| Prochaine révision | Révision précédente |
| compterendumonthlyreview [2019/06/02 00:09] – créée Hugues Marchal | compterendumonthlyreview [2023/03/13 19:18] (Version actuelle) – modification externe 127.0.0.1 |
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| ===== Présentation du texte ===== | ===== Présentation du texte ===== |
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| En décembre 1800, la [[monthlyreview|Monthly Review]] est le **premier périodique en langue étrangère à rendre compte du poème**[(Anonyme, “ART. III. L'Homme des champs; ou les Géorgiques françoises: i.e. //The Country Gentleman, of French Georgics//. By James Delille, 8vo, pp.\ 300. Basle. 1800. Imported by Debrett, London”, //The Montly Review//, vol. 33, décembre 1800, p.\ 470-482.)]. L'article, qui suit une recension de //De la littérature// de Staël, est **très élogieux**. | En décembre 1800, la [[monthlyreview|Monthly Review]] est le **premier périodique en langue étrangère à rendre compte du poème**[(Anonyme, “ART. III. L'Homme des champs; ou les Géorgiques françoises: i.e. //The Country Gentleman, of French Georgics//. By James Delille, 8vo, pp.(nbsp)300. Basle. 1800. Imported by Debrett, London”, //The Montly Review//, vol. 33, décembre 1800, p.(nbsp)470-482.)]. L'article, qui suit une recension de //De la littérature// de Staël, est **très élogieux**. |
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| ===== Un maître ===== | ===== Un maître ===== |
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| Le critique anonyme commence par justifier le nombre élevé des tirages annoncés par un rappel du statut de Delille\ : la France accorde au poète une gloire mérité et si ce dernier emprunte volontiers à d'autres écrivains, il ne fait que suivre en cela, et avec le même brio, la pratique de Pope. Cette comparaison permet donc d'**écarter d'emblée le débat relatif aux imitations que Delille avait pu faire de certains posts anglais**. Pour l'auteur du compte rendu, la polémique est d'évidence sans intérêt. | Le critique anonyme commence par justifier le nombre élevé des tirages annoncés par un rappel du statut de Delille(nbsp): la France accorde au poète une gloire mérité et si ce dernier emprunte volontiers à d'autres écrivains, il ne fait que suivre en cela, et avec le même brio, la pratique de Pope. Cette comparaison permet donc d'**écarter d'emblée le débat relatif aux imitations que Delille avait pu faire de certains posts anglais**. Pour l'auteur du compte rendu, la polémique est d'évidence sans intérêt. |
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| The booksellers on the continent had such entire confidence in the reputation of the author of this poem, and in the public eagerness to peruse it, that, as soon as the MS. was procured, fifteen editions were printed at once in Paris, from very high to very low prices, and 30,000 copies were sold in less than a fortnight[(NDA: "Various editions, in 12mo. 8vo. &c. are imported in London.)]\ ! Though the Abbe !!Delille!! is an emigrant, a voluntary exile, and has remained a firm friend to the antient religion and government of his country, all parties in France are equally desirous of reading his productions; and they are in few things so unanimous, as in pronouncing that he is the best poet of whom France can at present boast, or perhaps ever possessed, in heroic verse. No poetry in a foreign language approaches the compositions of Mr. Pope so much as that of the Abbe !!Delille!!, who has confessedly made the English bard his model; and who resembles him in every respect which the different structure of French verse will permit: in smoothness, accuracy, and good taste; we dare not say in force, which perhaps the genius of his language will not admit. Pope never scrupled to borrow a good thought wherever he could meet with it, in prose or in verse: but he borrowed always to polish and to improve. If he found it in base metal, he set it in diamonds. The Abbe's imitations and adoptions of the thoughts of others are at least equally numerous. As the late learned Dr. Warton would not allow Pope even to be a poet, but denied him the gift of //invention//, though he readily granted that he was a fine versifier and an excellent moralist; he would certainly have had equal reason for disputing the originality of the Abbe !!De Lille!!: but he must also have been obliged to concede that, in spite of deductions and draw-backs, the verses of the Virgil of France afford the highest gratification to readers of taste and discernment[(//Id//., p.\ 470-471.)]. | The booksellers on the continent had such entire confidence in the reputation of the author of this poem, and in the public eagerness to peruse it, that, as soon as the MS. was procured, fifteen editions were printed at once in Paris, from very high to very low prices, and 30,000 copies were sold in less than a fortnight[(NDA: "Various editions, in 12mo. 8vo. &c. are imported in London.")](nbsp)! Though the Abbe !!Delille!! is an emigrant, a voluntary exile, and has remained a firm friend to the antient religion and government of his country, all parties in France are equally desirous of reading his productions; and they are in few things so unanimous, as in pronouncing that he is the best poet of whom France can at present boast, or perhaps ever possessed, in heroic verse. No poetry in a foreign language approaches the compositions of Mr. Pope so much as that of the Abbe !!Delille!!, who has confessedly made the English bard his model; and who resembles him in every respect which the different structure of French verse will permit: in smoothness, accuracy, and good taste; we dare not say in force, which perhaps the genius of his language will not admit. Pope never scrupled to borrow a good thought wherever he could meet with it, in prose or in verse: but he borrowed always to polish and to improve. If he found it in base metal, he set it in diamonds. The Abbe's imitations and adoptions of the thoughts of others are at least equally numerous. As the late learned Dr. Warton would not allow Pope even to be a poet, but denied him the gift of //invention//, though he readily granted that he was a fine versifier and an excellent moralist; he would certainly have had equal reason for disputing the originality of the Abbe !!De Lille!!: but he must also have been obliged to concede that, in spite of deductions and draw-backs, the verses of the Virgil of France afford the highest gratification to readers of taste and discernment[(//Id//., p.(nbsp)470-471.)]. |
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| In the opening of the poem, the author explains his plan much better than by the title; which in the original seems to be a misnomer, and to which indeed our language furnishes no equivalent. We imagined, till we had advanced in the perusal of the work, that //l'homme des champs// must imply a husbandman, a farmer, a cultivator of the fields: but no one of those titles stretches to the full extent of the author's design. Nor does the term //Georgic// suit his poem so well as that of Virgil: since the Abbe seems to take up farming just where Virgil had left it. Addison defines //γεωργικoν// to be "the science of husbandry, put into a pleasing dress, and set off with all the beauties and embellishments of //Poetry//:" but the present author extends his descriptions to the wonders of nature, to mechanical discoveries, and to natural history in general, as he declares in his exordium[(//Id//., p.\ 473-474.)] […]. | In the opening of the poem, the author explains his plan much better than by the title; which in the original seems to be a misnomer, and to which indeed our language furnishes no equivalent. We imagined, till we had advanced in the perusal of the work, that //l'homme des champs// must imply a husbandman, a farmer, a cultivator of the fields: but no one of those titles stretches to the full extent of the author's design. Nor does the term //Georgic// suit his poem so well as that of Virgil: since the Abbe seems to take up farming just where Virgil had left it. Addison defines //γεωργικoν// to be "the science of husbandry, put into a pleasing dress, and set off with all the beauties and embellishments of //Poetry//:" but the present author extends his descriptions to the wonders of nature, to mechanical discoveries, and to natural history in general, as he declares in his exordium[(//Id//., p.(nbsp)473-474.)] […]. |
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| ===== Le troisième chant ===== | ===== Le troisième chant ===== |
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| Le rédacteur aborde successivement les quatre chants, en **traduisant les vers retenus à titre d'illustration**. Toutefois, il met en garde ses lecteurs contre l'altération que crée cette transposition: "Though unable to do justice to the euphony of the author's versification, we cannot but wish to convey his thoughts to our English readers, when they appear remarkably beautiful and striking[(//Id//., p.\ 474.)]". S'avouant incapable de "rendre justice à l'euphonie" de l'original, il tente donc de "relayer ses pensées pour [ses] lecteurs anglais, quand elles semblent remarquablement belles et frappantes", et, par manque de place, il annonce qu'il ne proposera que de brefs extraits, dont il pense qu'ils deviendront rapidement "**proverbiaux**" en français ("We cannot afford room for long extracts, to give our readers an idea of the regular march of the author: but but we shall detach some illustrative thoughts, which we think are so meritorious in the original, that they will soon become proverbial in the author's own country[(//Id//., p.\ 474-475.)]"). | Le rédacteur aborde successivement les quatre chants, en **traduisant les vers retenus à titre d'illustration**. Toutefois, il met en garde ses lecteurs contre l'altération que crée cette transposition: "Though unable to do justice to the euphony of the author's versification, we cannot but wish to convey his thoughts to our English readers, when they appear remarkably beautiful and striking[(//Id//., p.(nbsp)474. Malgré cette précaution, le journaliste s'attirera une violente attaque dans un autre titre de presse, en raison de la qualité, jugée médiocre, de ses transpositions: voir Scipio, "To the editor", //The Anti-Jacobin Review//, mai 1801, p.(nbsp)88-90.)]". S'avouant incapable de "rendre justice à l'euphonie" de l'original, il tente donc de "relayer ses pensées pour [ses] lecteurs anglais, quand elles semblent remarquablement belles et frappantes", et, par manque de place, il annonce qu'il ne proposera que de brefs extraits, dont il pense qu'ils deviendront rapidement "**proverbiaux**" en français ("We cannot afford room for long extracts, to give our readers an idea of the regular march of the author: but but we shall detach some illustrative thoughts, which we think are so meritorious in the original, that they will soon become proverbial in the author's own country[(//Id//., p.(nbsp)474-475.)]"). |
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| Le chant 3, dont l'examen suit une appréciation peu favorable de l'épisode final du chant précédent, est mis en valeur par ce contraste et traité de manière globalement positive. Curieusement, l'auteur juge "quelque peu grotesque" un passage qui n'a guère cette dimension en français, il attribue les notes à Delille et il se méprend sur la nature de Raton, présentée comme le chien du poète. | Le **chant 3**, dont l'examen suit une appréciation peu favorable de l'épisode final du chant précédent, est mis en valeur par ce contraste et traité de manière globalement positive. Curieusement, l'auteur juge "quelque peu grotesque" un passage qui n'a guère cette dimension en français, il attribue les notes à Delille et il se méprend sur la nature de Raton, présentée comme le chien du poète. |
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| Nous divisons cette section pour mieux indiquer les vers concernés, sans certitude, car les traductions sont parfois extrêmement libres. | Nous divisons cette section pour mieux indiquer les vers concernés, l'auteur procédant souvent à des **recombinaisons de passages distincts**. |
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| \\ The frightful image of decay and dross, | \\ The frightful image of decay and dross, |
| \\ The good, the bad, the scourge, the eye selects; | \\ The good, the bad, the scourge, the eye selects; |
| \\ The mind interprets causes and effects[(//Id//., p.\ 477.)].' | \\ The mind interprets causes and effects[(//Id//., p.(nbsp)477.)].' |
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| Vers concernés : [[chant3#v018|chant 3, vers 18-20]] [[chant3#v0392|39-41]]et [[chant3#v042|42]]. | Vers concernés : [[chant3#v018|chant 3, vers 18-20]] et [[chant3#v0392|39-42]]. |
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| "As rivers lost in seas, some secret vein | "As rivers lost in seas, some secret vein |
| \\ Thence reconveys, there to be lost again[(//Id//., p.\ 477-478.)]." | \\ Thence reconveys, there to be lost again[(//Id//., p.(nbsp)477-478.)]." |
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| 'In change eternal earth and sea are hurl'd, | 'In change eternal earth and sea are hurl'd, |
| \\ Disputing slow the empire of the world[(//Id//., p.\ 478.)].' | \\ Disputing slow the empire of the world[(//Id//., p.(nbsp)478.)].' |
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| Vers concernés : [[chant3#v262|chant 3, vers 262-263]]. | Vers concernés : [[chant3#v263|chant 3, vers 263-264]]. |
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| Vers concernés : [[chant3#v331|chant 3, vers 331-332]] et [[chant3#v339|chant 3, vers 339-340]]. | Vers concernés : [[chant3#v331|chant 3, vers 331-332]] et [[chant3#v339|339-340]]. |
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| ===== Se passer du récit ===== | ===== Se passer du récit ===== |
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| En conclusion, le recenseur revient sur la **place des sciences**, pour souligner que le poème parvient à intéresser sans recourir à une narration impliquant des acteurs humains, et il se **refuse à relever les imperfections** de l'œuvre, jugeant que les critiques français se sont assez appliqués à isoler ces "taches dans le soleil". | En conclusion, le recenseur revient sur la **place des sciences**, pour souligner que le poème parvient à intéresser sans recourir à une narration impliquant des acteurs humains, et il se **refuse à relever les imperfections** de l'œuvre, jugeant que les critiques français se sont assez appliqués à isoler les "taches dans ce soleil". |
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| This poem does not indeed contain any alluring nor any terrible //story//: but it comprehends poetry of the most interesting kind. The author's descriptions of volcanos, lavas, basaltes, coal-mines, springs, the formation of mountains, and domestic animals, (characterising their virtues, vices, passions, and instinctive morality; and reminding us of the honour done to them by the muses of Homer, Lucretius, and Virgil;) are deserving of high praise. Even vegetation, or whatever has life, belongs to poetry, and may be personified. […] | This poem does not indeed contain any alluring nor any terrible //story//: but it comprehends poetry of the most interesting kind. The author's descriptions of volcanos, lavas, basaltes, coal-mines, springs, the formation of mountains, and domestic animals, (characterising their virtues, vices, passions, and instinctive morality; and reminding us of the honour done to them by the muses of Homer, Lucretius, and Virgil;) are deserving of high praise. Even vegetation, or whatever has life, belongs to poetry, and may be personified. […] |
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| We perceive that the great poetical merit of this work has led us insensibly to dwell more on its beauties than its defects, for that defects may be found we are not ignorant: but, as all the critics in Europe, particularly those of France, have been and still are employed in seeking for and examining spots in this sun, we shall resign to them the gratification of proving that the magnifying power of their reflectors is superior to our's in these cynical observations. We must, however, observe, in justice to those foreign critics whose remarks we have yet seen, that, with whatever severity they arraign the want of plan, of episodes, of arrangement, and of originality, they unanimously allow the poetry in general to be exquisite. | We perceive that the great poetical merit of this work has led us insensibly to dwell more on its beauties than its defects, for that defects may be found we are not ignorant: but, as all the critics in Europe, particularly those of France, have been and still are employed in seeking for and examining spots in this sun, we shall resign to them the gratification of proving that the magnifying power of their reflectors is superior to our's in these cynical observations. We must, however, observe, in justice to those foreign critics whose remarks we have yet seen, that, with whatever severity they arraign the want of plan, of episodes, of arrangement, and of originality, they unanimously allow the poetry in general to be exquisite. |
| The notes, which occupy more than half of the volume, will be curious and instructive to young students in natural history[(//Id//., p.\ 481-482.)]. | |
| | The notes, which occupy more than half of the volume, will be curious and instructive to young students in natural history[(//Id//., p.(nbsp)481-482.)]. |
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| ===== Liens externes ===== | ===== Liens externes ===== |
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| * Accès à la numérisation du texte\ : [[https://books.google.ch/books?id=bocCAAAAYAAJ|GoogleBooks]]. | * Accès à la numérisation du texte(nbsp): [[https://books.google.ch/books?id=bocCAAAAYAAJ|GoogleBooks]]. |
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| Auteur de la page --- //[[hugues.marchal@unibas.ch|Hugues Marchal]] 2019/06/01 22:45// | Auteur de la page --- //[[hugues.marchal@unibas.ch|Hugues Marchal]] 2019/06/01 22:45// |