Page:Biographical and critical studies by James Thomson ("B.V.").djvu/84

 68 BIOGRAPHICAL STUDIES III Philarete Chasles, preluding the series of essays of which that on our poet is the first, says : " The sacred battalion of the poets of caprice is about to defile before us, led by some great lords, accompanied by one or two female adventurers; it contains no more charming personage than the smoker, the snuff- taker, drinker, rake, vagabond, brave and vauntful personage, the good fat Saint-Amant {le bon gros Saint-Amant) — for he had the paunch ;^of Falstaff, as he had his wit. Payen, Megrin, Butte, Gilot, Desgranges, Dufour, Chasteaupers, all illustrious for having tippled with this great man, come after him, and are celebrated in his songs. The viveurs of good society, the Comte d'Harcourt, Retz-le-Bonhomme, De Gevres, De Tilly, Du Maurier, De Nerveze, Puy- laurens, form the main body; then the adventurous princesses, Christina of Sweden and Marie de Gon- zague, wandering stars whose rays illumine this troop of voluptuaries. It draws with it the Abbe de Marolles and the song-writer Faret, all the brothers in de- bauchery, chiefs or soldiers of the boisterous society which, from 1630 to 1650, alarmed and annoyed Louis XIV." But, while Saint-Amant's rank as the first of good fellows is thus acknowledged and confirmed, what of his rank as a poet? M. Chasles thus commences the essay : " This was a poet, alas ! and a poet lost for the future. He had genius {de resprit)^ a genius ardent and subtle : he versified with wonderful ability. The language of poetry was pliant and flexible under