[Ll. 52.] a monté ma lyre avec ma voix. Another instance of 'one word passing under favour of another,' for a voice can hardly be said to be strung. See note to p. 64, X, ll. 15, 16.
[Ll. 53, 54.] Vulcan, the god of fire, for 'fire'. L'onde où tout s'oublie is misleading as suggesting Lethe. Consumer, though representing chiefly the action of fire, originally means 'to use up destructively,' and so can apply to the action of water. (Cf. this English instance: 'The horses were partly (the ships being broken) consumed in the sea.'—Usher, Aun. vi. 424, in N.E.D.) The verb is moreover in the singular according to Chénier's practice (see note to p. 25, l. 74).
XIII. O NÉCESSITÉ DURE!...
[L. 3.] tissus. See note to p. 15, l. 260.
[L. 7.] Voltaire, Mérope, II. ii: 'Il souffre le mépris qui suit la pauvreté.'
[Ll. 14, 15.] Mes parents,... Mes écrits imparfaits. Elliptically expressed, the thought understood being obviously: 'such are the objections raised by my heart.' Imparfaits, of course, means unfinished.'
[Ll. 21.] aveugle d'espérance, blinded by hope.
XIV. AUX DEUX FRÈRES TRUDAINE.
[Ll. 7, 8.] Autant que l'univers... autant il a.... Autant que... autant... was displaced by autant... autant... only lately. See Haase, § 139, 4°, and Littré. s.v., 4°.
[L. 9.] sais-je voir. Sais-je is here more expressive than puis-je would be.