[This short fragment] was first published in the edition of G. de Chénier, 1874, among a few others under the general heading of 'Satires.'
ODES.
I. A VERSAILLES.
[L. 9.] Mes pénates secrets. Chénier, in 1792, after the death of the king, in whose defence he had written, almost despairing of the future of his country, fallen into the hands of Robespierre, Collot d'Herbois and Saint-Just, left Paris for Versailles, where his grief was somewhat alleviated by his love for Fanny, Mme Laurent Lecoulteux. See note to p. 75, Sur la mort d'un enfant, l. 1.
[L. 11.] Vont dirigeant. See note to p. 27, l. 29.
[L. 13.] Les chars. See note to p. 56, l. 15.
[L. 37.] rivage. Not in the precise sense 'shore,' but, more vaguely, 'country,' 'place.' Thus F. climat and E. climate (or clime) have had their meaning extended to that of 'region.'
[L. 48.] Langage d'amour si des dieux. Expressed archaically for langage de l'amour.
[L. 60.] An allusion to the massacres of prisoners at Versailles in September, 1792.