Charles Baudelaire Théophile Gautier
Il y a dans le mot, dans le verbe, quelque chose de sacré qui nous défend d'en faire un jeu de hasard. Manier savamment une langue, c'est pratiquer une espèce de sorcellerie évocatoire. <br class="br">XIV: "Théophile Gautier" http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9ophile_Gautier_%28L%E2%80%99Art_romantique%29, as translated in The Idea of Poetry in France : From Houdar de La Motte to Baudelaire (1958) by Margaret Gilman, p. 263 <br class="br">Variant translations: <br class="br">There exists in the word, in the verb, something sacred which prohibits us from viewing it as a mere game of chance. To manipulate language with wisdom is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery. <br class="br">As quoted in Poetry of Grammar and Grammar of Poetry (1981) by Walter de Gruyter <br class="br">There is in a word, in a verb, something sacred which forbids us from using it recklessly. To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery. <br class="br">There is in a word, in a verb, something sacred which forbids us from using it recklessly. To handle a language cunningly is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery. <br class="br">L'art romantique (1869)
