Chapter 15
Arles, which Hugo spells with or without the _s_ according to the exigencies of the metre, was the capital of the kingdom of Provence, one of the kingdoms formed out of the fragments of Charlemagne's empire. It embraced most of S.E. France, and lasted from A.D. 855 to 1032. This kingdom was frequently called _le royaume d'Arle_. _Roy d'Arle_ is therefore a historical title, but the names Ratbert and Rodolphe, as grandson and son respectively of Charlemagne, are imaginary.
_Macchabée_. Judas Maccabaeus, the Jewish hero, who freed his country from the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes.
_Amadis_ See note on EVIRADNUS.
_Aétius_, a Roman general who lived in the fifth century A.D. One of the last heroes and defenders of ancient Rome, he fought Franks, Burgundians, Huns, and succeeded in uniting the German kings of Gaul against Attila, and inflicting a crushing defeat upon him (A. D. 451).
_latobrige_. The Latobriges were an ancient German tribe who lived in what is now Wurtemberg and Baden.
_Platon_: the Athenian philosopher Plato, justly placed amongst the poets.
_Plaute_: Plautus, the Roman writer of comedies, who lived in the second century B.C.
_Scaeva Memor_, a Roman poet and tragedian of the first century A.D., rescued from oblivion by this line. The three make a bizarre trio; see note on BOOZ ENDORMI.
_Sicambre_. The Sicambres were the German tribe who in Roman times lived on the Rhine.
_incrusté d'érable_, i. e. inlaid with maple.
_bailli_, i. e. governor.
_reître_, an old word, derived from the German _Reiter_, used of the German knights.
_buccin_, properly a whelk, is a name given to a musical instrument very similar to a trombone.
_brassière_, a little jacket or vest worn close round the body. The word is usually used in the plural. Likely enough Hugo intends simply the corset.
_au penchant des mers_, i. e. where the land slopes to the sea. A peculiar expression; _au penchant de la terre_ would be more usual.
_les chouettes félines_. The epithet refers to their nocturnal habits.
L. 353. The antecedent of _que_ is _vautours_. The reference is to gladiatorial combats in the Roman Circus, and the _louve d'airain_ is the famous bronze wolf of the Capitol, a statue representing a wolf suckling two children.
_fauve_, here `savage'. See note on ÉVIRADNUS.
_cru_, i. e. unashamed.
_faîte vermeil_. See note on AYMERILLOT, where the same phrase occurs.
L. 391. figurant, 'suggesting the form of'. A highly characteritic touch. Hugo possessed a faculty of poetic vision which changed the shapes of things so as to bring them into harmony with the dominant ideas of the moment. Cf. LA ROSE DE L'INFANTE, and LA CONFIANCE.
_Héliogabales_. Heliogabalus was a Roman Emperor (r. 217-222) noted for his sensuality and his caprices.
_cistre_, cittern or cithern, a musical instrument resembling the guitar.
_un Louvre_: the Louvre is the well-known palace in Paris where many kings of France resided. Note the antithesis in the same line, _antre de rois, Louvre de voleurs_.
_les ors_, various kinds of gold. _Sixte Malaspina_, introduced as one of the counsellors of Ratbert in a poem entitled 'Ratbert' not given here.
_chape_ is the Picard form of 'cape' (see note on LES PAUVRES GENS, l. 97). It is the name for a long cloak, fastened in front, and worn by clergy and choristers when performing Divine Service. Formerly any long loose cloak was called a _charpe_. As is still the custom in the Greek Church, images of the Virgin or saints are largely used, and they are found as ornaments on pieces of furniture and sacerdotal vestments.
L. 455. A peacock roasted whole and served up ornamented with its feathers was a favourite dish at the banquets of the fifteenth century.
_hypocras_, an infusion of cinnamon, sweet almonds, amber, and musk in sweetened wine.
_Le roi d'Arle_. See note to l. 179.
_l'araignée_. See note under PUISSANCE ÉGALE BONTÉ.
_jacque_ (also written jaque), a short close-fitting coat or tunic.
_vair_ (English _vair_), the fur of the squirrel, a highly esteemed and costly material for dress in the later Middle Ages.
_chevalier haubert_, i. e. a knight who has the right to wear the haubert or cuirass.
_Urbain quatre_, Pope (1261-. 1264). He is rightly described as the son of a cobbler.
_Afranus_, introduced as the bishop of Fréjus, and one of Ratbert's evil counsellors, in the poem of 'Ratbert'. See note on l. 435 _supra_.
L. 721. For the element of supernatural vengeance on cruelty compare _L'Aigle du casque_, published in the 1877 series.
LA ROSE DE L'INFANTE.
A French critic has said happily of this poem: '"La Rose de l'Infante" est un chef-d'oeuvre, digne d'être illustré par Vélasquez.' (Gaston Deschamps in Petit de Julleville's _Histoire de la langue et de la littérature françaises_.)
The little princess, of whom such an enchanting picture is given in this poem, is an imaginary figure. There was no Infanta of five years of age at the epoch of the Armada.
_ basquine_, a rich skirt worn by Spanish women.
_point de Gênes_, Genoese lace, which at one time rivalled that of Venice.
_fil d'or florentin_, gold thread of Florence.
_Duc de Brabant_ was one of the many titles of the King of Spain.
L. 69. See note on LA CONFIANCE.
_glas_ (pronounced _glâ_), 'passing bell.'
_vitreux_: 'glassy,' 'lack-lustre.' The sunken eyes seemed of an unfathomable depth.
_Iblis_. See note on PUISSANCE ÉGALE BONTÉ,
_Escurial_. The vast and gloomy palace near Madrid built by Philip II in the form of a gridiron in memory of St. Laurence, on whose feast-day he won the battle of St. Quentin.
_L'Inde_. The inclusion of India in Philip's dominions can hardly be justified. As King of Spain he possessed nothing in India, and as King of Portugal only a few trading stations and fortresses.
For Hugo's conception of the power and position of Spain at this epoch, see _Le Rhin: Conclusion_, II, III.
L. 130. Prescott describes Philip as being habitually grave in manner, unsocial and sombre, and always dressed in black. The Order of the Golden Fleece was the only jewel he ever wore.
L. 137. 'Better a ruined kingdom, true to itself and its king, than one left unharmed to the profit of the Devil and the heretics. '--Correspondence of Philip, quoted by Prescott in the History of Philip II.
_Burgos_, the ancient capital of Old Castile. _Aranjuez_, a town in the province of Toledo, where Philip had a summer residence.
_la toison d'or_, the Golden Fleece, an order of knighthood founded by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1420.
_grincer un sourire_: a bold and vivid expression, _grincer_ meaning 'to gnash the teeth.'
_gastadour_, from the Lat. _vastator_, ravager, despoiler.
_l'Escaut_, the Scheldt. The _Adour_ is a river in Southern France, but no ships for the Armada came from France. One suspects the influence of _gastadour_ in the line above.
_mestre de camp_, an old term for commander of a regiment.
L. 182. There were no German vessels in the Armada. _ourque_, more usually written _bourque_, is a small Dutch or Flemish cargo-boat with two masts. It is something between the modern ketch and the old Flemish 'bilander'.
_moço_, Spanish word for 'cabin-boy'.
_Pausilippe_, a promontory near Naples.
LES RAISONS DU MOMOTOMBO.
Placed by itself under the heading _L'Inquisition_ in the series of 1859, and preceded by the following note:--'Le baptême des volcans est un ancien usage qui remonte aux premiers temps de la conquête. Tous les cratères du Nicaragua furent alors sanctifiés, à l'exception du Momotombo, d'où l'on ne vit jamais revenir les religieux qui s'étaient chargés d'aller y planter la croix.' (SQUIER, _Voyage dans l'Amérique du Sud_.)
Momotombo is a volcano in the state of Nicaragua. E.G.Squier was an American antiquarian and author who was appointed _chargé d'affaires_ to all the Central American States in 1849. He does not appear to have written any work with the title quoted by Hugo. The passage quoted occurs in his _Nicaragua, its people, scenery, and monuments_, published in 1852. He relates in this book an instance of a bishop being asked to baptize a volcanic vent which had suddenly opened in a mountain!
_Torquemada_ (1420-1489) was the notorious inquisitor-general of Castile and Aragon, whose name has become a by-word for relentless persecution and cruelty.
LA CHANSON DES AVENTURIERS DE LA MER. (Page 101)
_le golfe d'Otrante_, between Italy and Albania.
_au Phare_: it is not clear what lighthouse is intended.
_une Tarentaise_, woman of Tarentum, in South Italy.
_Gaëte_, English Gaeta, a bay and town on the west coast of Italy, north of Naples.
L. 47. The historical allusion here is not clear. Prince Eugene of Savoy, Marlborough's colleague, and Cardinal Mazarin were not contemporaries.
_Livourne_, Leghorn. _Spinola_: the reference may or may not be to the famous Imperialist general in the Thirty Years War.
_prames_, big flat-bottomed boats, capable of carrying cannon, and used for coast defence.
_Notre-Dame de la Garde_, a sanctuary at Marseilles.
_Palma_, a town in Majorca.
APRÈS LA BATAILLE.
Victor Hugo's father was an officer in the army of the great Napoleon and fought in Spain as a general, but nothing is known of this incident except what is here told.
_Caramba_ (Spanish), a colloquial interjection, implying surprise and astonishment.
LE CRAPAUD.
To Hugo ugliness was as much a subject for pity as degradation or misery. Compare the following passage from _Les Contemplations: Ce que dit la Bouche d'Ombre_:--
Pleurez sur les laideurs et les ignominies. Pleurez sur l'araignée immonde, sur le ver, Sur la limace au dos mouillé comme l'hiver, Sur le vil puceron qu'on voit aux feuilles pendre, Sur le crabe hideux, sur l'affreux scolopendre, Sur l'effrayant crapaud, pauvre monstre aux doux yeux, Qui regarde toujours le ciel mystérieux.
For Hugo's feeling for the brute creation, see _Dieu: L'Ange._
_Augustules_. The last Emperor of Rome, Romulus, was given by the people the derisive nickname of Augustulus, or 'the little Augustus'. The capture of Ravenna in his reign by Odoacer marks the end of the Western Empire.
_vermeils_. See note on AYMERILLOT, 1. 35.
_miroitait_, glittered with light.
_farouche_, hard, cruel.
_fauve_, wild, shy. See note on ÉVIRADNUS, 1. 529.
1. 103. A difficult expression. Apparently it refers to the harsh grating of the wheel against the side of the rut.
_connivence_: the complicity of the burden upon his back with his master in keeping the ass in a straight course.
I. 134. i.e. the sad and melancholy, such as the ass, are equal to the angels, if they feel pity.
LES PAUVRES GENS. (PAGE 110.)
_musoir_, the head of a pier or jetty.
_vertes couleuvres._ The serpent appealed to Hugo's poetic instinct, and he saw its shape and its glitter in many natural objects. Compare the following passages, for most of which I am indebted to Edmond Huguet's _Métaphores et comparaisons dans l'oeuvre de Victor Hugo_:
La ronce, le serpent, tord sur lui ses anneaux. (_Eviradnus_, 1. 98.)
On voyait sur ses ponts des rouleaux de cordages Monstrueux, qui semblaient des boas endormis. (_Pleine Mer_, ll. 125-6.)
Ce sinistre vaisseau les aidait dans leur oeuvre. Lourd comme le dragon, prompt comme la couleuvre. (_Ibid._ 11. 116-17.)
L'ail voyait sur la plage amie Briller ses eaux, Comme une couleuvre endormie Dans les roseaux. (_Dernière gerbe._)
Par instants, dans cette profondeur vertigineuse, une lueur apparaissait et serpentait vaguement, l'eau ayant cette puissance, dans la nuit la plus complète, de prendre la lumière on ne sait où et de la changer en couleuvre. (_Les Misérables._)
Là, c'est le régiment, ce serpent de batailles Trainant sur mille pieds ses luisantes écailles. (_Les Voix Intérieures._)
J'ai vu au loin comme un long serpent de brume avec des écailles de soleil çà et là posé sur l'horizon... C'était l'Angleterre.-- _France et Belgique._
Dans ses flancs ténébreux, nuit et jour, en rampant Elle (_la terre_) sent se plonger la racine, serpent Qui s'abreuve aux ruisseaux des sèves toujours prêtes. (_Souvenirs d'Enfance._)
_cape_, a cloak with hood, with which women protect their head and shoulders. Used in Modern French only in a few provinces, except in certain phrases such as _sous cape_, 'secretly'. The word is the same as the English 'cape'.
_C'est la marine! Marine_ is often used as a nickname, as we say in English 'Jack'. On the French coast the word is often familiarly used in speaking to a man who is or has been a sailor, e.g. _Dis-donc, la marine! Tiens, voilá la marine!_ In this case it means 'Here am I!'
_bonnet de forçat_, 'woollen cap worn by convicts and also by fishermen.'
_chiffon_: used colloquially for a child, especially for a little girl.
PLEINE MER. (PAGE 118.)
_Analysis._ The vision of a gigantic derelict vessel on a boundless sea. This is the old world, the past of grandeur and horror.
In the nineteenth century a monster warship was built on the Thames, type of the spirit of that age. It carried two thousand guns; its topmast was higher than St. Paul's; now it has become this derelict.
The old world was subject to many plagues and scourges. Its moving spirit was Hatred, its characteristic, Division. Race strove with race; vice, ignorance, superstition, cruelty prevailed.
Now the old world has vanished, the ship is deserted. What has become of man? Look upwards!
_cachalot_. The cachalot or sperm-whale is one of the largest cetaceans, often attaining a length of more than 80 ft.
_le grand mât_, the mainmast.
_déferle_ (of a wave), 'breaks.'
l.38. See the remarks, in the Introduction, on Hugo's treatment of shadows.
_étrave_, the stern of a vessel.
_étambot_, the stern-post.
l.53. The vessel pitches as she meets the waves (_le tangage qui brave_); the rolling throws up most foam (_le roulis qui fume_).
_éclat_, splinter.
_fauve_, savage, barbarous. See note on ÉVIRADNUS.
_Le dernier siècle_. "Pleine Mer" and "Plein Ciel" form a section of the _Légende_, entitled _Vingtiérne Siècle_.
_sur la Tamise_. Hugo was hostile to England. He regarded the British Empire as one of the two great dominions the shadow of which was oppressing the world in the middle of the nineteenth century, the other being Russia. England embodied "l'esprit de commerce, de ruse et d'aventure". He developed this theme with a nervous and forcible eloquence, if not with great political insight, in _Le Rhin: Conclusion_ (published in 1842).
_portemanteaux_, davits, on which the boats are slung.
_grelin_, a hawser or warp.
_palans_, tackle for raising heavy weights; block and pulley.
_amure_, rope by means of which the lower corners of a sail are held, 'tack.'
_se le passaient_, passed it along, i.e. the ship.
_Nemrod_. Nimrod is in Hugo the incarnation of the spirit of war. Cf. especially _La Fin de Satan: Le Glaive_.
_pavois_, as a naval term, 'bulwarks.'
_vrille_, gimlet. The conception is of some immense spiked ram.
_alcoran_, the Koran. _Al_ is the Arabic definite article.
L. 191 refers to the texts in the Koran which order the death of those who do not accept Mahometanism.
_simoun_, simoon, the hot wind of the Sahara.
PLEIN CIEL.
_Analysis_.
The vision of a ship in the sky. What is it? It is man, who has burst the bonds that held him to earth and risen into the clouds. It is matter soaring through the heavens.
First lyrical passage. The passage of the ship through the sky.
Description of the life in the ship; the absence of arms; the feeling of power and joy. Description of the ship's movement.
Second lyrical passage. The voyage amongst the stars.
Whither will man go? He has thrown off his oid nature, his past history is buried, he aspires to immortality.
Third lyrical passage. Is man to reach Heaven without death?
No, man must remain man, but the weight has been taken from his feet. War has vanished; man is good and just.
Fourth lyrical passage. The ship is moving towards Virtue, Knowledge, Right, Reason, Brotherhood, Justice and Love, and is carrying with it man, who will find liberty and unity in the light.
_La Fable_, i.e. the myth of Aeolus.
_Eole_. Aeolus was the god of the Winds, which he kept fastened up in a bag.
_fausse clef_, skeleton key.
_fatal_, 'charged with destiny.'
_pesanteur_. Not 'weight' but 'the force of gravity'.
_Nadir_ is the point in the heavens which would be reached if a line were drawn through the centre of the earth and carried on till it reached the sky. But here it seems to be used loosely for any distant point in the heavens. The meaning is that from a remote distance the round earth, as it came into view beneath the ship, would have the appearance of a dusky comet.
_aéroscaphe_. A word once proposed, but never widely accepted, as a designation for an airship. It is derived from the Greek _aer_ (air) and _skaphe_ (a vessel).
_humaine_, i.e. made by man.
_treuil_, 'windlass.'
_moufle_, 'block.'
_moteur_, 'driving power.'
L. 171. i.e. by mathematics and poetry, that is by reason and imagination combined.
_Euler_ was a Swiss geometrician (1707-83) who made great contributions to mathematics and mechanics.
_Délos_. Tradition says that Delos in the Aegean Sea was once a wandering island, and that Zeus fastened it down that it might be a home for Latona, who was about to give birth to Apollo and Diana.
_Leibniz_ (English Leibnitz), the German mathematician, chemist, and philosopher (1646-1716).
_Fulton_, the American inventor (1765-1815), who was one of the first mechanicians to construct a steamboat.
_Képler_. The German Kepler (1571-1630) was one of the founders of modern astronomy.
These three men are chosen as typical embodiments of the spirit of progress.
_Simoun_. See note on PLEINE MER.
_mistral_. In the South of France the north-east wind is so called.
_Sous le renversement de l'urne_. The urn is the symbol of that 'Fatalité' which to Hugo was the dark shadow over human life. Cf. LA TROMPETTE.
Andromeda, Orion, and the Pleiades are well-known constellations. Arcturus is a star of the first magnitude in Bootes.
The Scorpion and the Archer are next each other in the heavens. The lines express in a somewhat bizarre manner the effect of the outpouring of life on the stars.
_Aldebaran_, a reddish star of the first magnitude in the constellation of Taurus.
_Céphée_. Cepheus is the name of a constellation, as also is Perseus.
_des espaces vermeils_. See note on AYMERILLOT.
L. 232. _Zoroastre_. Zoroaster was the founder of the Persian religion. He was a great observer of the stars.
L. 245. _Fatalité_. In Victor Hugo the word denotes, not so much destiny, as the feeling or the doctrine that man is the helpless victim of an unseen and cruel power. It is a gloom which overhangs human life, from which in the progress of the ages man will be delivered. Compare _La Vision d'où sortit ce livre_, where the spirit of 'Fatalité' is associated with paganism and contrasted with the spirit of religion. In _Dieu_ again 'Fatalité' is one of the three sombre deities of paganism, the other two being Venus, the goddess of pleasure, and Hecate, the goddess of death. Cf. also the following lines from _La Fin de Satan_, put into the mouth of man's evil angel:--
Je suis Lilith-Isis, l'âme noire du monde. Tremble! l'être inconnu, funeste, illimité, Que l'homme en frémissant nomme Fatalité, C'est moi. Tremble! Ananké, c'est moi. Tremble! Le voile C'est moi.
And again in Satan's speech to the Almighty:--
Tu seras Providence et moi Fatalité.
_Notre-Dame de Paris_ is based upon this theme. See especially Livre VII. iv.
L. 255. For the metaphor compare 'la fausse clef du fatal gouffre bleu', l. 37, and the following passage in _L'Ane_ about the prison of life:--
La porte en est massive et la voûte en est dure; Tu regardes parfois au trou de la serrure, Et tu nommes cela science; mais tu n'as Pas de clef pour ouvrir le fatal cadenas.
L. 273. Cf. the well-known line in _Les Contemplations: Ce que dit la Bouche d'Ombre_:--
Le fauve univers est le forçat de Dieu.
Man is likened to a convict, in that he is undergoing punishment, not in that he deserves it.
_Allioth_, a star of the first magnitude in the Great Bear.
_J'en arrive_: 'Tis from there I come.
_la pesanteur_. Gravity symbolizes the forces which keep man down.
_guèbres_, fire-worshippers, i.e. the Persians, who still adhere to the ancient religion of Zoroaster. The word itself is Persian.
_Thalès_ (English Thales), one of the seven wise men of Greece.
L. 317. An allusion to the well-known doctrine of the music of the spheres, enunciated by Plato.
_chouette_. The owl, as a bird of darkness, was to Hugo suggestive of evil things. Cf. _La Confiance_.
_frisson des roseaux_, i.e. a trembling like that of reeds.
_Spinosa_ (English Spinoza) (1632-77), the Jewish philosopher, whose rationalistic views would be evidence to Hugo of his need of faith.
_Hobbe_. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the famous English philosopher, is best known by his defence of absolute monarchy. In ethics he held that man is swayed only by the desire for pleasure and the fear of pain. Either of these views would be to Hugo a system of despair.
_Erèbe_ (Erebus) was originally one of the Titans who was cast by Zeus into Tartarus. The word is thus used as a synonym for the lower world, especially those regions where evil deeds are expiated.
_fatalité_. See note on l. 245.
_géhenne_. Gehenna was the valley near Jerusalem where crimmals were executed. In the New Testament it is used as a synonym for hell.
Nimrod is again the embodiment of the spirit of war. Aaron typifies ecclesiastical resistance to progress.
_Beccaria_ was an Italian publicist (1738-94) who worked for the reform of the penal law. His principal work was a small volume called _Treatise on Crime and Punishment_, which was translated into nearly every language in Europe. His opposition to the use of torture, to the infliction of the death penalty, and to arbitrary arrest no doubt appealed specially to Hugo.
_Dracon_, i.e. Draco, the Athenian legislator, the memory of the excessive severity of whose laws lingers in our adjective _draconian_.
_Empédocle_. Empedocles was a Greek philosopher who was born in Sicily about 450 B.C. He is best remembered from the tradition that he threw himself down Etna in despair at his incapacity to solve the problem of its action.
_Prométhée_. Prometheus was the Titan who stole fire from heaven and gave it to men, for which Zeus chained him to a rock in the Caucasus. In legend and poetry he figures as the benefactor and civilizer of mankind.
_pesanteur_. See note on l. 305.
_l'antique idéal_, the ancient visions, as for instance those of Isaiah and Virgil, of a golden age.
_farouche_, i. e. that has never been realized.
L. 473. i. e. leaving the old humanity farther and farther behind.
LA TROMPETTE DU JUGEMENT. (PAGE 138.)
_buccin_. See note on LA CONFIANCE.
_blanchissant l'absolu_, i.e. lighting up infinite space.
_urne_, used as the symbol of Destiny. See notes on PLEIN CIEL.
L. 117. i.e. entered the immeasurable and infinite.
_gehennam_, another form of _géhenne_, closer to the Hebrew _geia Hinnom_, the valley of Hinnom. See note on PLEIN CIEL.
_avernes_. Avernus was a lake in Campania, which the popular Roman belief held to be an entrance to the lower regions. Hence comes _averne_, used as a synonvm for hell.
L. 165. See note under PUISSANCE ÉGALE BONTÉ.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I.
WORKS OF VICTOR HUGO.