L. 3._Brazais._ André Chénier, at the time he wrote this epistle, was
serving as _cadet gentilhomme_ in a regiment of infantry quartered at
Strasbourg, and the Marquis de Brazais was a cavalry officer in the same
garrison. The piece, elegant and delicate as it is, is therefore to be
ranked among the poet's _juvenilia_.
L. 5. _Pandore._ The fable of Pandora's box is too well known to need
relating.
L. 6. _trésor de misère._ A Biblical expression. Cf. Prov. x. 2 and
Jas. v. 3. In the latter passage the French translation by de Saci
has: 'C'est là le _trésor de colère_ que vous amassez pour les derniers
jours,' where the English Bible has: 'Ye have heaped treasure together.'