532
PARTISAN REVIEW
Melmoth through Polidor's Vampire and Hugo's Han d' Islande
to Sue's Wandering Jew. Maldoror himself is not always sure of his
own condition. This uncertainty heightens his Byronic urge to be
different from human beings.
From the ambivalence of this uncertainty LautnSamont derives
some of his most grotesque comedy, comedy which characteristically
concludes with the chastening recognition that Maldoror is indeed
human. See for instance Maldoror's long address to the sea-per–
haps the most polished and controlled single episode of the book–
in which his impulse toward the super- or sub-human is confronted
with this recognition of his human condition. The episode consists
of a declamation divided into ten sections, each of which is con–
cluded with the refrain
((Ie te salue, vieil ocean!"
The whole is
prefaced by an injunction to the reader who, being human, will
probably prove too weak and too excitable to enjoy it anyway.
Ie me propose, sans eire emu, de declamer
a
grande voix la strophe
serieuse et fro ide que vous aUez entendre. V ous, faites attention
a
ce
qu'eUe ne manquera pas de laisser, comme· une fzetrissure, dans vos
imaginations troublCes.
...
Il n'y a pas longtemps que j'ai revu la mer
et fouie Ie pont des vaisseaux, et mes souvenirs sont vivaces comme si
je l'avais quittee la veille. Soyez neanmoins, si vous Ie pouvez, aussi
calmes que moi, dans cette lecture que je me repens deja de vous ottrir,
et ne rougissez pas
a
la pensle de ce qu'esi Ie coeur humain.
1
Beneath the cold formality of a passage like this one lies a faint
reminiscence of French classical tragedy. But basically the passage
evokes the classical declamation only to parody it, and there is a
buffoonishness about Maldoror's pose which qualifies, but never de–
stroys, the significance of what follows. In particular the pose of
disdainful condescension to the human-and therefore inferior–
reader, announces the sardonic comedy which is to underly the
1 I propose to proclaim in a loud voice and without emotion the cold
and grave chant that you are about to hear. Consider carefully what it contains
and guard yourself against the painful impression it cannot fail to leave like
a blight upon your troubled imaginings ... Not long ago I saw the sea once
again and trod upon the bridges of ships; my memories of it are as lively as
if
it had all happened yesterday.
If
you are able, however, be as calm as I
am as you read what is to follow (for already I regret offering it to you) and
do not blush for the human heart.
(Tra.nslations
by
Guy Wernham, from the
New Directions edition.)
