Si le malheur te suit dans ta carrière, 1 Un front serein brave l'adversité. Mais si le ciel t'accordait l'opulence, 2 Et des jours purs par les plaisirs tracés, Ouvre ton 3 âme à l'honnête indigence, * Et que ses pleurs par toi soient effacés. Sois toujours douce, honnête, affable et sage; Que la candeur, peinte sur ton visage, Puissé-je dire, à mon heure dernière : Si je te laisse heureuse, en expirant. LES HIRONDELLES. A French prisoner on the shores of Africa (supposed to be Napoleon) is addressing the swallows, as they return to pass the winter in the warmer climes of his captivity, and beseeches them to give him some tidings of his native valley, and to speak to him of the grief and anxiety of his mother, of the welfare of his sister, and of the friends of his youth. At the same time he expresses his fears lest the enemy should have again invaded his country, and that those most dear to him are no more. CAPTIF au rivage du Maure, Un guerrier, courbé sous ses fers, Oiseaux ennemis des hivers. 3 heart. 4 let it 1 A collected mind. 2 happy days marked by pleasures. be your delight to wipe away their tears. 5 bending under his chains. Hirondelles, que l'espérance Suit jusqu'en ces brûlants climats, Depuis trois ans, je vous conjure Du vallon où ma vie obscure Se berçait d'un doux avenir. 2 3 Au détour d'une eau qui chemine A flots purs, sous de frais lilas, Vous avez vu notre chaumine 4 L'une de vous peut-être est née Vous avez dû plaindre l'amour. Elle écoute, et puis elle pleure.... Ma sœur est-elle mariée ? 1 Why do you not speak to me of my country. 2 cradled itself in future hopes. 3 at the winding of a brook, whose pure waters glide under the drooping lilacs. 4 you must have seen our cottage. 5 under the roof where I first saw the light. 6 invited to the marriage feast. 7 celebrate her. 8 of my youth. Ont-ils tous revu le village?.... Sur leurs corps 1 l'étranger peut-être Sous mon chaume 2 il commande en maître, De ses malheurs ne me parlez-vous pas ? BÉRANGER. LES CATACOMBES DE ROME. Under the city of Rome are found vast quarries, called catacombs, which served as a place of refuge for the first Christians from the persecutions of the emperors. A young artist, curious to explore the wonders and mysterious windings of this immense and frightful labyrinth, enters it, with a light in one hand and a string in the other, to guide him on his return. After a while, when about to return, he finds to his dismay that he has lost his string. He searches for it, but in vain, and loses several hours in trying various roads, until he is awakened afresh to the extreme danger of his position, by observing that his light is nearly spent, and it shortly after drops from his hands. In the midst of the most profound darkness and silence, he gives himself up to despair, and pictures to himself all the horrors of a death by starvation. The most painful emotions pass rapidly through his mind, and he sheds tears of regret as he thinks of those most dear to him. In the tumult of his thoughts he starts forward, and his foot is caught by some obstacle. He stoops to feel for it with his hand, and, to his great surprise and delight, he finds it to be the lost string. He seizes it with eagerness, and hastens to behold again the light of day; and so great is his joy, so deep are his emotions, that he feels as if he was gazing for the first time on the scenes of nature. Sous les remparts de Rome, et sous ses vastes plaines 1 Trampling over their bodies. 2 in my cottage. 3 and disturbs the conjugal felicity of my sister. 1 Qui, pendant deux mille ans, 1 creusés par les humains, Rome entière sortit de cet abîme immense. 3 Depuis, loin des regards et du fer 3 des tyrans, Et De notre antique foi vénérable berceau. 7 Un fil dans une main, et dans l'autre un flambeau, Ce palais de la nuit, cette sombre cité, 8 Ces temples où le Christ vit ses premiers fidèles, Il cherche, mais en vain : il s'égare, il se trouble; Il s'éloigne, il revient, et sa crainte redouble; 1 Excavated. 2 supplied the marble for. 3 out of the reach and of the sword. 4 during her infancy. 5 from the secrecy. 6 curious. 7 venerable cradle of our ancient faith. 8 in a remote corner he discovers a nook. Enfin, de route en route, et d'erreur en erreur, De sinistres pensers viennent glacer son cœur. En trois lustres 3 entiers voit à peine un mortel; 4 Et, pour comble d'effroi, dans cette nuit funeste, Il marche, il erre encor sous cette voûte sombre; Le flambeau ranimé se rallume à l'instant. Vain espoir! par le feu la cire consumée, 6 Par degrés s'abaissant sur la mèche enflammée, 8 1 In the depths of this obscure enclosure. 2 the sun... has been shining ten hours. 3 (an ancient computation of time measuring five years.) 4 and to increase his fright. 5 should exhaust its nourishment. 6 with agitated breath. 7 the wax consumed by the flame gradually exhausting itself. 8 and the overpowered nerves of his scorched fingers cannot hold it any longer. |