第 5 节
作者:
车水马龙01 更新:2021-03-11 18:31 字数:9322
d: 〃Hereafter I shall always be of the opinion of the Prince when he is wrong。〃
Bossuet; when a boy of seventeen; improvised here one evening a sermon on a given theme; which was so eloquent that it held the company until near midnight。 〃I have never heard any one preach so early and so late;〃 remarked the witty Voiture; as he congratulated the youthful orator at the close。
This famous bel esprit played a very prominent part here。 His role was to amuse; and his talents gave him great vogue; but at this distance his small vanities strike one much more vividly than the wit which flashed out with the moment; or the vers de societe on which his fame rests。 He owed his social success to a rather high…flown love letter which he evidently thought too good to be lost to the world。 He sent it to a friend; who had it printed and circulated。 What the lady thought does not appear; but it made the fortune of the poet。 Though the son of a wine merchant; and without rank; he had little more of the spirit of a courtier than Voltaire; and his biting epigrams were no less feared。 〃If he were one of us; he would be insupportable;〃 said Conde。 But his caprices were tolerated for the sake of his inexhaustible wit; and he was petted and spoiled to the end。
A list of the men of letters who appeared from time to time at the Hotel de Rambouillet would include the most noted names of the century; besides many which were famous in their day; but at present are little more than historical shadows。 The conversations were often learned; doubtless sometimes pretentious。 One is inclined to wonder if these noble cavaliers and high…born woman did not yawn occasionally over the scholarly discourse of Corneille and Balzac upon the Romans; the endless disputes about rival sonnets; and the long discussions on the value of a word。 〃Doubtless it is a very beautiful poem; but also very tiresome;〃 said Mme。 de Longueville; after Chapelain had finished reading his 〃Pucelle〃a work which aimed to be the Iliad of France; but succeeded only in being very long and rather heavy。
This lovely young Princess; who at sixteen had the exaltation of a religieuse; and was with difficulty won from her dreams of renunciation and a cloister; had become the wife of a man many years her senior; whom she did not love; and the idol of the brilliant world in which she lived。 La Rochefoucauld had not yet disturbed the serenity of her heart; nor political intrigues her peace of mind。 It was before the Fronde; in which she was destined to play so conspicuous a part; and she was still content with the role of a reigning beauty; but she was not at all averse to the literary entertainments of this salon; in which her own fascinations were so delightfully sung。 She found the flattering verses of Voiture more to her taste than the stately epic of Chapelain; took his side warmly against Benserade in the famous dispute as to the merits of their two sonnets; 〃Job〃 and 〃Urania;〃 and won him a doubtful victory。 The poems of Voiture lose much of their flavor in translation; but I venture to give a verse in the original; which was addressed to the charming princesse; and which could hardly fail to win the favor of a young and beautiful woman。
De perles; d'astres; et de fleurs; Bourbon; le ciel fit tes couleurs; Et mit dedans tout ce melange L'esprit d'une ange。
But the diversions were by no means always grave or literary。 Life was represented on many sides; one secret; doubtless; of the wide influence of this society。 The daughters of Mme。 de Rambouillet; and her son; the popular young Marquis de Pisani; formed a nucleus of youth and gaiety。 To these we may add the beautiful Angelique Paulet; who at seventeen had turned the head of Henri IV; and escaped the fatal influence of that imperious sovereign's infatuation by his timely; or untimely; death。 Fair and brilliant; the best singer of her time; skilled also in playing the lute; and gifted with a special dramatic talent; she was always a favorite; much loved by her friends and much sung by the poets。 Her proud and impetuous character; her frank and original manners; together with her luxuriance of blonde hair; gained her the sobriquet of La Belle Lionne。 Nor must we forget Mlle。 de Scudery; one of the most constant literary lights of this salon; and in some sense its chronicler; nor the fastidious Mme。 de Sable。
The brightest ornament of the Hotel de Rambouillet; however; was Julie d'Angennes; the petted daughter of the house; the devoted companion and clever assistant of her mother。 Her gaiety of heart; amiable temper; ready wit; and gracious manners surrounded her with an atmosphere of perpetual sunshine。 Fertile in resources; of fine intelligence; winning the love alike of men and women; she was the soul of the serious conversations; as well as of the amusements which relieved them。 These amusements were varied and often original。 They played little comedies。 They had mythological fetes; draping themselves as antique gods and goddesses。 Sometimes they indulged in practical jokes and surprises; which were more laughable than dignified。 Malherbe and Racan; the latter sighing hopelessly over the attractions of the dignified Marquise; gave her the romantic name of Arthenice; and forthwith the other members of the coterie took some nom de parnasse; by which they were familiarly known。 They read the 〃Astree〃 of d'Urfe; that platonic dream of a disillusioned lover; discussed the romances of Calprenede and the sentimental Bergeries of Racan。 Such Arcadian pictures seemed to have a singular fascination for these courtly dames and plumed cavaliers。 They tried to reproduce them。 Assuming the characters of the rather insipid Strephons and florimels; they made love in pastoral fashion; with pipe and lutethese rustic diversions serving especially to while away the long summer days in the country at Rambouillet; at Chantilly; or at Ruel。 They improvised sonnets and madrigals; they praised each other in verse; they wrote long letters on the slightest pretext。 As a specimen of the badinage so much in vogue; I quote from a letter written by Voiture to one of the daughters of Mme。 de Rambouillet; who was an abbess; and had sent him a present of a cat。
〃Madame; I was already so devoted to you that I supposed you knew there was no need of winning me by presents; or trying to take me like a rat; with a cat。 Nevertheless; if there was anything in my thought that was not wholly yours; the cat which you have sent me has captured it。〃 After a eulogy upon the cat; he adds: 〃I can only say that it is very difficult to keep; and for a cat religiously brought up it is very little inclined to seclusion。 It never sees a window without wishing to jump out; it would have leaped over the wall twenty times if it had not been prevented; and no secular cat could be more lawless or more self…willed。〃
The wit here is certainly rather attenuated; but the subject is an ungrateful one。 Mme。 de Sevigne finds Voiture 〃libre; badin; charmant;〃 and disposes of his critics by saying; 〃So much the worse for those who do not understand him。〃 One is often puzzled to detect this rare spirituelle quality; but it is fair to presume that it was of the volatile sort that evaporates with time。
All this sentimental masquerading and exaggerated gallantry suggests the vulnerable side of the Hotel de Rambouillet; and the side which its enemies have been disposed to make very prominent。 Among those who tried to imitate this salon; Spanish chivalry doubtless degenerated into a thousand absurdities; and it must be admitted that the salon itself was not free from reproach on this point。 It became the fashion to write and talk in the language of hyperbole。 Sighing lovers were consumed with artificial fires; and ready to die with affected languors。 Like the old poets of Provence; whose spirit they caught and whose phrases they repeated; they were dying of love they did not feel。 The eyes of Phyllis extinguished the sun。 The very nightingales expired of jealousy; after hearing the voice of Angelique。
It would be difficult; perhaps; to find anywhere a company of clever people bent upon amusing themselves and passing every day more or less together; whose sayings and doings would bear to be exactly chronicled。 The literary diversions and poetic ideals of this circle; too; gave a certain color to the charge of affectation; among people of less refined instincts; who found its esprit incomprehensible; its manners prudish; and its virtue a tacit reproach; but the dignified and serious character of many of its constant habitues should be a sufficient guarantee that it did not greatly pass the limits of good taste and good sense。 The only point upon which Mme。 de Rambouillet seems to have been open to criticism was a certain formal reserve and an over… fastidious delicacy; but in an age when the standards of both refinement and morals were so low; this implies a virtue rather than a defect。 Nor does her character appear to have been at all tinged with pretension。 〃I should fear from your example to write in a style too elevated;〃 says Voiture; in a letter to her。 But traditions are strong; and people do not readily adapt themselves to new models。 Char