Ll. 1-8. Shakespeare, _I Henry IV._ iii. l. 214-222. That Chénier
was sensible to the magic of this passage argues that, in spite of
prejudices, he would recognize beauty wherever he found it.
L. 11. _Car le_... Becq de Fouquières conjectures that the poet would
have written 'car le _bel Endymion_...,' or rather 'car le _dieu
d'amour_...,' but was prevented by the metre.
L. 13. The song at the beginning of the fourth act of _Measure for
Measure_ gave Chénier the idea of these lines.