The spell of the heart of France: the towns, villages and châteaux about ParisHallays, André
History
The spell of the heart of France: the towns, villages and châteaux about Paris
Hallays, André
France -- Description and travel; France -- History
I feel the flowers at the edge of the water.
I sense the coolness which endews them.
The princess comes to sit there.
I see, as she goes there in the evening,
How the day flees and respects her.
The last ode is a promenade about the pool, and, while lacking in poetic
beauty, it contains some topographical indications which it would be
amusing to verify with the aid of the plans and the documents of the
archives. There is a question there of a "lodge today deserted" where
Alcandre once came to enjoy solitude. Alcandre is Henri IV, and we thus
know the place of the "King's Garden," a retreat where Henri IV loved to
pass his time, when he came to Chantilly. Then Théophile leaves on the
left a thick wood favorable for lovers' meetings, a "quarter for the
Faun and for the Satyr," and stops at a chapel, probably the little
chapel of Saint Paul, which still exists today; he remains there a long
time and prays the Lord, with the fervor of a poor poet persecuted by
the Jesuits and accused of atheism; but words, already sufficiently
undisciplined when he wishes to employ them to sing the sport of the
nymphs, refuse to obey him when he seizes the harp of David: his prayer
is a miracle of platitude....
And if, following my advice, you shall one day read La Maison de Sylvie
under the trees of Chantilly, perhaps, despite its poverty of style and
monotony of rhymes, you may still find some pleasure there, in spite of
the disdain of Boileau, in spite of the enthusiasms of Gautier.
II-MADEMOISELLE DE CLERMONT
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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