La note et le vers chez Voltaire

Voltaire wanted to allot different functions and domains to verse and prose, but the prose notes which accompany his poems reveal exchanges and even interpénétration or interference between the two. The prose notes, which are developed to the extent that they sometimes submerge the poem and weave parallel networks totally unrelated to it, are not only a necessary digression, an extension indispensable for its comprehension and interpretation, but become in addition an important space for Voltaire to express his philosophy. Thus the invasive system of prose notes, which is active even if it does not concern all of its readers, is a decisive factor in the dethroning of poetry in favour of prose in Voltaire's work. Prose, at first disdained for its facility and theoretical lack of elegance, manages finally, as a result of a progressive and inverse development, to replace poetry, which gradually loses its initial dominance and preeminence.Boucher Gwenaelle. La note et le vers chez Voltaire. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°34, 2002. Christianisme et Lumières, sous la direction de Sylviane Albertan-Coppola et Antony McKenna. pp. 497-509