If the law of the Universe is really the sardonic law Plus ça change plus c’est la même chose [footnote: Karr, Alphonse: Les Guêpes, January 1849.], no wonder that the poet [Shelley in Hellas] cries for the Buddhist release from a Wheel of Existence which may be a thing of beauty so long as it is merely guiding the stars in their courses, but which is an intolerable tread-mill for our human feet.
Karr published the satirical journal Les Guêpes (The Wasps) from 1839 to 1849.
A Study of History, Vol IV, OUP, 1939
January 4 2010 at 9:16 am
Karr’s short story Les Willis was the basis of Puccini’s first opera, Le Villi.