The Romance of Biography (Vol 2 of 2)

myrtle,-still it is not always true. It is not, happily, a necessary condition, that a passion, to be constant, must be unfortunat

lips of common-place scoffers. But of matrimonial poetics, in a far different style, we have instances sufficient to put to shame such heartless raillery; that there are not more,

s. It is a species of vain-glory to boast of a possession; but we may exult, unreproved, in the virtues of him who disposes of our fate. O

han the gallant Ovid himself. One of the epistles, written during his banishment to Pontus, is addressed to his wife P

young I left wh

woes art hap

that such I may

heek, with dear l

nished person

as thinned this

or sympathy and consolation, into the arms of a tender and amiable wife; and this, after spending his life and talents in deluding the tenderness

; but fainting away in the midst of her sufferings, Seneca commanded her wounds to be bound up, and conjured her to live. She lived therefore; but excessive weakness and loss of blood gave her, during the short remainder of her life, that spectra

ve been the original after whom he drew his beautiful portrait of Cornelia, the wife of Pompey. Lucan had left the manuscript of the Pharsalia in an imperfect state; and his wife, who had been in its progress his amanuensis, his counsellor and confidant, and therefore best knew his wishes and intentions, un

ertain Latin poetess Sulpicia, who celebrated her husband Calenas: and the poet Ausonius co

ng, the heroines of classical poetry and history are not much to my taste; in their best virtues they were a little masculi

ould scarce look for high poetic excellence inspired by conjugal tenderness. It is that of a Frenchwoman of high rank, in the

e of sixteen she married the Chevalier de Surville, then, like herself, in the bloom of youth, and to whom she was passionately attached. In those days, no man of noble blood, who had a feeling for the misery of his country, or a hearth and home to defend, could avoid taking an active part in the scenes of barbarous strife around him; and De Surville, shortly after his marriage, followed his heroic sovereign, Charles the Seventh, to the field. During his absence, his wife addressed to him the most beautif

eux ma mi

of youthful feeling which breathe through the poetry of Clotilde. The antique simplicity of the old French lends it such an additional ch

s dated in 1422, she could not have been more than seventeen when it was written. T

ien ami, douce

, salut, re

eplorée et de

a nuit, te red

cours tu? Loin d

s, entrainent

e, hèlas! s'en c

temps ne te

d woman, to whom her husband's honour was dear as his life, she calls on him to perform all that his duty as a brave knight, and his loyalty to his sovereign require. She reminds him, with enthusiasm, of the motto of Fren

d'où vient qu'org

r! toi, l'en

es soucis à ce

, est permis q

ls him how she again and again visits the scenes endeared by the remembrance of their mutual happiness. T

ai re?u sa de

os, soudain,

rmeil, cerclé

ps jà[20] courro

nglots suffoque

ux roulent tor

...*..

écartant ces c

?ant au plus

ignols aux amo

ras, mon am

échappant de t

ls, qui me fon

mème instant qu

, suis prête

ent taste, she bursts into an eloquent invective against the English invaders[22] and th

is-moi, ton si du

urrai face

ment à mon frém

oi, n'en puis

udes with thi

ton roi, ne me

qu'ignore où

souci, de cal

is-que t'en so

he first placed her infant in his father's arms, suggested the verses she has entitled "Ballad

this little ballad h

ux pour avoi

st qu'autant q

ys the

oux ne fait t

r, she will console herself in his absence,

! si Mars et

naient ta Clo

er en son pe

ferai tout

st qu'autant q

ost charming light, I must notice one more for its tender and heartfelt beauty. It is entitled "B

et, vrai portra

ein que ta bo

s, ami, sur le

let, par le s

etit! que ta p

l que plus n'es

te voir, te nou

doux ne veill

ng him asle

fleuri des coul

ous dans les b

njured up, she breaks forth into a pass

fant! j'en frém

! chasse un

ur un moment-ah

n, rends-moi t

ormait .... c'est

, flattez son

celui pour qui

tés jouir d

...*..

i celui dont

ux, le plus b

voir ta mère, a

s lui tes inn

uisant à ta pr

sers com' t'

toi seul, d'épui

de en garde

poem, was written an additional stanza, in

. son air ... voilà

l, et roses d

ébahir? autre qu

is éclore d

rom the heart of the writer, and it comes home to the heart of the reader, filling it with sweetness.-Am I wrong in supposing that the occasion

to draw the veil of death and

orld? what ask

love-now in h

outen any c

ht under the banner of Joan of Arc.[26] He was a gallant and a loyal knight; so were hundreds of others who then strewed the desolated fields of France: an

Margaret of Scotland, the first wife of Louis the Eleventh; and that accomplished patroness of poetry and poets wrote her an invitation to attend her at court, which Clotilde modestly declined. The Queen then sent her, as a token of her admiration and friendship, a wreath of laurel, surmounted with a bouquet of daisies, (Marguèrites, in allusion to the name of both,) the leaves of which were wrought in silver and the flowers in gold, with this inscription: "Marguèrite d'Ecosse à Marguè

TNO

ton's S

Que

e old French ja i

pendant (the

them "the Vultu

sant, sé

Frémi

Cha

9, leaving his widow in

ave become scarce. Her Po?sies consist of pastorals, ballads, songs, epistles, and the fragment of an epic poem, of which the MS. is lost. Of her merit there is but one opinion