Nature that made thee, with herself at strife,
Saith that the world hath ending with thy life.
Du sublime au ridicule il n’y a qu’un pas.
(From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but a step.)
This saying, commonly ascribed to Napoleon, was borrowed by him from Tom Paine, whose works were translated into French in 1791, and who says,—
The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again.
Tom Paine, in turn, adopted the idea from Hugh Blair, who says, in one place,—
It is indeed extremely difficult to hit the precise point where true wit ends and buffoonery begins.
In another,—