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1These Golden Verses, so remarkable for their moralelevation, present the most beautiful monument of antiqxiity raised in honour of Wisdom. They formed the credo of the adepts and initiates. In his recondite Examinations, Fabre d'Olivet has drawn the metaphysical correlation of Providence, Destiny, and the Will of Man, in which combined action Destiny reigns over the past, the Will of Man over the future, and Providence over the present, which, always existing, may be called Eternal. One will find this given at greater length in his Hermeneutic Interpretation of the Origin of the Social State of Man and the Destiny of the Adamic Race: admirable work of this little known theosophist, "to give him the name he loved best to hold," says Pierre Leroux in De VHumanitS. The inequality of human conditions, upon which depend the social and political questions, forms one of the vital subjects of these esoteric teachings. He has also endeavTranslator's Foreword vii oured to explain the true opinion of Pythagoras concerning metempsychosis which was his sacred dogma, and said that the dogma of transmigration of souls, received by all peoples and revealed in the ancient mysteries, has been absolutely disfigured in what the modems have called metempsychosis. His strange death, which occurred March 25, 1825, is mentioned by des Essarts in Les Hiirophantes, and other authorities including Pierre Leroux, have asserted that he died at the foot of his altar. NayAn Louise Redfield. Hartford, Conn., October, 1916. The Golden Verses of Pythagoras DISCOURSE UPON THE ESSENCE AND FORM OF POETRY DISCOURSE UPON THE ESSENCE AND FORM OP POETRY* Messieurs:
2Before publishing the translation of the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, such as I have made it, in French verse which I have designated by the expression eumolpique,^ I would have liked to be able to submit it to you and thus be enlightened by your counsels or sustained by your approbation; but academic laws and usages, whose justice I have felt, have prevented my enjoying this advantage. The innovation, however, which I have endeavoured to make in French poetry and the new explanation which I have tried to give of one of the most celebrated pieces of Greek poetry, have seemed to me to hold too closely to your labours and to enter too deeply into your literary provinces, for me to believe myself able to dispense with calling your attention to them. I crave your indulgence, if in the demonstration of a just deference to your judgment I involuntarily neglect certain formalities; and I beg you to judge the purity of my intentions. I claim not to be a poet; I had even long ago renounced the art of verse, but notwithstanding that, I am now presenting myself in the poetic career to solicit the hazardous success of an innovation! Is it the love of glory which inspires in me this temerity, which dazzles me today as * Address^ h la Classe de la Langue et de la Litt^rature frangaises, et k celle d'Histoire et de Littdrature ancienne de I'lnstitut imperial de Prance. ' This expression will be explained in the progress of the discourse. 6 The Golden Verses of Pythagoras
3my autumn advances, whereas it was unable to move me when the effervescence of my springtime ought to have doubled its strength? No: however flattering the wreaths that you award to talent, they would not concern me; and if an interest, as new as powerful, had not induced me to address you, I would keep silent. This interest. Messieurs, is that which science itself inspires in me, and the desire, perhaps inconsiderate but commendable, of co-operating with my limited ability for the development of a language whose literary and moral influence, emerging from the bourns of Europe and the present century, ought to invade the world and become universal like the renown of the hero who extends his conquests with those of the empire whose foundations he has laid.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1These Golden Verses, so remarkable for their moralelevation, present the most beautiful monument of antiqxiity raised in honour of Wisdom. They formed the credo of the adepts and initiates. In his recondite Examinations, Fabre d'Olivet has drawn the metaphysical correlation of Providence, Destiny, and the Will of Man, in which combined action Destiny reigns over the past, the Will of Man over the future, and Providence over the present, which, always existing, may be called Eternal. One will find this given at greater length in his Hermeneutic Interpretation of the Origin of the Social State of Man and the Destiny of the Adamic Race: admirable work of this little known theosophist, "to give him the name he loved best to hold," says Pierre Leroux in De VHumanitS. The inequality of human conditions, upon which depend the social and political questions, forms one of the vital subjects of these esoteric teachings. He has also endeavTranslator's Foreword vii oured to explain the true opinion of Pythagoras concerning metempsychosis which was his sacred dogma, and said that the dogma of transmigration of souls, received by all peoples and revealed in the ancient mysteries, has been absolutely disfigured in what the modems have called metempsychosis. His strange death, which occurred March 25, 1825, is mentioned by des Essarts in Les Hiirophantes, and other authorities including Pierre Leroux, have asserted that he died at the foot of his altar. NayAn Louise Redfield. Hartford, Conn., October, 1916. The Golden Verses of Pythagoras DISCOURSE UPON THE ESSENCE AND FORM OF POETRY DISCOURSE UPON THE ESSENCE AND FORM OP POETRY* Messieurs:
2Before publishing the translation of the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, such as I have made it, in French verse which I have designated by the expression eumolpique,^ I would have liked to be able to submit it to you and thus be enlightened by your counsels or sustained by your approbation; but academic laws and usages, whose justice I have felt, have prevented my enjoying this advantage. The innovation, however, which I have endeavoured to make in French poetry and the new explanation which I have tried to give of one of the most celebrated pieces of Greek poetry, have seemed to me to hold too closely to your labours and to enter too deeply into your literary provinces, for me to believe myself able to dispense with calling your attention to them. I crave your indulgence, if in the demonstration of a just deference to your judgment I involuntarily neglect certain formalities; and I beg you to judge the purity of my intentions. I claim not to be a poet; I had even long ago renounced the art of verse, but notwithstanding that, I am now presenting myself in the poetic career to solicit the hazardous success of an innovation! Is it the love of glory which inspires in me this temerity, which dazzles me today as * Address^ h la Classe de la Langue et de la Litt^rature frangaises, et k celle d'Histoire et de Littdrature ancienne de I'lnstitut imperial de Prance. ' This expression will be explained in the progress of the discourse. 6 The Golden Verses of Pythagoras
3my autumn advances, whereas it was unable to move me when the effervescence of my springtime ought to have doubled its strength? No: however flattering the wreaths that you award to talent, they would not concern me; and if an interest, as new as powerful, had not induced me to address you, I would keep silent. This interest. Messieurs, is that which science itself inspires in me, and the desire, perhaps inconsiderate but commendable, of co-operating with my limited ability for the development of a language whose literary and moral influence, emerging from the bourns of Europe and the present century, ought to invade the world and become universal like the renown of the hero who extends his conquests with those of the empire whose foundations he has laid.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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