The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-20 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Rayons et Rejlets : par le Chevalier de Chate-
lam. One vol., pp. 419. Rolandi.

The Chevalier de Chatelain believes with Vol-
taira that, " he renders a service to his country
who translates into its language the beauties of
another tongue;" and animated with this belief, he
has already translated with a graceful facility and
a conscientious care, to which we have again and
again had occasion to pay tribute, some of the chief
beauties of English poetry. The book before us has
evidently been a labour of love. M. de Chatelain tells
us, in the introduction to this volume, that he feels
an especial admiration for our English poets :
" Parce qu'a man avis, ils out beaucoup de jeunesse
dans la penCee, aussi beaucoup de profondeur, et
de plus une naïveté toujours charmante." As an
evidence of this admiration, he has here presented
to his countrymen a charming collection of the
" Rayons " and "Reflets " of English verse.
In this collection are translations from Burns and
Campbell—" The Mountain Daisy" and " The
Battle of Hohenlinden," Lord Byron's " Epitaph
on a dog," Oliver Goldsmith's "Deserted Village,"
Chatterton's " Resignation," Coleridge's "Gene-
vieve," and many others of equal celebrity, together
with a very copious selection from the works of our
modern poets. In turning over these diversified
pages we are fairly bewildered by the wonderful
ease end facility displayed by the translator, and
the versatility with which he adapts himself to
every variety of style and subject—
" From grave to gay, from lively to severe."
As a happy specimen we quote some stanzas from
the graceful translation of Mrs. Browning's " Wis-
dom Misapplied—"

LA SAGESSE MAL AITLIQUEE.
0 Papillon si j'etais toi
Que j'eusse puissance de Rol
Sur I'odorante flour qui nait ou meure sous moi,—

.N'arreterais certes mon aile
Sur une fleur qui nest que belle
Mon amour serait pour la pensee immortelle.

Da me Abeille si comme toi
PouTais creuser dans la paroi
Des roses tout l'or-miel qui rends de bon aloi,

Aupr4s de I'homme, chose Ore,
N'irais point placer d'aventura
Les excellents produits do ma manufacture.

O fier aigie si j'ecais toi
Que pulse mettre en dessaroi
Le tonnerre et I'eclair, et leur jeter l'effroi,

Ne batirais certes mon airs
Sur le pinnsalle d'une calcaire
Que I'orage une nuit peut reduire en poussii:re.

Ja parlais, je parlais, j'allais parler toujours
Quand sur mon front sentis quelque chose d'etrange,
El s'arreta soudain mon orgueilleux discours
El puis il me sembla que j'entendais un Ange.
L'Ange me dit : Si j'etais toi
De mon temps ferais l'emploi,
Wa critiquer de Dieu les oeuvres et la loi;
Ne gaspillerais pas mes peines
A poursuivre des ombres vaines
A vouloir reformer de Dien lea phenomenes.

Je ne rougerais pas mon frein
Comore toi pour un soin mondain
Mais vers Dieu je prendrais un elan surhumain.

Repudierais ce monde infame
Pour le ciel je ceindrais mon awe,
Pour la vie immortelle et sa celeste flamme,

De chanter done his toi l'octroi,
Beau chanteur I mais apprends de moi
Quo We, mouche, oiseau soot plus sages que toi I
This extract will give some evidence of M. de Cha.
telain's charming style of versification ; but his
singular aptitude as a translator can only be appre-
ciated by a glance through the varied contents of the
volume itself.

Adrian "'Estrange or, Moulded out of Faults.
One vol., pp. 319. Smith, Elder, and Co.
" They say, best men are moulded out of faults,"
is the motto of this story, but assuredly Adrian
L'Estranee is a very unsatisfactory specimen of the
class. He is of a weak and vacillating character,
like the son of the Patriarch of old—" Reuben,
unstable as water, thou shalt not excel." He is first
devotedly in love with Lilian Davenport, the
daughter of a fraudulent speculator who is in
concealment abroad. Then, through the machina-
tions of one Darcy Pierrepoint, the villain of the
story, he is led to believe her faithless, and he en-
gages himself to Catherine Vernon, a very charm-
ing heroine, whose character is delicately drawn.
A. few days before the marriage, he meets
with Lilian's sister and learns the details of a story
of the highly sensational cast, of which madness
and poisoning form conspicuous parts. He leaves
his betrothed bride and hastens to seek his deserted
Lilian in a lovely town in the North, and that epi-
sode of his cateer closes with a scene of true melo-
dramatic character, which affords as much scope
for tragic scenic effect as the " Colleen Bawn," or
"Peep o' Day." The future fortuneeof Adrian are
worthy of one who has passed through such a catas-
trophe. He travels for health and diversion of mind,
takes part in the relief of Lucknow, and then, by a
probable sequence of events, is wounded in the
battle of Solferino! It is to be regretted that the
author of this work, whose discrimination of
character is clever, and whose descriptions are
many of them happily and tenderly drawn, should
have sought materials for interest of such a startling
and improbable character. The heroine's Lilian
and Catherine are beautifully sketched; so is Rachel
Desborough ; while the cousins Lucy Eustace and
Laura Medway area gracefully contrasted pair.
We do not see much of Lord Medway, but we hear
quite enough to make us glad to escape from his
society. In the occasional comments respecting
him, the peculiarities of his disagreeable, but not
uncommon, character are cleverly hinted at. Darcy
Pierrepoint, the evil genius of the tale, is somewhat
overdrawn. The scene in which he learns from
Adrian's father the history of his son's love for
Lilian, and surprises from the mercenary General
the secret of the Devonport's hiding place, is well
described.