Page:Aicard - Molière à Shakspeare, 1879.djvu/15

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Thou didst meet death with face erect, like a Roman soldier,
Mocking thy sufferings by a superhuman effort. —
… They are vanquished, all those at whom thou didst laugh, o genius !
And thy laughter, after thee, triumphs over Death !

What thou wast ever thy end reveals :
Thy heart bled under thy merry garment,
But, o indomitable heart, each new grief
Increased thy spirited mirth and the fire of thy eyes.

And both thy real griefs and undefined cares,
Thy despair in love, thy screams, thou didst repress them !…
Thus does the Latin Sea impose on its beautiful waves
Tideless rhythms between its Latin shores.

It teaches Love, Grace, Light ;
Homer and Phidias received its lessons…
Order, Calm, Clearness, — such is thy work, o Molière,
The image of a whole Race and a whole Art !