SAINT-AMANT 6g his pen, as the fusible matter which twists and curls at the breath of the glass-blower : he knew much of men and things." And Theophile Gautier, a com- petent judge in this matter, if ever there was one, writes : " Saint- Amant is assuredly a very great and very original poet, worthy to be named among the best of whom France can boast. His rhyme is ex- tremely rich, abundant, unexpected, and often beyond hope ; his rhythm is manifold {nombreux), ably sus- tained, and varied ; his style is very diversified, very picturesque, full of images, sometimes without taste, but always interesting and fresh." And again, in his sketch of Thdophile de Viau : " He seems to me, Regnier dead and Corneille not yet arrived, the most remarkable poet of this period. . . . Saint-Amant is the only one, in my opinion, who can advantageously compare with him ; but Saint-Amant also is a great poet, of a magnificent bad taste, and of a verve warm and luxuriant, who hides many jewels in his dung- heap; but he has not the elevation and the melan- choly of Theophile, balancing these with a grotesque and a rushing energy with which Theophile was not endowed. The one writes the poetry of a fat man, the other the poetry of a lean man : such is the differ- ence." After these testimonies I need say nothing myself as to Saint-Amant's real poetical merits, except that I would rather have ten pages of Saint-Amant than a hundred of Boileau ; and would rather read a hundred pages of Saint-Amant than ten of Boileau at any time, save when desperately in want of sleep. Let us glance at a few of the poems. The first, generally considered the best of the serious pieces, is said to date certainly anterior to 1624, and to have
