L. 275. _Et sans que nul mortel._ _Nul_, though of itself a negative,
occurs after _sans_: 'Sans _nuls_ égards pour les petits.'--La Bruyère,
xiv. True it is that La Bruyère might have said, with Malherbe and La
Fontaine, '_sans point_ d'égards...,' which nobody would think of using
at the present day. 'Sans qu'_aucun_ mortel'--_aucun_=_aliquis unus_,
and so is no negative--would have been more logical, but harsh.
L. 282. By the device of concluding the long period with these three sad
syllables, the pathos of the statement is heightened.
L. 284. _a tombé._ _Tomber_, generally used with the auxiliary _être_,
also admits of the auxiliary _avoir_. Littré, _Dict._, s.v. 'Tomber,'
61°.
L. 287. _je ne revois._ The present used instead of the future tense
imparts more emphasis to the asseveration. See Ayer, p. 466.