Page:Romain Rolland Handel.djvu/56

48 on the cards that he should pass through Paris. Handel had familiarised himself with the French language. He showed, as it happened, a singular attraction for the most beautiful subjects of our French tragedy. With his prodigious adaptability, and his Latin qualities, the clarity of his lines, his eloquence, logic, and his passionate love for form, he would have rejoiced exceedingly in assimilating the tradition of our art, and taking it up with an irresistible vigour. But at Venice, whilst he was still hesitating what to do, he encountered the