Cheville
In French literature, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, the term Cheville denoted a frowned-upon filler word which neither added meaning nor euphony and was therefore viewed as superfluous and incorrect.
It appears within a verse for metrical reasons, when it is sent out of confusion about the appropriate rhyme. François de Malherbe , himself not free from this mistake, nonetheless criticizes him relentlessly to Philippe Desportes ( Commentaire sur Desportes , 1st third of the 17th century, research has not yet been able to date it more precisely). It can also be traced back to Corneille , Racine and Molière , but the context and contemporary linguistic usage must always be carefully examined before being convicted. Voltaire refers to this in the expression "Le bonheur sans pareil ..." (German: happiness without equal) by Corneille, who was not as ridiculous then as it is today, in the 18th century; but:
"Ce fut Boileau qui proscrivit toutes ces expressions communes de sans pareil, sans seconde, à nul autre pareille, à nul autre seconde "
"It was Boileau who banned all these platitudes beyond compare, unique "
Voltaire also cites the following example of a cheville:
"V. 91 Il se vengeroit même à la face des dieux. A la face des dieux , est ce qu'on appelle une cheville; il ne s'agit point ici de dieux et d'autels. Ces malheureux hémistiches qui ne disent rien, parce-qu'ils semblent en trop dire, n'ont été que trop souvent imités "
“He would take revenge even in the face of the gods. In the face of the gods one calls a cheville; these are not gods and altars at all. These unfortunate half-verses, which say nothing because they seem to talk too much about it, have all too often been imitated) (ibid., Vol. II, p. 354). "
A changed evaluation of the Cheville took place since the romantic era. According to Théodore de Banville , it is just as inevitable as it is irrelevant, because it depends solely on the power of thought and its adequate expression through image chains and sound values, as the example of Victor Hugo shows (pp. 54 f., 73-76).
literature
- Voltaire : Commentaire on Corneille I, II . In: œuvres . ed.Beuchot, Vol. 35 and 36, Paris 1829.
- Théodore de Banville : Petit traité de poésie française . 2nd Edition. G. Charpentier, Paris 1872.
- Maurice Souriau: L'Évolution du vers français au dix-septième siècle . Hachette, Paris 1893, pp. 69-71, 172-175, 312-316, 385.