Osant de Jéhova dénaturer l’image,
Dressèrent des autels aux héros fabuleux:[[21]]
Et de l’idolatrie affirmissant l’ouvrage,
De ces guerriers obscurs[[21]] Homère fit de dieux
Ainsi les paladins, environnant leur roi,’ etc.
Chant huitieme.
We might refer to many other passages equally picturesque, though perhaps to none so poetical. Such as the comparison of Roland taken from the scene of combat by Oliver, to a lion led off by an African, that still roars as he follows his well-known guide;—the first appearance of Armelie, the death of Wilfred at the altar, the vanishing of Adelard from the sight of Charlemagne, the forest of Eresbourg, the Druidical sacrifice, and the funeral rites of Orlando in the valley of Ronscevalles.
The language of the poem often bears a striking resemblance to the language of painting, or seems like a detailed description of some chef d’œuvre of the art, rather than the creation of the poet’s fancy. We should have little doubt that the solitary church in the valley of Ronscevalles is copied from that in the back-ground of Titian’s St. Peter Martyr, and the massacre at the altar in the first canto is certainly taken from some picture of Raphael!
In the sentiments of this poem there is more feebleness, a greater number of Gallicisms, than in the imagery. We meet with such courtly expressions as these:
‘Les Francs à chaque instant voient de nouveaux guerriers