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Molière
Excerpt from Moliere: A Biography
In writing this biography the aim has been to tell the story of Moliere's life for English readers. With this in view, I have translated all the quoted passages, whether in prose or verse, using English heroic measure for the excerpts from Moliere's versified plays. The French classic form is the Alexandrine rhymed couplet, a metre ill according with the genius of our language; hence it has seemed wiser to employ the blank verse measure of our own dramatic poetry rather than to attempt a rendering of Moliere's rhymed hexameters in English. Manifestly it is impossible for such translations to retain the melodious rhythm of the original. My sole aim has been to suggest rather than convey the charm of Moliere's imagery, and to embody the spirit rather than the letter of his verse. The student may find in the Appendix the quoted poetical passages in the original French.
As the intention has been to interpret Moliere's life by his plays and his plays by his life, rather than to write an exhaustive criticism of his dramatic works, in the chapters devoted to the comedies more attention has been given to those concerned with his life than to pieces written mainly for stage purposes or to adorn some court festivity.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."
In writing this biography the aim has been to tell the story of Moliere's life for English readers. With this in view, I have translated all the quoted passages, whether in prose or verse, using English heroic measure for the excerpts from Moliere's versified plays. The French classic form is the Alexandrine rhymed couplet, a metre ill according with the genius of our language; hence it has seemed wiser to employ the blank verse measure of our own dramatic poetry rather than to attempt a rendering of Moliere's rhymed hexameters in English. Manifestly it is impossible for such translations to retain the melodious rhythm of the original. My sole aim has been to suggest rather than convey the charm of Moliere's imagery, and to embody the spirit rather than the letter of his verse. The student may find in the Appendix the quoted poetical passages in the original French.
As the intention has been to interpret Moliere's life by his plays and his plays by his life, rather than to write an exhaustive criticism of his dramatic works, in the chapters devoted to the comedies more attention has been given to those concerned with his life than to pieces written mainly for stage purposes or to adorn some court festivity.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."
493 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1906
About the author
Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor
17 books1 followerAlso credited as "H.C. Chatfield-Taylor".
1865-1945
1865-1945
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 29, 2023
The formatting of the book does make it hard to read at times. I was able to look past the formatting to understand parts about Moliere and his plays. At times the author seems to wish he was a poet too instead of just telling the facts of Moliere's life. There were also issues with chronological story telling, such as Moliere's death would be mentioned and then another of his plays would be talked about and all is good and then it is back to him being unwell. I did gather that Moliere was a hard worker and put his all into is work and cared about those around him.
September 8, 2019
Poorly formatted
This book was poorly formatted and did not link to other parts in the index. As a result, confusing to read.
This book was poorly formatted and did not link to other parts in the index. As a result, confusing to read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews