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Saint-Evremond to Ninon
de l’Enclos:
Your life, my well beloved,
has been too illustrious not to be lived in the same manner until
the end. Do not permit M. de la Rochefoucauld’s “hell” to
frighten you; it was a devised hell he desired to construct into
a maxim. Pronounce the word “love” boldly, and that of “old
age” will never pass your lips.
There is so much spirit
in your letters, that you do not leave me even to imagine a decline
of life in you. What ingratitude to be ashamed to mention
love, to which we owe all our merit, all our pleasures! For,
my lovely keeper of the casket, the reputation of your probity is
established particularly upon the fact that you have resisted lovers,
who would willingly have made free with the money of their friends.
Confess all your passions
to make your virtues of greater worth; however, you do not expose
but the one‑half of your character; there is nothing better
than what regards your friends, nothing more unsatisfactory than
what you have bestowed upon your lovers.
In a few verses, I will
draw your entire character. Here they are, giving you the
qualities you now have, and those you have had:
Dans vos amours on
vous trouvait legère,
En amitié toujours sure
et sincère;
Pour vos amants, les
humeurs de Vénus,
Pour vos arms les solides
vertus:
Quand les premiers vous
nommaient infidèle,
Et qu’asservis encore
à votre loi,
Ils reprochaient une
flamme nouvelle,
Les autres se louaient
de votre bonne foi.
Tantôt c’était le naturel
d’ Hélène,
Ses appétits comme tous
ses appas;
Tantôt c’était la probité
romaine?
C’était d’honneur la
règle et le compas.
Dans un couvent en soeur
dépositaire,
Vous auriez bien ménagé
quelque affaire,
Et dans le monde à garder
les dépôts,
On vous eût justement
préférée aux dévots.
(In your love affairs
you were never severe,
But your friendship was
always sure and sincere;
The humors of Venus for
those who desired,
For your friends, in your
heart, solid virtues conspired;
When the first, infidelity
laid at your door,
Though not yet exempt
from the law of your will,
And every new flame never
failed to deplore,
The others rejoiced that
you trusted them still.
Ingenuous Helen was sometimes
your rôle,
With her appetites, charms,
and all else beside;
Sometimes Roman probity
wielded your soul,
In honor becoming your
rule and your guide.
And though in a convent
as guardian nun,
You might have well managed
some sprightly fun,
In the world, as a keeper
of treasures untold,
Preferred you would be
to a lamb of the fold.)
Here is a little variety,
which I trust will not surprise you:
L’indulgente et sage
Nature
A formé l’âme de Ninon
De la volupté d’Epicure
Et de la vertu de Caton.
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