created of fire, and both good and evil. The vowel is not
nasal.
97. 25. PROPHETE, Mohammed.
99. ATTENTE. 1828; from _les Orientales_. The motto is Spanish, "I was
waiting in despair."
100. EXTASE. November, 1828; from _les Orientales_. The motto is from
the Bible, Rev. i, 10. LORSQUE L'ENFANT PARAIT. May 18, 1830; from
_les Feuilles d'Automne_. _Les Feuilles d'Automne_ were largely the
reflection of the domestic affections of the poet. He had been married
in 1822, and had at this time three children, Leopoldine, Charles, and
Victor.
102. 17. ENNEMIS; the reference is doubtless to the literary opponents
of Hugo; the struggle between the champion of tradition and the
Romanticists brought many personal bitternesses. DANS L'ALCOVE SOMBRE.
Nov. 10, 1831; from _les Feuilles d'Automne_. The motto is from a
poem, _la Veillee_, addressed by Sainte-Beuve to Hugo on the birth of
his son Francois-Victor, Oct. 21, 1828.
103. 19. lys, _lis_; this spelling is usual with Victor Hugo and
frequent in this century, especially with later writers.
1O4. 27. CHIMERE has here more the force of _cauchemar_. NOUVELLE
CHANSON SUR UN VIEIL AIR. Feb. 18, 1834; from _les Chants du
crepuscule_.
106. "PUISQU'ICI-BAS." May 19, 1836; from _les Voix interieures_.
108. OCEANO NOX. July, 1836; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. The
title is from Vergil, _Aen._ ii, 250: _Vertitur interea caelum et ruit
Oceano nox_.
110. NUITS DE JUIN. 1837; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. "LA TOMBE
DIT A LA ROSE." June 3, 1837; from _les Voix interieures_. TRISTESSE
D'OLYMPIO. October, 1837; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. See the
discussion of this poem in Brunetiere, _Evolution de la poesie
lyrique_, i, 200 ff. His view is indicated in the following extract:
"Ces grands themes, les plus riches de tous,--la Nature, l'Amour et la
Mort,--dans le developpement desquels nous sommes convenus de chercher
et de verifier la mesure du pouvoir lyrique, Hugo les mele ou les fond
ensemble, il les enchevetre, il les complique, il les multiplie les
uns par les autres, et de cette complication, admirez les effets qu'il
tire.... C'est en effet ici qu'eclate, a mon avis, la superiorite
de la _Tristesse d'Olympio_ sur le _Lac_ de Lamartine ou sur le
_Souvenir_ de Musset, qu'on lui a si souvent, et a tort, preferes. Non
pas du tout, vous le pensez bien, que je veuille nier le charme pur
et penetrant du _Lac_, ou la douloureuse et poignante eloquence du
_Souvenir_! Incomparable elegie, le _Lac_ de Lamartine a pour lui la
discretion meme, l'elegance, l'ideale melancolie, la caresse ou la
volupte de sa plainte; et, dans le _Souvenir_ de Musset, nous le
verrons bientot, c'est la passion meme qui parle toute pure. Mais,
dans la _Tristesse d'Olympio_, de meme que les voix des instruments se
marient dans l'orchestre, la note aigue, dechirante et prolongee du
violon a la lamentation plus profonde et plus grave de l'alto, le
tumulte eclatant des cuivres aux sons plus percants de la flute,
tandis qu'au-dessus d'eux la voix humaine continue son chant d'amour
ou de colere, de haine ou d'adoration, c'est ainsi que la melodie tres
simple et comme elementaire du souvenir s'enrichit, s'augmente,
se renforce, et se soutient chez Hugo d'un accompagnement d'une
prodigieuse richesse, ou tout concourt ensemble, toute la nature et
tout l'homme, toute la poesie de l'amour, toute celle des bois et des
plaines, toute la poesie de la mort."
116. "A QUOI BON ENTENDRE." July, 1838; from the drama _Ruy Blas_, act
ii, scene I.
117. CHANSON. "SI VOUS N'AVEZ RIEN A ME DIRE." May, 18--; from _les
Contemplations_.
118. "QUAND NOUS HABITIONS TOUS ENSEMBLE." Sept. 4, 1844; from _les
Contemplations_. The poet's daughter Leopoldine had married Charles
Vacquerie in the summer of 1843. On the fourth of September of the
same year she was drowned, together with her husband, in the Seine
near Villequier. Her death was a great shock to Hugo, and the few
verses that we have from these years are full of the bitterness of
loss sweetened by remembrance of happy earlier days. Her memory is
everywhere present in the _Contemplations_; compare the following
poems.
119. 5. SI JEUNE ENCORE; _jeune_ refers of course to the subject; Hugo
was twenty-two when Leopoldine was born. "O SOUVENIRS! PRINTEMPS!
AURORE!" Villequier, Sept. 4, 1846; from _les Contemplations_. Notice
the date.
120. 2. MONTLIGNON, Saint-Leu, small places just out of Paris to the
north.
121. ARIOSTE, Ariosto (1474-1533), a famous Italian poet, author of
_Orlando Furioso_. "DEMAIN, DES L'AUBE." Sept. 3, 1847; from _les
Contemplations_. Notice the date. 21. DEMAIN, i.e. the anniversary of
his daughter's death.
122. 2. HARFLEUR, a small town on the Channel coast, a few miles from
Havre, near the mouth of the Seine. VENI, VIDI, VIXI. April, 1848;
from _les Contemplations_.
123. LE CHANT DE CEUX QUI S'EN VONT SUR MER. Dated: _En mer, 1er aout,
1852_. This and the next following poems, from _les Chatiments_, are
the expression of the poet's hatred for Napoleon III. This volume
was the direct fruit of his exile in consequence of his determined
opposition to the imperial ambitions of Napoleon. He had been active
in trying to organize resistance after the _coup d'etat_, and with
difficulty had evaded arrest and escaped to Brussels. After the
publication of his denunciatory volume, _Napoleon le Petit_, the
Belgian government expelled him. and he took refuge first in England,
whence he passed immediately to the island of Jersey, where he
arrived on the fifth of August, 1852. In 1855 residence in Jersey was
forbidden him and he removed to Guernsey, where he continued to reside
till the downfall of Napoleon I.
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