CANTO I.

2

“Would you form this guilty bond?”
“— No, to obey then would be a crime. Olfide suggests that following her uncle's command to marry Rénisthal would be a moral or spiritual transgression, likely because her heart—and perhaps her secret faith—belongs elsewhere.
— Approve then of a legitimate love,
And leave me with consoling hope.
— If I become the mistress of my own fate,
Jule, it is you whom my heart shall choose.
— That word is enough; certain of your affection...”
“— Already the jealous Rénisthal returns.
— He wishes to be happy without pleasing; what a rival! A critique of the suitor who relies on family arrangement and social power rather than winning the lady's genuine affection.
— I would fear everything if he saw us together;
Go now. — I obey, but let him tremble!”
Within the forest, the piercing sound of horns
Animates the efforts of twenty hunters.
Upon the bellowing and terrible bull In Romantic literature, the wild bull hunt serves as a display of aristocratic bravery and a metaphor for untamed nature or the violence of war.
Rain the darts, the lances, and the spears. spears: the original "épieux" refers to heavy, specialized hunting spears used for large, dangerous game.
He gives way, he flees, returns more furious,
More threatened, but ever invincible.
He flees again under the renewing arrows.
Before his far-echoing steps,
The inhabitants of the stirred woods scatter; The original French "peuple" (people) is a poetic way of describing the wildlife of the forest fleeing from the hunt.
His brow parts or breaks the branches;
Into the torrent he falls, crossing through it,