New-York tribune., 1872-05-11
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.
PARIS GOSSIP.

IVRoM THB REGULAR CORRESPONDENT VT Inn ~ ~,
PARIS, April &.-To fully appreciate an - Ia
nsh poem IL is not enough for the Frehenn"n
pngiiss as vel az he does French he needs 10 trss
ns~,, to an Fnrlishman To eat Seville orange ="
-, or,.c,,or one must 90 10 Seville. VICTOR h"eo 70
French of the French. His AIMEE Ief7.O' a. h,b
been PRODUCED only by him, aud only ~ =, re ons
ho aedloates it, 1t could have been oorn % ~. ,,,
and the city OF his love only IN tnat ye'' u nv -
.rovan have been reading II, some persona' eNiN'
- ona svmnatbies helping out the mental tranelauon
ana tnust venture a rough reporters poueel ~
an octave OF 200 pages. IL Is maze up oivpOeD
au relating OF related in some way 70 '"o ''e
var or the succeeding civil war. These are oi"sSeu ~
u books or series designated by the names OF the os
from August Is1o to July, lS7i The lncioenVs ' "o
oethe hattles the hopes Criefs and material suner
iprs of the peope the bombardment and eaptuiat'oh
the potca events of February, then Inc commune u0
eopnagrations and fusilados, and the poets so"n
and sutIerings. These among the theues Vi uO,
eighty pOens The modes Of treatment In iorta aou ~
,nr are wonderfully varied. The writer feels ana aPo"
IN ,rrn IA all nassions but hates contempt Doraehng Oh
pity aHaHaes his bterest iDvectiVe' IerrOi' no'
ob,e Indignation great tender pity touching pahos'
and hy times sweet winning grace, are al uispiayou
Tbereare extrayagances of course sort OF oraorlc
eleapenee too often gets the better OF inc pOe' "
yerres upon grandioQuence His rare at'epls a' nuo,
are mostly unhappy and in one instanee-his PROVOKED
I'll, n 1rochusinks 10 lamentably bad pun Hes some
Tunes has the air OF believing that ne anu frahce arc
Two, his sublnity occasionally trips over MS VANITY
into the ridiculous when he compares himself 10 the
Christ ascending Calvary and TO the eagle tnat haoVuay
perehes on the summit Of Mont Bianc-"0H' Vi V0uS
no eagle Of common sense ever does.
ouon sense is not the poets strong point But that
Vision which saw from the beginning OF its setungu up
and through all the years when the cOmm0nsense Woru
found its brightness excellent that the Nap0eonlc image
stood on feet clay and wond be broken to pieces ana
become like chaf that John Browns gallowsree was
tbe sign by which right was TO conquer-was not that
strong too Now. as then the faith by which he sees
absolute. And mis- poetic powers have lalen OH soe
what from their earlier hight of performance, or the
rhange sated public have fallen OF from Dlm Nletor
Hugo with all his spots shines even in his setting with
radiant briiance and magndcence and vndicates the
title by which rising of light lately hailed him. Cnlei
Of Living Poets" His very vanity, AMIDST grotesque in
as ons is not ofensveto our little vaniues 1t
s saved by sincerity, and is in Sort unselsb, ex-
pressed in his only because he Is the personauon
tor the nonce certain highest sides and qualities OF
humanity Humanity, Christianity, in the best large, un-
technical sense the keynote, were, of these eighty
varied songs. Vengeance is nowhere preached. There
are notes OF anger but through all the scale OF wall,
indignation warning, and reproaeh Of satire, sarcasm'
invective, tone OF hate. competent critic says;
The Apn6e Terrible partakes Of the qualities OF the
Legende des Sitcles and the Chdtimen Tue controlling
sentiment an appeal to conciation. The book might
be resumed in this verse, borrowed from its pages:
Pe5soisa> n 'est eehaHts, e que dc NAL on JaH"
Passing from the general to the particular, | cannot
refrain from noting though foreiby restrained from re-
producing, striking feature Of the volume here and
mere. Americans viii naturally turn from the table Of
contents the poems indicated there by tie titles
Bancroft and lie lleSsdge de Grant Mr. Bancroft is
nly hardly treated because of that gushing letter Of
addressed to the German Chancellor cOngratulang
he German Emperor Oh his triumph over Republic
with which the American Government ON professedy
good terms. The letter not pleasant reading for
Ttrroc af1rrn1 at
patriotic Republican citizen Hugo should feel like
ratuitous insult 1t equally natural that the poet
should regard President Grants polite message as un-
Korthy the people inclined TO prOdigOus efforts Of the
and OF Penn Fulton and Franklin, of the grand Repub
&C. personatcn OF worlds daybreak" and invoke the
"specter OF John Brown TO loose thy ethal knot and
scouIge this with thy august cord.' All which is
tar more tOerabe In Victor Hugo's magnificent verse
han in this threadbare prose-verse which, in its high
rolling audaton of America at large and OF her great
Ons will make the most ehGnUst American II he read
through, overlook the little in the great and not
pardon. but thank Victor Hugo for having written it,
SO there the poem entitled Choice between the
Two Nations" II is in two parts Tie first, addressed
ITO Germany" begins: "NO nation is greater than that
and sings It's due praise through seventy lines, equally
remarkable grand historical review of her develop
ment and generous grateful appreciation Of the large
place she holds and the service she has rendered to the
civilized world IN the onward march OF our common hui
mamty The last line runs: Germany is puissant and
superb" The antlsrOphe addressed " To France is
this fragment of line co. my mother The exquisite
grace tenderness of the several pieces addressed
Petite Jeanne inspired into the loving heart Of the des
oated old by this sweet, unconscious muse-the In
fant child of his untimelydead Charles OF whom he
was so fatherly proud and who fally proud Of
him, beam mildly out from time TO time through the
Arin(e Terrible like the reside glow and household
lamps shining out at night on the Storm lighting up
patches Of the street. and comforting the wayfarer
Hugo is always and eminently artist and "roman-
tcst" values highly, perhaps trusts too much
his effects to the value of contrasts SO that, per
haps he justly accused of sacrificing harmony TO
almost brutal force OF breadth, recklessly raising his
lights and deepening his shades to effect
not presume speak critically TO that critical objection.
know that there a dozen two of poets who
free from this fault Of his At least their approving
critics assure they are cannot read them. They
tell that Hugo tricks INTO admiration quite
likely that he does Their exemplary models do not,
partly df not mainly because read them only In
mental translation Hugo has this advantage, for
foreigner over the lesser lights, that sometimes he
translates you by his re. Read, for example,
that eighth poem in the most terrible Commune month.
It'll entitled qi Ia Fae CWho is to blame and be-
gins with that quick familiarity OF the second person
singular which cannot be reproduced in English, by the
poets question TO the ConmunGrd "YOu have just set
fire 10 the Library =" "Yes, l kiDdled that"
But it is the last Of crimes! An infamous
crime committed by yourself, poor wretch, against
yourself" And with that the poet breaks out in
admirable TRADE Of co lines-a euOgy of books and
the writers Of books from Job and Homer TO Moere and
Milton such glorious setting forth OF their works and
worth soldiers and servants of thought whose service
is in the cause OF civilization and fatally always for the
emancipation from servitude 10 mere material force,
class prejudice unjust preponderance OF all kinds No
other eulogy comprebensively fine and Impressive
has been written. The last three lines may be roughly