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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17293-0.txt b/17293-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d2301f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/17293-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6272 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Frédéric Mistral, by Charles Alfred Downer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Frédéric Mistral + Poet and Leader in Provence + +Author: Charles Alfred Downer + +Release Date: December 12, 2005 [EBook #17293] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Taavi +Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL] + + +Columbia University + +_STUDIES IN ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LITERATURE_ + + +FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL + +POET AND LEADER IN PROVENCE + +BY + +CHARLES ALFRED DOWNER + +ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE COLLEGE +OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK + + +NEW YORK +THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, AGENTS +66 FIFTH AVENUE +1901 + +_All rights reserved_ + + +COPYRIGHT, 1901, +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + +Norwood Press +J.S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith +Norwood Mass. U.S.A. + + + + +PREFACE + + +This study of the poetry and life-work of the leader of the modern +Provençal renaissance was submitted in partial fulfilment of the +requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Columbia +University. My interest in Mistral was first awakened by an article from +the pen of the great Romance philologist, Gaston Paris, which appeared +in the _Revue de Paris_ in October, 1894. The idea of writing the book +came to me during a visit to Provence in 1897. Two years later I visited +the south of France again, and had the pleasure of seeing Mistral in his +own home. It is my pleasant duty to express here once again my gratitude +for his kindly hospitality and for his suggestions in regard to works +upon the history of the Félibrige. Not often does he who studies the +works of a poet in a foreign tongue enjoy as I did the privilege of +hearing the verse from the poet's own lips. It was an hour not to be +forgotten, and the beauty of the language has been for me since then as +real as that of music finely rendered, and the force of the poet's +personality was impressed upon me as it scarcely could have been even +from a most sympathetic and searching perusal of his works. His great +influence in southern France and his great personal popularity are not +difficult to understand when one has seen the man. + +As the striking fact in the works of this Frenchman is that they are not +written in French, but in Provençal, a considerable portion of the +present essay is devoted to the language itself. But it did not appear +fitting that too much space should be devoted to the purely linguistic +side of the subject. There is a field here for a great deal of special +study, and the results of such investigations will be embodied in +special works by those who make philological studies their special +province. In the first division of the present work, however, along with +the life of the poet and the history of the Félibrige, a description of +the language is given, which is an account at least of its distinctive +features. A short chapter will be found devoted to the subject of the +versification of the poets who write in the new speech. This subject is +not treated in Koschwitz's admirable grammar of the language. + +The second division is devoted to the poems. The epics of Mistral, if we +may venture to use the term, are, with the exception of Lamartine's +_Jocelyn_, the most remarkable long narrative poems that have been +produced in France in modern times. At least one of them would appear to +be a work of the highest rank and destined to live. Among the short +poems that constitute the volume called _Lis Isclo d'Or_ are a number of +masterpieces. + +This book aims to present all the essential facts in the history of this +astonishing revival of a language, and to bring out the chief aspects of +Mistral's life-work. In our conclusions we have not yielded to the +temptation to prophesy. The conflicting tendencies of cosmopolitanism +and nationalism abroad in the world to-day give rise to fascinating +speculations as to the future. In the Felibrean movement we have a very +interesting problem of this kind, and no one can terminate a study of +the subject without asking himself the question, "What is going to come +out of it all?" No one can tell, and so we have not ventured beyond the +attempt to present the case as it actually exists. + +Let me here also offer an expression of gratitude to Professor Adolphe +Cohn and to Professor Henry A. Todd of Columbia University for their +advice and guidance during the past six years. Their kindness and the +inspiration of their example must be reckoned among those things that +cannot be repaid. + +NEW YORK, March, 1901. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PART FIRST + + THE REVIVAL OF THE PROVEÇAL LANGUAGE + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. Introduction. Life of Mistral 3 + II. The Félibrige 24 + III. The Modern Provençal, or, more accurately, + The Language of the Félibres 43 + IV. The Versification of the Félibres 75 + V. Mistral's Dictionary of the Provençal Language. + (Lou Tresor dóu Félibrige) 92 + + + PART SECOND + + THE POETICAL WORKS OF MISTRAL + + I. The Four Longer Poems 99 + 1. Mirèio 99 + 2. Calendau 127 + 3. Nerto 151 + 4. Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose 159 + II. Lis Isclo d'Or 181 + III. The Tragedy, La Rèino Jano 212 + + + PART THIRD + + CONCLUSIONS 237 + + + APPENDIX. Translation of the Psalm of Penitence 253 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 259 + + INDEX 265 + + + + +PART FIRST + + +THE REVIVAL OF THE PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION + + +The present century has witnessed a remarkable literary phenomenon in +the south of France, a remarkable rebirth of local patriotism. A +language has been born again, so to speak, and once more, after a sleep +of many hundred years, the sunny land that was the cradle of modern +literature, offers us a new efflorescence of poetry, embodied in the +musical tongue that never has ceased to be spoken on the soil where the +Troubadours sang of love. Those who began this movement knew not whither +they were tending. From small beginnings, out of a kindly desire to give +the humbler folk a simple, homely literature in the language of their +firesides, there grew a higher ambition. The Provençal language put +forth claims to exist coequally with the French tongue on French soil. +Memories of the former glories of the southern regions of France began +to stir within the hearts of the modern poets and leaders. They began to +chafe under the strong political and intellectual centralization that +prevails in France, and to seek to bring about a change. The movement +has passed through numerous phases, has been frequently misinterpreted +and misunderstood, and may now, after it has attained to tangible +results, be defined as an aim, on the part of its leaders, to make the +south intellectually independent of Paris. It is an attempt to restore +among the people of the Rhone region a love of their ancient customs, +language, and traditions, an effort to raise a sort of dam against the +flood of modern tendencies that threaten to overwhelm local life. These +men seek to avoid that dead level of uniformity to which the national +life of France appears to them in danger of sinking. In the earlier +days, the leaders of this movement were often accused at Paris of a +spirit of political separatism; they were actually mistrusted as +secessionists, and certain it is that among them have been several +champions of the idea of decentralization. To-day there are found in +their ranks a few who advocate the federal idea in the political +organization of France. However, there seems never to have been a time +when the movement promised seriously to bring about practical political +changes; and whatever political significance it may have to-day goes no +farther than what may be contained in germ in the effort at an intense +local life. + +The land of the Troubadours is now the land of the Félibres; these +modern singers do not forget, nor will they allow the people of the +south to forget, that the union of France with Provence was that of an +equal with an equal, not of a principal with a subordinate. Patriots +they are, however, ardent lovers of France, and proofs of their strong +affection for their country are not wanting. To-day, amid all their +activity and demonstrations in behalf of what they often call "_la +petite patrie_," no enemies or doubters are found to question their +loyalty to the greater fatherland. + +The movement began in the revival of the Provençal language, and was at +first a very modest attempt to make it serve merely better purposes than +it had done after the eclipse that followed the Albigensian war. For a +long time the linguistic and literary aspect of all this activity was +the only one that attracted any attention in the rest of France or in +Provence itself. Not that the Provençal language had ever quite died out +even as a written language. Since the days of the Troubadours there had +been a continuous succession of writers in the various dialects of +southern France, but very few of them were men of power and talent. +Among the immediate predecessors of the Félibres must be mentioned +Saboly, whose _Noëls_, or Christmas songs, are to-day known all over the +region, and Jasmin, who, however, wrote in a different dialect. Jasmin's +fame extended far beyond the limited audience for which he wrote; his +work came to the attention of the cultured through the enthusiastic +praise of Sainte-Beuve, and he is to-day very widely known. The +English-speaking world became acquainted with him chiefly through the +translations of Longfellow. Jasmin, however, looked upon himself as the +last of a line, and when, in his later years, he heard of the growing +fame of the new poets of the Rhone country, it is said he looked upon +them with disfavor, if not jealousy. Strange to say, he was, in the +early days, unknown to those whose works, like his, have now attained +well-nigh world-wide celebrity. + +The man who must justly be looked upon as the father of the present +movement was Joseph Roumanille. He was born in 1818, in the little town +of Saint-Rémy, a quaint old place, proud of some remarkable Roman +remains, situated to the south of Avignon. Roumanille was far from +foreseeing the consequences of the impulse he had given in arousing +interest in the old dialect, and, until he beheld the astonishing +successes of Mistral, strongly disapproved the ambitions of a number of +his fellow-poets to seek an audience for their productions outside of +the immediate region. He had no more ambitious aim than to raise the +patois of Saint-Rémy out of the veritable mire into which it had sunk; +it pained him to see that the speech of his fireside was never used in +writing except for trifles and obscenities. Of him is told the touching +story that one day, while reciting in his home before a company of +friends some poems in French that he had written, he observed tears in +his mother's eyes. She could not understand the poetry his friends so +much admired. Roumanille, much moved, resolved to write no verses that +his mother could not enjoy, and henceforth devoted himself ardently to +the task of purifying and perfecting the dialect of Saint-Rémy. It has +been said, no less truthfully than poetically, that from a mother's tear +was born the new Provençal poetry, destined to so splendid a career. + +We of the English-speaking race are apt to wonder at this love of a +local dialect. This vigorous attempt to create a first-rate literature, +alongside and independent of the national literature, seems strange or +unnatural. We are accustomed to one language, spoken over immense areas, +and we rejoice to see it grow and spread, more and more perfectly +unified. With all their local color, in spite of their expression of +provincial or colonial life, the writings of a Kipling are read and +enjoyed wherever the English language has penetrated. In Italy we find +patriots and writers working with utmost energy to bring into being a +really national language. Nearly all the governments of Europe seek to +impose the language of the capital upon the schools. Unification of +language seems a most desirable thing, and, superficially considered, +the tendency would appear to be in that direction. But the truth is that +there exists all over Europe a war of tongues. The Welsh, the Basques, +the Norwegians, the Bohemians, the Finns, the Hungarians, are of one +mind with Daudet and Mistral, who both express the sentiment, "He who +holds to his language, holds the key of his prison." + +So Roumanille loved and cherished the melodious speech of the Rhone +valley. He hoped to see the _langue d'oc_ saved from destruction, he +strove against the invasion of the northern speech that threatened to +overwhelm it. He wrote sweet verses and preached the gospel of the +home-speech. One day he discovered a boy whom he calls "l'enfant +sublime," and the pupil soon carried his dreams to a realization far +beyond his fondest hopes. Not Roumanille, but Frédéric Mistral has made +the new Provençal literature what it is. In him were combined all the +qualities, all the powers requisite for the task, and the task grew with +time. It became more than a question of language. Mistral soon came to +seek not only the creation of an independent literature, he aimed at +nothing less than a complete revolution, or rather a complete rebirth, +of the mental life of southern France. Provence was to save her +individuality entire. Geographically at the central point of the lands +inhabited by the so-called Latin races, she was to regain her ancient +prominence, and cause the eyes of her sisters to turn her way once more +with admiration and affection. The patois of Saint-Rémy has been +developed and expanded into a beautiful literary language. The inertia +of the Provençals themselves has been overcome. There is undoubtedly a +new intellectual life in the Rhone valley, and the fame of the Félibres +and their great work has gone abroad into distant lands. + +The purpose, then, of the present dissertation, will be to give an +account of the language of the Félibres, and to examine critically the +literary work of their acknowledged chief and guiding spirit, Frédéric +Mistral. + +The story of his life he himself has told most admirably in the preface +to the first edition of _Lis Isclo d'Or_, published at Avignon in 1874. +He was born in 1830, on the 8th day of September, at Maillane. Maillane +is a village, near Saint-Rémy, situated in the centre of a broad plain +that lies at the foot of the Alpilles, the westernmost rocky heights of +the Alps. Here the poet is still living, and here he has passed his life +almost uninterruptedly. His father's home was a little way out of the +village, and the boy was brought up at the _mas_,[1] amid farm-hands and +shepherds. His father had married a second time at the age of +fifty-five, and our poet was the only child of this second marriage. + +The story of the first meeting of his parents is thus told by the +poet:-- + +"One year, on St. John's day, Maître François Mistral was in the midst +of his wheat, which a company of harvesters were reaping. A throng of +young girls, gleaning, followed the reapers and raked up the ears that +fell. Maître François (Mèste Francés in Provençal), my father, noticed a +beautiful girl that remained behind as if she were ashamed to glean like +the others. He drew near and said to her:-- + +"'My child, whose daughter are you? What is your name?' + +"The young girl replied, 'I am the daughter of Etienne Poulinet, Maire +of Maillane. My name is Délaïde.' + +"'What! the daughter of the Maire of Maillane gleaning!' + +"'Maître,' she replied, 'our family is large, six girls and two boys, +and although our father is pretty well to do, as you know, when we ask +him for money to dress with, he answers, "Girls, if you want finery, +earn it!" And that is why I came to glean.' + +"Six months after this meeting, which reminds one of the ancient scene +of Ruth and Boaz, Maître François asked Maître Poulinet for the hand of +Délaïde, and I was born of that marriage." + +His father's lands were extensive, and a great number of men were +required to work them. The poem, _Mirèio_, is filled with pictures of +the sort of life led in the country of Maillane. Of his father he says +that he towered above them all, in stature, in wisdom, and in nobleness +of bearing. He was a handsome old man, dignified in language, firm in +command, kind to the poor about him, austere with himself alone. The +same may be said of the poet to-day. He is a strikingly handsome man, +vigorous and active, exceedingly gracious and simple in manner. His +utter lack of affectation is the more remarkable, in view of the fact +that he has been for years an object of adulation, and lives in constant +and close contact with a population of peasants. + +His schooling began at the age of nine, but the boy played truant so +frequently that he was sent to boarding-school in Avignon. Here he had a +sad time of it, and seems especially to have felt the difference of +language. Teachers and pupils alike made fun of his patois, for which he +had a strong attachment, because of the charm of the songs his mother +sung to him. Later he studied well, however, and became filled with a +love of Virgil and Homer. In them he found pictures of life that +recalled vividly the labors, the ways, and the ideas of the Maillanais. +At this time, too, he attempted a translation, in Provençal, of the +first eclogue of Virgil, and confided his efforts to a school-mate, +Anselme Mathieu, who became his life-long friend and one of the most +active among the Félibres. + +It was at this school, in 1845, that he formed his friendship with +Roumanille, who had come there as a teacher. It is not too much to say +that the revival of the Provençal language grew out of this meeting. +Roumanille had already written his poems, _Li Margarideto_ (The +Daisies). "Scarcely had he shown me," says Mistral, "in their +spring-time freshness, these lovely field-flowers, when a thrill ran +through my being and I exclaimed, 'This is the dawn my soul awaited to +awaken to the light!'" Mistral had read some Provençal, but at that time +the dialect was employed merely in derision; the writers used the speech +itself as the chief comic element in their productions. The poems of +Jasmin were as yet unknown to him. Roumanille was the first in the Rhone +country to sing the poetry of the heart. Master and pupil became firm +friends and worked together for years to raise the home-speech to the +dignity of a literary language. + +At seventeen Mistral returned home, and began a poem in four cantos, +that he has never published; though portions of it are among the poems +of _Lis Isclo d'Or_ and in the notes of _Mirèio_. This poem is called +_Li Meissoun_ (Harvest). His family, seeing his intellectual +superiority, sent him to Aix to study law. Here he again met Mathieu, +and they made up for the aridity of the Civil Code by devoting +themselves to poetry in Provençal. + +In 1851 the young man returned to the _mas_, a _licencié en droit_, and +his father said to him: "Now, my dear son, I have done my duty; you know +more than ever I learned. Choose your career; I leave you free." And the +poet tells us he threw his lawyer's gown to the winds and gave himself +up to the contemplation of what he so loved,--the splendor of his native +Provence. + +Through Roumanille he came to know Aubanel, Croustillat, and others. +They met at Avignon, full of youthful enthusiasm, and during this period +Mistral, encouraged by his friends, worked upon his greatest poem, +_Mirèio_. In 1854, on the 21st of May, the Félibrige was founded by the +seven poets,--Joseph Roumanille, Paul Giéra, Théodore Aubanel, Eugène +Garcin, Anselme Mathieu, Frédéric Mistral, Alphonse Tavan. In 1868, +Garcin published a violent attack upon the Félibres, accusing them, in +the strongest language, of seeking to bring about a political separation +of southern France from the rest of the country. This apostasy was a +cause of great grief to the others, and Garcin's name was stricken from +the official list of the founders of the Félibrige, and replaced by that +of Jean Brunet. Mistral, in the sixth canto of _Mirèio_, addresses in +eloquent verse his comrades in the Provençal Pléiade, and there we still +find the name of Garcin. + + Tù' nfin, de quau un vènt de flamo + Ventoulo, emporto e fouito l'amo + Garcin, o fiéu ardènt dóu manescau d'Alen! + + (And finally, thou whose soul is stirred and swept and whipped by a + wind of flame, Garcin, ardent son of the smith of Alleins.) + +This attack upon the Félibrige was the first of the kind ever made. Many +years later, Garcin became reconciled to his former friends and in 1897 +he was vice-president of the _Félibrige de Paris_. + +The number seven and the task undertaken by these poets and literary +reformers remind us instantly of the Pléiade, whose work in the +sixteenth century in attempting to perfect the French language was of a +very similar character. It is certain, however, that the seven poets +who inaugurated their work at the Château of Font-Ségugne, had no +thought of imitating the Pléiade either in the choice of the number +seven or in the reformation they were about to undertake. + +They began their propaganda by founding an annual publication called the +_Armana Prouvençau_, which has appeared regularly since 1855, and many +of their writings were first printed in this official magazine. Of the +seven, Aubanel alone besides Mistral has attained celebrity as a poet, +and these two with Roumanille have been usually associated in the minds +of all who have followed the movement with interest as its three +leaders. + +Mistral completed _Mirèio_ in 1859. The poem was presented by Adolphe +Dumas and Jean Reboul to Lamartine, who devoted to it one of the +"Entretiens" of his _Cours familier de littérature_. This article of +Lamartine, and his personal efforts on behalf of Mistral, contributed +greatly to the success of the poem. Lamartine wrote among other things: +"A great epic poet is born! A true Homeric poet in our own time; a poet, +born like the men of Deucalion, from a stone on the Crau, a primitive +poet in our decadent age; a Greek poet at Avignon; a poet who has +created a language out of a dialect, as Petrarch created Italian; one +who, out of a vulgar _patois_, has made a language full of imagery and +harmony delighting the imagination and the ear.... We might say that, +during the night, an island of the Archipelago, a floating Delos, has +parted from its group of Greek or Ionian islands and come silently to +join the mainland of sweet-scented Provence, bringing along one of the +divine singers of the family of the Melesigenes." + +Mistral went to Paris, where for a time he was the lion of the literary +world. The French Academy crowned his poem, and Gounod composed the +opera Mireille, which was performed for the first time in 1864, in +Paris. + +The poet did not remain long in the capital. He doubtless realized that +he was not destined to join the galaxy of Parisian writers, and it is +certain that if he had remained there his life and his influence would +have been utterly different. He returned home and immediately set to +work upon a second epic; in another seven years he completed _Calendau_, +published in Avignon in 1866. The success of this poem was decidedly +less than that of _Mirèio_. + +During these years he published many of the shorter poems that appeared +in one volume in 1875, under the title of _Lis Isclo d'Or_ (The Golden +Islands). Meanwhile the idea of the Félibrige made great progress. The +language of the Félibres had now a fixed orthography and definite +grammatical form. The appearance of a master-work had given a wonderful +impulse. The exuberance of the southern temperament responded quickly to +the call for a manifestation of patriotic enthusiasm. The Catalan poets +joined their brothers beyond the Pyrenees. The Floral games were +founded. The Félibrige passed westward beyond the Rhone and found +adherents in all south France. The centenary of Petrarch celebrated at +Avignon in 1874 tended to emphasize the importance and the glory of the +new literature. + +The definite organization of the Félibrige into a great society with its +hierarchy of officers took place in 1876, with Mistral as _Capoulié_ +(Chief or President). In this same year also the poet married Mdlle. +Marie Rivière of Dijon, and this lady, who was named first Queen of the +Félibrige by Albert de Quintana of Catalonia, the poet-laureate of the +year 1878 at the great Floral Games held in Montpellier, has become at +heart and in speech a Provençale. + +A third poem, _Nerto_, appeared in 1884, and showed the poet in a new +light; his admirers now compared him to Ariosto. This same year he made +a second journey to Paris, and was again the lion of the hour. The +_Société de la Cigale_, which had been founded in 1876, as a Paris +branch of the Félibrige, and which later became the _Société des +Félibres de Paris_, organized banquets and festivities in his honor, and +celebrated the Floral Games at Sceaux to commemorate the four hundredth +anniversary of the day when Provence became united, of her own +free-will, with France. Mistral was received with distinction by +President Grévy and by the Count of Paris, and his numerous Parisian +friends vied in bidding him welcome to the capital. His new poem was +crowned by the French Academy, receiving the Prix Vitet, the +presentation address being delivered by Legouvé. Four years later, _Lou +Tresor dóu Felibrige_, a great dictionary of all the dialects of the +_langue d'oc_, was completed, and in 1890 appeared his only dramatic +work, _La Rèino Jano_ (Queen Joanna). In 1897 he produced his last long +poem, epic in form, _Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose_ (the Poem of the Rhone). At +present he is engaged upon his _Memoirs_. + +Aside from his rare journeys to Paris, a visit to Switzerland, and +another to Italy, Mistral has rarely gone beyond the borders of his +beloved region. He is still living quietly in the little village of +Maillane, in a simple but beautiful home, surrounded with works of art +inspired by the Felibrean movement. He has survived many of his +distinguished friends. Roumanille, Mathieu, Aubanel, Daudet, and Paul +Arène have all passed away; a new generation is about him. But his +activity knows no rest. The Felibrean festivities continue, the numerous +publications in the Provençal tongue still have in him a constant +contributor. In 1899 the Museon Arlaten (the Museum of Aries) was +inaugurated, and is another proof of the constant energy and enthusiasm +of the poet. He is to-day the greatest man in the south of France, +universally beloved and revered. + +His life after all has been less a literary life than one of direct and +unceasing personal action upon the population about him. The +resurrection of the language, the publication of poems, magazines, and +newspapers, are only part of a programme tending to raise the people of +the south to a conception of their individuality as a race. He has +striven untiringly to communicate to them his own glowing enthusiasm for +the past glories of Provence, to fire them with his dream of a great +rebirth of the Latin races, to lay the foundation of a great ideal Latin +union. Wonderful is his optimism. Some of the Félibres about him are +somewhat discouraged, many of them have never set their aspirations as +high as he has done, and some look upon his dreams as Utopian. Whatever +be the future of the movement he has founded, Mistral's life in its +simple oneness, and in its astonishing success, is indeed most +remarkable. Provence, the land that first gave the world a literature +after the decay of the classic tongues, has awakened again under his +magic touch to an active mental life. A second literature is in active +being on the soil of France, a second literary language is there a +reality. Whether permanent or evanescent, this glorification of poetry, +this ardent love of the beautiful and the ideal, is a noble and +inspiring spectacle amid the turmoil and strife of this age of material +progress. + +[Footnote 1: The word _mas_, which is kin with the English _manse_ and +_mansion_, signifies the home in the country with numerous outbuildings +grouped closely about it.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FÉLIBRIGE + + +The history of the Félibrige, from its beginning, in 1854, down to the +year 1896, has been admirably written by G. Jourdanne.[2] The work is +quite exhaustive, containing, in addition to the excellently written +narrative, an engraving of the famous cup, portraits of all the most +noted Félibres, a series of elaborately written notes that discuss or +set forth many questions relating to the general theme, a very large +bibliography of the subject, comprising long lists of works that have +been written in the dialect or that have appeared in France and in other +countries concerning the Félibres, a copy of the constitution of the +society and of various statutes relating to it. It not only contains +all the material that is necessary for the study of the Félibrige, but +it is worthy of the highest praise for the spirit in which it is +written. It is an honest attempt to explain the Félibrige, and to +present fairly and fully all the problems that so remarkable a movement +has created. A perusal of the book makes it evident that the author +believes in future political consequences, and while well aware that it +is unsafe to prophesy, he has a chapter on the future of the movement. + +His history endeavors to show that the Felibrean renaissance was not a +spontaneous springing into existence. On the purely literary side, +however, it certainly bears the character of a creation; as writers, the +Provençal poets may scarcely be said to continue any preceding school or +to be closely linked with any literary past. In its inception it was a +mere attempt to write pleasing, popular verse of a better kind in the +dialect of the fireside. But the movement developed rapidly into the +ambition to endow the whole region with a real literature, to awaken a +consciousness of _race_ in the men of the south; these aims have been +realized, and a change has come over the life of Provence and the land +of the _langue d'oc_ in general. The author believes and adduces +evidences to show that all this could not have come about had the seed +not fallen upon a soil that was ready. + +The Félibrige dates from the year 1854, but the idea that lies at the +bottom of it must be traced back to the determination of Roumanille to +write in Provençal rather than in French. He produced his _Margarideto_ +in 1847 and the _Sounjarello_ in 1851. In collaboration with Mistral and +Anselme Mathieu, he edited a collection of poems by living writers under +the title _Li Prouvençalo_. During these years, too, there were meetings +of Provençal writers for the purpose of discussing questions of grammar +and spelling. These meetings, including even the historic one of May 21, +1854, were, however, really little more than friendly, social +gatherings, where a number of enthusiastic friends sang songs and made +merry. They had none of the solemnity of a conclave, or the dignity of +literary assemblies. There was no formal organization. Those writers who +were zealously interested in the rehabilitation of the Provençal speech +and connected themselves with Mistral and his friends were the +Félibres. Not until 1876 was there a Félibrige with a formal +constitution and an elaborate organization. + +The word _Félibre_ was furnished by Mistral, who had come upon it in an +old hymn wherein occurs the expression that the Virgin met Jesus in the +temple among "the seven Félibres of the law." The origin and etymology +of this word have given rise to various explanations. The Greek +_philabros_, lover of the beautiful; _philebraios_, lover of Hebrew, +hence, among the Jews, teacher; _felibris_, nursling, according to +Ducange; the Irish _filea_, bard, and _ber_, chief, have been proposed. +Jeanroy (in _Romania_, XIII, p. 463) offers the etymology: Spanish +_feligres, filii Ecclesiæ_, sons of the church, parishioners. None of +these is certain. + +Seven poets were present at this first meeting, and as the day happened +to be that of St. Estelle, the emblem of a seven-pointed star was +adopted. Very fond of the number seven are these Félibres; they tell you +of the seven chief churches of Avignon, its seven gates, seven colleges, +seven hospitals, seven popes who were there seventy years; the word +_Félibre_ has seven letters, so has Mistral's name, and he spent seven +years in writing each of his epics. + +The task that lay before these poets was twofold: they had not only to +prune and purify their dialect and produce verses, they had also to find +readers, to create a public, to begin a propaganda. The first means +adopted was the publication of the _Armana prouvençau_, already referred +to. In 1855, five hundred copies were issued, in 1894, twelve thousand. +For four years this magazine was destined for Provence alone; in 1860, +after the appearance of _Mirèio_, it was addressed to all the dwellers +in southern France. The great success of _Mirèio_ began a new period in +the history of the Félibrige. Mistral himself and the poets about him +now took an entirely new view of their mission. The uplifting of the +people, the creation of a literature that should be admired abroad as +well as at home, the complete expression of the life of Provence, in all +its aspects, past and present, escape from the implacable centralization +that tends to destroy all initiative and originality--such were the +higher aims toward which they now bent their efforts. The attention of +Paris was turned in their direction. Jasmin had already shown the +Parisians that real poetry of a high order could be written in a patois. +Lamartine and Villemain welcomed the new literature most cordially, and +the latter declared that "France is rich enough to have two +literatures." + +But the student of this history must not lose sight of the fact that the +Provençal poets are not first of all littérateurs; they are not men +devoting themselves to literature for a livelihood, or even primarily +for fame. They are patriots before they are poets. The choice of +subjects and the intense love of their native land that breathes through +all their writings, are ample proof of this. They meet to sing songs and +to speak; it is always of Provence that they sing and speak. Almost all +of them are men who ply some trade, hardly one lives by his pen alone. +This fact gives a very special character to their whole production. The +Felibrean movement is more than an astonishing literary phenomenon. + +The idea from this time on acquired more and more adherents. Scores of +writers appeared, and volumes whose titles filled many pages swelled the +output of Provençal verse. These new aims were due to the success of +_Mirèio_; but it must not be forgotten that Mistral himself, in that +poem and in the shorter poems of the same period, gave distinct +expression to the new order of ideas, so that we are constantly led back +to him, in all our study of the matter, as the creator, the continuer, +and the ever present inspirer of the Félibrige. Whatever it is, it is +through him primarily. Roumanille must be classed as one of those +precursors who are unconscious of what they do. To him the Félibres owe +two things: first of all, the idea of writing in the dialect works of +literary merit; and, secondly, the discovery of Frédéric Mistral. + +Among these new ideas, one that dominates henceforth in the story of the +Félibrige, is the idea of race. Mistral is well aware that there is no +Latin race, in the sense of blood relationship, of physical descent; he +knows that the so-called Latin race has, for the base of its unity, a +common history, a common tradition, a common religion, a common +language. + +But he believes that there is a _race méridionale_ that has been +developed into a kind of unity out of the various elements that compose +it, through their being mingled together, and accumulating during many +centuries common memories, ideas, customs, and interests. So Mistral has +devoted himself to promoting knowledge of its history, traditions, +language, and religion. As the Félibrige grew, and as Mistral felt his +power as a poet grow, he sought a larger public; he turned naturally to +the peoples most closely related to his own, and Italy and Spain were +embraced in his sympathies. The Félibrige spread beyond the limits of +France first into Spain. Victor Balaguer, exiled from his native +country, was received with open arms by the Provençals. William +Bonaparte-Wyse, an Irishman and a grand-nephew of the first Napoleon, +while on a journey through Provence, had become converted to the +Felibrean doctrines, and became an active spirit among these poets and +orators. He organized a festival in honor of Balaguer, and when, later, +the Catalan poet was permitted to return home, the Catalans sent the +famous cup to their friends in Provence. For the Félibres this cup is an +emblem of the idea of a Latin federation, and as it passes from hand to +hand and from lip to lip at the Felibrean banquets, the scene is not +unlike that wherein the Holy Graal passes about among the Knights of the +Round Table.[3] + +Celebrations of this kind have become a regular institution in southern +France. Since the day in 1862 when the town of Apt received the Félibres +officially, organizing Floral Games, in which prizes were offered for +the best poems in Provençal, the people have become accustomed to the +sight of these triumphal entries of the poets into their cities. Reports +of these brilliant festivities have gone abroad into all lands. If the +love of noise and show that characterizes the southern temperament has +caused these reunions to be somewhat unfavorably criticised as +theatrical, on the other hand the enthusiasm has been genuine, and the +results real and lasting. The _Félibrées_, so they are called, have not +all taken place in France. In 1868, Mistral, Rournieux, Bonaparte-Wyse, +and Paul Meyer went to Barcelona, where they were received with great +pomp and ceremony. Men eminent in literary and philological circles in +Paris have often accepted invitations to these festivities. In 1876, a +Felibrean club, "La Cigale," was founded in the capital; its first +president was Henri de Bornier, author of _La Fille de Roland_. +Professors and students of literature and philology in France and in +other countries began to interest themselves in the Félibres, and the +Félibrige to-day counts among its members men of science as well as men +of letters. + +In 1874 one of the most remarkable of the celebrations, due to the +initiative of M. de Berluc-Pérussis, was held at Vaucluse to celebrate +the fifth centenary of the death of Petrarch. At this _Félibrée_ the +Italians first became affiliated to the _idea_, and the Italian +ambassador, Nigra, the president of the Accademia della Crusca, Signor +Conti, and Professor Minich, from the University of Padua, were the +delegates. The Institute of France was represented for the first time. +This celebration was highly important and significant, and the scenes of +Petrarch's inspirations and the memories of the founder of the +Renaissance must have awakened responsive echoes in the hearts of the +poets who aimed at a second rebirth of poetry and learning in the same +region. + +The following year the _Société des langues romanes_ at Montpellier +offered prizes for philological as well as purely literary works, and +for the first time other dialects than the Provençal proper were +admitted in the competitions. The Languedocian, the Gascon, the +Limousin, the Béarnais, and the Catalan dialects were thus included. The +members of the jury were men of the greatest note, Gaston Paris, Michel +Bréal, Mila y Fontanals, being of their number. + +Finally, in 1876, on the 21st of May, the statutes of the Félibrige were +adopted. From them we quote the following:-- + +"The Félibrige is established to bring together and encourage all those +who, by their works, preserve the language of the land of _oc_, as well +as the men of science and the artists who study and work in the interest +of this country." + +"Political and religious discussions are forbidden in the Felibrean +meetings." + +The organization is interesting. The Félibres are divided into +_Majoraux_ and _Mainteneurs_. The former are limited to fifty in number, +and form the Consistory, which elects its own members; new members are +received on the feast of St. Estelle. + +The Consistory is presided over by a Capoulié, who wears as the emblem +of his office a seven-pointed golden star, the other Majoraux, a golden +grasshopper. + +The other Félibres are unlimited in number. Any seven Félibres dwelling +in the same place may ask the Maintenance to form them into a school. +The schools administer their own affairs. + +Every seven years the Floral Games are held, at which prizes are +distributed; every year, on the feast of St. Estelle, a general meeting +of the Félibrige takes place. Each Maintenance must meet once a year. + +At the Floral Games he who is crowned poet-laureate chooses the Queen, +and she crowns him with a wreath of olive leaves. + +To-day there are three Maintenances within the limits of French soil, +Provence, Languedoc, Aquitaine. + +Among other facts that should doubtless be reported here is, the list of +Capouliés. They have been Mistral (1876-1888), Roumanille (1888-1891), +and Félix Gras; the Queens have been Madame Mistral, Mlle. Thérèse +Roumanille, Mlle. Marie Girard, and the Comtesse Marie-Thérèse de +Chevigné, who is descended upon her mother's side from Laura de Sade, +generally believed to be Petrarch's Laura. + +Since the organization went into effect the Félibrige has expanded in +many ways, its influence has continually grown, new questions have +arisen. Among these last have been burning questions of religion and +politics, for although discussions of them are banished from Felibrean +meetings, opinions of the most various kind exist among the Félibres, +have found expression, and have well-nigh resulted in difficulties. +Until 1876 these questions slept. Mistral is a Catholic, but has managed +to hold more or less aloof from political matters. Aubanel was a zealous +Catholic, and had the title by inheritance of Printer to his Holiness. +Roumanille was a Catholic, and an ardent Royalist. When the Félibrige +came to extend its limits over into Languedoc, the poet Auguste Fourès +and his fellows proclaimed a different doctrine, and called up memories +of the past with a different view. They affirmed their adherence to the +_Renaissance méridionale_, and claimed equal rights for the Languedocian +dialect. They asserted, however, that the true tradition was republican, +and protested vigorously against the clerical and monarchical parties, +which, in their opinion, had always been for Languedoc a cause of +disaster, servitude, and misery. The memory of the terrible crusade in +the thirteenth century inspired fiery poems among them. Hatred of Simon +de Montfort and of the invaders who followed him, free-thought, and +federalism found vigorous expression in all their productions. In +Provence, too, there have been opinions differing widely from those of +the original founders, and the third Capoulié, Félix Gras, was a +Protestant. Of him M. Jourdanne writes:-- + +"Finally, in 1891, after the death of Roumanille, the highest office in +the Félibrige was taken by a man who could rally about him the two +elements that we have seen manifested, sufficiently Republican to +satisfy the most ardent in the extreme Left, sufficiently steady not to +alarm the Royalists, a great enough poet to deserve without any dispute +the first place in an assembly of poets." + +He, like Mistral, wrote epics in twelve cantos. His first work, _Li +Carbounié_, has on its title-page three remarkable lines:-- + + "I love my village more than thy village, + I love my Provence more than thy province, + I love France more than all." + +Possibly no other three lines could express as well the whole spirit of +the Félibrige. + +Our subject being Mistral and not Félix Gras, a passing mention must +suffice. One of his remarkable works is called _Toloza_, and recounts +the crusade of the Albigenses, and his novel, _The Reds of the Midi_, +first published in New York in the English translation of Mrs. Thomas A. +Janvier, is probably the most remarkable prose work that has been +written in Provençal.[4] Only the future can tell whether the Provençal +will pass through a prose cycle after its poetic cycle, in the manner of +all literatures. To many serious thinkers the attempt to create a +complete literature seems of very doubtful success. + +The problems, then, which confront the Félibres are numerous. Can they, +with any assurance of permanence, maintain two literary languages in the +same region? It is scarcely necessary to state, of course, that no one +dreams of supplanting the French language anywhere on French soil. What +attitude shall they assume toward the "patoisants," that is, those who +insist on using the local dialect, and refuse to conform to the usage of +the Félibres? Is it not useless, after all, to hope for a more perfect +unification of the dialects of the _langue d'oc_, and, if unification is +the aim, does not logical reasoning lead to the conclusion that the +French language already exists, perfectly unified, and absolutely +necessary? In the matter of politics, the most serious questions may +arise if the desires of some find more general favor. Shall the Félibres +aim at local self-government, at a confederation something like that of +the Swiss cantons? Shall they advocate the idea of independent +universities? + +As a matter of fact, none of these problems are solved, and they will +only be solved by the natural march of events. The attitude of the +leaders toward all these differing views has become one of easy +toleration. If the language of the Félibres tends already to dominate +the other dialects, if its influence is already plainly felt far beyond +Provence itself, this is due to the sheer superiority of their literary +work. If their literature had the conventional character of that of the +Troubadours, if it were addressed exclusively to a certain élite, then +their language might have been adopted by the poets of other regions, +just as in the days of the Troubadours the masters of the art of +"trobar" preferred to use the Limousin dialect. But the popular +character of the movement has prevented this. It has preached the love +of the village, and each locality, as fast as the Felibrean idea gained +ground, has shown greater affection for its own dialect. + +Mistral's work has often been compared to Dante's. But Dante did not +impose his language upon Italy by the sole superiority of his great +poem. All sorts of events, political and social, contributed to the +result, and there is little reason to expect the same future for the +work of Mistral. This comparison is made from the linguistic point of +view; it is not likely that any one will compare the two as poets. At +most, it may be said that if Dante gave expression to the whole spirit +of his age, Mistral has given complete expression to the spirit of his +little _patrie_. Should the trend of events lead to a further +unification of the dialects of southern France, there is no doubt that +the Felibrean dialect has by far the greatest chance of success. + +The people of Provence owe a great debt to the Félibres, who have +endowed them with a literature that comes closer to their sympathies +than the classic literature of France can ever come; they have been +raised in their own esteem, and there has been undoubtedly a great +awakening in their mental life. The Félibrige has given expression to +all that is noblest and best in the race, and has invariably led onward +and upward. Its mission has been one that commands respect and +admiration, and the Félibres to-day are in a position to point with +pride to the great work accomplished among their people. Arsène +Darmesteter has well said:-- + +"A nation needs poetry; it lives not by bread alone, but in the ideal +as well. Religious beliefs are weakening; and if the sense of poetic +ideals dies along with the religious sentiment, there will remain +nothing among the lower classes but material and brutal instincts. + +"Whether the Félibres were conscious of this danger, or met this popular +need instinctively, I cannot say. At any rate, their work is a good one +and a wholesome one. There still circulates, down to the lowest stratum +of the people, a stream of poetry, often obscure, until now looked upon +with disdain by all except scholars. I mean folklore, beliefs, +traditions, legends, and popular tales. Before this source of poetry +could disappear completely, the Félibres had the happy idea of taking it +up, giving it a new literary form, thus giving back to the people, +clothed in the brilliant colors of poetry, the creation of the people +themselves." + +And again: "As for this general renovation of popular poetry, I would +give it no other name than that of the Félibrige. To the Félibres is due +the honor of the movement; it is their ardor and their faith that have +developed and strengthened it." + +[Footnote 2: _Histoire du Félibrige, par_ G. Jourdanne, _Librairie +Roumanille, Avignon, 1897_.] + +[Footnote 3: The stem of the cup has the form of a palm tree, under +which two female figures, representing Catalonia and Provence, stand in +a graceful embrace. Below the figures are engraved the two following +inscriptions:-- + +Morta la diuhen qu'es, Ah! se me sabien entèndre! +Mes jo la crech viva. Ah! se me voulien segui! + (V. Balaguer.) (F. Mistral.) + +(They say she is dead, (Ah, if they could understand + but I believe she me! Ah, if they would follow + lives.) me!) +] + +[Footnote 4: In 1899, Félix Gras published a novel called _The White +Terror_. His death occurred early in 1901.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE MODERN PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE + + +The language of the Félibres is based upon the dialect spoken in the +plain of Maillane, in and about the town of Saint-Rémy. This dialect is +one of the numerous divisions of the _langue d'oc_, which Mistral claims +is spoken by nearly twelve millions of people. The literary history of +these patois has been written by B. Noulet, and shows that at the close +of the terrible struggles of the Albigenses the language seemed dead. In +1324 seven poets attempted to found at Toulouse the competitions of the +_Gai Savoir_, and so to revive the ancient poetry and the ancient +language. Their attempt failed. There was literary production of varying +degree of merit throughout two or three centuries; but until the time of +Jasmin no writer attracted any attention beyond his immediate vicinity; +and it is significant that the Félibres themselves were long in +ignorance of Jasmin. It is then not difficult to demonstrate that the +Félibrige revival bears more the character of a creation than of an +evolution. It is not at all an evolution of the literature of the +Troubadours; it is in no way like it. The language of the Félibres is +not even the descendant of the special dialect that dominated as a +literary language in the days of the Troubadours; for it was the speech +of Limousin that formed the basis of that language, and only two of the +greater poets among the Troubadours, Raimond de Vaqueiras and Fouquet de +Marseille, were natives of Provence proper. + +The dialect of Saint-Rémy is simply one of countless ramifications of +the dialects descended from the Latin. Mistral and his associates have +made their literary language out of this dialect as they found it, and +not out of the language of the Troubadours. They have regularized the +spelling, and have deliberately eliminated as far as possible words and +forms that appeared to them to be due to French influence, substituting +older and more genuine forms--forms that appeared more in accord with +the genius of the _langue d'oc_ as contrasted with the _langue d'oil_. +Thus, _glòri_, _istòri_, _paire_, replace _gloaro_, _istouèro_, _pèro_, +which are often heard among the people. This was the first step. The +second step taken arose from the necessity of making this speech of the +illiterate capable of elevated expression. Mistral claims to have used +no word unknown to the people or unintelligible to them, with the +exception that he has used freely of the stock of learned words common +to the whole Romance family of languages. These words, too, he +transforms more or less, keeping them in harmony with the forms peculiar +to the _langue d'oc_. Hence, it is true that the language of the +Félibres is a conventional, literary language, that does not represent +exactly the speech of any section of France, and is related to the +popular speech more or less as any official language is to the dialects +that underlie it. As the Félibres themselves have received all their +instruction and literary culture in the French language, they use it +among themselves, and their prose especially shows the influence of the +French to the extent that it may be said that the Provençal sentence, in +prose, appears to be a word-for-word translation of an underlying French +sentence. + +Phonetically, the dialect offers certain marked differences when +contrasted with French. First of all is the forceful utterance of the +stressed syllable; the Provençal has post-tonic syllables, unlike the +sister-speech. Here it may be said to occupy a sort of middle position +between Italian and Spanish on the one hand, and French on the other; +for in the former languages the accent is found in all parts of the +word, in French practically only upon the final, and then it is +generally weak, so that the notion of a stress is almost lost. The +stress in Provençal is placed upon one of the last two syllables only, +and only three vowels, _e_, _i_, _o_, may follow the tonic syllable. The +language, therefore, has a cadence that affects the ear differently from +the French, and that resembles more that of the Italian or Spanish +languages. + +The nasal vowels are again unlike those of the French language. The +vowel affected by the following nasal consonant preserves its own +quality of sound, and the consonant is pronounced; at the end of a word +both _m_ and _n_ are pronounced as _ng_ in the English word _ring_. The +Provençal utterance of _matin_, _tèms_, is therefore quite unlike that +of the French _matin_, _temps_. This change of the nasal consonants +into the _ng_ sound whenever they become final occurs also in the +dialects of northern Italy and northern Spain. This pronunciation of the +nasal vowels in French is, as is well known, an important factor in the +famous "accent du Midi." + +The oral vowels are in general like the French. It is curious that the +close _o_ is heard only in the infrequent diphthong _óu_, or as an +obscured, unaccented final. This absence of the close _o_ in the modern +language has led Mistral to believe that the close _o_ of Old Provençal +was pronounced like _ou_ in the modern dialect, which regularly +represents it. A second element of the "accent du Midi" just referred to +is the substitution of an open for a close _o_. The vowel sound of the +word _peur_ is not distinguished from the close sound in _peu_. In the +orthography of the Félibres the diagraph _ue_ is used as we find it in +Old French to represent this vowel. Probably the most striking feature +of the pronunciation is the unusual number of diphthongs and +triphthongs, both ascending and descending. Each vowel preserves its +proper sound, and the component vowels seem to be pronounced more slowly +and separately than in many languages. It is to be noted that _u_ in a +diphthong has the Italian sound, whereas when single it sounds as in +French. The unmarked _e_ represents the French _é_, as the _e_ mute is +unknown to the Provençal. + +The _c_ has come to sound like _s_ before _e_ and _i_, as in French. +_Ch_ and _j_ represent the sounds _ts_ and _dz_ respectively, and _g_ +before _e_ and _i_ has the latter sound. There is no aspirate _h_. The +_r_ is generally uvular. The _s_ between vowels is voiced. Only _l_, +_r_, _s_, and _n_ are pronounced as final consonants, _l_ being +extremely rare. Mistral has preserved or restored other final consonants +in order to show the etymology, but they are silent except in _liaison_ +in the elevated style of reading. + +The language is richer in vowel variety than Italian or Spanish, and the +proportion of vowel to consonant probably greater than in either. +Fortunately for the student, the spelling represents the pronunciation +very faithfully. A final consonant preceded by another is mute; among +single final consonants only _l_, _m_, _n_, _r_, _s_ are sounded; +otherwise all the letters written are pronounced. The stressed syllable +is indicated, when not normal, by the application of practically the +same principles that determine the marking of the accent in Spanish. + +The pronunciation of the Félibres is heard among the people at Maillane +and round about. Variations begin as near as Avignon.[5] + +Koschwitz' Grammar treats the language historically, and renders +unnecessary here the presentation of more than its most striking +peculiarities. Of these, one that evokes surprise upon first +acquaintance with the dialect is the fact that final _o_ marks the +feminine of nouns, adjectives, and participles. It is a close _o_, +somewhat weakly and obscurely pronounced, as compared, for instance, +with the final _o_ in Italian. In this respect Provençal is quite +anomalous among Romance languages. In some regions of the Alps, at Nice, +at Montpellier, at Le Velay, in Haute-Auvergne, in Roussillon, and in +Catalonia the Latin final _a_ is preserved, as in Italian and Spanish. + +The noun has but one form for the singular and plural. The distinction +of plural and singular depends upon the article, or upon the +demonstrative or possessive adjective accompanying the noun. In +_liaison_ adjectives take _s_ as a plural sign. So that, for the ear, +the Provençal and French languages are quite alike in regard to this +matter. The Provençal has not even the formal distinction of the nouns +in _al_, which in French make their plural in _aux_. _Cheval_ in +Provençal is _chivau_, and the plural is like the singular. A curious +fact is the use of _uni_ or _unis_, the plural of the indefinite +article, as a sign of the dual number; and this is its exclusive use. + +The subject pronoun, when unemphatic, is not expressed, but understood +from the termination of the verb. _Iéu_ (je), _tu_ (tu), and _éu_ (il) +are used as disjunctive forms, in contrast with the French. The +possessive adjective _leur_ is represented by _si_; and the reflective +_se_ is used for the first plural as well as for the third singular and +third plural. + +The moods and tenses correspond exactly to those of the French, and the +famous rule of the past participle is identical with the one that +prevails in the sister language. + +Aside from the omission of the pronoun subject, and the use of one or +two constructions not unknown to French, but not admitted to use in the +literary language, the syntax of the Provençal is identical with that of +the French. The inversions of poetry may disguise this fact a little, +but the lack of individuality in the sentence construction is obvious in +prose. Translation of Provençal prose into French prose is practically +mere word substitution. + +Instances of the constructions just mentioned are the following. The +relative object pronoun is often repeated as a personal pronoun, so that +the verb has its _object_ expressed twice. The French continually offers +redundancy of subject or complement, but not with the relative. + + "Estre, iéu, lou marran que tóuti L'estrangisson! + Estre, iéu, l'estrangié que tóuti LOU fugisson!" + + "Être, moi, le paria, que tous rebutent! + Être, moi, l'étranger que tout le monde fuit!" + +(_La Rèino Jano_, Act I, Scene III.) + +The particle _ti_ is added to a verb to make it interrogative. + +E.g. soun-ti? sont-ils? Petrarco ignoro-ti? + èro-ti? était-il? Petrarque ignore-t-il? + +This is the regular form of interrogative in the third person. It is, of +course, entirely due to the influence of colloquial French. + +The French indefinite statement with the pronoun _on_ may be represented +in Provençal by the third plural of the verb; _on m'a demandé_ is +translated _m'an demanda_, or _on m'a demanda_. + +The negative _ne_ is often suppressed, even with the correlative _que_. + +The verb _estre_ is conjugated with itself, as in Italian. + +The Provençal speech is, therefore, not at all what it would have been +if it had had an independent literary existence since the days of the +Troubadours. The influence of the French has been overwhelming, as is +naturally to be expected. A great number of idioms, that seem to be pure +gallicisms, are found, in spite of the deliberate effort, referred to +above, to eliminate French forms. In _La Rèino Jano_, Act III, Scene IV, +we find _Ié vai de nòstis os_,--_Il y va de nos os_. _Vejan_, _voyons_, +is used as a sort of interjection, as in French. The partitive article +is used precisely as in French. We meet the narrative infinitive with +_de_. In short, the French reader feels at home in the Provençal +sentence; it is the same syntax and, to a great degree, the same +rhetoric. Only in the vocabulary does he feel himself in a strange +atmosphere. + +The strength, the originality, the true _raison d'être_ of the Provençal +speech resides in its rich vocabulary. It contains a great number of +terms denoting objects known exclusively in Provence, for which there is +no corresponding term in the sister speech. Many plants have simple, +familiar names, for which the French must substitute a name that is +either only approximate, or learned and pedantic. Words of every +category exist to express usages that are exclusively Provençal. + +The study of the modern language confirms the results, as regards +etymology, reached by Diez and Fauriel and others, who have busied +themselves with the Old Provençal. The great mass of the words are +traceable to Latin etyma, as in all Romance dialects a large portion of +Germanic words are found. Greek and Arabic words are comparatively +numerous. Basque and Celtic have contributed various elements, and, as +in French, there is a long list of words the origin of which is +undetermined. + +The language shares with the other southern Romance languages a fondness +for diminutives, augmentatives, and pejoratives, and is far richer than +French in terminations of these classes. Long suffixes abound, and the +style becomes, in consequence, frequently high-sounding and exaggerated. + +One of the most evident sources of new words in the language of Mistral +is in its suffixes. Most of these are common to the other Romance +languages, and have merely undergone the phonetic changes that obtain +in this form of speech. In many instances, however, they differ in +meaning and in application from their corresponding forms in the sister +languages, and a vast number of words are found the formation of which +is peculiar to the language under consideration. These suffixes +contribute largely to give the language its external appearance; and +while a thorough and scientific study of them cannot be given here, +enough will be presented to show some of the special developments of +Mistral's language in this direction. + + +-a. + +This suffix marks the infinitive of the first conjugation, and also the +past participle. It answers to the French forms in -er and -é. As the +first conjugation is a so-called "living" conjugation, it is the +termination of many new verbs. + + +-a, -ado. + +-ado is the termination of the feminine of the past participle. This +often becomes an abstract feminine noun, answering to the French +termination -ée; _armée_ in Mistral's language is _armado_. Examples of +forms peculiar to Provençal are: + +óulivo, _an olive_. +óuliva, _to gather olives_. +óulivado, _olive gathering_. +pié, _foot_. +piado, _footprint_. + + +-age (masc.). + +This suffix is the equivalent of the French -age, and is a suffix of +frequent occurrence in forming new words. _Óulivage_ is a synonym of +_óulivado_, mentioned above. A rather curious word is the adverb arrage, +meaning _at random, haphazard_. It appears to represent a Latin adverb, +_erratice_. + +Mourtau, mourtalo, _mortal_, gives the noun mourtalage, +_a massacre_. + + +-agno (fem.). + +An interesting example of the use of this suffix is seen in the word +eigagno, _dew_, formed from aigo, _water_, as though there had been a +Latin word _aquanea_. + + +-aio (fem.). + +This ending corresponds to the French -aille. + +poulo, _a hen_. +poulaio, _a lot of hens_, _poultry_. + + +-aire (masc.). + +This represents the Latin -ator (_one who_). The corresponding feminine +in Mistral's works has always the diminutive form -arello. + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaire, toumbarello, _one who falls_ or _one who fells_. +óuliva, _to gather olives_. +óulivaire, óulivarello, _olive gatherer_. +canta, _to sing_. +cantaire, cantarello, _singer_. +panié, _basket_. +panieraire, _basket maker_. +caligna, _to court_. +calignaire, _suitor_. +paternostriaire, _one who is forever praying_. + +Like the corresponding French nouns in -eur, these nouns in -aire, as +well as those in -èire, are also used as adjectives. + + +-aire = -arium. + +The suffix sometimes represents the Latin -arium. A curious word is +_vejaire_, meaning opinion, manner of seeing, as though there had been a +Latin word _videarium_. It sometimes has the form _jaire_ or _chaire_, +through the loss of the first syllable. + + +-an, -ano. + +This suffix is common in the Romance languages. Fihan, _filial_, seems +to be peculiar to the Provençal. + + +-à nci (fem.). + +This is the form corresponding to the French -ance. _Abundance_ is in +Mistral's dialect _aboundà nci_. + + +-ant, -anto. + +This is the termination of the present participle and verbal adjective +derived from verbs in -a. These words sometimes have a special meaning, +as toumbant, _declivity_. + + +-ard, -ardo. + +Gaiard is Provençal for the French _gaillard_. + + +-à ri. + +This represents the Latin -arius. Abouticà ri is Provençal for +_apothecary_. + + +-as. + +This is an augmentative suffix of very frequent use. + +porc, _hog_. +pourcas, _great hog_. +serp, _snake_. +serpatas, _great serpent_. +castèu, _fort_. +castelas, _fortress_. +rouco, _rock_. +roucas, _great rock_. + + +-asso. + +This is a pejorative suffix. + +vido, _life_. +vidasso, _wretched life_. + + +-astre. + +In French this suffix has the form -âtre. + +óulivastre (Fr. olivâtre), _olive in color_. + + +-at. + +Coustat is in French _côté_ (side). + +The suffix is often diminutive. + +auc, _a gander_. +aucat, _gosling_. +passero, _sparrow_. +passerat, _small sparrow_. + + +-au, -alo. + +This is the form of the widely used suffix -al. Mistral uses paternau +for _paternal_, and also the adjective formed upon paire, _father_, +peirenau, peirenalo, _fatherly_. + +bourg, _city_. +bourgau, bourgalo, _civil_. + + +-edo (fem.). + +pin, _pine_. +pinedo, _pine-grove_. +clapo, _stone_. +claparedo, _stony plain_. +óulivo, _olive_. +óulivaredo, _olive-orchard_. + + +-èire, -erello. + +This suffix corresponds to the suffix -aire, mentioned above. It is +appended to the stem of verbs not of the first conjugation. + +courre, _to run_. +courrèire, courerello, _runner_. +legi, _to read_. +legèire, legerello, _reader_. + + +-eja. + +This is an exceedingly common verb-suffix, corresponding to the Italian +-eggiare. + +toumbarèu, _kind of cart_. +toumbaraleja, _to cart_. +farandolo, _farandole_. +farandouleja, _to dance the farandole_. +poutoun, _kiss_. +poutouneja, _to kiss_. +poumpoun, _caress_. +poumpouneja, _to caress_. +segnour, _lord_. +segnoureja, _to lord it over_. +mistral, _wind of the Rhone valley_. +mistraleja, _to roar like the mistral_. +poudro, _powder_. +poudreja, _to fire a gun_. +clar, _bright_. +clareja, _to brighten_. + + +-en (masc.), -enco (fem.). + +This is a common adjective-suffix. + +souleu, _sun_. +souleien, souleienco, _sunny_. +mai, _May_. +maien, maienco, _relating to May_. +Madaleno, _Magdalen_. +madalenen, madalenenco, _like Magdalen_. + + +-ès (masc.), -esso (fem.). + +This suffix corresponds to the French -ais, -aise. Liounès = lyonnais. + + +-et (masc.), -eto (fem.). + +This is perhaps the commonest of the diminutive suffixes. + +ome, _man_. +oumenet, _little man_. +fiho, _daughter_. +fiheto, _dear daughter_. +enfan, _child_. +enfantounet, _little child_. +vènt, _wind_. +ventoulet, _breeze_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaraleto, _little leaps_. +chato, _girl_. +chatouneto, _little girl_ +malaut, _ill_. +malautounet, _sickly_. + +It will be observed that the double diminutive termination is the most +frequent. + +Sometimes the -et is not diminutive. _Óuliveto_ may mean a small olive +or a field planted with olives. + + +-èu (masc.), -ello (fem.). + +This suffix is often diminutive. + +paurin, _poor chap_. +paurinèu paurinello, _poor little fellow or girl_. +pin, _pine_. +pinatèu, _young pine_. +pinatello, _forest of young pines_. +sauvage, _wild_. +sauvagèu, sauvagello, _somewhat wild_. + +Sometimes it is not. + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbarèu, -ello, _likely to fall_. +canta, _to sing_. +cantarèu, -ello, _songful_. +crese, _to believe_. +creserèu, -ello, _inclined to belief_. + + +-i. + +This is a verb-suffix, marking the infinitive of a "living" conjugation. + +bourgau, _civil_. +abourgali, _to civilize_. + + +-ié (fem.). + +Carestié, _dearness_, stands in contrast to the Italian _carestia_. + +priva, _to train_, _to tame_. +privadié, _sweet food given in training animals_. + + +-ié (masc.), -iero (fem.). + +This is the equivalent of the French -ier. + +óulivié, _olive tree_. +bouchié, _butcher_. +pinatié, } _a dwelling_ +pinatiero,} _among pines_. + + +-ièu (masc.), -ivo (fem.). + +This is the form corresponding to the French -if, -ive. + +ablatièu, _ablative_. +vièu, vivo, _lively_. + + +-ige (m.). + +According to Mistral, this represents the Latin -ities. We incline to +think rather that it corresponds to -age, being added chiefly to words +in _e_. -age fits rather upon stems in _a_. + +gounfle, _swollen_. +gounflige, _swelling_. +Felibre. +Felibrige. +paure, _poor_. +paurige, _poverty_. + + +-iho (fem.). + +This suffix makes collective nouns. + +pastre, _shepherd_. +pastriho, _company of shepherds_. +paure, _poor_. +pauriho, _the poor_. + + +-in (m.), -ino (fem.). + +This is usually diminutive or pejorative. + +paurin, _poor wretch_. + + +-ioun (fem.). + +This corresponds to the French -ion. + +nacioun, _nation_. +abdicacioun, _abdication_. +erme, _desert_. +asserma, _to dry up_. +assermacioun, _thirst_, _dryness_. + + +-is (masc.), -isso (fem.). + +Crida, _to cry_. +cridadisso, _cries of woe_. +chapla, _to slay_. +chapladis, _slaughter_. +coula, _to flow_. +couladis or couladisso, _flowing_. +abareja, _to throw pell-mell_. +abarejadis, _confusion_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbadis, -isso, _tottering_ (adj.). + +This suffix is added to the past participle stem. + + +-isoun (fem.). + +This suffix forms nouns from verbs in -i. + +abalauvi, _to make dizzy_, _to confound_. +abalauvisoun, _vertigo_. + + +-men (masc.). + +This corresponds to the French -ment; bastimen = bâtiment, _ship_. + +abouli, _to abolish_. +aboulimen, _abolition_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbamen, _fall_. + + +-men (adverb). + +urous, urouso, _happy_. +urousamen, _happily_. + +It is to be noted here that the adverb has the vowel of the old feminine +termination _a_, and not the modern _o_. + + +-ot (masc.), -oto (fem.). + +A diminutive suffix. + +vilo, _town_. +viloto, _little town_. + +Sometimes the stem no longer exists separately. + +mignot, mignoto, _darling_. +pichot, pichoto, _little boy_, _little girl_. + + +-oto (fem.). + +passa, _to pass_. +passaroto, _passing to and fro_. + + +-ou (masc.). + +This is a noun-suffix of very frequent use. It seems to be for Latin -or +and -orium. + +jouga, _to play_. +jougadou, _player_. +abla, _to brag_ (cf. Fr. _hâbler_). +abladou, _braggart_. +abausi, _to abuse, to exaggerate_. +abausidou, _braggart_. +courre, _to run_. +courredou, _corridor_. +lava, _to wash_. +lavadou, _lavatory_. +espande, _to expand_. +espandidou, _expanse, panorama_. +escourre, _to flow out_. +escourredou, _passage_, _hollow_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbadou, _water-fall_. +abeura, _to water_. +abeuradou, _drinking-trough_. +passa, _to sift_. +passadou, _sieve_. +mounda, _to winnow_. +moundadou, _sieve_. + + +-ouge. + +This is an adjective suffix. + +iver, _winter_. +ivernouge, _wintry_. + + +-oun (masc.), -ouno (fem.). + +A diminutive suffix. + +enfan, _child_. +enfantoun, enfantouno, _little child_. +pauriho, _the poor_. +paurihoun, _poor wretch_. + + +-ounge (masc.). + +A suffix forming nouns from adjectives. + +vièi, _old_. +vieiounge, _old age_. + + +-our (fem.). + +This is like the above. + +vièi, _old_. +vièiour, _old age_. + + +-ous, -ouso. + +This is the Latin -osus; French -eux, -euse. It forms many new words in +Mistral. + +urous (Fr. heureux), _happy_. +pouderous (It. and Sp. poderoso), _powerful_. +aboundous, _abundant_. +pin, _pine_. +pinous, _covered with pines_. +escalabra, _to climb_. +escalabrous, _precipitous_. + + +-ta (fem.). + +This is the equivalent of the Latin -tas, French -té. In Mistral's +language it is usually preceded by a connecting vowel _e_. + +moundaneta, _worldliness_. +soucieta, _society_. +paureta, _poverty_. + + +-u (masc.), -udo (fem.). + +This ending terminates the past participles of verbs whose infinitive +ends in _e_. It also forms many new adjectives. + +astre, _star_. +malastru, _ill-starred_. +sabé, _to know_. +saberu, _learned_. + +The feminine form often becomes a noun. + +escourre, _to run out_. +escourregudo, _excursion_. + + +-un (masc.). + +This is a very common noun-suffix. + +clar, _bright_. +clarun, _brightness_. +rat, _rat_. +ratun, _lot of rats_, _smell of rats_. +paure, _poor_. +paurun, _poverty_. +dansa, _to dance_. +dansun, _love of dancing_. +plagne, _to pity_. +plagnun, _complaining_. +vièi, _old_. +vieiun, _old age_. + + +-uro (fem.). + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaduro, _a fall_. +escourre, _to flow away_. +escourreduro, _what flows away_. +bagna, _to wet_. +bagnaduro, _dew_. + +This partial survey of the subject of the suffixes in Mistral's dialect +will suffice to show that it is possible to create words indefinitely. +There is no academy to check abuse, no large, cultivated public to +disapprove of the new forms. The Félibres have been free. A fondness for +diminutives marks all the languages of southern Europe, and a love of +long terminations generally distinguished Spanish latinity. The language +of the Félibres is by no means free from the grandiloquence and +pomposity that results from the employment of these high-sounding and +long terminations. _Toumbarelado_, _toumbarelaire_, are rather big in +the majesty of their five syllables to denote a cart-load and its driver +respectively. The abundance of this vocabulary is at any rate manifest. +We have here not a poor dialect, but one that began with a large +vocabulary and in possession of the power of indefinite development and +recreation out of its own resources. It forms compounds with greater +readiness than French, and the learner is impressed by the unusual +number of compound adverbs, some of very peculiar formation. +_Tourna-mai_ (again) is an example. Somewhat on the model of the French +_va-et-vient_ is the word _li mounto-davalo_, the ups and downs. _Un +regardo-veni_ means a look-out. _Noun-ren_ is nothingness. _Ped-terrous_ +(earthy foot) indicates a peasant. + +Onomatopoetic words, like _zounzoun_, _vounvoun_, _dindánti_, are +common. + +Very interesting as throwing light upon the Provençal temperament are +the numerous and constantly recurring interjections. This trait in the +man of the _Midi_ is one that Daudet has brought out humorously in the +Tartarin books. It is often difficult in serious situations to take +these explosive monosyllables seriously. + +In his study of Mistral's poetry, Gaston Paris calls attention to the +fact that the Provençal vocabulary offers many words of low association, +or at least that these words suggest what is low or trivial to the +French reader; he admits that the effect upon the Provençal reader may +not be, and is likely not to be, the same; but even the latter must +occasionally experience a feeling of surprise or slight shock to find +such words used in elevated style. For the English reader it is even +worse. Many such expressions could not be rendered literally at all. +Mistral resents this criticism, and maintains that the words in question +are employed in current usage without calling up the image of the low +association. This statement, of course, must be accepted. It is true of +all languages that words rise and fall in dignity, and their origin and +association are momentarily or permanently forgotten. + +The undeniably great success of this new Provençal literature justifies +completely the revival of the dialect. As Burns speaks from his soul +only in the speech of his mother's fireside, so the Provençal nature can +only be fully expressed in the home-dialect. Roumanille wrote for +Provençals only. Mistral and his associates early became more ambitious. +His works have been invariably published with French translations, and +more readers know them through the translations than through the +originals. But they are what they are because they were conceived in the +patois, and because their author was fired with a love of the language +itself. + +As to the future of this rich and beautiful idiom, nothing can be +predicted. The Félibrige movement appears to have endowed southern +France with a literary language rivalling the French; it appears to have +given an impulse toward the unification of the dialects and subdialects +of the _langue d'oc_. But the _patoisants_ are numerous and powerful, +and will not abdicate their right to continue to speak and write their +local dialects in the face of the superiority of the Félibrige +literature. Is it to be expected that Frenchmen in the south will +hereafter know and use three languages and three literatures--the local +dialect, the language of the Félibres, and the national language and +literature? One is inclined to think not. The practical difficulties are +very great; two literatures are more than most men can become familiar +with. + +However, this much is certain: a rich, harmonious language has been +saved forever and crystallized in works of great beauty; its revival has +infused a fresh, intellectual activity into the people whose birthright +it is; it has been studied with delight by many who were not born in +sunny Provence; a very great contribution is made through it to +philological study. Enthusiasts have dreamed of its becoming an +international language, on account of its intermediary position, its +simplicity, and the fact that it is not the language of any nation. +Enthusiasm has here run pretty high, as is apt to be the case in the +south. + +In connection with the revival of all these dialects the opinion of two +men, eminent in the science of education, is of the greatest interest. +Eugène Lintilhac approves the view of a professor of Latin, member of +the Institute, who had often noticed the superiority of the peasants of +the frontier regions over those from the interior, and who said, "It is +not surprising, do they not pass their lives translating?" Michel Bréal +considers the patois a great help in the study of the official language, +on the principle that a term of comparison is necessary in the study of +a language. As between Provençal and French this comparison would be +between words, rather than in syntax. Often the child's respect for his +home would be increased if he sees the antiquity of the speech of his +fireside; if, as Bréal puts it, he is shown that his dialect conforms +frequently to the speech of Henri IV or St. Louis. "If the province has +authors like Jasmin, Roumanille, or Mistral, let the child read their +books from time to time along with his French books; he will feel proud +of his province, and will love France only the more. The clergy is well +aware of this power of the native dialect, and knows how to turn it to +account, and your culture is often without root and without depth, +because you have not recognized the strength of these bonds that bind to +a locality. The school must be fast to the soil and not merely seem to +be standing upon it. There need be no fear of thereby shaking the +authority of the official language; the necessity of the latter is +continually kept in sight by literature, journalism, the administration +of government." + +The revival of this speech could not fail to interest lovers of +literature. If not a lineal descendant, it is at least a descendant, of +the language that centuries ago brought an era of beauty and light to +Europe, that inspired Dante and Petrarch, and gave to modern literatures +the poetic forms that still bear their Provençal names. The modern +dialect is devoted to other uses now; it is still a language of +brightness and sunshine, graceful and artistic, but instead of giving +expression to the conventionalities of courtly love, or tending to +soften the natures of fierce feudal barons, it now sings chiefly of the +simple, genuine sentiments of the human heart, of the real beauties of +nature, of the charm of wholesome, outdoor life, of healthy toil and +simple living, of the love of home and country, and brings at least a +message of hope and cheer at a time when greater literatures are +burdened with a weight of discouragement and pessimism. + +[Footnote 5: The edition of _Mirèio_ published by Lemerre in 1886 +contains an _Avis sur la prononciation provençale_ wherein numerous +errors are to be noted. Here the statement is made that _all the letters +are pronounced_; that _ch_ is pronounced _ts_, as in the Spanish word +_muchacho_. The fact about the pronunciation of the _ch_ is that it +varies in different places, having at Maillane the sound _ts_, at +Avignon, for instance, the sound in the English _chin_. It is stated +further on that _ferramento_, _capello_, _fèbre_, are pronounced exactly +like the Italian words _ferramento_, _capello_, _febbre_. The truth is +that they are each pronounced somewhat differently from the Italian +words. Provençal knows nothing of double consonants in pronunciation, +and the vowels are not precisely alike in each pair of words. + +Later this sentence occurs: "Dans les triphthongues, comme _biais_, +_pièi_, _vuei_, _niue_, la voix doit dominer sur la voyelle +intermédiaire, tout en faisant sentir les autres." Only the first two of +these four words contain a triphthong. _Vuei_ is a descending diphthong, +the _ue_ representing the French _eu_. _Niue_ offers the same two vowel +sounds inverted, with the stress on the second. + +Lastly, the example is given of the name Jéuse. It is spelled without +the accent mark, and the reader is led to infer that it is pronounced as +though it were a French name. Here the _éu_ is a diphthong. The first +vowel is the French _é_, the second the Italian _u_. The stress is on +the first vowel.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE VERSIFICATION OF THE FÉLIBRES + + +The versification of the Félibres follows in the main the rules observed +by the French poets. As in all the Romance languages the verse consists +of a given number of syllables, and the number of stressed syllables in +the line is not constant. The few differences to be noted between French +verse and Provençal verse arise from three differences in the languages. +The Provençal has no _e mute_, and therefore all the syllables +theoretically counted are distinctly heard, and the masculine and the +feminine rhymes are fully distinguished in pronunciation. The new +language possesses a number of diphthongs, and the unaccented part of +the diphthong, a _u_ or an _i_, constitutes a consonant either before or +after a vowel in another word, being really a _w_ or a _y_. This +prevents hiatus, which is banished from Provençal verse as it is from +French, and here again theory and practice are in accord, for the +elision of the _e mute_ where this _e_ follows a vowel readmits hiatus +into the French line, and no such phenomenon is known to the Provençal. +Thirdly, the stressed syllable of each word is strongly marked, and +verse exists as strongly and regularly accentual as in English or +German. This is seen in the numerous poems written to be sung to an air +already existing. The accents in these pieces fall with the rhythmic +beat the English ear is accustomed to and which it so misses on first +acquaintance with French verse. A second consequence of this stronger +stress is that verse is written without rhyme; the entire _Poem of the +Rhone_ is written in ten-syllable feminine verses unrhymed. + + "O tèms di vièi d'antico bounoumÃo, + Que lis oustau avien ges de sarraio + E que li gènt, à Coundriéu coume au nostre, + Se gatihavon, au calèu pèr rire!" + +(Canto I.) + +Mistral has made use of all the varieties of verse known to the French +poets. One of the poems in the _Isclo d'Or_ offers an example of +fourteen-syllable verse; it is called _L'Amiradou_ (The Belvedere). Here +are the first two stanzas:-- + + "Au castèu de Tarascoun, i'a 'no rèino, i'a 'no fado + Au castèu de Tarascoun + I'a 'no fado que s'escound. + + "Aquéu que ié durbira la presoun ounte es clavado + Aquéu que ié durbira + Belèu elo l'amara."[6] + +We may note here instances of the special features of Provençal +versification mentioned above. The _i_ in _i'a_, the equivalent of the +French _il y a_, is really a consonant. This _i_ occurs again in the +fourth of the lines quoted, so that there is no hiatus between _que_ and +_ié_. In like manner the _u_ of _belèu_, in the last line, stands with +the sound of the English _w_ between this and _elo_. The _e_ of _ounte_ +is elided. It will be observed that there is a cæsura between the +seventh and eighth syllables of the long line, and that the verse has a +marked rhythmic beat, with decided trochaic movement,-- + +/_u/_u/_u/_|/_u/_u/_u/_u + +In his use of French Alexandrine, or twelve-syllable verse, Mistral +takes few liberties as to cæsura. No ternary verses are found in +_Mirèio_, that is, verses that fall into three equal parts. In general, +it may be said that his Alexandrines, except in the play _La Rèino +Jano_, represent the classical type of the French poets. To be noted, +however, is the presence of feminine cæsuras. These occur, not +theoretically or intentionally, but as a consequence of pronunciation, +and are an additional beauty in that they vary the movement of the +lines. The unstressed vowel at the hemistich, theoretically elided, is +pronounced because of the natural pause intervening between the two +parts of the verse. + + "Per óuliva tant d'aubre!--Hòu, tout acò se fai!" + +(Mirèio, Canto I.) + +In one of the divisions of _Lou Tambour d'Arcolo_ (The Drummer of +Arcole), the poet uses ten-syllable verse with the cæsura after the +sixth syllable, an exceedingly unusual cæsura, imitated from the poem +_Girard de Roussillon_. + + "Ah! lou pichot tambour | devenguè flòri! + Davans touto l'arma | --do en plen soulèu, + Pèr estelà soun front | d'un rai de glòri," etc. + +Elsewhere he uses this verse divided after the fourth syllable, and less +frequently after the fifth. + +The stanza used by Mistral throughout _Mirèio_ and _Calendau_ is his own +invention. Here is the first stanza of the second canto of _Mirèio_:-- + + "Cantas, cantas, magnanarello, + Que la culido es cantarello! + Galant soun li magnan e s'endormon di tres: + Lis amourié soun plen de fiho + Que lou bèu tèms escarrabiho, + Coume un vòu de blóundis abiho + Que raubon sa melico i roumanin dóu gres." + +This certainly is a stanza of great beauty, and eminently adapted to the +language. Mistral is exceedingly skilful in the use of it, distributing +pauses effectively, breaking the monotony of the repeated feminine +verses with enjambements, and continuing the sense from one stanza to +the next. This stanza, like the language, is pretty and would scarcely +be a suitable vehicle for poetic expression requiring great depth or +stateliness. Provençal verse in general cannot be said to possess +majesty or the rich _orchestral_ quality Brunetière finds in Victor +Hugo. Its qualities are sweetness, daintiness, rapidity, grace, a +merry, tripping flow, great smoothness, and very musical rhythm. + +_Mirèio_ contains one ballad and two lyrics in a measure differing from +that of the rest of the poem. The ballad of the _Bailiff Suffren_ has +the swing and movement a sea ballad should possess. The stanza is of six +lines, of ten syllables each, with the cæsura after the fifth syllable, +the rhymes being _abb, aba_. + + "Lou Baile Sufrèn | que sus mar coumando." + +In the third canto occurs the famous song _Magali_, so popular in +Provence. The melody is printed at the end of the volume. Mirèio's +prayer in the tenth canto is in five-syllable verse with rhymes _abbab_. + +The poems of the _Isclo d'Or_ offer over eighty varieties of strophe, a +most remarkable number. This variety is produced by combining in +different manners the verse lengths, and by changes in the succession of +rhymes. Whatever ingenuity Mistral has exercised in the creation of +rhythms, the impression must not be created that inspiration has +suffered through attention to mechanism, or that he is to be classed +with the old Provençal versifiers or those who flourished in northern +France just before the time of Marot. Artifice is always strictly +subordinated, and the poet seems to sing spontaneously. No violence is +ever done to the language in order to force it into artificial moulds, +there is no punning in rhymes, there is nothing that can be charged +against the poet as beneath the real dignity of his art. + +Let us look at some of the more striking of these verse forms. The +second of _Li Cansoun, Lou Bastimen_, offers the following form:-- + + "Lou bastimen vèn de Maiorco + Emé d'arange un cargamen: + An courouna de vèrdi torco + L'aubre-mestre dón bastimen: + Urousamen + Vèn de Maiorco + Lou bastimen."[7] + +This stanza reproduces in the sixth line the last word of the first, and +in the seventh the last word of the fourth. + +An excellent example of accentual verse set to an already existing +melody is seen in _Li Bon Prouvençau_. The air is:-- + + "Si le roi m'avait donné + Paris, sa grand ville." + +We quote the first stanza:-- + + "Boufo, au siècle mounte sian + Uno auro superbo + Que vòu faire rèn qu'un tian + De tóuti lis erbo: + Nautri, li bon Prouvençau + Aparan lou vièi casau + Ounte fan l'aleto + Nòsti dindouleto."[8] + +This poem scans itself with perfect regularity, and the rhythm of the +tune is evident to the reader who may never have heard the actual music. + +The stanza of _La Tourre de Barbentano_ is as follows:-- + + "L'Evesque d'Avignoun, Mounsen Grimau, + A fa basti 'no tourre à Barbentano + Qu' enrà bio vènt de mar e tremountano + E fai despoutenta l'Esprit dóu mau. + Assegurado + Sus lou roucas + Forto e carrado + Escounjurado + Porto au soulèu soun front bouscas: + Mememen i fenestro, dins lou cas + Que vouguèsse lou Diable intra di vitro, + A fa Mounsen Grimau grava sa mitro."[9] + +Here is a stanza of _Lou Renegat_:-- + + "Jan de Gounfaroun, pres pèr de coursà ri, + Dins li Janissà ri + Sèt an a servi: + Fau, encò di Turc, avé la coudeno + Facho à la cadeno + Emai au rouvi."[10] + +The stanza employed in _La Cadéno de Moustié_ is remarkable in having +only one masculine and one feminine rhyme in its seven lines:-- + + "Presounié di Sarrasin, + Engimbra coume un caraco, + Em' un calot cremesin + Que lou blanc soulèu eidraco, + En virant la pouso-raco, + Rico-raco, + Blacasset pregavo ansin."[11] + +The "roumanso" of _La Rèino Jano_ offers a stanza containing only five +rhymes in fourteen lines:-- + + "Fiéu de Maiano + S'ère vengu dóu tèms + De Dono Jano, + Quand èro à soun printèms + E soubeirano + Coume èron autre-tèms, + Sènso autro engano + Que soun regard courous, + Auriéu, d'elo amourous, + Trouva, iéu benurous, + Tant fino cansouneto + Que la bello Janeto + M'aurié douna 'n mantèu + Pèr parèisse i castèu."[12] + +The rhythm of the noble _Saume de la Penitènci_ is as follows:-- + + "Segnour, à la fin ta coulèro + Largo si tron + Sus nosti front: + E dins la niue nosto galèro + Pico d'a pro + Contro li ro."[13] + +Another peculiar stanza is exhibited in _Lou Prègo-Diéu_:-- + + "Ero un tantost d'aquest estiéu + Que ni vihave ni dourmiéu: + Fasiéu miejour, tan que me plaise, + Lou cabassòu + Toucant lou sòu, + A l'aise."[14] + +Perhaps the most remarkable of all in point of originality, not to say +queerness, is _Lou Blad de Luno_. The rhyme in _lin_ is repeated +throughout seventeen stanzas, and of course no word is used twice. + + "La luno barbano + Debano + De lano. + + S'entènd peralin + L'aigo que lalejo + E batarelejo + Darrié lou moulin. + + La luno barbano + Debano + De lin."[15] + +The little poem, _Aubencho_, is interesting as offering two rhymes in +its nine lines. + +Mistral's sonnets offer some peculiarities. He has one composed of lines +of six syllables, others of eight, besides those considered regular in +French, consisting, namely, of twelve syllables. The following sonnet +addressed to Roumania appears to be unique in form:-- + + "Quand lou chaple a pres fin, que lou loup e la rùssi + An rousiga lis os, lou soulèu flamejant + Esvalis gaiamen lou brumage destrùssi + E lou prat bataié tourno lèu verdejant. + + "Après lou long trepé di Turc emai di Rùssi + T'an visto ansin renaisse, o nacioun de Trajan, + Coume l'astre lusènt, que sort dóu negre eslùssi, + Emé lou nouvelun di chato de quinge an. + + "E li raço latino + A ta lengo argentino + An couneigu l'ounour que dins toun sang i'avié; + + "E t'apelant germano, + La Prouvenço roumano + Te mando, o Roumanio, un rampau d'óulivié."[16] + +It would be a hopeless task for an English translator to attempt +versions of these poems that should reproduce the original strophe +forms. A few such translations have been made into German, which +possesses a much greater wealth of rhyme than English. Let us repeat +that it must not be imputed to Mistral as a fault that he is too clever +a versifier. His strophes are not the artificial complications of the +Troubadours, and if these greatly varied forms cost him effort to +produce, his art is most marvellously concealed. More likely it is that +the almost inexhaustible abundance of rhymes in the Provençal, and the +ease of construction of merely syllabic verse, explain in great measure +his fertility in the production of stanzas. Some others of the Félibres, +even Aubanel, in our opinion, have produced verse that is very ordinary +in quality. Verse may be made too easily in this dialect, and fluent +rhymed language that merely expresses commonplace sentiment may readily +be mistaken for poetry. + +The wealth of rhyme in the Provençal language appears to be greater than +in any other form of Romance speech. As compared with Italian and +Spanish, it may be noted that the Provençal has no proparoxytone words, +and hence a whole class of words is brought into the two categories +possible in Provençal. Though the number of different vowels and +diphthongs is greater than in these two languages, only three consonants +are found as finals, _n_, _r_, _s_ (_l_ very rarely). The consequent +great abundance of rhymes is limited by an insistence upon the rich +rhyme to an extent scarcely attainable in French; in fact, the merely +sufficient rhyme is very rare. It is unfortunate that so many of the +feminine rhymes terminate in _o_. In the _Poem of the Rhone_, composed +entirely in feminine verses, passages occur where nine successive lines +end in this letter, and the verses in _o_ vastly out-number all others. +In this unrhymed poem, assonance is very carefully avoided. + +The play, _Queen Joanna_, is remarkable among the productions of Mistral +as being the only work of any length he has produced that makes +extensive use of the Alexandrine. In fact, the versification is +precisely that of any modern French play written in verse; and we may +note here the liberties as to cæsura and enjambements which are now +usual in French verse. We remark elsewhere the lack of independence in +the dialect of Avignon, that its vocabulary alone gives it life. Not +only has it no syntax of its own, but it really has been a difficulty of +the poet in translating his own Alexandrines into French prose, not to +produce verses; nor has he always avoided them. Here, for instance, is a +distich which not only becomes French when translated word for word, but +also reproduces exactly metre and rhyme:-- + + "En un mot tout me dis que lou cèu predestino + Un reviéure de glòri à terro latino. + + "En un mot tout me dit que le ciel préstine + Un renouveau de gloire à terre latine." + +The effectiveness, the charm, and the beauty of this verse, for those +who understand and feel the language, cannot be denied; and if this +poetic literature did not meet a want, it could not exist and grow as it +does. The fact that the prose literature is so slight, so scanty, is +highly significant. The poetry that goes straight to the heart, that +speaks to the inner feeling, that calls forth a response, must be +composed in the home speech. It is exceedingly unlikely that a prose +literature of any importance will ever grow up in Provence. No great +historians or dramatists, and few novelists, will ever write in this +dialect. The people of Provence will acquire their knowledge and their +general higher culture in French literature. But they will doubtless +enjoy that poetry best which sings to them of themselves in the speech +of their firesides. Mistral has endowed them with a verse language that +has high artistic possibilities, some of which he has realized most +completely. The music of his verse is the music that expresses the +nature of his people. It is the music of the _gai savoir_. Brightness, +merriment, movement, quick and sudden emotion,--not often deep or +sustained,--exuberance and enthusiasm, love of light and life, are +predominant; and the verse, absolutely free from strong and heavy +combinations of consonants, ripples and glistens with its pretty +terminations, full of color, full of vivacity, full of the sunny south. + +[Footnote 6: + + In the castle at Tarascon there is a queen, there is a fairy, + In the castle of Tarascon + There is a fairy in hiding. + + The one who shall open the prison wherein she is confined, + The one who shall open for her, + Perhaps she will love him. +] + +[Footnote 7: The ship comes from Majorca with a cargo of oranges: the +mainmast of the ship has been crowned with green garlands: safely the +ship arrives from Majorca.] + +[Footnote 8: There blows, in this age, a proud wind, which would make a +mere hash of all herbs: we, the good Provençals, defend the old home +over which our swallows hover.] + +[Footnote 9: The bishop of Avignon, Monseigneur Grimoard, hath built a +tower at Barbentane, which excites the rage of the sea wind and the +northern blast, and strips the Spirit of Evil of his power. Solid upon +the rock, strong, square, freed of demons, it lifts its fierce brow +sunward; likewise upon the windows, in case the devil might wish to +enter thereby, Monseigneur Grimoard has had his mitre carved.] + +[Footnote 10: John of Gonfaron, captured by corsairs in the Janissaries, +served seven years. Among the Turks a man must use his skin to chains +and rust.] + +[Footnote 11: Prisoner of the Saracens, accoutred like a gypsy, with a +crimson turban, dried by the white sun, turning the creaking +water-wheel, Blac prayed thus.] + +[Footnote 12: A son of Maillane, if I had come in the days of Queen +Joanna when she was in her springtime and a sovereign such as they were +in those days, with no other diplomacy than her bright glance, in love +with her, I should have found, lucky I, so fine a song that the fair +Joanna would have given me a mantle to appear in the castles.] + +[Footnote 13: This poem will be found translated in full at the end of +the book.] + +[Footnote 14: + + It was an afternoon of this summer, + While I neither woke nor slept, + I was taking my noonday rest, as is my pleasure, + My head touching the ground at ease. +] + +[Footnote 15: + + The ghostly moon is unwinding wool. + Afar off is heard the gurgling water shaking the clapper behind the mill. + The ghostly moon is unwinding flax. +] + +[Footnote 16: When the slaughter is over, when the wolf and the buzzard +have gnawed the bones, the flaming sun scatters merrily the hurtful +vapors and the battlefield soon becomes green once more. + +After the long trampling of the Turks and Russians, thou, too, art seen +thus reborn, O nation of Trajan, like the shining star coming forth from +the dark eclipse, with the youth of a maiden of fifteen. + +And the Latin races, in thy silvery speech, have recognized the honor +that lay in thy blood; and calling thee sister, the Romance Provence +sends thee, Roumania, an olive branch.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MISTRAL'S DICTIONARY OF THE PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE + + +AU MIEJOUR + + Sant Jan, vèngue meissoun, abro si fiò de joio; + Amount sus l'aigo-vers lou pastre pensatiéu, + En l'ounour dóu païs, enausso uno mount-joio + E marco li pasquié mounte a passa l'estiéu. + + Emai iéu, en laurant--e quichant moun anchoio, + Per lou noum de Prouvenço ai fa ço que poudiéu; + E, Diéu de moun pres-fa m'aguent douna la voio, + Dins la rego, à geinoui, vuei rènde grà ci à Diéu. + + En terro, fin qu'au sistre, a cava moun araire; + E lou brounze rouman e l'or dis emperaire + Treluson au soulèu dintre lou blad que sort.... + + O pople dóu Miejour, escouto moun arengo: + Se vos recounquista l'empèri de ta lengo, + Pèr t'arnesca de nòu, pesco en aquéu Tresor. + +"Saint John, at harvest time, kindles his bonfires; high up on the +mountain slope the thoughtful shepherd places a pile of stones in honor +of the country, and marks the pastures where he has passed the summer. + +"I, too, tilling and living frugally, have done what I could for the +fame of Provence; and God having permitted me to complete my task, +to-day, on my knees in the furrow, I offer thanks to Him. + +"My plough has dug into the soil down to the rock; and the Roman bronze +and the gold of the emperors gleam in the sunlight among the growing +wheat. + +"Oh, people of the South, heed my saying: If you wish to win back the +empire of your language, equip yourselves anew by drawing upon this +Treasury." + +Such is the sonnet, dated October 7, 1878, which Mistral has placed at +the beginning of his vast dictionary of the dialects of southern France. +The title of the work is _Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige_ or _Dictionnaire +provençal-français_. It is published in two large quarto volumes, +offering a total of 2361 pages. This great work occupied the poet some +ten years, and is the most complete and most important work of its kind +that has been made. The statement that this work represents for the +Provençal dialect what Littré's monumental dictionary is for the +French, is not exaggerated. Nothing that Mistral has done entitles him +in a greater degree to the gratitude of students of Romance philology, +and the fact that the work has been done in so masterful a fashion by +one who is not first of all a philologist excites our wonder and +admiration. And let us not forget that it was above all else a labor of +love, such as probably never was undertaken elsewhere, unless the work +of Ivar Aasen in the Old Norse dialects be counted as such; and there is +something that appeals strongly to the imagination in the thought of +this poet's labor to render imperishable the language so dear to him. +Years were spent in journeying about among all classes of people, +questioning workmen and sailors, asking them the names they applied to +the objects they use, recording their proverbial expressions, noting +their peculiarities of pronunciation, listening to the songs of the +peasants; and then all was reduced to order and we have a work that is +really monumental. + +The dictionary professes to contain all the words used in South France, +with their meaning in French, their proper and figurative acceptations, +augmentatives, diminutives, with examples and quotations. Along with +each word we have all its various forms as they appear in the different +dialects, its forms in the older dialects, the closely related forms in +the other Romance languages, and its etymology. A special feature of the +work in view of its destination is the placing of numerous synonyms +along with each word. The dictionary almost contains a grammar, for the +conjugation of regular and of irregular verbs in all the dialects is +given, and each word is treated in its grammatical relations. Technical +terms of all arts and trades; popular terms in natural history, with +their scientific equivalents; all the geographical names of the region +in all their forms; proper historical names; family names common in the +south; explanations as to customs, manners, institutions, traditions, +and beliefs; biographical, bibliographical, and historical facts of +importance; and a complete collection of proverbs, riddles, and popular +idioms--such are the contents of this prodigious work. + +If any weakness is to be found, it is, of course, in the etymological +part. Even here we can but pay tribute to Mistral. If he can be accused, +now and then, of suggesting an etymology that is impossible or +unscientific, let it be gratefully conceded that his desire is to offer +the etymologist all possible help by placing at his disposal all the +material that can be found. The pains Mistral has taken to look up all +possibly related words in Greek, Arabic, Basque, and English, to say +nothing of the Old Provençal and Latin, would alone suffice to call +forth the deepest gratitude on the part of all students of the subject. + +This dictionary makes order out of chaos, and although the language of +the Félibres is justly said to be an artificial literary language, we +have in this work along with the form adopted or created by the poet an +orderly presentation of all the speech-forms of the _langue d'oc_ as +they really exist in the mouths of the people. + + + + +PART SECOND + + +THE POETICAL WORKS OF MISTRAL + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FOUR LONGER POEMS + + +I. MIRÈIO (MIREILLE) + +The publication of this poem in 1859 is an event of capital importance +in the history of modern Provençal literature. Recognized immediately as +a master-work, it fired the ambitions of the Félibres, enlarged the +horizon of possibilities for the new speech, and earned for its author +the admiration of critics in and out of France. Original in language and +in conception, full of the charm of rustic life, containing a pathetic +tale of love, a sweet human interest, and glowing with pictures of the +strange and lovely landscapes of Provence, the poem charmed all readers, +and will doubtless always rank as a work that belongs to general +literature. Of no other work written in this dialect can the same be +asserted. Mistral has not had an equal success since, and in spite of +the merit of his other productions, his literary fame will certainly +always be based upon this poem. Whatever be the destiny of this revival, +the author of _Mirèio_ has probably already taken his place among the +immortals of literature. + +He has incarnated in this poem all that is sweetest and best, all that +is most typical in the life of his region. The tale is told, in general, +with complete simplicity, sobriety, and conciseness. The poet's heart +and soul are in his work from beginning to end, and it seems more +genuinely inspired than any of the long poems he has written +subsequently. + +In the first canto the author says,-- + + "Car cantan que pèr vautre, o pastre e gènt di mas." + + For we sing for you alone, O shepherds and people of the farms, + +and when he wrote this verse, he was doubtless sincere. Later, however, +he must have become conscious that a work of great artistic beauty was +growing under his hand, and that it would find a truly appreciative +public more probably among the cultivated classes than among the +peasants of Provence. Hence the French prose translation; and hence, +furthermore, a paradox in the position Mistral assumed. Since those who +really appreciate and admire his poetry are the cultivated classes who +know French, and since the peasants who use the dialect cannot feel the +artistic worth of his literary production, or even understand the +elevated diction he is forced to employ, should he not, after all, have +written in French? The idea of Roumanille was simpler and less ambitious +than that of Mistral; he aimed to give the humble classes about him a +literature within their reach, that should give them moral lessons, and +appeal to the best within them. Mistral, developing into a poet of +genius while striving to attain the same object, could not fail to +change the object, and this contradiction becomes apparent in _Mirèio_, +and constitutes a problem in any discussion of his literary work. + +The story of _Mirèio_ may be told in a few words. She is a beautiful +young girl of fifteen, living at the _mas_ of her father, Ramoun. She +falls in love with a handsome, stalwart youth, Vincèn, son of a poor +basket-maker. But the difference in worldly wealth is too great, her +father and mother violently oppose their union, and so, one night, the +maiden, in despair, rushes away from home, across the great plain of +the Crau, across the Rhone, across the island of Camargue, to the church +of the three Maries. Vincèn had told her to seek their aid in any time +of trouble. Here she prays to the three saints to give Vincèn to her, +but the poor girl has been overcome by the terrible heat of the sun in +crossing the treeless plains and is found by her parents and friends +unconscious before the altar. Vincèn comes also and joins his +lamentations to theirs. The holy caskets are lowered from the chapel +above, but no prayers avail to save the maiden's life. She expires, with +words of hope upon her lips. + +This simple tale is told in twelve cantos; it aims to be an epic, and in +its external form is such. It employs freely the _merveilleux chrètien_, +condemned by Boileau, and in one canto, _La Masco_ (The Witch), the +poet's desire to embody the superstitions of his ignorant landsmen has +led him entirely astray. The opening stanza begins in true epic +fashion:-- + + "Cante uno chato de Prouvènço + Dins lis amour de sa jouvènço." + + I sing a maiden of Provence + In her girlhood's love. + +The invocation is addressed to Christ:-- + + Thou, Lord God of my native land, + Who wast born among the shepherd-folk, + Fire my words and give me breath. + +The epic character of the poem is sustained further than in its mere +outward form; the manner of telling is truly epic. The art of the poet +is throughout singularly objective, his narrative is a narrative of +actions, his personages speak and move before us, without intervention +on the part of the author to analyze their thoughts and motives. He is +absent from his work even in the numerous descriptions. Everything is +presented from the outside. + +From the outset the poem enjoyed great success, and the enthusiastic +praise of Lamartine contributed greatly thereto. In gratitude for this, +Mistral dedicated the work to Lamartine in one of his most happy +inspirations, and these dedicatory lines appear in _Lis Isclo d'Or_ and +in all the subsequent editions of _Mirèio_. Mistral had professed great +admiration for the author of _Jocelyn_ even before 1859, but as poets +they stand in marked contrast. We may partly define Mistral's art in +stating that it is utterly unlike that of Lamartine. Mistral's +inspiration is not that of a Romantic; his art sense is derived +directly from the study of the Greek and Roman classics. In all that +Mistral has written there is very little that springs from his personal +sorrows. The great body of his poetry is epic in character, and the best +of his work in the lyric form gives expression not to merely personal +emotion, but to the feeling of the race to which he belongs. + +The action of the poem begins one day that Vincèn and his father Mèste +Ambroi, the basket-makers, were wandering along the road in search of +work. Their conversation makes them known, and depicts for us the old +_Mas des Micocoules_, the home of the prosperous father of Mirèio. We +learn of his wealth in lands, in olives, in almonds, and in bees. We +watch the farm-hands coming home at evening. When the basket-makers +reach the gate, they find the daughter of the house, who, having just +fed her silkworms, is now twisting a skein. The man and the youth ask to +sleep for the night upon a haystack, and stop in friendly talk with +Mirèio. The poet describes Vincèn, a dark, stalwart youth of sixteen, +and tells of his skill at his trade. Mèste Ramoun invites them in to +supper. Mirèio runs to serve them. In exquisite verse the poet depicts +her grace and beauty. + +When all have eaten, at the request of the farm-hands, to which Mirèio +adds hers, Mèste Ambroi sings a stirring ballad about the naval +victories of Suffren, and the gallant conduct of the Provençal sailors +who whipped the British tars. + +"And the old basket-maker finished his naval song in time, for his voice +was about to break in tears, but too soon, surely, for the farm-hands, +for, without moving, with their heads intent and lips parted, _long +after the song had ceased, they were listening still_." + +And then the men go about their affairs and leave Vincèn and Mirèio +alone together. Their talk is full of charm. Vincèn is eloquent, like a +true southerner, and tells his experiences with flashing eye and +animated gestures. Here we learn of the belief in the three Maries, who +have their church in the Camargue. Here Vincèn narrates a foot-race in +which he took part at Nimes, and Mirèio listens in rapt attention. + +"It seems to me," said she to her mother, "that for a basket-maker's +child he talks wonderfully. O mother, it is a pleasure to sleep in +winter, but now the night is too bright to sleep, but let us listen +awhile yet. I could pass my evenings and my life listening to him." + +The second canto opens with the exquisite stanza beginning,-- + + "Cantas, cantas, magnanarello + Que la culido es cantarello!" + +and the poet evidently fell in love with its music, for he repeats it, +with slight variations, several times during the canto. This second +canto is a delight from beginning to end; Mistral is here in his +element; he is at his very best. The girls sing merrily in the lovely +sunshine as they gather the silkworms, Mirèio among them. Vincèn passes +along, and the two engage in conversation. Mistral cannot be praised too +highly for the sweetness, the naturalness, the animation of this scene. +Mirèio learns of Vincèn's lonely winter evenings, of his sister, who is +like Mirèio but not so fair, and they forget to work. But they make good +the time lost, only now and then their fingers meet as they put the +silkworms into the bag. And then they find a nest of little birds, and +the saying goes that when two find a nest at the top of a tree a year +cannot pass but that Holy Church unite them. So says Mirèio; but Vincèn +adds that this is only true if the young escape before they are put into +a cage. "Jesu moun Diéu! take care," cries the young girl, "catch them +carefully, for this concerns us." So Vincèn gets the young birds, and +Mirèio puts them carefully into her bodice; but they dig and scratch, +and must be transferred to Vincèn's cap; and then the branch breaks, and +the two fall together in close embrace upon the soft grass. The poet +breaks into song:-- + +"Fresh breezes, that stir the canopy of the woods, let your merry murmur +soften into silence over the young couple! Wandering zephyrs, breathe +softly, give time to dream, give them time at least to dream of +happiness! Thou that ripplest o'er thy bed, go slowly, slowly, little +brook! Make not so much sound among the stones, make not so much sound, +for the two souls have gone off, in the same beam of fire, like a +swarming hive--let them hover in the starry air!" + +But Mirèio quickly releases herself; the young man is full of anxiety +lest she be hurt, and curses the devilish tree "planted a Friday!" But +she, with a trembling she cannot control, tells of an inner torment +that takes away hearing and sight, and keeps her heart beating. Vincèn +wonders if it may not be fear of a scolding from her mother, or a +sunstroke. Then Mirèio, in a sudden outburst, like a Wagnerian heroine, +confesses her love to the astonished boy, who remains dazed, and +believes for a time that she is cruelly trifling with him. She reassures +him, passionately. "Do not speak so," cries the boy, "from me to you +there is a labyrinth; you are the queen of the Mas, all bow before you; +I, peasant of Valabrègue, am nothing, Mirèio, but a worker in the +fields!" "Ah, what is it to me whether my beloved be a baron or a +basket-weaver, provided he is pleasing to me. Why, O Vincèn, in your +rags do you appear to me so handsome?" + +And then the young man is as inspired, and in impassioned, well-nigh +extravagant language tells of his love for Mirèio. He is like a fig tree +he once saw that grew thin and miserable out of a rock near Vaucluse, +and once a year the water comes and the tree quenches its thirst, and +renews its life for a year. And the youth is the fig tree and Mirèio the +fountain. "And would to Heaven, would to Heaven, that I, poor boy, that +I might once a year, as now, upon my knees, sun myself in the beams of +thy countenance, and graze thy fingers with a trembling kiss." And then +her mother calls. Mirèio runs to the house, while he stands motionless +as in a dream. + +No résumé or even translation can give the beauty of this canto, its +brightness, its music, its vivacity, the perfect harmony between words +and sense, the graceful succession of the rhymes and the cadence of the +stanzas. Elsewhere in the chapter on versification a reference is made +to the mechanical difficulties of translation, but there are +difficulties of a deeper order. The Félibres put forth great claims for +the richness of their vocabulary, and they undoubtedly exaggerate. Yet, +how shall we render into English or French the word _embessouna_ when +describing the fall of Mirèio and Vincèn from the tree. Mistral +writes:-- + + "Toumbon, embessouna, sus lou souple margai." + +_Bessoun_ (in French, _besson_) means a twin, and the participle +expresses the idea, _clasped together like twins_. (Mistral translates, +"serrés comme deux jumeaux.") An expression of this sort, of course, +adds little to the prose language; but this power, untrammelled by +academic traditions, of creating a word for the moment, is essential to +the freshness of poetic style. + +What is to be praised above all in these two exquisite cantos is the +pervading naturalness. The similes and metaphors, however bold and +original, are always drawn from the life of the speakers. Mèste Ambroi, +declining at first to sing, says "_Li mirau soun creba!_" (The mirrors +are broken), referring to the membranes of the locust that make its +song. "Like a scythe under the hammer," "Their heads leaning together +like two marsh-flowers in bloom, blowing in the merry wind," "His words +flowed abundantly like a sudden shower on an aftermath in May," "When +your eyes beam upon me, it seems to me I drink a draught of perfumed +wine," "My sister is burned like a branch of the date tree," "You are +like the asphodel, and the tanned hand of Summer dares not caress your +white brow," "Slender as a dragon-fly," are comparisons taken at random. +Of Mirèio the poet says, "The merry sun hath hatched her out," "Her +glance is like dew, her rounded bosom is a double peach not yet ripe." + +The background of the action is obtained by the simplest description, a +cart casting the shadow of its great wheels, a bell now and then +sounding afar off across the marshes, references to the owl adding its +plaint to the song of the nightingale, to the crickets who stop to +listen now and then, and the recurring verses about the "magnanarello" +reminds us now and then, like a lovely leitmotiv, of the group of +singing girls about the amorous pair. + +The next canto is called _La Descoucounado_ (The Opening of the +Cocoons), and it must be confessed that there is a slight falling off in +interest. All that describes the life of the country-folk is full of +sustained charm, but Mistral has not escaped the dangers that beset the +modern poet who aims at the epic style. Here begins the recounting of +the numerous superstitions of the ignorant peasants, and the wonders of +Provence are interpolated at every turn. The maidens, while engaged in +stripping the cocoons, make known a long list of popular beliefs, and +then branch off into a conversation about love. They are surprisingly +well acquainted with the writings of Jean de Nostradamus, to whom the +Félibres are indebted for a lot of erroneous ideas concerning the +Troubadours and the Courts of Love. This literary conversation is not +convincing, and we are pleased when Noro sings the pretty song of +Magali, which, composed to be sung to an air well known in Provence, has +become very popular. The idea is not new; the young girl sings of +successive forms she will assume, to avoid the attentions of her suitor, +and he, ingeniously, finds the transformation necessary to overcome her. +For instance, when she becomes a rose, he changes into a butterfly to +kiss her. At last the maiden becomes convinced of the love of her +pursuer, and is won. + +The fourth canto, _Li Demandaire_ (The Suitors), recalls the Homeric +style, and is among the finest of the poem. Alà ri, the shepherd, Veran, +the keeper of horses, and Ourrias, who has herds of bulls in the +Camargue, present themselves successively for the hand of Mirèio. The +"transhumance des troupeaux" is described in verse full of vigorous +movement; the sheep are taken up into the Alps for the summer, and then +in the fall brought down to the great plain of the Crau near the Delta +of the Rhone. The whole description is made with bold, simple strokes of +the brush, offering a vivid picture not to be forgotten. Alà ri, too, +offers a marvellously carved wooden cup, adorned with pastoral scenes. +Veran owns a hundred white mares, whose manes, thick and flowing like +the grass of the marshes, are untouched by the shears, and float above +their necks, as they bound fiercely along, like a fairy's scarf. They +are never subdued, and often, after years of exile from the salt meadows +of the Camargue, they throw off their rider, and gallop over twenty +leagues of marshes to the land of their birth, to breathe the free salt +air of the sea. Their element is the sea; they have surely broken loose +from the chariot of Neptune; they are still white with foam; and when +the sea roars and darkens, when the ships break their cables, the +stallions of the Camargue neigh with joy. + +And Ramoun welcomes Veran, and hopes that Mirèio will wed him, and calls +his daughter, who gently refuses. The third suitor, Ourrias, has no +better fortune. The account of this man's giant strength, the narrative +of his exploits in subduing the wild bulls, are quite Homeric. The +story is told of the scar he bears, how one of the fiercest bulls that +he had branded carried him along, threw him ahead on the ground, and +then hurled him high into the air. The strong, fierce man presents his +suit, describing the life the women lead in the Camargue; but before he +has her love, "his trident will bear flowers, the hills will melt away +like wax, and the journey to Les Baux will be by sea." This canto and +the next, recounting the fierce combat between Ourrias and Vincèn, are +really splendid narrative poetry. The style is marvellously compressed, +and the story thrilling. The sullen anger of Ourrias, his insult that +does not spare Mirèio, the indignation of Vincèn, that fires him with +unwonted strength, the battle of the two men out alone in the fields +near the mighty Pont du Gard, Vincèn's victory in the trial of strength, +the treachery of Ourrias, who sneaks back and strikes his enemy down +with the trident. "With a mighty groan the hapless boy rolls at full +length upon the grass, and the grass yields, bloody, and over his earthy +limbs the ants of the fields already make their way." The rapidity, the +compactness of the sentences, impressed Gaston Paris as very remarkable. +The assassin gallops away upon his mare, and seeks by night to cross the +Rhone. A singularly felicitous use of the supernatural is made here. +Ourrias is carried to the bottom of the river by the goblins and spirits +that come out and hover over it at night. There is a certain terror in +this termination, something that recalls parts of the Inferno. Ourrias's +superstitious fears are the effect of his guilty conscience. The souls +of the damned, their weird ceremonial, are but the outward rendering of +the inward terror he feels. + +A less legitimate use of the supernatural is made in the succeeding +canto, called _La Masco_ (The Witch). In fact, the canto is really a +blemish in the beautiful poem. Vincèn is found unconscious and carried +to the Mas des Micocoules, and various remedies tried. He comes to +himself, but the wound is deemed too serious to be healed by natural +means, and Mirèio, at the suggestion of one of her maiden friends, takes +Vincèn to the abode of the witch who lives in the Fairies' Hole under +the rocks of Les Baux. Besides the obvious objection that the magic +cure could not have been made, there is the physical impossibility of +Vincèn's having walked, in his dying condition, through the labyrinth of +subterranean passages, amid the wild scenes of a sort of Walpurgis +night. The poet was doubtless led into this error by his desire to +preserve all the legends and superstitious lore of Provence. Possibly he +was led astray also by his desire to create an epic poem, in which a +visit to the lower regions is a necessity. The entire episode is +impossible and uninteresting, and is a blot in the beautiful idyll. +Later on, this desire to insert the supernatural leads the poet to +interrupt the action of his poem, while the three Maries relate to the +unconscious Mirèio at great length the story of their coming from +Jerusalem to Provence. Interesting as folklore, or as an evidence of the +credulity of the Provençals, this narrative of the three Maries is out +of place in the poem. It does not help us out to suppose that Mirèio +dreams the narrative, for it is full of theology, history, and +traditions she could not possibly have conceived. The poem of _Mirèio_ +and all Mistral's work suffer from this desire to work into his poetry +all the history, real and legendary, of his region. + +The three Maries are Mary Magdalen, Mary, the mother of James and John, +and Mary, the mother of James the Less. After the Crucifixion they +embark with Saint Trophime, and successfully battling with the storms of +the sea, they land finally in Provence, and by a series of miracles +convert the people of Arles. This canto never would have converted +Boileau from his disapproval of the "merveilleux chrétien." + +The poet finds his true inspiration again in the life of the Mas, in the +home-bringing of the crops, in the gathering of the workers about the +table of Mèste Ramoun. This picture of patriarchal life is like a bit +out of an ancient literature; we have a feeling of the archaic, of the +primitive, we are amid the first elements of human life, where none of +the complications of the modern man find a place. Mèste Ambroi, whom +Vincèn has finally persuaded with passionate entreaties to seek the hand +of Mirèio for him, comes upon this evening scene. The interview of the +two old men is like a Greek play; their wisdom and experience are +uttered in stately, sententious language, and many a proverb falls from +their lips. Ramoun has inflexible ideas as to parental authority: "A +father is a father, his will must be done. The herd that leads the +herdsman, sooner or later, is crunched in the jaws of the wolf. If a son +resisted his father in our day, the father would have slain him perhaps! +Therefore the families were strong, united, sound, resisting the storm +like a line of plane trees! Doubtless they had their quarrels, as we +know, but when Christmas night, beneath its starry tent, brought +together the head of the house and his descendants, before the blessed +table, before the table where he presided, the old man, with his +wrinkled hand, washed it all away with his benediction!" + +But Mirèio and not Mèste Ambroi makes known to her father that it is her +hand Vincèn seeks, and the mother and father break out in anger against +the maid. Ramoun's anger leads him to speak offensively to Mèste Ambroi, +who nobly maintains his dignity amid his poverty, and recounts his +services to his country that have been so ill repaid. Ramoun is equally +proud of his wealth, earned by the sweat of his brow, and sternly +refuses. The other leaves, and then the harvesters continue their +merry-making, with singing and farandoles, about a great bonfire in +honor of Saint John. "All the hills were aglow as if stars had rained in +the darkness, and the mad wind carried up the incense of the hills and +the red gleam of the fires toward the saint, hovering in the blue +twilight." + +That night Mirèio grieved and wept for Vincèn, and, remembering what he +had told her of the three Saint Maries, rises before the dawn and flees +away. Her journey across the Crau and the island of Camargue is narrated +with numerous details and descriptions; they are never extraneous to the +action, and are a constant source of beauty and interest. The strange, +barren plain of the Crau, covered with the stones that once destroyed a +race of Giants, as the legend has it, is vividly described, as the +maiden flies across it in the ardent rays of the June sun. She stops to +pray to a saint that he send her a draught of water, and immediately she +comes upon a well. Here she meets a little Arlesian boy who tells her +"in his golden speech" of the glories of Arles. "But," says the poet, +"O soft, dark city, the child forgot to tell thy supreme wonder; O +fertile land of Arles, Heaven gives pure beauty to thy daughters, as it +gives grapes to the autumn, and perfumes to the mountains and wings to +the bird." The little fellow talks of many things and leads her to his +home. From here the fisherman ferries her over the broad Rhone, and we +accompany her over the Camargue, down to the sea. A mirage deceives her +for a time, she sees the town and church, but it soon vanishes in air, +and the maiden hurries on in the fierce heat. + +Her prayer in the chapel is written in another verse form:-- + + "O Santi Mario + Que poudès en flour + Chanja nòsti plour + Clinas lèu l'auriho + De-vers ma doulour!" + + O Holy Maries, who can change our tears to blossoms, incline + quickly an ear unto my grief! + +Before the prayer is ended, there begins the vision of the three Maries, +descending to her from Heaven. + +Mèste Ramoun discovers the flight of the unhappy maiden, and with all +his family starts in pursuit. After the first outburst of grief, he +sends out a messenger. + +"Let the mowers and the ploughmen leave the scythes and the ploughs! Say +to the harvesters to throw down their sickles, bid the shepherds leave +their flocks, bid them come to me!" + +The boy goes out into the fields, among the mowers and gleaners, and +everywhere solemnly delivers his message in the selfsame words. He goes +down to the Crau, among the dwarf oaks, and summons the shepherds. All +these toilers gather about the head of the farm and his wife, who await +them in gloomy silence. Mèste Ramoun, without making clear what +misfortune has overtaken him, entreats the men to tell him what they +have seen. And the chief of the haymakers, father of seven sons, tells +of an evil omen, how, for the first time in thirty years, at the +beginning of his day's work, he had cut himself. The parents moan the +more. Then a mower from Tarascon tells how as he began his work he had +discovered a nest wherein the young birds had been done to death by a +myriad of invading ants. Again "the tale of woe was a lance-thrust for +the father and mother." A third had been taken as with epilepsy, a +shudder had passed over him, and through his dishevelled hair as through +the heads of thistles he had felt Death pass like a wind. A fourth had +seen Mirèio just before the dawn, and had heard her say, "Will none +among the shepherds come with me to the Holy Maries?" And then while the +mother laments, preparations are made to follow the maiden to the +shrines out yonder by the sea. + +This poem, then, depicts for us the rustic life of Provence in all its +outward aspects. The pretty tale and the description of the life of the +Mas and of the Provençal landscapes are inseparably woven together, +forming an harmonious whole. It is not a tragedy, all the characters are +too utterly lacking in depth. Vincèn and Mirèio are but a boy and a +girl, children just awakening to life. The reader may be reminded of +Hermann and Dorothea, of Gabriel and Evangeline, but the creations of +the German and the American poet are greatly superior in all that +represents study of the human mind and heart. + +Goethe's poem and Mistral's have several points of likeness. Hermann +seeks to marry against his father's wish, and the objection is the +poverty of Dorothea. The case is merely inverted. Both poems imitate the +Homeric style, Goethe's more palpably than Mistral's, since the German +poet has adopted the Homeric verse. He affects, also, certain recurring +terms of expression, "Also sprach sie" and the like, and there is a +rather artificial seeking after simplicity of expression. Goethe's poem +is more interesting because of the greater solidity of the characters, +and because of the more closely knitted plot. The curiosity of the +reader is kept roused as in a well-constructed romance. Mistral's poem +has, after all, scarcely any more real local color; the rustic life of +the two poems is similar, allowing for geographical differences, and we +carry away quite as real a picture of Hermann's home and the fields +about it as of the Mas of Mèste Ramoun. Mistral's idyll terminates +tragically in that Mirèio dies of sunstroke, leaving her lover to mourn, +but the tenor of the German poem is more serious and moves us more +deeply; the background of war contributes to this, but the source of +our emotion is in the deep seriousness of the characters themselves. + +Vincèn and Mirèio are charming in their naïveté, they are unspoiled and +unreflecting. They are children, and lacking in well-defined +personality. They have no knowledge of anything beyond the customs and +superstitions of the simple folk about them. Their religion, which is so +continually before us, furnishing the very mainspring of the fatal +dénouement, is of the most superficial sort, if it can be called +religion at all. Whether you are bitten by a dog, a wolf, or a snake, or +lose your eyesight, or are in danger of losing your lover, you run to +the shrine of some saint for help. The religious feeling really runs no +deeper. In his outburst of grief upon seeing Mirèio prone upon the floor +of the chapel, the unhappy boy asks what he has done to merit such a +blow. "Has he lit his pipe in a church at the lamp? or dragged the +crucifix among thistles, like the Jews?" Of the deeper, nobler +consolations of religion, of the problems of human destiny, of the +relations of religious conviction to human conduct, there is no inkling. + +All the characters are equally on the surface. They are types rather +than individuals. They have in common the gift of eloquence. They have +no thought-life, no meditation. They are eminently sociable, frequently +loquacious. They make you think of Daudet's statement concerning the man +of the south, "When he is not talking, he is not thinking." But they +talk well, and have to an eminent degree the gift of narrative. Vincèn's +stories of what he knows and has seen are told most beautifully, and the +poet never forgets himself by making the boy utter thoughts he could not +have conceived. The boy is merely a child of his race. In any rustic +gathering in southern France you may hear a man of the people speak +dramatically and thrillingly, with resonant voice and vivid gestures, +with a marvellous power of mimicry, and the faces of the listeners +reflect all the emotions of the speaker. The numerous scenes, therefore, +wherein a group of listeners follow with keenest interest a tale that is +told, are eminently true to life. The supreme merit of Mirèio lies in +this power of narration that its author possesses. It is all action from +beginning to end, and even the digressions and episodes, which +occasionally arrest the flow of the narrative, are in themselves +admirable pieces of narrative. Most critics have found fault with these +episodes and the frequent insertion of legends. In defence of the +author, it may be said, that he must have feared while writing _Mirèio_ +that it might be his last and only opportunity to address his countrymen +in their own dialect, and in his desire to bring them back to a love of +the traditions of Provence, he yielded to the temptation to crowd his +poem rather more than he would otherwise have done. + +Mirèio, then, is a lovely poem, an idyll, a charming, vivid picture of +life in the rural parts of the Rhone region. It is singularly original. +Local color is its very essence. Its thought and action are strictly +circumscribed within the boundaries of the Crau and the Camargue, and +its originality consists in this limitation, in the fact that a poet of +this century has written a work that comes within the definition of an +epic, with all the primitive simplicity of Biblical or Classic writers, +without any agitation of the problems of modern life, without any new +thought or feeling concerning love or death, or man's relation to the +universe, using a dialect unknown at the time beyond the region +described. Its success could scarcely have been attained without the +poet's masterly prose translation, and yet it is evident that the poem +could not have been conceived and carried out in French verse. The +freshness, the artlessness, the lack of modernity, would have suffered +if the poet had bent his inspiration to the official language. Using a +new idiom, wherein he practically had no predecessor, he was free to +create expression as he went along, and was not compelled to cast his +thought in existing moulds. + +The poem cannot place its author among the very great poets of the +world, if only because of this limitation. It lacks the breadth and +depth, the everlasting interest. But it is a work of great beauty, of +wonderful purity, a sweet story, told in lovely, limpid language, and +will cause many eyes to turn awhile from other lands to the sunny +landscapes of southern France. + + +II. CALENDAU. (CALENDAL.) + +Mistral spent seven years in elaborating his second epic, as he did in +writing his first. The poem had not a popular success, and the reason +is not far to seek. The most striking limitation of the poet is his +failure to create beings of flesh and blood. Even in Mirèio this lack of +well-defined individuality in the characters begins to be apparent, but, +in general, the action of the earlier poem is confined to the world of +realities, whereas in _Calendau_ the poet has given free play to a +brilliant and vivid imagination, launching forth into the heroic and +incredible, yet without abandoning the world of real time and real +places. Allegory and symbolism are the web and woof of _Calendau_. The +poem, again, is overburdened with minute historic details and +descriptions, which are greatly magnified in the eye of his imagination. +A poet, of course, must be pardoned for this want of a sense of +proportion, but even a Provençal reader cannot be kept in constant +illusion as to the greatness of little places that can scarcely be found +upon the map, or dazzled by the magnificence of achievements that really +have left little or no impress upon the history of the world. As we +follow the poet's work in its chronological development, we find this +trait growing more and more pronounced. He sees his beloved Provence, +its past and present, and its future, too, in a magnifying mirror that +embellishes all it reflects with splendid, glowing colors, and exalts +little figures to colossal proportions. The reader falls easily under +the spell of this exuberant enthusiasm and is charmed by the poetic +power evinced. The wealth of words, the beauty of the imagery with +which, for example, the humble, well-nigh unknown little port of Cassis +and its fishing industry are described, carry us along and hold us in +momentary illusion. We see them in the poet's magic mirror for the time. +To the traveller or the sober historian all these things appear very, +very different. + +With the Félibres the success of the poem was much greater; it is a kind +of patriotic hymn, a glorification of the past of Provence, and a song +of hope for its future. Its allegory, its learned literary allusions, +its delving into obscure historic events, preclude any hope of popular +success. + +Like _Mirèio_, the poem is divided into twelve cantos, and the form of +stanza employed is the same. The heroic tone of the poem might be +thought to have required verse of greater stateliness; the recurrence of +the three feminine rhymes in the shorter verses often seems too pretty. +Like _Mirèio_, the poem has the outward marks of an epic. Unlike +_Mirèio_, it reminds us frequently of the _Chansons de geste_, and we +see that the author has been living in the world of the Old Provençal +poets. This is apparent not merely in the constant allusions, in the +reproductions of episodes, but in the manner in which the narrative +moves along. Lamartine would not have been reminded of the ancient Greek +poets had _Calendau_ preceded _Mirèio_. The conception of courtly love, +the guiding, elevating inspiration of Beatrice, leading Dante on to +greater, higher, more spiritual things, are the sources of the chief +ideas contained in _Calendau_. Vincèn and Mirèio remain throughout the +simple youth and maiden they were, but Calendau, "the simple fisherman +of Cassis," develops into a great hero, performing Herculean tasks, like +a knight of the days of chivalry, and rises higher and higher until he +wins "the empire of pure love"--his lady's hand. + +Very beautiful is the invocation addressed to the "soul of his country +that radiates, manifest in its language and in its history--that through +the greatness of its memories saves hope for him." It is the spirit +that inspired the sweet Troubadours, and set the voice of Mirabeau +thundering like the mistral. The poet proclaims his belief in his race. +"For the waves of the ages and their storms and horrors mingle the +nations and wipe out frontiers in vain. Mother Earth, Nature, ever feeds +her sons with the same milk, her hard breast will ever give the fine oil +to the olive; Spirit, ever springing into life, joyous, proud, and +living spirit that neighest in the noise of the Rhone and in the wind +thereof! spirit of the harmonious woods, and of the sunny bays, pious +soul of the fatherland, I call thee! be incarnate in my Provençal +verse!" + +We are plunged in orthodox fashion _in medias res_. The young fisherman +is seated upon the rocky heights above the sea before the beautiful +woman he loves. He does not know who she is; he has performed almost +superhuman exploits to win her; but there is an obstacle to their union. +She relates that she is the last of the family of the Princes des Baux, +who had their castle and city hewn out of the solid rock in the strange +mountains that overlook the plain of Arles. She tells the marvellous +history of the family, evoking a vision of the days of courtly love when +the Troubadours sang at the feet of the fair princesses. A panorama of +the life of those days of poetry and song moves before us. The princess +even describes and defines in poetic language the forms of verse in +vogue in the ancient days, the _Tenson_, the _Pastoral_, the _Ballad_, +the _Sirventés_, the _Romance_, the _Congé_, the _Aubade_, the _Solace +of Love_. She relates her marriage with the Count Sévéran, who +fascinated her by some mysterious power. At the wedding-feast she learns +that he is a mere bandit, leader of a band of robbers that infests the +country. She fled away through the mountains and found the grotto where +she now lives. The fishermen, seeing her appear and vanish among the +cliffs, take her to be the fairy Esterello, who is a sort of Loreley. +Calendau determines that either Sévéran or he shall die, and seeks him +out. His splendid physical appearance and bold, defiant manner arouse in +the bandit a desire to get Calendau to join his company, and the women +of the band are charmed with him. They ask to hear the story of his +life, and the great body of the poem consists of the narrative by +Calendau of his exploits. After the last one Calendau has risen to the +loftiest conception of pure love through the guidance of Esterello, like +Dante inspired by Beatrice. Then the Count holds an orgy and tries to +tempt the virtue of the hero. Calendau, after witnessing the lascivious +dances, challenges the Count to mortal combat. The latter knows now who +he is, and that Esterello is none other than the bride who fled after +the marriage-feast. Calendau is overpowered and imprisoned, and the +Count and his men set off in search of Esterello. But Calendau is freed +by Fourtuneto, one of the women, and journeys by sea from Cannes to +Cassis to defend the Princess. Here a great combat takes place with the +Count, who fires the pine-woods and perishes miserably, uttering +blasphemous imprecations. The Cassidians fight the fire, and Calendau +and the blond Princess are saved. + +"The applause of two thousand souls salutes them and acclaims them. +'Calendau, Calendau, let us plant the May for the conqueror of +Esterello. He glorifies, he brings to the light our little harbor of +fishermen, let us make him Consul, Consul for life!' So saying the +multitude accompanies the generous, happy pair of lovers, and the sun +that God rules, the great sun, rises, illumines, and procreates +endlessly new enthusiasms, new lovers." + +The poem clearly symbolizes the Provençal renascence; Calendau typifies +the modern Provençal people, rising to an ideal life and great +achievements through the memory of their traditions, and this ideal, +this memory, are personified in the person of the beautiful Princess. + +The time of the action is the eighteenth century, before the Revolution. +This is a deliberate choice of the poet who has a temporal symbolism in +mind. "I shall thus combine in my picture the three aspects of Provence +on the eve of the Revolution: in the background, the noble legends of +the past; in the foreground the social corruption of the evil days; and +before us the better future, the future and the reparation personified +in the son of the working classes, guardians of the tradition of the +country." + +As regards the execution, it is masterly, and cannot be ranked below +_Mirèio_. There is the same enthusiastic love of nature, the same +astonishing resources of expression, the same novelty and originality. +In place of the rustic nature of Mirèio, we have the wild grandeur of +mountains and sea. There is the same, nay, even greater, eloquence of +the speakers, the same musical verse. + + "Car, d'aquesto ouro, ounto es la raro + Que di delice nous separo, + Jouine, amourous que siam, libre coume d'aucèu? + Regardo: la Naturo brulo + A noste entour, e se barrulo + Dins li bras de l'Estiéu, e chulo + Lou devourant alen de soun nòve roussèu. + + "Li serre clar e blu, li colo + Palo de la calour e molo, + Boulegon trefouli si mourre.... Ve la mar: + Courouso e lindo coumo un vèire, + Dòu grand soulèu i rai bevèire + Enjusqu'au founs se laisso vèire, + Se laisso coutiga pèr lou Rose e lou Var." + +"For now, where is the limit that separates us from joy, young, amorous +as we are, free as birds! Look: Nature burns around us and rolls in the +arms of Summer, and drinks in the devouring breath of her ruddy spouse. +The clear, blue peaks, the hills, pale and soft with the heat, are +thrilled and stir their rounding summits. Behold the sea, glistening and +limpid as glass; in the thirsty rays of the great sun, she allows +herself to be seen clear to the bottom, to be caressed by the Rhone and +the Var." + +These are the words of Calendau when, seeking his reward after his final +exploit, he learns that he has won the love of Esterello. The poet never +goes further in the voluptuous strain, and the mere music of the words, +especially beginning "Ve la mar" is exquisite. They are found in the +first canto. This scene wherein the Princess refuses to wed Calendau is +typical of the poet. The northern temperament is not impressed with +these long tirades, full of ejaculations and apostrophes; they are apt +to seem unnatural, insincere, and theatrical. Intense feeling is not so +verbose in the north. In this particular Mistral is true to his race. We +quote entire the words of Calendau after the refusal of Esterello, +itself full exclamation and apostrophizing:-- + +"Then I have but won the thirst, the weariness of the midshipman, when +he is about to reach the summit of the mainmast, and sees gleaming at +the limit of the liquid plain naught but water, water eternally! Well, +if thou wilt hear it, listen! and let the heath resound with it! It is +thou, false woman that thou art, it is thou that hast deceived me, +luring me on to believe that at the summit of the peaks I should find +the splendor of a sublime dawn, that after winter spring would come, +that there is nothing so good as the food earned by labor. Thou hast +deceived me, for in the wilderness I found naught but drought; and the +wind of this world and its idle noise, the embarrassment of luxury, and +the din of glory, and what is called the enjoyment of triumph, are not +worth a little hour of love beneath a pine tree! See, from my hand the +bridle escapes, my skull is bursting, and I am not sure now that the +people in their fear are not right in dreading thee like a ghost, now +that I feel, as my reward, thy burning poison streaming through my +heart. Yes, thou art the fairy Esterello, and thou art unmasked at last, +cruel creature! In the chill of thy refusal I have known the viper. Thou +art Esterello, bitter foe to man, haunting the wild places, crowned with +nettles, defending the desert against those who clear the land. Thou art +Esterello, the fairy that sends a shudder through the foliage of the +woods and the hair of the terrified hermit; that fires with the desire +of her perfumed embrace her suitors and in malevolence drives them to +despair with infernal longings. + +"My head is bursting, and since from the heights of my supernatural love +a thunderbolt thus hurls me down, since, nothing, nothing henceforth, +from this moment on, can give me joy, since, cruel woman, when thou +couldst throw me a rope, thou leavest me, in dismay, to drink the bitter +current--let death come, black hiding-place, bottomless abyss! let me +plunge down head first!" + +And when Esterello, fearing he will slay himself, clasps him about the +neck, they stand silently embraced, "the tears, in tender mingling, rain +from their eyes; despair, agitation, a spell of happiness, keep their +lips idle, and from hell, at one bound, they rise to paradise." + +Like the creations of Victor Hugo's poetry, those of Mistral speak the +language of the author. They have his eloquence, his violent energy of +figurative speech, his love of the wild, sunny landscapes about them; +they thrill as he does, at the memories of the past; they love, as he +does, enumerations of trees and plants; they have his fondness for +action. + +The poem is filled with interesting episodes. One that is very striking +in the narrative of Esterello we shall here reproduce. + +We are at the wedding feast of Count Sévéran and the Princess des Baux. +The merry-making begins to be riotous, and the Count has made a speech +in honor of his bride, promising to take her after the melting of the +snows to his Alpine palaces, where the walls are of steel, the doors of +silver, the locks of gold, and when the sun shines their crystal roofs +glitter like flame. + +"Scarcely from his lips had fallen these wild words, when the door of +the banquet hall opens, and we see the head of an old man, wearing a +bonnet and a garment of rough cloth; we see the dust and sweat trickling +down his tanned cheeks. The bridegroom, with a terrible glance, like the +lightning flash of a fearful storm, turns suddenly pale, and seeks to +stop him; but he, whom the glance cannot harm, calmly, impassively, like +God when he clothes himself like a poor man, to confound sometimes some +rich evil-doer, slowly advances toward the bridegroom, crosses his arms, +and scans his countenance. And he says not a word to any one, and all +are afraid; a weight of lead lies upon every heart, and from without +there seems to blow in upon the lamps an icy wind. + +"Finally, a few of them, shaking off their oppression, 'If there come +not soon a famine to wipe out this hideous tribe, we shall be eaten by +beggars within four days! To the merry bridal pair, what hast thou to +say, old scullion?' And they continue to taunt him cruelly. The outraged +peasant holds his peace. 'With his blear eyes, his white pate, his +limping leg, whither comes he trudging? Pelican, bird of ill omen, go to +thy hole and hide thy sorry face.' The stranger swallows their insults, +and casts toward the bridegroom a beseeching glance. + +"But others cry: 'Come on, old man, come on! Come on, fear not the +company, the laughing and joking of these pretty gentlemen. Hunt about +the tables for the dainties and the carcasses. Hast thou a good jaw? +Here, catch this piece of pork and toss off a glass of wine!' + +"'No,' at length comes an answer from the old man, in a tone of deep +sadness, 'gentlemen, I do not beg, and have never desired what others +leave: I seek my son.'--'His son! What is he saying--the son of this +seller of eelskins hovering about the Baroness of Aiglun?' + +"And they look at each other in doubt, in burning scorn. I listened. +Then they said: 'Where is thy son? Show thy son, come on! and beware. +If, to mock us, thou lie, wretch, at the highest gargoyle of the towers +of Aiglun, without mercy, we'll hang thee!' + +"'Well, since I am disowned, and relegated to the sweepings,' the old +man begins, draped in his _sayon_, and with a majesty that frightens us, +'you shall hear the crow sing!' Then the Count, turning the color of the +wall, cold as a bench of stone, said, 'Varlets, here, cast out this +dismal phantom!' Two tears of fire, that pierced the ground, and that I +still see shining, streamed down the countenance of the poor old man, +ah! so bitter, that we all became white as shrouds. + +"'Like Death, I come where I am forgotten, without summons. I am wrong!' +broke out the unhappy man, 'but I wished to see my daughter-in-law. +Come on, cast out this dismal phantom, who is, however, thy father, O +splendid bridegroom!' + +"I uttered a cry; all the guests rose from their chairs. But the +relentless old man went on: 'My lords, to tear from the evil fruit its +whole covering, I have but two words to say. Be seated, for I still see +on the table dishes not yet eaten.' + +"Standing like palings, silent, anxious, the guests remained with hearts +scarce beating. I trembled, my eyes in mist. We were like the dead of +the churchyard about some funeral feast, full of terror and mystery. The +Count grinned sardonically. + +"'Thou shalt run in vain, wretch,' said the venerable father, 'the +vengeance of God will surely reach thee! To-day thou makest me bow my +head; but thy bride, if she have some honor, will presently flee from +thee as from the pest, for thou shalt some day hang, accursed of God!' I +rush to the arms of my father-in-law. 'Stop, stop;' but he, leaning down +to my ear, said: 'Without knowing the vine or measuring the furrows, +thou hast bought the wine, mad girl! Go, thou didst not weep all thy +tears in thy swaddling clothes! Knowest thou whom thou hast? a +robber-chief!'" + +And the scene continues, weirdly dramatic, like some old romantic tale +of feudal days. Such scenes of gloom and terror are not frequent in +Mistral. This one is probably the best of its kind he has attempted. + +On his way to seek Count Sévéran in his fastness, Calendau "enters, +awestruck, into the stupendous valley, deep, frowning, cold, saturnine, +and fierce; the daylight darts into this enclosure an instant upon the +viper and the lizard, then, behind the jagged peaks, it vanishes. The +Esteron rolls below. Now, Calendau feels a shudder in his soul, and +winds his horn. The call resounds in the depths of the gorges. It seems +as though he calls to his aid the spirits of the place. And he thinks of +the paladin dying at Roncevaux." + +For the sake of greater completeness, we summarize briefly the exploits +of the hero. As has been stated, they compose the great body of the +poem, and are narrated by him to the Count and his company of thieves +and women. The narrative begins with the account of the little port of +Cassis, his native place; and one of the stanzas is a setting for the +surprising proverb:-- + + "Tau qu'a vist Paris, + Se noun a vist Cassis, + Pòu dire: N'ai rèn vist!" + + He who has seen Paris, and has not seen Cassis, may say, "I have + seen nothing." + +No less than forty stanzas are taken up with the wonders of Cassis, and +more than half of those are devoted to naming the fish the Cassidians +catch. It is to be feared that other than Provençal readers and students +of natural history will fail to share the enthusiasm of the poet here. +Calendau's father used to read out of an ancient book; and the hero +recounts the history of Provence, going back to the times of the +Ligurians, telling us of the coming of the Greeks, who brought the art +of sculpture for the future Puget. We hear of the founding of +Marseilles, the days of Diana and Apollo, followed by the coming of the +Romans. The victory of Caius Marius is celebrated, the conquest of +Julius Cæsar deplored. We learn of the introduction of Christianity. We +come down to the glorious days of Raymond of Toulouse. + +"And enraptured to be free, young, robust, happy in the joy of living, +in those days a whole people was seen at the feet of Beauty; and singing +blame or praises a hundred Troubadours flourished; and from its cradle, +amid vicissitudes, Europe smiled upon our merry singing." + +"O flowers, ye came too soon! Nation in bloom, the sword cut down thy +blossoming! Bright sun of the south, thou shonest too powerfully, and +the thunder-storms gathered. Dethroned, made barefoot, and gagged, the +Provençal language, proud, however, as before, went off to live among +the shepherds and the sailors." + +"Language of love, if there are fools and bastards, ah! by Saint Cyr, +thou shalt have the men of the land upon thy side, and as long as the +fierce mistral shall roar in the rocks, sensitive to an insult offered +thee, we shall defend thee with red cannon-balls, for thou art the +fatherland, and thou art freedom!" + +This love of the language itself pervades all the work of our poet, but +rarely has he expressed it more energetically, not to say violently, +than here. + +Calendau reaches the point where he first catches a glimpse of the +Princess. He tells of the legends concerning the fairy Esterello, and of +the _Fada_ (Les Enfées). This last is a name given to idiots or to the +insane, who are supposed to have come under her spell. + + "E degun auso + Se trufa d'éli, car an quicon de sacra!" + + And none dares mock them, for they have in them something sacred. + +The fisherman makes many attempts to find her again, and at last +succeeds. She haughtily dismisses his suit. + + "Vai, noun sies proun famous, ni proun fort, ni proun fin." + + Go, thou art not famous enough, nor strong enough, nor fine enough. + +He realizes her great superiority, and, after a time of deep +discouragement, rouses himself and sets about to deserve and win her by +deeds of daring, by making a great name for himself. + +His first idea is to seek wealth, so he builds a great boat and captures +twelve hundred tunny fish. The fishing scenes are depicted with all the +glow of fancy and brilliant word-painting for which Mistral is so +remarkable. Calendau is now rich, and brings jewels to his lady. She +haughtily refuses them, and the fisherman throws them away. + + "--Eh! bèn, ié fau, d'abord, ingrato, + Que toun cor dur ansin me trato + E que de mi presènt noun t'enchau mai qu' acò, + Vagon au Diable!--E li bandisse + Pataflòu! dins lou precepice."... + + "Well," said I to her, "since, ungrateful woman, thy hard heart + treats me thus, and thou carest no more about my presents than + that, let them go to the devil!" and I hurled them, _pataflòu_, + into the precipice.... + +Here the tone is not one that an English reader finds serious; the +sending the jewels to the Devil, in the presence of the beautiful lady, +and the interjection, seem trivial. Evidently they are not so, for the +Princess is mollified at once. + +"He was not very astute, he who made thee believe that the love of a +proud soul can be won with a few trinkets! Ah, where are the handsome +Troubadours, masters of love?" + +She tells the love-stories of Geoffroy Rudel, of Ganbert de Puy-Abot, of +Foulquet of Marseilles, of Guillaume de Balaün, of Guillaume de la +Tour, and her words fall upon Calendau's heart like a flame. He catches +a glimpse of an existence of constant ecstasy. + +His second exploit is a tournament on the water, where the combatants +stand on boats, and are rowed violently against one another, each +striking his lance against the wooden breastplate of his adversary. His +victory wins for him the hatred of the Cassidians, for his enemy accuses +him of cornering the fish. Esterello consoles him with more stories from +the _Chansons de geste_ and the songs of the Troubadours. + +In the seventh canto is described in magnificent language Calendau's +exploit on the Mont Ventoux. This is a remarkable mountain, visible all +over the southern portion of the Rhone valley, standing in solitary +grandeur, like a great pyramid dominating the plain. Its summit is +exceedingly difficult of access. It appears to be the first mountain +that literature records as having been ascended for pleasure. This +ascent is the subject of one of Petrarch's letters. + +During nine days Calendau felled the larches that grew upon the flanks +of the mighty mountain, and hurled the forest piecemeal into the +torrent below. At the Rocher du Cire he is frightfully stung by myriads +of bees, during his attempt to obtain as a trophy for his lady a +quantity of honey from this well-nigh inaccessible place. The kind of +criticism that is appropriate for realistic literature is here quite out +of place. It must be said, however, that the episode is far from +convincing. Calendau compares his sufferings to those of a soul in hell, +condemned to the cauldron of oil. Yet he makes a safe escape, and we +never hear of the physical consequences of his terrible punishment. + +The canto, in its vivid language, its movement, its life, is one of the +most astonishing that has come from the pen of its author. It offers +beautiful examples of his inspiration in depicting the lovely aspects of +nature. He finds words of liquid sweetness to describe the music of the +morning breezes breathing through the mass of trees:-- + + "La Ventoureso matiniero, + En trespirant dins la sourniero + Dis aubre, fernissié coume un pur cantadis, + Ounte di colo e di vallado, + Tóuti li voues en assemblado, + Mandavon sa boufaroulado. + Li mèle tranquilas, li mèle mescladis," etc. + + The morning breeze of the Mont Ventoux, breathing into the mass of + trees, quivered like a pure symphony of song wherein all the voices + of hill and dale sent their breathings. + +In the last line the word _tranquilas_ is meant to convey the idea "in +tranquil grandeur." + +This ruthless destruction of the forest brings down upon Calendau the +anger of his lady; he has dishonored the noble mountain. "Sacrilegious +generation, ye have the harvest of the plains, the chestnut and the +olives of the hillsides, but the beetling brows of the mountains belong +to God!" and the lady continues an eloquent defence of the trees, "the +beloved sons, the inseparable nurslings, the joy, the colossal glory of +the universal nurse!" and pictures the vengeance Nature wreaks when she +is wronged. Calendau is humbled and departs. + +His next exploit is the settling of the feud between two orders of +Masons. He displays marvellous bravery in facing the fighting crowds, +and they choose him to be umpire. He delivers a noble speech in favor of +peace, full of allusions to the architectural glories of Provence, that +grew up when "faith and union lent their torch." He tells the story of +the building of the bridge of Avignon. "Noah himself with his ark could +have passed beneath each of its arches." He touches their emotions with +his appeal for peace, and they depart reconciled. + +And now Esterello begins to love him. She bids him strive for the +noblest things, to love country and humanity, to become a knight, an +apostle; and after Calendau has performed the feat of capturing the +famous brigand Marco-Mau, after he has been crowned in the feasts at +Aix, and resisted victorious the wiles of the women that surround the +Count Sévéran, and saved his lady in the fearful combat on the +fire-surrounded rock, he wins her. + + +III. NERTO + +In spite of its utter unreality _Nerto_ is a charming tale, written in a +sprightly vein, with here and there a serious touch, reminding the +reader frequently of Ariosto. The Devil, the Saints, and the Angels +figure in it prominently; but the Devil is not a very terrible personage +in Provence, and the Angels are entirely lacking in Miltonic grandeur. +The scene of the story is laid in the time of Benedict XIII, who was +elected Pope at Avignon in 1394. The story offers a lively picture of +the papal court, reminding the reader forcibly of the description found +in Daudet's famous tale of the Pope's mule. It is filled throughout with +legends relating to the Devil, and with superstitious beliefs of the +Middle Age. It is not always easy to determine when the poet is serious +in his statement of religious belief, occasionally he appears to be so, +and then a line or so shows us that he has a legend in mind. In the +prologue of the poem he says:-- + + "Crèire, coundus à la vitòri. + Douta, vaqui l' endourmitòri + E la pouisoun dins lou barriéu + E la lachuslo dins lou riéu." + + To believe leads to victory. Doubt is the narcotic, and the poison + in the barrel, and the euphorbia in the stream. + + "E, quand lou pople a perdu fe, + L'infèr abrivo si boufet." + + And when the people have lost faith, + Hell sets its bellows blowing. + +Then later we read: "What is this world? A wager between Christ and the +Demon. Thousands of years ago he challenged God, and when the great game +began, they played with great loose rocks from the hills, at quoits, and +if any one is unwilling to believe this, let him go to Mount Léberon and +see the stone thrown by Satan." + +So we see that the theology was merely a means of leading up to a local +legend. + +The story is briefly as follows: Nerto, like all Mistral's heroines, is +exceedingly young, thirteen years of age. Her father, the Baron Pons, +had gambled away everything he owned in this world, when she was a very +little child, and while walking along a lonely road one night he met the +Devil, who took advantage of his despair to tempt him with the sight of +heaps of money. The wretched father sold his daughter's soul to the Evil +One. Now on his death-bed he tells his child the fearful tale; one means +of salvation lies open for her--she must go to the Pope. Benedict XIII +is besieged in the great palace at Avignon, but the Baron knows of a +secret passage from his castle leading under the river Durance to one of +the towers of the papal residence. He bids Nerto go to seek deliverance +from the bond, and to make known to the Pope the means of escape. Nerto +reaches the palace at the moment when all is in great commotion, for the +enemy have succeeded in setting it on fire. She is first seen by the +Pope's nephew Don Rodrigue, an exceedingly wicked young man, a sort of +brawling Don Juan, who seems to have been guilty of numerous +assassinations. He immediately begins to talk love to the maiden, as the +means of saving her from the Devil, "the path of love is full of flowers +and leads to Paradise." But Nerto has been taught that the road to +Heaven is full of stones and thorns, and her innocence saves her from +the passionate outburst of the licentious youth. And Nerto is taken to +the Pope, whom she finds sadly enthroned in all his splendor, and brings +him the news of a means of escape. The last Pope of Avignon bearing the +sacred elements, _pourtant soun Diéu_, follows the maiden through the +underground passage, and escapes with all his followers. At +Château-Renard he sets up his court with the King of Forcalquier, +Naples, and Jerusalem and Donna Iolanthe his Queen. Nerto asks the Pope +to save her soul, but he is powerless. Only a miracle can save a soul +sold to Satan. She must enter a convent, and pray to the Saints +continually. The Court is about to move to Arles, she shall enter the +convent there. On the way, Don Rodrigue makes love to her assiduously, +but the young girl's heart seems untroubled. + +At Arles we witness a great combat of animals, in which the lion of +Arles, along with four bulls, is turned loose in the arena. The lion +kills all but one of the bulls. The fourth beast, enraged, gores the +lion. The royal brute rushes among the spectators and makes for the +King's throne. Nerto and the Queen are crouching in terror before him, +when Don Rodrigue slays the animal, saving Nerto's life. Nay, he saves +more than her life, for had she died then she would have been a prey to +the flames of Hell. + +Nerto becomes a nun, but Don Rodrigue, with a band of ribald followers, +succeeds in carrying her off with all the other nuns. They are all +driven by the King's soldiers into the cemetery of the Aliscamps. Nerto +wanders away during the battle and is lost among the tombs. At dawn the +next day she strays far out to a forest, where she finds a hermit. The +old man welcomes her, and believes he can save her soul. The Angel +Gabriel visits him frequently, and he will speak to him. But the Angel +disapproves, condemns the pride of the anchorite, and soars away to the +stars without a word of hope or consolation, and so in great anxiety the +pious man bids her go back to the convent, and prays Saint Gabriel, +Saint Consortia, Saint Tullia, Saint Gent, Saint Verdème, Saint Julien, +Saint Trophime, Saint Formin, and Saint Stephen to accompany her. + +Don Rodrigue is living in a palace built for him in one night by the +Devil, wherein are seven halls, each devoted to one of the seven mortal +sins. Hither Nerto wanders; here Rodrigue finds her, and begins his +passionate love-making afresh. But Nerto remains true to her vows, +although the germ of love has been in her heart since the day Rodrigue +saved her from the lion. On learning that she is in the Devil's castle, +she is filled with terror, believing the fatal day has arrived. She +confesses her love. The maiden cries: "Woe is me, Nerto loves you, but +if Hell should swallow us up, would there be any love for the damned? +Rodrigue, no, there is none. If you would but break the tie that binds +you, if, with one happy wing-stroke, you could soar up to the summits +where lives last forever, where hearts vanish united in the bosom of +God, I should be delivered, it seems to me, in the same upward impulse; +for, in heaven or in the abyss, I am inseparable from you." Rodrigue +replies sadly, that his past is too dreadful, that only the ocean could +wipe it out. "Rodrigue, one burst of repentance is worth a long penance. +Courage, come, only one look toward Heaven!" The Devil appears. He +swells with pride in this, his finest triumph; black souls he has in +plenty, but since the beginning of his reign over the lower regions he +has never captured an immaculate victim like this soul. Rodrigue inverts +his sword, and at the sign of the cross, a terrific hurricane sweeps +away the palace, Don Rodrigue, and the Devil, and nothing is left but a +nun of stone who is still visible in the midst of a field on the site of +the château. In an Epilogue we learn from the Archangel who visits the +hermit that the knight and the maiden were both saved. + +It is difficult to characterize the curious combination of levity and +seriousness that runs through this tale. There is no illusion of reality +anywhere; there is no agony of soul in Baron Pon's confession; Nerto's +terror when she learns that she is the property of the Devil is far from +impressive, because she says too much, with expressions that are too +pretty, perhaps because the rippling octosyllabic verse, in Provençal at +least, cannot be serious; it is hardly worth while to mention the +objection that if the Devil can be worsted at any time merely by +inverting a sword, especially when the sword is that of an assassin and +a rake, whose repentance is scarcely touched upon and is by no means +disinterested, it is clear that the Demon has wasted his time at a very +foolish game; a religious mind might feel a deeper sort of reverence for +the Archangels than is evinced here. Yet it cannot be said that the poem +parodies things sacred and sublime, and it appears to be utterly without +philosophical intention. Mistral really has to a surprising degree the +naïveté of writers of former centuries, and as regards the tale itself +and its general treatment it could almost have been written by a +contemporary of the events it relates. + + +IV. LOU POUÈMO DÓU ROSE + +The _Poem of the Rhone_, the third of the poems in twelve cantos that +Mistral has written, appeared in 1897. It completes the symmetry of his +life work; the former epics extolled the life of the fields, the +mountains, and the sea, the last glorifies the beautiful river that +brings life to his native soil. More than either of the other long +poems, it is an act of affection for the past, for the Rhone of the poem +is the Rhone of his early childhood, before the steam-packets churned +its waters, or the railroads poured up their smoke along its banks. +Although the poet has interwoven in it a tale of merest fancy, it is +essentially realistic, differing notably in this respect from Calendau. +This realism descends to the merest details, and the poetic quality of +the work suffers considerably in many passages. The poet does not shrink +from minute enumeration of cargoes, or technical description of boats, +or word-for-word reproduction of the idle talk of boatwomen, or the +apparently inexhaustible profanity of the boatmen. The life on the river +is vividly portrayed, and we put down the book with a sense of really +having made the journey from Lyons to Beaucaire with the fleet of seven +boats of Master Apian. + +On opening the volume the reader is struck first of all with the novel +versification. It is blank verse, the line being precisely that of +Dante's _Divina Commedia_. Not only is there no rhyme, but assonance is +very carefully avoided. The effect of this unbroken succession of +feminine verses is slightly monotonous, though the poet shifts his +pauses skilfully. The rhythm of the lines is marked, the effect upon the +ear being quite like that of English iambic pentameters hypercatalectic. +The absence of rhyme is the more noteworthy in that rhyme offers little +difficulty in Provençal. Doubtless the poet was pleased to show an +additional claim to superiority for his speech over the French as a +vehicle for poetic thought; for while on the one hand the rules of rhyme +and hiatus give the poet writing in Provençal less trouble than when +writing in French, on the other hand this poem proves that splendid +blank verse may be written in the new language. + +The plan of the poem is briefly as follows: it describes the departure +of a fleet of boats from Lyons, accompanies them down the river to +Beaucaire, describes the fair and the return up the river, the boats +being hauled by eighty horses; narrates the collision with a steamboat +coming down the stream, which drags the animals into the water, setting +the boats adrift in the current, destroying them and their cargo, and +typifying as it were the ruin of the old traffic on the Rhone. The river +itself is described, its dangerous shoals, its beautiful banks, its +towns and castles. We learn how the boats were manÅ“uvred; the life on +board and the ideas of the men are set before us minutely. Legends and +stories concerning the river and the places along the shores abound, of +course; and into this general background is woven the tale of a Prince +of Orange and a little maiden called the Anglore, two of the curiously +half-real, half-unreal beings that Mistral seems to love to create. The +Prince comes on board the fleet, intending to see Orange and Provence; +some day he is to be King of Holland, but has already sickened of court +ceremonies and intrigues. + + "Uno foulié d'amour s'es mes en tèsto." + +This dreamy, imaginative, blond Prince is in search of a Naïade and the +mysterious "swan-flower," wherein the fair nymph is hidden. This flower +he wears as an emblem. When the boatmen see it, they recognize it as the +_fleur de Rhône_ that the Anglore is so fond of culling. The men get +Jean Roche, one of their number, to tell the Prince who this mysterious +Anglore is, and we learn that she is a little, laughing maiden, who +wanders barefoot on the sand, so charming that any of the sailors, were +she to make a sign, would spring into the water to go and print a kiss +upon her little foot. Not only is the Prince in search of a nymph and a +flower, not only does he wish to behold Orange, he wishes also to learn +the language in which the Countess of Die sang lays of love with +Raimbaud of Orange. He is full of thoughts of the olden days, he feels +regret for the lost conquests. "But why should he feel regret, if he may +recover the sunny land of his forefathers by drinking it in with eager +eyes! What need is there of gleaming swords to seize what the eye shows +us?" He cares little for royalty. + +"Strongholds crumble away, as may be seen on all these hills; +everything falls to ruin and is renewed. But on thy summits, unchanging +Nature, forever the thyme shall bloom, and the shepherds and +shepherdesses frolic on the grass at the return of spring." + +The Prince apostrophizes the "empire of the sun," bordering like a +silver hem the dazzling Rhone, the "poetic empire of Provence, that with +its name alone doth charm the world," and he calls to mind the empire of +the Bosonides, the memory of which survives in the speech of the +boatmen; they call the east shore "empire," the west shore "kingdom." + +The journey is full of episodes. The owner of the fleet, Apian, is a +sententious individual. He is devoted to his river life, full of +religious fervor, continually crossing himself or praying to Saint +Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors. This faith, however, is not +entire. If a man falls into the water, the fellows call to him, +"Recommend thyself to Saint Nicholas, but swim for dear life." As the +English expression has it, "Trust to God, but keep your powder dry." +Master Apian always says the Lord's Prayer aloud when he puts off from +shore, and solemnly utters the words, "In the name of God and the Holy +Virgin, to the Rhone!" His piety, however, does not prevent him from +interrupting his prayer to swear at the men most vigorously. Says he, +"Let whoever would learn to pray, follow the water," but his arguments +and experiences rather teach the vanity of prayer. He is full of +superstitious tales. He has views of life. + +"Life is a journey like that of the bark. It has its bad, its good days. +The wise man, when the waves smile, ought to know how to behave; in the +breakers he must go slow. But man is born for toil, for navigation. He +who rows gets his pay at the end of the month. He who is afraid of +blistering his hands takes a dive into the abyss of poverty." He tells a +story of Napoleon in flight down the Rhone, of the women who cried out +at him, reviling him, bidding him give back their sons, shaking their +fists and crying out, "Into the Rhone with him." Once when he was +changing horses at an inn, a woman, bleeding a fowl at the door, +exclaimed: "Ha, the cursed monster! If I had him here, I'd plant my +knife into his throat like that!" The emperor, unknown to her, draws +near. "What did he do to you?" said he. "I had two sons," replied the +bereaved mother wrathfully, "two handsome boys, tall as towers. He +killed them for me in his battles."--"Their names will not perish in the +stars," said Napoleon sadly. "Why could I not fall like them? for they +died for their country on the field of glory."--"But who are you?"--"I +am the emperor."--"Ah!" The good woman fell upon her knees dismayed, +kissed his hands, begged his forgiveness, and all in tears--Here the +story is interrupted. + +Wholly charming and altogether original is the tale of the little maiden +whom the boatmen name L'Anglore, and whom Jean Roche loves. The men have +named her so for fun. They knew her well, having seen her from earliest +childhood, half naked, paddling in the water along the shore, sunning +herself like the little lizard they call _anglore_. Now she had grown, +and eked out a poor living by seeking for gold in the sands brought down +by the Ardèche. + +The little maid believed in the story of the Drac, a sort of merman, +that lived in the Rhone, and had power to fascinate the women who +ventured into the water. There was once a very widespread superstition +concerning this Protean creature; and the women washing in the river +often had a figure of the Drac, in the form of a lizard, carved upon the +piece of wood with which they beat the linen, as a sort of talisman +against his seduction. The mother of the Anglore had told her of his +wiles; and one story impressed her above all--the story of the young +woman who, fascinated by the Drac, lost her footing in the water and was +carried whirling down into the depths. At the end of seven years she +returned and told her tale. She had been seized by the Drac, and for +seven years he kept her to nurse his little Drac. + +The Anglore was never afraid while seeking the specks of gold in the +sunlight. But at night it was different. A gem of poetry is the scene in +the sixth canto, full of witchery and charm, wherein the imagination of +the little maid, wandering out along the water in the mysterious +moonlight, causes her to fancy she sees the Drac in the form of a fair +youth smiling upon her, offering her a wild flower, uttering sweet, +mysterious words of love that die away in the water. She often came +again to meet him; and she noticed that if ever she crossed herself on +entering the water, as she had always done when a little girl, the Drac +would not appear. These three or four pages mark the genuine poet and +the master of language. The mysterious night, oppressively warm, the +moonlight shining on the little white figure, the deep silence, broken +only by the faint murmur of the river and the distant singing of a +nightingale, the gleam of the glowworms, compose a scene of fantastic +beauty. The slightest sounds startle her, whether it be a fish leaping +at the surface of the water to seize a fly, the gurgling of a little +eddy, or the shrill cry of a bat. There is a certain voluptuous beauty +in the very sound of the words that describe the little nymph, kissed by +the moonbeams:-- + + "alusentido + Pèr li rai de la luno que beisavon + Soun fin coutet, sa jouino car ambrenco, + Si bras poupin, sis esquino rabloto + E si pousseto armouniouso e fermo + Que s'amagavon coume dos tourtouro + Dins l'esparpai de sa cabeladuro." + +The last three lines fall like a caress upon the ear. Mistral often +attains a perfect melody of words with the harmonious succession of +varied vowel sounds and the well-marked cadence of his verse. + +When Apian's fleet comes down the river and passes the spot where the +little maid seeks for gold, the men see her and invite her on board. She +will go down to Beaucaire to sell her findings. Jean Roche offers +himself in marriage, but she will have none of him; she loves the vision +seen beneath the waves. When the Anglore spies the blond-haired Prince, +she turns pale and nearly swoons. "'Tis he, 'tis he!" she cries, and she +stands fascinated. William, charmed with the little maid, says to her, +"I recognize thee, O Rhone flower, blooming on the water--flower of good +omen that I saw in a dream." The little maid calls him Drac, identifies +the flower in his hand, and lives on in this hallucination. The boatmen +consider that she has lost her reason, and say she must have drunk of +the fountain of Tourne. The little maid hears them, and bids them speak +low, for their fate is written at the fountain of Tourne; and like a +Sibyl, raising her bare arm, she describes the mysterious carvings on +the rock, and the explanation given by a witch she knew. These carvings, +according to Mistral's note, were dedicated to the god Mithra. The +meaning given by the witch is that the day the Drac shall leave the +river Rhone forever, that day the boatmen shall perish. The men do not +laugh, for they have already heard of the great boats that can make +their way against the current without horses. Apian breaks out into +furious imprecations against the men who would ruin the thousands that +depend for their living upon the river. One is struck by this +introduction of a question of political economy into a poem. + +During the journey to Avignon the Prince falls more and more in love +with the little Anglore, whom no sort of evidence can shake out of her +belief that the Prince is the Drac, for the Drac can assume any form at +pleasure. Her delusion is so complete, so naïve, that the prince, +romantic by nature, is entirely under the spell. + +There come on board three Venetian women, who possess the secret of a +treasure, twelve golden statues of the Apostles buried at Avignon. The +Prince leaves the boat to help them find the place, and the little maid +suffers intensely the pangs of jealousy. But he comes back to her, and +takes her all about the great fair at Beaucaire. That night, however, he +wanders out alone, and while calling to mind the story of Aucassin and +Nicolette, he is sandbagged, but not killed. The Anglore believes he has +left his human body on the ground so as to visit his caverns beneath the +Rhone. William seems unhurt, and at the last dinner before they start to +go up the river again, surrounded by the crew, he makes them a truly +Felibrean speech:-- + +"Do you know, friends, to whom I feel like consecrating our last meal in +Beaucaire? To the patriots of the Rhodanian shores, to the dauntless men +who, in olden days, maintained themselves in the strong castle that +stands before our eyes, to the dwellers along the riverbanks who +defended so valiantly their customs, their free trade, and their great +free Rhone. If the sons of those forefathers who fell bravely in the +strife, to-day have forgotten their glory, well, so much the worse for +the sons! But you, my mates, you who have preserved the call, Empire! +and who, like the brave men you are, will soon go and defend the Rhone +in its very life, fighting your last battle with me, a stranger, but +enraptured and intoxicated with the light of your Rhone, come, raise +your glasses to the cause of the vanquished!" + +The love scenes between the Prince and the Anglore continue during the +journey up the river. Her devotion to him is complete; she knows not +whither she goes, if to perish, then let it be with him. In a moment of +enthusiasm William makes a passionate declaration. + +"Trust me, Anglore, since I have freely chosen thee, since thou hast +brought me thy deep faith in the beautiful wonders of the fable, since +thou art she who, without thought, yields to her love, as wax melts in +the sun, since thou livest free of all our bonds and shams, since in thy +blood, in thy pure bosom, lies the renewal of the old sap, I, on my +faith as a Prince, I swear to thee that none but me, O my Rhone flower, +shall have the happiness to pluck thee as a flower of love and as a +wife!" + +But this promise is never kept. One day the boats meet the steamer +coming down the river. Apian, pale and silent, watches the magic bark +whose wheels beat like great paws, and, raising great waves, come down +steadily upon him. + +The captain cries, "One side!" but, obstinate and angry, Apian tries to +force the steamer to give way. The result is disastrous. The steamer +catches in the towing cables and drags the horses into the water. The +boats drift back and are hurled against a bridge. William and the +Anglore are thrown into the river and are lost. All the others escape +with their lives. Jean Roche is not sure but that he was the Drac after +all, who, foreseeing the shipwreck, had thus followed the boats, to +carry the Anglore at last down into the depths of the river. Maître +Apian accepts his ruin philosophically. Addressing his men, he says: +"Ah, my seven boats! my splendid draught horses! All gone, all ruined! +It is the end of the business! Poor fellow-boatmen, you may well say, +'good-by to a pleasant life.' To-day the great Rhone has died, as far as +we are concerned." + +The idea of the poem is, then, to tell of the old life on the Rhone. +To-day the river flows almost as in the days when its shores were untrod +by men. Rarely is any sort of boat seen upon its swift and dangerous +current. Mistral portrays the life he knew, and he has done it with +great power and vividness. The fanciful tale of the Prince and the +Anglore, suggested by the beliefs and superstitions of the humble folk, +was introduced, doubtless, as a necessary love story. The little maid +Anglore, half mad in her illusion, is none the less a very sympathetic +creation, and surely quite original. This tale, however, running through +the poem like a thread, is not the poem, nor does it fill +proportionately a large place therein. The poem is, as its title +proclaims, the Poem of the Rhone, a poem of sincere regret for the good +old days when the muscular sons of Condrieu ruled the stream, the days +of jollity, of the curious boating tournaments of which one is described +in _Calendau_, when the children used to watch the boats go by with a +Condrillot at the helm, and the Rhone was swarming like a mighty +beehive. The poet notes in sorrow that all is dead. The river flows on, +broad and silent, and no vestige of all its past activity remains, but +here and there a trace of the cables that used to rub along the stones. + +As we said at the outset, what is most striking about this poem is its +realism. The poet revels in enumerating the good things the men had to +eat at the feast of Saint Nicholas; he describes with a wealth of +vocabulary and a flood of technical terms quite bewildering every sort +of boat, and all its parts with their uses; he reproduces the talk of +the boatmen, leaving unvarnished their ignorance and superstition, +their roughness and brutality; he describes their appearance, their +long hair and large earrings; he explains the manner of guiding the +boats down the swirling, treacherous waters, amid the dangers of shoals +and hidden rocks; he describes all the cargoes, not finding it beneath +the dignity of an epic poem to tell us of the kegs of foamy beer that is +destined for the thirsty throats of the drinkers at Beaucaire; as the +boats pass Condrieu, he reproduces the gossip of the boatmen's wives; he +does not omit the explanations of Apian addressed to the Prince +concerning fogs and currents; he is often humorous, telling us of the +heavy merchants who promenade their paunches whereon the watch-charms +rattle against their snug little money carried in a belt; he describes +the passengers, tells us their various trades and destinations, is even +cynical; tells of the bourgeois, who, once away from their wives, grow +suddenly lavish with their money, and like pigs let loose in the street, +take up the whole roadway; he does not shrink from letting us know that +the men chew a cud of tobacco while they talk; he mentions the price of +goods; he puts into the mouth of Jean Roche's mother a great many +practical and material considerations as to the matter of taking a +wife, and a very wise and practical old lady she is; he treats as +"joyeusetés" the conversation of the Venetian women who inform the +Prince that in their city the noblewoman, once married, may have quite a +number of lovers without exciting any comment, the husband being rather +relieved than otherwise; he allows his boatmen to swear and call one +another vile names, and a howling, brawling lot they frequently become; +and when at last we get to the fair at Beaucaire, there are pages of +minute enumerations that can scarcely be called Homeric. In short, a +very large part of the book is prose, animated, vigorous, often +exaggerated, but prose. Like his other long poems it is singularly +objective. Rarely does the author interrupt his narrative or description +to give an opinion, to speak in his own name, or to analyze the +situation he has created. Like the other poems, too, it is sprinkled +with tales and legends of all sorts, some of them charming. +Superstitions abound. Mistral shares the fondness of the Avignonnais for +the number seven. Apian has seven boats, the Drac keeps his victim seven +years, the woman of Condrieu has seven sons. + +The poem offers the same beauties as the others, an astonishing power of +description first of all. Mistral is always masterly, always poetic in +depicting the landscape and the life that moves thereon, and especially +in evoking the life of the past. He revives for us the princesses and +queens, the knights and troubadours, and they move before us, a +fascinating, glittering pageant. The perfume of flowers, the sunlight on +the water, the great birds flying in the air, the silent drifting of the +boats in the broad valley, the reflection of the tall poplars in the +water, the old ruins that crown the hilltops--all these things are +exquisitely woven into the verse, and more than a mere word-painting +they create a mood in the reader in unison with the mood of the person +of whom he is reading. + +In touching truly deep and serious things Mistral is often superficial, +and passes them off with a commonplace. An instance in this poem is the +episode of the convicts on their way to the galleys at Toulon. No +terrible indignation, no heartfelt pity, is expressed. Apian silences +one of his crew who attempts to mock at the unhappy wretches. "They are +miserable enough without an insult! and do not seem to recognize them, +for, branded on the shoulder, they seek the shade. Let this be an +example to you all. They are going to eat beans at Toulon, poor fellows! +All sorts of men are there,--churchmen, rascals, nobles, notaries, even +some who are innocent!" + +And the poet concludes, "Thus the world, thus the agitation, the stir of +life, good, evil, pleasure, pain, pass along swiftly, confusedly, +between day and night, on the river of time, rolling along and fleeing." + +The enthusiasm of the poet leads him into exaggeration whenever he comes +to a wonder of Provence. Things are relative in this world, and the same +words carry different meanings. Avignon is scarcely a colossal pile of +towers, and would not remind many of Venice, even at sunset, and we must +make a discount when we hear that the boats are _engulfed_ in the +_fierce_ (_sic_) arch of the _colossal_ bridge of stone that Benezet, +the shepherd, erected seven hundred years ago. A moment later he refers +daintily and accurately to the chapel of Saint Nicholas "riding on the +bridge, slender and pretty." The epithets sound larger, too, in +Provençal; the view of Avignon is "espetaclouso," the walls of the +castle are "gigantesco." + +Especially admirable in its sober, energetic expression is the account +of the _Remonte_, in the eleventh canto, wherein we see the eighty +horses, grouped in fours, tug slowly up the river. + +"The long file on the rough-paved path, dragging the weighty train of +boats, in spite of the impetuous waters, trudges steadily along. And +beneath the lofty branches of the great white poplars, in the stillness +of the Rhone valley, in the splendor of the rising sun, walking beside +the straining horses that drive a mist from their nostrils, the first +driver says the prayer." + +With each succeeding poem the vocabulary of Mistral seems to grow, along +with the boldness of expression. All his poems he has himself translated +into French, and these translations are remarkable in more than one +respect. That of the _Poem of the Rhone_ is especially full of rare +French words, and it cannot be imputed to the leader of the Provençal +poets that he is not past master of the French vocabulary. Often his +French expression is as strange as the original. Not many French +writers would express themselves as he does in the following:-- + +"Et il tressaille de jumeler le nonchaloir de sa jeunesse au renouveau +de la belle ingénue." + +In this translation, also, more than in the preceding, there is +occasionally an affectation of archaism, which rather adds to than +detracts from the poetic effect of his prose, and the number of lines in +the prose translation that are really ten-syllable verses is quite +remarkable. On one page (page 183 of the third edition, Lemerre) more +than half the lines are verses. + +Is the _Poem of the Rhone_ a great poem? Whether it is or not, it +accomplishes admirably the purpose of its author, to fix in beautiful +verse the former life of the Rhone. That much of it is prosaic was +inevitable; the nature of the subject rendered it so. It is full of +beauties, and the poet who wrote _Mirèio_ and completed it before his +thirtieth year, has shown that in the last decade of his threescore +years and ten he could produce a work as full of fire, energy, life, and +enthusiasm as in the stirring days when the Félibrige was young. In this +poem there occurs a passage put into the mouth of the Prince, which +gives a view of life that we suspect is the poet's own. He here calls +the Prince a young sage, and as we look back over Mistral's life, and +review its aims, and the conditions in which he has striven, we incline +to think that here, in a few words, he has condensed his thought. + +"For what is life but a dream, a distant appearance, an illusion gliding +on the water, which, fleeing ever before our eyes, dazzles us like a +mirror flashing, entices and lures us on! Ah, how good it is to sail on +ceaselessly toward one's desire, even though it is but a dream! The time +will come, it is near, perhaps, when men will have everything within +their reach, when they will possess everything, when they will know and +have proved everything; and, regretting the old mirages, who knows but +what they will not grow weary of living!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +LIS ISCLO D'OR + + +The lover of poetry will probably find more to admire and cherish in +this volume than in any other that has come from the pen of its author, +excepting, possibly, the best passages of _Mirèio_. It is the collection +of his short poems that appeared from time to time in different +Provençal publications, the earliest dating as far back as 1848, the +latest written in 1888. They are a very complete expression of his +poetic ideas, and contain among their number gems of purest poesy. The +poet's lyre has not many strings, and the strains of sadness, of pensive +melancholy, are almost absent. Mistral has once, and very successfully, +tried the theme of Lainartine's _Lac_, of Musset's _Souvenir_, of Hugo's +_Tristesse d'Olympio_; but his poem is not an elegy, it has not the +intensity, the passion, the deep undertone of any of the three great +Romanticists. _La Fin dóu Meissounié_ is a beautiful, pathetic, and +touching tale, that easily brings a tear, and _Lou Saume de la +Penitènci_ is without doubt one of the noblest poems inspired in the +heart of any Frenchman by the disaster of 1870. But these poems, though +among the best according to the feeling for poetry of a reader from +northern lands, are not characteristic of the volume in general. The +dominant strain is energy, a clarion-call of life and light, an appeal +to his fellow-countrymen to be strong and independent; the sun of +Provence, the language of Provence, the ideals of Provence, the memories +of Provence, these are his themes. His poetry is not personal, but +social. Of his own joys and sorrows scarce a word, unless we say what is +doubtless the truth, that his joys and sorrows, his regrets and hopes, +are identical with those of his native land, and that he has blended his +being completely with the life about him. The volume contains a great +number of pieces written for special occasions, for the gatherings of +the Félibres, for their weddings. Many of them are addressed to persons +in France and out, who have been in various ways connected with the +Félibrige. Of these the greeting to Lamartine is especially felicitous +in expression, and the following stanza from it forms the dedication of +_Mirèio_:-- + + "Te counsacre Mirèio: eo moun cor e moun amo, + Es la flour de mis an; + Es un rasin de Crau qu' emé touto sa ramo + Te porge un païsan." + +The entire poem, literally translated, is as follows:-- + + If I have the good fortune to see my bark early upon the waves, + Without fear of winter, + Blessings upon thee, O divine Lamartine, + Who hast taken the helm! + + If my prow bears a bouquet of blooming laurel, + It is thou hast made it for me; + If my sail swelleth, it is the breath of thy glory + That bloweth it. + + Therefore, like a pilot who of a fair church + Climbeth the hill + And upon the altar of the saint that hath saved him at sea + Hangeth a miniature ship. + + I consecrate Mirèio to thee; 'tis my heart and my soul, + 'Tis the flower of my years; + 'Tis a cluster of grapes from the Crau that with all its leaves + A peasant offers thee. + + Generous as a king, when thou broughtest me fame + In the midst of Paris, + Thou knowest that, in thy home, the day thou saidst to me, + "Tu Marcellus eris!" + + Like the pomegranate in the ripening sunbeam, + My heart opened, + And, unable to find more tender speech, + Broke out in tears. + +It is interesting to notice that the earliest poem of our author, _La +Bella d'Avoust_, is a tale of the supernatural, a poem of mystery; it is +an order of poetic inspiration rather rare in his work, and this first +poem is quite as good as anything of its kind to be found in _Mirèio_ or +_Nerto_. It has the form of a song with the refrain:-- + + Ye little nightingales, ye grasshoppers, be still! + Hear the song of the beauty of August! + +Margaï of Val-Mairane, intoxicated with love, goes down into the plain +two hours before the day. Descending the hill, she is wild. "In vain," +she says, "I seek him, I have missed him. Ah, my heart trembles." + +The poem is full of imagery, delicate and pretty. Margaï is so lovely +that in the clouds the moon, enshrouded, says to the cloud very softly, +"Cloud, beautiful cloud, pass away, my face would let fall a ray on +Margaï, thy shadow hinders me." And the bird offers to console her, and +the glow-worm offers his light to guide her to her lover. Margaï comes +and goes until she meets her lover in the shadow of the trees. She tells +of her weeping, of the moon, the birdling, and the glow-worm. "But thy +brow is dark, art thou ill? Shall I return to my father's house?" + +"If my face is sad, on my faith, it is because a black moth hovering +about hath alarmed me." + +And Margaï says, "Thy voice, once so sweet, to-day seems a trembling +sound beneath the earth; I shudder at it." + +"If my voice is so hoarse, it is because while waiting for thee I lay +upon my back in the grass." + +"I was dying with longing, but now it is with fear. For the day of our +elopement, beloved, thou wearest mourning!" + +"If my cloak be sombre and black, so is the night, and yet the night +also glimmers." + +When the star of the shepherds began to pale, and when the king of +stars was about to appear, suddenly off they went, upon a black horse. +And the horse flew on the stony road, and the ground shook beneath the +lovers, and 'tis said fantastic witches danced about them until day, +laughing loudly. + +Then the white moon wrapped herself again, the birdling on the branch +flew off in fright, even the glow-worm, poor little thing, put out his +lamp, and quickly crept away under the grass. And it is said that at the +wedding of poor Margaï there was little feasting, little laughing, and +the betrothal and the dancing took place in a spot where fire was seen +through the crevices. + +"Vale of Val-Mairane, road to the Baux, never again o'er hill or plain +did ye see Margaï. Her mother prays and weeps, and will not have enough +of speaking of her lovely shepherdess." + +This weird, legendary tale was composed in 1848. The next effort of the +poet is one of his masterpieces, wherein his inspiration is truest and +most poetical. _La Fin dóu Meissounié_ (The Reaper's Death) is a noble, +genuinely pathetic tale, told in beautifully varied verse, full of the +love of field work, and aglow with sympathy for the toilers. The figure +of the old man, stricken down suddenly by an accidental blow from the +scythe of a young man mowing behind him, as he lies dying on the rough +ground, urging the gleaners to go on and not mind him, praying to Saint +John,--the patron of the harvesters,--is one not to be forgotten. The +description of the mowing, the long line of toilers with their scythes, +the fierce sun making their blood boil, the sheaves falling by hundreds, +the ruddy grain waving in the breath of the mistral, the old chief +leading the band, "the strong affection that urged the men on to cut +down the harvest,"--all is vividly pictured, and foretells the future +poet of _Mirèio_. The words of the old man are full of his energy and +faith: "The wheat, swollen and ripe, is scattering in the summer wind; +do not leave to the birds and ants, O binders, the wheat that comes from +God!" "What good is your weeping? better sing with the young fellows, +for I, before you all, have finished my task. Perhaps, in the land where +I shall be presently, it will be hard for me, when evening comes, to +hear no more, stretched out upon the grass, as I used to, the strong, +clear singing of the youth rising up amid the trees; but it appears, +friends, that it was my star, or perhaps the Master, the One above, +seeing the ripe grain, gathers it in. Come, come, good-by, I am going +gently. Then, children, when you carry off the sheaves upon the cart, +take away your chief on the load of wheat." + +And he begs Saint John to remember his olive trees, his family, who will +sup at Christmas-tide without him. "If sometimes I have murmured, +forgive me! The sickle, meeting a stone, cries out, O master Saint John, +the friend of God, patron of the reapers, father of the poor, up there +in Paradise, remember me." + +And after the old man's death "the reapers, silent, sickle in hand, go +on with the work in haste, for the hot mistral was shaking the ears." + +Among these earlier poems are found some cleverly told, homely tales, +with a pointed moral. Such are _La Plueio_ (The Rain), _La Rascladuro de +Petrin_ (The Scraping from the Kneading-trough). They are really +excellent, and teach the lesson that the tillers of the soil have a holy +calling, of which they may be proud, and that God sends them health and +happiness, peace and liberty. The second of the poems just mentioned is +a particularly amusing story of choosing a wife according to the care +she takes of her kneading-trough, the idea being derived from an old +fablieau. There are one or two others purely humorous and capitally +told. After 1860, however, the poet abandoned these homely, simple +tales, that doubtless realized Roumanille's ideas of one aspect of the +literary revival he was seeking to bring about. + +The poems are not arranged chronologically, but are classified as Songs, +Romances, Sirventés, Reveries, Plaints, Sonnets, Nuptial Songs, etc. + +The _Cansoun_ (Songs) are sung at every reunion of the Félibrige. They +are set to melodies well known in Provence, and are spirited and +vigorous indeed. The Germans who write about Provence are fond of making +known the fact that the air of the famous _Hymn to the Sun_ is a melody +written by Kuecken. There is _Lou Bastimen_ (The Ship), as full of dash +and go as any English sea ballad. _La Coutigo_ (The Tickling) is a +dialogue between a mother and her love-sick son. _La Coupo_ (The Cup) +is the song of the Félibres _par excellence_; it was composed for the +reception of a silver cup, sent to the Félibres by the Catalans. The +_coupo felibrenco_ is now a feature of all their banquets. The song +expresses the enthusiasm of the Félibres for their cause. The refrain +is, "Holy cup, overflowing, pour out in plenty the enthusiasms and the +energy of the strong." The most significant lines are:-- + + Of a proud, free people + We are perhaps the end; + And, if the Félibres fall, + Our nation will fall. + + Of a race that germs anew + Perhaps we are the first growth; + Of our land we are perhaps + The pillars and the chiefs. + + Pour out for us hope + And dreams of youth, + The memory of the past + And faith in the coming year. + +The ideas and sentiments, then, that are expressed in the shorter poems +of Mistral, written since the publication of _Mirèio_, have been, in the +main, the ancient glories and liberties of Provence, a clinging to +national traditions, to local traditions, and to the religion and ideas +of ancestors, a profound dislike of certain modern ideas of progress, +hatred of the levelling influence of Paris, love of the Provençal +speech, belief in the Latin race, in the Roman Catholic Church, unshaken +faith in the future, love of the ideal and hatred of what is servile and +sordid, an ardent love of Nature, an intense love of life and movement. +These things are reflected in every variety of word and figure. He is +not the poet of the romantic type, self-centred, filling his verse with +the echoes of his own loves and joys and woes, nor is his poetry as +large as humanity; Provence, France, the Latin race, are the limits +beyond which it has no message or interest. + +Possibly no poet ever wrote as many lines to laud the language he was +using. Such lines abound in each volume he has produced. + + "Se la lengo di moussu + Toumbo en gargavaio + Se tant d'escrivan coussu + Pescon de ravaio, + Nà utri, li bon Prouvençau + Vers li serre li plus aut + Enauren la lengo + De nòsti valengo." + + If the language of the messieurs falls among the sweepings, if so + many comfortably well-off writers fish for small fry, we, the good + Provençals, toward the highest summits, raise the language of our + valleys. + +The Sirventés addressed to the Catalan poets begins:-- + + "Fraire de Catalougno, escoutas! Nous an di + Que fasias peralin reviéure e resplendi + Un di rampau de nosto lengo." + + Brothers from Catalonia, listen! We have heard that ye cause one of + the branches of our language to revive and flourish yonder. + +In the same poem, the poet sings of the Troubadours, whom none have +since surpassed, who in the face of the clergy raised the language of +the common people, sang in the very ears of the kings, sang with love, +and sang freely, the coming of a new world and contempt for ancient +fears, and later on he says:-- + +"From the Alps to the Pyrenees, hand in hand, poets, let us then raise +up the old Romance speech! It is the sign of the family, the sacrament +that binds the sons to the forefathers, man to the soil! It is the +thread that holds the nest in the branches. Fearless guardians of our +beautiful speech, let us keep it free and pure, and bright as silver, +for a whole people drinks at this spring; for when, with faces on the +ground, a people falls into slavery, if it holds its language, it holds +the key that delivers it from the chains." + +The final stanza of the poem, written in honor of Jasmin in 1870, is as +follows:-- + +"For our dead and our fathers, and our sacred rights as a people and as +poets, that yesterday were trampled beneath the feet of the usurper, +and, outraged, cried out, now live again in glory! Now, between the two +seas the language of Oc triumphs. O Jasmin, thou hast avenged us!" + +In the _Rock of Sisyphus_ the poet says, "Formerly we kept the language +that Nature herself put upon our lips." + +In the _Poem to the Latin Race_ we read:-- + +"Thy mother tongue, the great stream that spreads abroad in seven +branches, pouring out love and light like an echo from Paradise, thy +golden speech, O Romance daughter of the King-People, is the song that +will live on human lips as long as speech shall have reason." + +Elsewhere we find:-- + +"Oh, maintain thy historic speech. It is the proof that always thou +carriest on high and free, thy coat of arms. In the language, a mystery, +an old treasure is found. Each year the nightingale puts on new plumage, +but keeps its song." + +One entire poem, _Espouscado_, is a bitterly indignant protest against +those who would suppress the dialect, against the regents and the +rectors whom "we must pay with our pennies to hear them scoff at the +language that binds us to our fathers and our soil!" And the poet cries +out, "No, no, we'll keep our rebellious _langue d'oc_, grumble who will. +We'll speak it in the stables, at harvest-time, among the silkworms, +among lovers, among neighbors, etc., etc. It shall be the language of +joy and of brotherhood. We'll joke and laugh with it;--and as for the +army, we'll take it to the barracks to keep off homesickness." + +And his anger rising, he exclaims:-- + +"O the fools, the fools, who wean their children from it to stuff them +with self-sufficiency, fatuity, and hunger! Let them get drowned in the +throng! But thou, O my Provence, be not disturbed about the sons that +disown thee and repudiate thy speech. They are dead, they are still-born +children that survive, fed on bad milk." + +And he concludes:-- + +"But, eldest born of Nature, you, the sun-browned boys, who speak with +the maidens in the ancient tongue, fear not; you shall remain the +masters! Like the walnuts of the plain, gnarled, stout, calm, +motionless, exploited and ill-treated as you may be, O peasants (as they +call you), you will remain masters of the land!" + +This was written in 1888. The quotations might be multiplied; these +suffice, however, to show the intense love of the poet for "the language +of the soil," the energy with which he has constantly struggled for its +maintenance. He is far from looking upon the multiplication of dialects +as an evil, points to the literary glory of Greece amid her many forms +of speech, and does not even seek to impose his own language upon the +rest of southern France. He sympathizes with every attempt, wherever +made, the world over, to raise up a patois into a language. Statesmen +will probably think otherwise, and there are nations which would at +once take an immense stride forward if they could attain one language +and a purely national literature. The modern world does not appear to be +marching in accordance with Mistral's view. + +The poems inspired by the love of the ancient ideals and literature of +Provence are very beautiful. They have in general a fascinating swing +and rhythm, and are filled with charming imagery. One of the best is +_L'Amiradou_ (The Belvedere), the story of a fairy imprisoned in the +castle at Tarascon, "who will doubtless love the one who shall free +her." Three knights attempt the rescue and fail. Then there comes along +a little Troubadour, and sings so sweetly of the prowess of his +forefathers, of the splendor of the Latin race, that the guard are +charmed and the bolts fly back. And the fairy goes up to the top of the +tower with the little Troubadour, and they stand mute with love, and +look out over all the beautiful landscape, and the old monuments of +Provence with their lessons. This is the kingdom of the fairy, and she +bestows it upon him. "For he who knows how to read in this radiant +book, must grow above all others, and all that his eye beholds, without +paying any tithe, is his in abundance." + +The lilt of this little _romance_, with its pretty repetitions, is +delightful, and the symbolism is, of course, perfectly obvious. + +There is the touching story of the Troubadour Catalan, slain by robbers +in the Bois de Boulogne, where the Pré de Catalan now is; there is the +tale that accounts for the great chain that hangs across the gorge at +Moustiers, a chain over six hundred feet long, bearing a star in the +centre. A knight, being prisoner among the Saracens, vows to hang the +chain before the chapel of the Virgin, if ever he returns home. + + "A ti pèd, vierge Mario, + Ma cadeno penjarai, + Se jamai + Tourne mai + A Moustié, dins ma patrio!" + +There is the tale of the Princess Clémence, daughter of a king of +Provence. Her father was deformed, and the heir-presumptive to the +French crown sought her in marriage. In order that the prince might be +sure she had inherited none of the father's deformity, she was called +upon to show herself in the garb of Lady Godiva before his ambassadors. +This rather delicate subject is handled with consummate art. + +The idea of federalism is found expressed with sufficient clearness in +various parts of these poems of the Golden Isles, and the patriotism of +the poet, his love of France, is perfectly evident, in spite of all that +has been said to the contrary. In the poem addressed to the Catalans, +after numerous allusions to the dissensions and rebellions of bygone +days, we read:-- + +"Now, however, it is clear; now, however, we know that in the divine +order all is for the best; the Provençals, a unanimous flame, are part +of great France, frankly, loyally; the Catalans, with good-will, are +part of magnanimous Spain. For the brook must flow to the sea, and the +stone must fall on the heap; the wheat is best protected from the +treacherous cold wind when planted close; and the little boats, if they +are to navigate safely, when the waves are black and the air dark, must +sail together. For it is good to be many, it is a fine thing to say, 'We +are children of France!'" + +But in days of peace let each province develop its own life in its own +way. + +"And France and Spain, when they see their children warming themselves +together in the sunbeams of the fatherland, singing matins out of the +same book, will say, 'The children have sense enough, let them laugh and +play together, now they are old enough to be free.' + +"And we shall see, I promise you, the ancient freedom come down, O +happiness, upon the smallest city, and love alone bind the races +together; and if ever the black talon of the tyrant is seen, all the +races will bound up to drive out the bird of prey!" + +Of all the poems of Mistral expressing this order of ideas, the one +entitled _The Countess_ made the greatest stir. It appeared in 1866, and +called forth much angry discussion and imputation of treason from the +enemies of the new movement. _The Countess_ is an allegorical +representation of Provence; the fair descendant of imperial ancestors is +imprisoned in a convent by her half-sister France. Formerly she +possessed a hundred fortified towns, twenty seaports; she had olives, +fruit, and grain in abundance; a great river watered her fields; a +great wind vivified the land, and the proud noblewoman could live +without her neighbor, and she sang so sweetly that all loved her, poets +and suitors thronged about her. + +Now, in the convent where she is cloistered all are dressed alike, all +obey the rule of the same bell, all joy is gone. The half-sister has +broken her tambourines and taken away her vineyards, and gives out that +her sister is dead. + +Then the poet breaks into an appeal to the strong to break into the +great convent, to hang the abbess, and say to the Countess, "Appear +again, O splendor! Away with grief, away! Long life to joy!" + +Each stanza is followed by the refrain:-- + + "Ah! se me sabien entèndre! + Ah! se me voulien segui!" + + Ah! if they could understand me! + Ah! if they would follow me! + +Mistral disdained to reply to the storm of accusations and +incriminations raised by the publication of this poem. _Lou Saumede la +Penitènci_, that appeared in 1870, set at rest all doubts concerning his +deep and sincere patriotism. + +_The Psalm of Penitence_ is possibly the finest of the short poems. It +is certainly surpassed by no other in intensity of feeling, in genuine +inspiration, in nobility and beauty of expression. It is a hymn of +sorrow over the woes of France, a prayer of humility and resignation +after the disaster of 1870. The reader must accept the idea, of course, +that the defeat of the French was a visitation of Providence in +punishment for sin. + + "Segnour, à la fin ta coulèro + Largo si tron + Sus nòsti front: + E dins la niue nosto galèro + Pico d'a pro + Contro li ro." + + Lord, at last thy wrath hurls its thunderbolts upon our foreheads: + + And in the night our vessel strikes its prow against the rocks. + +France was punished for irreligion, for closing the temples, for +abandoning the sacraments and commandments, for losing faith in all +except selfish interest and so-called progress, for contempt of the +Bible and pride in science. + +The poet makes confession:-- + + "Segnour, sian tis enfant proudigue; + Mai nà utri sian + Ti vièi crestian: + Que ta Justiço nous castigue, + Mai au trepas + Nous laisses pas!" + + Lord, we are thy prodigal sons; but we are thy Christians of old: + + Let thy justice chastise us, but give us not over unto death! + +Then the poet prays in the name of all the brave men who gave up their +lives in battle, in the name of all the mothers who will never again see +their sons, in the name of the poor, the strong, the dead, in the name +of all the defeats and tears and sorrow, the slaughter and the fires, +the affronts endured, that God disarm his justice, and he concludes:-- + + "Segnour, voulen deveni d'ome; + En libertà + Pos nous bouta! + Sian Gau-Rouman e gentilome, + E marchan dre + Dins noste endré. + + "Segnour, dóu mau sian pas Pencauso. + Mando eiçabas + Un rai de pas! + Segnour, ajudo nosto Causo, + E reviéuren + E t'amaren." + + Lord, we desire to become men; thou canst set us free! + + We are Gallo-Romans and of noble race, and we walk upright in our + land. + + Lord, we are not the cause of the evil. Send down upon us a ray of + peace! Lord, aid our Cause, and we shall live again and love thee. + +The poem called _The Stone of Sisyphus_ completes sufficiently the +evidence necessary to exculpate Mistral of the charge of antipatriotism +and makes clear his thought. Provence was once a nation, she consented +years ago to lose her identity in the union with France. Now it is +proposed to heap up all the old traditions, the Gai Savoir, the glory of +the Troubadours, the old language, the old customs, and burn them on a +pyre. Well, France is a great people and _Vive la nation_. But some +would go further, some would suppress the nation: "Down with the +frontiers, national glories are an abomination! Wipe out the past, man +is God! _Vive l'humanité_!" Our patrimony we repudiate. What are Joan of +Arc, Saint Louis, and Turenne? All that is old rubbish. + +Then the people cry with Victor Hugo, "_Emperaire, siegues maudi, maudi, +maudi! nous as vendu_" and hurl down the Vendôme column, burn Paris, +slaughter the priests, and then, worn out, commence again, like +Sisyphus, to push the rock of progress. + +So much for the conservatism of Mistral. + +We shall conclude this story of the shorter poems with some that are not +polemical or essentially Provençal; three or four are especially +noteworthy. _The Drummer of Arcole_, _Lou Prègo-Diéu_, _Rescontre_ +(Meeting), might properly find a place in any anthology of general +poetry, and an ode on the death of Lamartine is sincere and beautiful. +Such poems must be read in the original. + +The first one, _The Drummer of Arcole_, is the story of a drummer boy +who saved the day at Arcole by beating the charge; but after the wars +are over, he is forgotten, and remains a drummer as before, becomes old +and regrets his life given up to the service of his country. But one +day, passing along the streets of Paris, he chances to look up at the +Pantheon, and there in the huge pediment he reads the words, "_Aux +grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante_." + +"'Drummer, raise thy head!' calls out a passer-by! 'The one up there, +hast thou seen him?' Toward the temple that stood superb the old man +raised his bewildered eyes. Just then the joyous sun shook his golden +locks above enchanted Paris.... + +"When the soldier saw the dome of the Pantheon rising toward heaven, and +with his drum hanging at his side, beating the charge, as if it were +real, he recognized himself, the boy of Arcole, away up there, right at +the side of the great Napoleon, intoxicated with his former fury, seeing +himself, so high, in full relief, above the years, the clouds, the +storms, in glory, azure, sunshine, he felt a gentle swelling in his +heart, and fell dead upon the pavement." + +_Lou Prègo-Diéu_ is a sweet poem embodying a popular belief. Prègo-diéu +is the name of a little insect, so called from the peculiar arrangement +of its legs and antennse that makes it appear to be in an attitude of +prayer. Mistral's poetic ideas have been largely suggested to him by +popular beliefs and the stories he heard at his fireside when a boy. +This poem is one of the best of the kind he has produced, and, being +eminently, characteristic, will find juster treatment in a literal +translation than in a commentary. The first half was written during the +time he was at work upon _Mirèio_ in 1856, the second in 1874. We quote +the first stanza in the original, for the sake of showing its rhythm. + + "Ero un tantost d'aquel estiéu + Que ni vihave ni dourmiéu: + Fasiéu miejour, tau que me plaise, + Lou cahessòu + Toucant lou sòn + A l'aise." + + +I + +It was one afternoon this summer, while I was neither awake nor asleep. +I was taking a noon siesta, as is my pleasure, my head at ease upon the +ground. + +And greenish among the stubble, upon a spear of blond barley, with a +double row of seeds, I saw a prègo-diéu. + +"Beautiful insect," said I, "I have heard that, as a reward for thy +ceaseless praying, God hath given thee the gift of divination. + +"Tell me now, good friend, if she I love hath slept well; tell what she +is thinking at this hour, and what she is doing; tell me if she is +laughing or weeping." + +The insect, that was kneeling, stirred upon the tube of the tiny, +leaning ear, and unfolded and waved his little wings. + +And his speech, softer than the softest breath of a zephyr wafted in a +wood, sweet and mysterious, reached my ear. + +"I see a maiden," said he, "in the cool shade beneath a cherry tree; the +waving branches touch her; the boughs hang thick with cherries. + +"The cherries are fully ripe, fragrant, solid, red, and, amid the smooth +leaves, make one hungry, and, hanging, tempt one. + +"But the cherry tree offers in vain the sweetness and the pleasing color +of its bright, firm fruit, red as coral. + +"She sighs, trying to see if she can jump high enough to pluck them. +Would that my lover might come! He would climb up, and throw them down +into my apron." + +So I say to the reapers: "Reapers, leave behind you a little corner +uncut, where, during the summer, the prègo-diéu may have shelter." + + +II + +This autumn, going down a sunken road, I wandered off across the fields, +lost in earthly thoughts. + +And, once more, amid the stubble, I saw, clinging to a tiny ear of +grain, folded up in his double wing, the prègo-diéu. + +"Beautiful insect," said I then, "I have heard that, as a reward for thy +ceaseless praying, God hath given thee the gift of divination. + +"And that if some child, lost amid the harvest fields, asks of thee his +way, thou, little creature, showest him the way through the wheat. + +"In the pleasures and pains of this world, I see that I, poor child, am +astray; for, as he grows, man feels his wickedness. + +"In the grain and in the chaff, in fear and in pride, in budding hope, +alas for me, I see my ruin. + +"I love space, and I am in chains; among thorns I walk barefoot; Love is +God, and Love sins; every enthusiasm after action is disappointed. + +"What we accomplished is wiped out; brute instinct is satisfied, and the +ideal is not reached; we must be born amid tears, and be stung among the +flowers. + +"Evil is hideous, and it smiles upon me; the flesh is fair, and it rots; +the water is bitter, and I would drink; I am languishing, I want to die +and yet to live. + +"I am falling faint and weary; O prègo-diéu, cause some slight hope of +something true to shine upon me; show me the way." + +And straightway I saw that the insect stretched forth its slender arm +toward Heaven; mysterious, mute, earnest, it was praying. + + * * * * * + +Such reference to religious doubt is elsewhere absent from Mistral's +work. His faith is strong, and the energy of his life-work has its +source largely, not only in this religious faith, but in his firm belief +in himself, in his race, and in the mission he has felt called upon to +undertake. Reflected obviously in the above poem is the growth of the +poet in experience and in thought. + +Lastly, among the poems of his _Isclo d'Or_, we wish to call attention +to one that, in its theme, recalls _Le Lac_, _La Tristesse d'Olympio_, +and _Le Souvenir_. The poet comes upon the scene of his first love, and +apostrophizes the natural objects about him. All four poets intone the +strain, "Ye rocks and trees, guard the memory of our love." + + "O coumbo d'Uriage + Bos fresqueirous, + Ounte aven fa lou viage + Dis amourous, + O vau qu'aven noumado + Noste univers, + Se perdes ta ramado + Gardo mi vers." + +O vale of Uriage, cool wood, where we made our lovers' journey; O vale +that we called our world, if thou lose thy verdure, keep my verses. + +Ye flowers of the high meadows that no man knoweth, watered by Alpine +snows, ye are less pure and fresh in the month of April than the little +mouth that smiles for me. + +Ye thunders and stern voices of the peaks, murmurings of wild woods, +torrents from the mountains, there is a voice that dominates you all, +the clear, beautiful voice of my love. + +Alas! vale of Uriage, we may never return to thy leafy nooks. She, a +star, vanisheth in air, and I, folding my tent, go forth into the +wilderness. + + * * * * * + +Apart from the intrinsic worth of the thought or sentiment, there is +found in Mistral the essential gift of the poet, the power of +expression--of clothing in words that fully embody the meaning, and seem +to sing, in spontaneous musical flow, the inner inspiration. He is +superior to the other poets of the Félibrige, not only in the energy, +the vitality of his personality, and in the fertility of his ideas, but +also in this great gift of language. Even if he creates his vocabulary +as he goes along, somewhat after the fashion of Ronsard and the +_Pléiade_, he does this in strict accordance with the genius of his +dialect, fortunately for him, untrammelled by traditions, and, what is +significant, he does it acceptably. He is the master. His fellow-poets +proclaim and acclaim his supremacy. No one who has penetrated to any +degree into the genius of the Romance languages can fail to agree that +in this point exists a master of one of its forms. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TEAGEDY, LA RÈINO JANO + + +The peculiar qualities and limitations of Mistral are possibly nowhere +better evidenced than in this play. Full of charming passages, +frequently eloquent, here and there very poetic, it is scarcely +dramatic, and certainly not a tragedy either of the French or the +Shakespearian type. The most striking lines, the most eloquent tirades, +arise less from the exigences of the drama than from the constant desire +of the poet to give expression to his love of Provence. The attention of +the reader is diverted at every turn from the adventures of the persons +in the play to the glories and the beauties of the lovely land in which +our poet was born. The matter of a play is certainly contained in the +subject, but the energy of the author has not been spent upon the +invention of strong situations, upon the clash of wills, upon the +psychology of his characters, upon the interplay of passions, but rather +upon strengthening in the hearts of his Provençal hearers the love of +the good Queen Joanna, whose life has some of the romance of that of +Mary, Queen of Scots, and upon letting them hear from her lips and from +the lips of her courtiers the praises of Provence. + +Mistral enumerates eight dramatic works treating the life of his +heroine. They are a tragedy in five acts and a verse by Magnon (Paris, +1656), called _Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples_; a tragedy in five acts and +in verse by Laharpe, produced in 1781, entitled, _Jeanne de Naples_; an +opéra-comique in three acts, the book by De Leuven and Brunswick, the +music by Monpon and Bordèse, produced in 1840; an Italian tragedy, _La +Regina Griovanna_, by the Marquis of Casanova, written about 1840; an +Italian opera, the libretto by Ghislanzoni, who is known as the +librettist of _Aïda_, the music by Petrella (Milan, 1875); a play in +verse by Brunetti, called _Griovanna I di Napoli_ (Naples, 1881); a +Hungarian play by Rakosi, _Johanna es Endre_, and lastly the trilogy of +Walter Savage Landor, _Andrea of Hungary_, _Griovanna of Naples_, and +_Fra Rupert_ (London, 1853). Mistral's play is dated May, 1890. + +It may be said concerning the work of Landor, which is a poem in +dramatic form rather than a play, that it offers scarcely any points of +resemblance with Mistral's beyond the few essential facts in the lives +of Andrea and Joanna. Both poets take for granted the innocence of the +Queen. It is worth noting that Provence is but once referred to in the +entire work of the English poet. + +The introduction that precedes Mistral's play quotes the account of the +life of the Queen from the _Dictionnaire_ of Moréri (Lyons, 1681), which +we here translate. + +"Giovanna, first of the name, Queen of Jerusalem, Naples, and Sicily, +Duchess of Apulia and Calabria, Countess of Provence, etc., was a +daughter of Charles of Sicily, Duke of Calabria, who died in 1328, +before his father Robert, and of Marie of Valois, his second wife. She +was only nineteen years of age when she assumed the government of her +dominions after her grandfather's death in 1343. She had already been +married by him to his nephew, Andrea of Hungary. This was not a happy +marriage; for the inclinations of both were extremely contrary, and the +prince was controlled by a Franciscan monk named Robert, and the +princess by a washerwoman called Filippa Catenese. These indiscreet +advisers brought matters to extremes, so that Andrea was strangled in +1345. The disinterested historians state ingenuously that Joanna was not +guilty of this crime, although the others accuse her of it. She married +again, on the 2d of August, 1346. Her second husband was Louis of +Tarento, her cousin; and she was obliged to leave Naples to avoid the +armed attack of Louis, King of Hungary, who committed acts of extreme +violence in this state. Joanna, however, quieted all these things by her +prudence, and after losing this second husband, on the 25th of March, +1362, she married not long afterward a third, James of Aragon, Prince of +Majorca, who, however, tarried not long with her. So seeing herself a +widow for the third time, she made a fourth match in 1376 with Otto of +Brunswick, of the House of Saxony; and as she had no children, she +adopted a relative, Charles of Duras.... This ungrateful prince revolted +against Queen Joanna, his benefactress.... He captured Naples, and laid +siege to the Castello Nuovo, where the Queen was. She surrendered. +Charles of Duras had her taken to Muro, in the Basilicata, and had her +put to death seven or eight months afterward. She was then in her +fifty-eighth year.... Some authors say that he caused her to be +smothered, others that she was strangled; but the more probable view is +that she was beheaded, in 1382, on the 5th of May. It is said that a +Provençal astrologer, doubtless a certain Anselme who lived at that +time, and who is very famous in the history of Provence, being +questioned as to the future husband of the young princess, replied, +'Maritabitur cum ALIO.' This word is composed of the initials of the +names of her four husbands, Andrea, Louis, James, and Otto. This +princess, furthermore, was exceedingly clever, fond of the sciences and +of men of learning, of whom she had a great many at her court, liberal +and beautiful, prudent, wise, and not lacking in piety. She it is that +sold Avignon to the popes. Boccaccio, Balde, and other scholars of her +time speak of her with praise." + +In offering an explanation of the great popularity enjoyed by Joanna of +Naples among the people of Provence, the poet does not hesitate to +acknowledge that along with her beauty, her personal charm, her +brilliant arrival on the gorgeous galley at the court of Clement VI, +whither she came, eloquent and proud, to exculpate herself, her long +reign and its vicissitudes, her generous efforts to reform abuses, must +be counted also the grewsome procession of her four husbands; and this +popularity, he says, is still alive, after five centuries. The poet +places her among such historic figures as Caius Marius, Ossian, King +Arthur, Count Raymond of Toulouse, the good King René, Anne of Brittany, +Roland, the Cid, to which the popular mind has attached heroic legends, +race traditions, and mysterious monuments. The people of Provence still +look back upon the days of their independence when she reigned, a sort +of good fairy, as the good old times of Queen Joanna. Countless castles, +bridges, churches, monuments, testify to her life among this +enthusiastic people. Roads and ruins, towers and aqueducts, bear her +name. Proverbs exist wherein it is preserved. "For us," says Mistral, +"the fair Joanna is what Mary Stuart is for the Scotch,--a mirage of +retrospective love, a regret of youth, of nationality, of poetry passed +away. And analogies are not lacking in the lives of the two royal, +tragic enchantresses." Petrarch, speaking of her and her young husband +surrounded by Hungarians, refers to them as two lambs among wolves. In a +letter dated from Vancluse, August, 1346, he deplores the death of the +King, but makes no allusion to the complicity of the Queen. + +Boccaccio proclaims her the special pride of Italy, so gracious, gentle, +and kindly, that she seemed rather the companion than the queen of her +subjects. + +Our author cites likewise some of her accusers, and considers most of +the current sayings against her as apocryphal. Some of these will not +bear quotation in English. Mistral evidently wishes to believe her +innocent, and he makes out a pretty good case. He approves the remark of +Scipione Ammirato, that she contracted four successive marriages through +a desire to have direct heirs. Another notices that had she been +dissolute, she would have preferred the liberty of remaining a widow. +The poet cites Pope Innocent VI, who gave her the golden rose, and sets +great store upon the expression of Saint Catherine of Siena, who calls +her "Venerabile madre in Gesù Cristo," and he concludes by saying, "We +prefer to concur in the judgment of the good Giannone (1676-1748), which +so well agrees with our traditions." + +The first act opens with a picture that might tempt a painter of Italian +scenes. The Queen and her gay court are seated on the lawn of the palace +garden at Naples, overlooking the bay and islands. At the very outset we +hear of the Gai Savoir, and the Queen utters the essentially Provençal +sentiment that "the chief glory the world should strive for is light, +for joy and love are the children of the sun, and art and literature the +great torches." She calls upon Anfan of Sisteron to speak to her of her +Provence, "the land of God, of song and youth, the finest jewel in her +crown," and Anfan, in long and eloquent tirades, tells of Toulouse and +Nice and the Isles of Gold, reviews the settling of the Greeks, the +domination of the Romans, and the sojourn of the Saracens; Aix and +Arles, les Baux, Toulon, are glorified again; we hear of the old +liberties of these towns where men sleep, sing, and shout, and of the +magnificence of the papal court at Avignon. + + "Enfin, en Avignoun, i'a lou papo! grandour + Poudé, magnificènci, e poumpo e resplendour, + Que mestrejon la terro e fan, sènso messorgo, + Boufa l'alen de Diéu i ribo de la Sorgo." + + Lastly, in Avignon, there's the Pope! greatness, power, + magnificence, pomp, and splendor, dominating the earth, and without + exaggeration, causing the breath of God to blow upon the banks of + the Sorgue. + +We learn that the brilliancy and animation of the court at Avignon +outshine the glories of Rome, and in language that fairly glitters with +its high-sounding, highly colored words. We hear of Petrarch and Laura, +and the associations of Vaucluse. + +At this juncture the Prince arrives, and is struck by the resemblance of +the scene to a court of love; he wonders if they are not discussing the +question whether love is not drowned in the nuptial holy water font, or +whether the lady inspires the lover as much with her presence as when +absent. And the Queen defends her mode of life and temperament; she +cannot brook the cold and gloomy ways of the north. Were we to apply +the methods of Voltaire's strictures of Corneille to this play, it might +be interesting to see how many _vers de comédie_ could be found in these +scenes of dispute between the prince consort and his light-hearted wife. + + "A l'avans! zóu! en fèsto arrouinas lou Tresor!" + + Go ahead! that's right, ruin the treasury with your feasts! + +and to his objections to so many flattering courtiers, the Queen +replies:-- + + "Voulès que moun palais devèngue un mounastié?" + + Do you want my palace to become a monastery? + +Joanna replies nobly and eloquently to the threats of her husband to +assume mastery over her by violent means, and, in spite of the +anachronism (the poet makes her use and seemingly invent the term +_Renascence_), her defence of the arts and science of her time is +forceful and enthusiastic, and carries the reader along. That this sort +of eloquence is dramatic, appears, however, rather doubtful. + +The next scene interests us more directly in the characters before us. +The Prince, left alone with his confidant, Fra Rupert, gives expression +to his passionate love for the Queen, and pours forth the bitterness of +his soul to see it unrequited. The fierce Hungarian monk denounces, +rather justly, it appears to us, the license and levity of the Italian +court, and incites Andrea to an appeal to the Pope, "a potentate that +has no army, whose dominion extends from pole to pole, who binds and +unbinds at his will, upholds, makes, or unmakes thrones as an almighty +master." + +But Andrea fears the Queen would never pardon him. + + "E se noun ai en plen lou mèu si caresso, + L'empèri universal! m'es un gourg d'amaresso!" + + And if I have not fully the honey of her caresses + The empire of the world is to me a gulf of bitterness. + +Finally the monk and La Catanaise stand alone before us. This woman is +the Queen's nurse, who loves her with a fierce sort of passion, and it +is she who commits the crime that causes the play to be called a +tragedy. This final scene brings out a flood of the most violent +vituperation from this veritable virago, some of it exceedingly low in +tone. The friar leaves with the threat to have a red-hot nail run +through her hellish tongue, and La Catanaise, standing alone, gives +vent to her fury in threats of murder. + +The next act reveals the Hall of Honor in the Castel-Nuovo at Naples. +Andrea in anger proclaims himself king, and in the presence of the Queen +and the Italian courtiers gives away one after another all the offices +and honors of the realm to his Hungarian followers. A conflict with +drawn swords is about to ensue, when the Queen rushes between the +would-be combatants, reminding them of the decree of the Pope; but +Andrea in fury accuses the Queen of conduct worthy a shameless +adventuress, and cites the reports that liken her to Semiramis in her +orgies. The Prince of Taranto throws down his glove to the enraged +Andrea, who replies by a threat to bring him to the executioner. The +Prince of Taranto answers that the executioner may be the supreme law +for a king, + + "Mai pèr un qu'a l'ounour dins lou piés e dins l'amo, + Uno escorno, cousin, se purgo emé la lamo." + + But for one who has honor in his breast and his soul, + An insult, cousin, is purged with the sword. + +Andrea turns to his knights, and leaving the room with them points to +the flag bearing the block and axe as emblems. The partisans of Joanna +remain full of indignation. La Catanaise addresses them. The Sicilians, +she says, waste no time in words, but have a speedier method of +punishing a wrong, and she reminds them of the massacre at Palermo. The +Prince of Taranto discountenances the proposed crime, for the Queen's +fair name would suffer. But the fierce woman points to the flag. "Do you +see that axe hanging from a thread? You are all cowards! Let me act +alone." And the Prince nobly replies, "Philippine, battles are fought in +the sunlight; men of our renown, men of my stamp, do not crouch down in +the dark shadow of a plot." And the Catanaise again shows the flag. "Do +you see the axe falling upon the block?" + +Joanna enters to offer the Prince her thanks for his chivalrous defence +of her fair name, and dismisses the other courtiers. The ensuing brief +scene between the Queen and the Prince is really very eloquent and very +beautiful. The Queen recalls the fact that she was married at nine to +Andrea, then only a child too; and she has never known love. The poorest +of the shepherdesses on the mountains of Calabria may quench her thirst +at the spring, but she, the Queen of the Sun, if to pass away the time, +or to have the appearance of happiness, she loves to listen to the echo +of song, to behold the joy and brilliancy of a noble fête, her very +smile becomes criminal. And the Prince reminds her that she is the +Provençal queen, and that in the great times of that people, if the +consort were king, love was a god, and he recalls the names of all the +ladies made famous by the Troubadours. Thereupon the Queen in an +outburst of enthusiasm truly Felibrean invokes the God of Love, the God +that slew Dido, and speaks in the spirit of the days of courtly love, "O +thou God of Love, hearken unto me. If my fatal beauty is destined sooner +or later to bring about my death, let this flame within me be, at least, +the pyre that shall kindle the song of the poet! Let my beauty be the +luminous star exalting men's hearts to lofty visions!" + +The chivalrous Prince is dismissed, and Joanna is alone with, her +thoughts. The little page Dragonet sings outside a plaintive song with +the refrain:-- + + "Que regrèt! + Jamai digues toun secrèt." + + What regret! + Never tell thy secret. + +La Catanaise endeavors to excite the fears of the Queen, insinuating +that the Pope may give the crown to Andrea. Joanna has no fear. + +"We shall have but to appear before the country with this splendor of +irresistible grace, and like the smoke borne away by the breeze, +suddenly my enemies shall disappear." + +We may ask whether such self-praise comes gracefully from the Queen +herself, whether she might not be less conscious of her own charm. La +Catanaise is again alone on the scene, threatening. "The bow is drawn, +the hen setting." This last comparison, the reader will remark, would be +simply impossible as the termination of an act in a serious English +play. This last scene, too, is wofully weak and purposeless. + +The conversation of three courtiers at the beginning of Act III apprises +us of the fact that the Pope has succeeded in bringing about a +reconciliation between the royal pair, and that they are both to be +crowned, and as a matter of precaution, the nurse Philippine, and the +monk Fra Rupert are to be sent upon their several ways. The scene is +next filled by the conspirators, La Catanaise directing the details of +the plots. It is made clear that the Queen is utterly ignorant of these +proceedings, which are after all useless; for we fail to see what valid +motive these plotters have to urge them on to their contemptible deed. A +brilliant banquet scene ensues, wherein Anfan of Sisteron sings a song +of seven stanzas about the fairy Mélusine, and seven times Dragonet +sings the refrain, "Sian de la raço di lesert" (We are of the race of +the lizards). And there are enthusiastic tirades in praise of the Queen +and of Provence, and all is merry. But Andrea spills salt upon the +table, which evil augury seems to be taken seriously. This little +episode is foolish, and unwrorthy of a tragedy. We are on the verge of +an assassination. Either the gloomy forebodings and the terror of the +event should be impressed upon us, or the exaggerated gayety and high +spirits of the revellers should by contrast make the coming event seem +more terrible; but the spilling of salt is utterly trivial. After the +feast La Catanaise and her daughter proceed to their devilish work, in +the room now lighted only by the pale rays of the moon, while the voice +of the screech-owl is heard outside. The trap is set for the King; he is +strangled just out of sight with the silken noose. The Queen is roused +by her nurse. The palace is in an uproar, and the act terminates with a +passionate demand for vengeance and justice on the part of Fra Rupert. + +And now the Fourth Act. Here Mistral is in his element; here his love of +rocky landscapes, of azure seas and golden islands, of song and +festivity, finds full play. The tragedy is forgotten, the dramatic +action completely interrupted,--never mind. We accompany the Queen on +her splendid galley all the way from Naples to Marseilles. She leaves +amid the acclamations of the Neapolitans, recounts the splendors of the +beautiful bay, and promises to return "like the star of night coming out +of the mist, laurel in hand, on the white wings of her Provençal +galley." The boat starts, the rowers sing their plaintive rhythmic +songs, the Queen is enraptured by the beauty of the fleeing shores, the +white sail glistens in the glorious blue above. She is lulled by the +motion of the boat and the waving of the hangings of purple and gold. +Midway on her journey she receives a visit from the Infante of Majorca, +James of Aragon, who seems to be wandering over that part of the sea; +then the astrologer Anselme predicts her marriage with _Alio_ and her +death. She shall be visited with the sins of her ancestors; the blood +spilled by Charles of Anjou cries for vengeance. The Queen passes +through a moment of gloom. She dispels it, exclaiming: "Be it so, strike +where thou wilt, O fate, I am a queen; I shall fight, if need be, until +death, to uphold my cause and my womanly honor. If my wild planet is +destined to sink in a sea of blood and tears, the glittering trace I +shall leave on the earth will show at least that I was worthy to be thy +great queen, O brilliant Provence!" + +She descends into the ship, and the rowers resume their song. Later we +arrive at Nice, where the Queen is received by an exultant throng. She +forgets the awful predictions and is utterly filled with delight. She +will visit all the cities where she is loved, her ambition is to see her +flag greeted all along the Mediterranean with shouts of joy and love. +She feels herself to be a Provençale. "Come, people, here I am; breathe +me in, drink me in! It is sweet to me to be yours, and sweet to please +you; and you may gaze in love and admiration upon me, for I am your +queen!" + +The journey is resumed. We pass the Isles of Gold, and the raptures are +renewed. At Marseilles the Queen is received by the Consuls, and swears +solemnly to respect all the rights, customs, and privileges of the land, +and the Consul exacts as the last oath that she swear to see that the +noble speech of Arles shall be maintained and spoken in the land of +Provence. The act closes with the sentiment, "May Provence triumph in +every way!" + +The last act brings us to the great hall of the papal palace at Avignon, +where the Pope is to pronounce judgment upon the Queen. Fra Rupert, +disguised as a pilgrim, harangues the throng, and two Hungarian knights +are beaten in duel by Galéas of Mantua. This duel, with its alternate +cries of Dau! Dau! Tè! Tè! Zóu! Zóu! is difficult to take seriously and +reminds us of Tartarin. The Queen enters in conversation with Petrarch. +The Hungarian knights utter bitter accusations against the Queen, who +gives them in place of iron chains the golden chains about her neck, +whereupon the knights gallantly declare their hearts are won forever. +The doors open at the back and we see the papal court. Bertrand des +Baux gives a hideous account of the torture and death of those who had +a hand in the death of Andrea. The Queen makes a long speech, expressing +her deep grief at the calumnies and slander that beset her. The court +and people resolve themselves into a kind of opera chorus, expressing +their various sentiments in song. The Queen next reviews her life with +Andrea, and concludes:-- + +"And it seemed to me noble and worthy of a queen to melt with a glance +the cold of the frost, to make the almond tree blossom with a smile, to +be amiable to all, affable, generous, and lead my people with a thread +of wool! Yes, all the thought of my mad youth was to be loved and to +reign by the power of love. Who could have foretold that, afterward, on +the day of the great disaster, all this should be made a reproach +against me! that I should be accused, at the age of twenty, of +instigating an awful crime!" + +And she breaks down weeping. The page, the people, the pilgrim, and the +astrologer again sing in a sort of operatic ensemble their various +emotions. The Pope absolves the Queen, the pilgrim denounces the verdict +furiously, and is put to death by Galéas of Mantua. So ends the play. + +_La Rèino Jano_ is a pageant rather than a tragedy. It is full of song +and sunshine, glow and glitter. The characters all talk in the +exaggerated and exuberant style of Mistral, who is not dramatist enough +to create independent being, living before us. The central personage is +in no sense a tragic character. The fanatical Fra Rupert and the low, +vile-tongued Catanaise are not tragic characters. The psychology +throughout is decidedly upon the surface. + +The author in his introduction warns us that to judge this play we must +place ourselves at the point of view of the Provençals, in whom many an +expression or allusion that leaves the ordinary reader or spectator +untouched, will possibly awaken, as he hopes, some particular emotion. +This is true of all his literature; the Provençal language, the +traditions, the memories of Provence, are the web and woof of it all. + +It is interesting to note the impression made by the language upon a +Frenchman and a critic of the rank of Jules Lemaître. He says in +concluding his review of this play:-- + +"The language is too gay, it has too much sing-song, it is too +harmonious. It does not possess the rough gravity of the Spanish, and +has too few of the _i_'s and _e_'s that soften the sonority of the +Italian. I may venture to say it is too expressive, too full of +onomatopÅ“ia. Imagine a language, in which to say, "He bursts out +laughing," one must use the word _s'escacalasso_! There are too many +_on_'s and _oun_'s and too much _ts_ and _dz_ in the pronunciation. So +that the Provençal language, in spite of everything, keeps a certain +patois vulgarity. It forces the poet, so to say, to perpetual +song-making. It must be very difficult, in that language, to have an +individual style, still more difficult to express abstract ideas. But it +is a merry language." + +The play has never yet been performed, and until a trial is made, one is +inclined to think it would not be effective, except as a spectacle. It +is curious that the Troubadours produced no dramatic literature +whatever, and that the same lack is found in the modern revival. + +Aubanel's _Lou Pan dóu Pecat_ (The Bread of Sin), written in 1863, and +performed in 1878 at Montpellier, seems to have been successful, and +was played at Paris at the Théâtre Libre in 1888, in the +verse-translation made by Paul Arène. Aubanel wrote two other plays, +_Lou Pastre_, which is lost, and _Lou Raubatòn_, a work that must be +considered unfinished. Two plays, therefore, constitute the entire +dramatic production in the new language. + + + + +PART THIRD + + +CONCLUSIONS + + + + +CONCLUSIONS + + +It would be idle to endeavor to determine whether Mistral is to be +classed as a great poet, or whether the Félibres have produced a great +literature, and nothing is defined when the statement is made that +Mistral is or is not a great poet. His genius may be said to be limited +geographically, for if from it were eliminated all that pertains +directly to Provence, the remainder would be almost nothing. The only +human nature known to the poet is the human nature of Provence, and +while it is perfectly true that a human being in Provence could be +typical of human nature in general, and arouse interest in all men +through his humanity common to all, the fact is, that Mistral has not +sought to express what is of universal interest, but has invariably +chosen to present human life in its Provençal aspects and from one point +of view only. A second limitation is found in the unvarying exteriority +of his method of presenting human nature. Never does he probe deeply +into the souls of his Provençals. Very vividly indeed does he reproduce +their words and gestures; but of the deeper under-currents, the inner +conflicts, the agonies of doubt and indecision, the bitterness of +disappointments, the lofty aspirations toward a higher inner life or a +closer communion with the universe, the moral problems that shake a +human soul, not a syllable. Nor is he a poet who pours out his own soul +into verse. + +External nature is for him, again, nature as seen in Provence. The rocks +and trees, the fields and the streams, do not awaken in him a stir of +emotions because of their power to compel a mood in any responsive +poetic soul, but they excite him primarily as the rocks and trees, the +fields and streams of his native region. He is no mere word-painter. +Rarely do his descriptions appear to exist for their own sake. They +furnish a necessary, fitting, and delightful background to the action of +his poems. They are too often indications of what a Provençal ought to +consider admirable or wonderful, they are sometimes spoiled by the +poet's excessive partiality for his own little land. His work is ever +the work of a man with a mission. + +There is no profound treatment of the theme of love. Each of the long +poems and his play have a love story as the centre of interest, but the +lovers are usually children, and their love utterly without +complications. There is everywhere a lovely purity, a delightful +simplicity, a straightforward naturalness that is very charming, but in +this theme as in the others, Mistral is incapable of tragic depths and +heights. So it is as regards the religious side of man's nature. The +poet's work is filled with allusions to religion; there are countless +legends concerning saints and hermits, descriptions of churches and the +papal palace, there is the detailed history of the conversion of +Provence to Christianity, but the deepest religious spirit is not his. +Only twice in all his work do we come upon a profounder religious sense, +in the second half of _Lou Prègo-Diéu_ and in _Lou Saume de la +Penitènci_. There is no doubt that Mistral is a believer, but religious +feeling has not a large place in his work; there are no other +meditations upon death and destiny. + +And this _âme du Midi, spirit of Provence_, the genius of his race that +he has striven to express, what is it? How shall it be defined or +formulated? Alphonse Daudet, who knew it, and loved it, whose Parisian +life and world-wide success did not destroy in him the love of his +native Provence, who loved the very food of the Midi above all others, +and jumped up in joy when a southern intonation struck his ear, and who +was continually beset with longings to return to the beloved region, has +well defined it. He was the friend of Mistral and followed the poet's +efforts and achievements with deep and affectionate interest. It is not +difficult to see that the satire in the "Tartarin" series is not unkind, +nor is it untrue. Daudet approved of the Félibrige movement, though what +he himself wrote in Provençal is insignificant. He believed that the +national literature could be best vivified by those who most loved their +homes, that the best originality could thus be attained. He has +said:[17]-- + +"The imagination of the southerners differs from that of the northerners +in that it does not mingle the different elements and forms in +literature, and remains lucid in its outbreaks. In our most complex +natures you never encounter the entanglement of directions, relations, +and figures that characterizes a Carlyle, a Browning, or a Poe. For this +reason the man of the north always finds fault with the man of the south +for his lack of depth and darkness. + +"If we consider the most violent of human passions, love, we see that +the southerner makes it the great affair of his life, but does not allow +himself to become disorganized. He likes the talk that goes with it, its +lightness, its change. He hates the slavery of it. It furnishes a +pretext for serenades, fine speeches, light scoffing, caresses. He finds +it difficult to comprehend the joining together of love and death, which +lies in the northern nature, and casts a shade of melancholy upon these +brief delights." + +Daudet notes the ease with which the southerner is carried away and +duped by the mirage of his own fancy, his semi-sincerity in excitement +and enthusiasm. He admired the natural eloquence of his Provençals. He +found a justification for their exaggerations. + +"Is it right to accuse a man of lying, who is intoxicated with his own +eloquence, who, without evil intent, or love of deceit, or any instinct +of scheming or false trading, seeks to embellish his own life, and other +people's, with stories he knows to be illusions, but which he wishes +were true? Is Don Quixote a liar? Are all the poets deceivers who aim to +free us from realities, to go soaring off into space? After all, among +southerners, there is no deception. Each one, within himself, restores +things to their proper proportions." + +Daudet had Mistral's love of the sunshine. He needed it to inspire him. +He believed it explained the southern nature. + +Concerning the absence of metaphysics in the race he says:-- + +"These reasonings may culminate in a state of mind such as we see +extolled in Buddhism, a colorless state, joyless and painless, across +which the fleeting splendors of thought pass like stars. Well, the man +of the south cares naught for that sort of paradise. The vein of real +sensation is freely, perpetually open, open to life. The side that +pertains to abstraction, to logic, is lost in mist." + +We have referred to the power of story-telling among the Provençals and +their responsiveness as listeners. Daudet mentions the contrast to be +observed between an audience of southerners and the stolid, +self-contained attitude of a crowd in the north. + +The evil side of the southern temperament, the faults that accompany +these traits, are plainly stated by the great novelist. Enthusiasm turns +to hypocrisy, or brag; the love of what glitters, to a passion for +luxury at any cost; sociability, the desire to please, become weakness +and fulsome flattery. The orator beats his breast, his voice is hoarse, +choked with emotion, his tears flow conveniently, he appeals to +patriotism and the noblest sentiments. There is a legend, according to +Daudet, which says that when Mirabeau cried out, "We will not leave +unless driven out at the point of the bayonet," a voice off at one side +corrected the utterance, murmuring sarcastically, "And if the bayonets +come, we make tracks!" + +The southerner, when he converses, is roused to animation readily. His +eye flashes, his words are uttered with strong intonations, the +impressiveness of a quiet, earnest, self-contained manner is unknown to +him. + +Daudet is a novelist and a humorist. Mistral is a poet; hence, although +he professes to aim at a full expression of the "soul of his Provence," +there are many aspects of the Provençal nature that he has not touched +upon. He has omitted all the traits that lend themselves to satirical +treatment, and, although he is in many ways a remarkable realist, he has +very little dramatic power, and seems to lack the gift of searching +analysis of individual character. It is hardly fair to reckon it as a +shortcoming in the poet and apostle of Provence that he presents only +what is most beautiful in the life about him. The novelist offers us a +faithful and vivid image of the men of his own day. The poet glorifies +the past, clings to tradition, and exhorts his countrymen to return to +it. + +Essentially and above all else a conservative, Mistral has the gravest +doubts about so-called modern progress. Undoubtedly honest in desiring +the well-being of his fellow Provençals, he believes that this can be +preserved or attained only by a following of tradition. There must be no +breaking with the past. Daudet, late in life, adhered to this doctrine. +His son quotes him as saying:-- + +"I am following, with gladness, the results of the impulse Mistral has +given. Return to tradition! that is our salvation in the present going +to pieces. I have always felt this instinctively. It came to me clearly +only a few years ago. It is a bad thing to become wholly loosened from +the soil, to forget the village church spire. Curiously enough poetry +attaches only to objects that have come down to us, that have had long +use. What is called _progress_, a vague and very doubtful term, rouses +the lower parts of our intelligence. The higher parts vibrate the better +for what has moved and inspired a long series of imaginative minds, +inheriting each from a predecessor, strengthened by the sight of the +same landscapes, by the same perfumes, by the touch of the same +furniture, polished by wear. Very ancient impressions sink into the +depth of that obscure memory which we may call the _race-memory_, out of +which is woven the mass of individual memories." + +Mistral is truly the poet of the Midi. One can best see how superior he +is as an artist in words by comparing him with the foremost of his +fellow-poets. He is a master of language. He has the eloquence, the +enthusiasm, the optimism of his race. His poetic earnestness saves his +tendency to exaggerate. His style, in all its superiority, is a southern +style, full of interjections, full of long, sonorous words. His thought, +his expressions, are ever lucid. His art is almost wholly objective. His +work has extraordinary unity, and therefore does not escape the monotony +that was unavoidable when the poet voluntarily limited himself to a +single purpose in life, and to treatment of the themes thereunto +pertaining. Believers in material progress, those who look for great +changes in political and social conditions, will turn from Mistral with +indifference. His contentment with present things, and his love of the +past, are likely to irritate them. Those who seek in a poet consolation +in the personal trials of life, a new message concerning human destiny, +a new note in the everlasting themes that the great poets have sung, +will be disappointed. + +A word must be said of him as a writer of French. In the earlier years +he felt the weight of the Academy. He did not feel that French would +allow full freedom. He was scrupulous and timid. He soon shook off this +timidity and became a really remarkable wielder of the French tongue. +His translations of his own works have doubtless reached a far wider +public than the works themselves, and are certainly characterized by +great boldness, clearness, and an astonishingly large vocabulary. + +His earlier work is clearly inspired by his love of Greek literature, +and those qualities in Latin literature wherein the Greek genius shines +through, possibly also by some mysterious affinity with the Greek spirit +resulting from climate or atavism. This never entirely left him. When +later he writes of Provence in the Middle Age, of the days of the +Troubadours, his manner does not change; his work offers no analogies +here with the French Romantic school. + +No poet, it would seem, was ever so in love with his own language; no +artist ever so loved the mere material he was using. Mistral loves the +words he uses, he loves their sound, he loves to hear them from the lips +of those about him; he loves the intonations and the cadences of his +verse; his love is for the speech itself aside from any meaning it +conveys. A beautiful instrument it is indeed. Possibly nothing is more +peculiarly striking about him than this extreme enthusiasm for his +golden speech, his _lengo d'or_. + +To him must be conceded the merit of originality, great originality. In +seeking the source of many of his conceptions, one is led to the +conclusion, and his own testimony bears it out, that they are the +creations of his own fancy. If there is much prosaic realism in the +_Poem of the Rhone_, the Prince and the Anglore are purely the children +of Mistral's almost naïve imagination, and Calendau and Esterello are +attached to the real world of history by the slenderest bonds. When we +seek for resemblances between his conceptions and those of other poets, +we can undoubtedly find them. Mireille now and then reminds of Daphnis +and Chloe, of Hermann and Dorothea, of Evangeline, but the differences +are far more in evidence than the resemblances. Esterello is in an +attitude toward Calendau not without analogy to that of Beatrice toward +Dante, but it would be impossible to find at any point the slightest +imitation of Dante. Some readers have been reminded of Faust in reading +_Nerto_, but beyond the scheme of the Devil to secure a woman's soul, +there is little similarity. Nothing could be more utterly without +philosophy than _Nerto_. Mistral has drawn his inspirations from within +himself; he has not worked over the poems and legends of former poets, +or sought much of his subject-matter in the productions of former ages. +He has not suffered from the deep reflection, the pondering, and the +doubt that destroy originality. + +If Mistral had written his poems in French, he would certainly have +stood apart from the general line of French poets. It would have been +impossible to attach him to any of the so-called "schools" of poetry +that have followed one another during this century in France. He is as +unlike the Romantics as he is unlike the Parnassians. M. Brunetière +would find no difficulty in applying to his work the general epithet of +"social" that so well characterizes French literature considered in its +main current, for Mistral always sings to his fellow-men to move them, +to persuade them, to stir their hearts. Almost all of his poems in the +lyrical form show him as the spokesman of his fellows or as the leader +urging them to action. He is therefore not of the school of "Art for +Art's sake," but his art is consecrated to the cause he represents. + +His thought is ever pure and high; his lessons are lessons of love, of +noble aims, of energy and enthusiasm. He is full of love for the best in +the past, love of his native soil, love of his native landscapes, love +of the men about him, love of his country. He is a poet of the "Gai +Saber," joyous and healthy, he has never felt a trace of the bitterness, +the disenchantment, the gloom and the pain of a Byron or a Leopardi. He +is eminently representative of the race he seeks to glorify in its own +eyes and in the world's, himself a type of that race at its very best, +with all its exuberance and energy, with its need of outward +manifestation, life and movement. An important place must be assigned to +him among those who have bodied forth their poetic conceptions in the +various euphonious forms of speech descended from the ancient speech of +Rome. + +In Provence, and far beyond its borders, he is known and loved. His +activity has not ceased. His voice is still heard, clear, strong, +hopeful, inspiring. _Mireille_ is sung in the ruined Roman theatre at +Aries, museums are founded to preserve Provençal art and antiquities, +the Felibrean feasts continue with unabated enthusiasm. Mistral's life +is a successful life; he has revived a language, created a literature, +inspired a people. So potent is art to-day in the old land of the +Troubadours. All the charm and beauty of that sunny land, all that is +enchanting in its past, all the best, in the ideal sense, that may be +hoped for in its future, is expressed in his musical, limpid, lovely +verse. Such a poet and such a leader of men is rare in the annals of +literature. Such complete oneness of purpose and of achievement is rare +among men. + +[Footnote 17: See _Revue de Paris_, 15 avril, 1898.] + + + + +APPENDIX + + +We offer here a literal prose translation of the _Psalm of Penitence_. + + +THE PSALM OF PENITENCE + +I + +Lord, at last thy wrath hurleth its thunderbolts upon our foreheads, and +in the night our vessel strikes its prow against the rocks. + +Lord, thou cuttest us down with the sword of the barbarian like fine +wheat, and not one of the cravens that we shielded comes to our defence. + +Lord, thou twistest us like a willow wand, thou breakest down to-day all +our pride; there is none to envy us, who but yesterday were so proud. + +Lord, our land goeth to ruin in war and strife; and if thou withhold thy +mercy, great and small will devour one another. + +Lord, thou art terrible, thou strikest us upon the back; in awful +turmoil thou breakest our power, compelling us to confess past evil. + + +II + +Lord, we had strayed away from the austerity of the old laws and ways. +Virtues, domestic customs, we had destroyed and demolished. + +Lord, giving an evil example, and denying thee like the heathen, we had +one day closed up thy temples and mocked thy Holy Christ. + +Lord, leaving behind us thy sacraments and commandments, we had brutally +lost belief in all but self-interest and progress! + +Lord, in the waste heavens we have clouded thy light with our smoke, and +to-day the sons mock the nakedness and purity of their fathers. + +Lord, we have blown upon thy Bible with the breath of false knowledge; +and holding ourselves up like the poplar trees, we wretched beings have +declared ourselves gods. + +Lord, we have left the furrow, we have trampled all respect under foot; +and with the heavy wine that intoxicates us we defile the innocent. + + +III + +Lord, we are thy prodigal children, but we are thy Christians of old; +let thy justice chastise us, but give us not over unto death. + +Lord, in the name of so many brave men, who went forth fearless, +valiant, docile, grave, and then fell in battle; + +Lord, in the name of so many mothers, who are about to pray to God for +their sons, and who next year, alas! and the year thereafter, shall see +them no more; + +Lord, in the name of so many women who have at their bosoms a little +child, and who, poor creatures, moisten the earth and the sheets of +their beds with tears; + +Lord, in the name of the poor, in the name of the strong, in the name of +the dead who shall die for their country, their duty, and their faith; + +Lord, for so many defeats, so many tears and woes, for so many towns +ravaged, for so much brave, holy blood; + +Lord, for so many adversities, for so much mourning throughout our +France, for so many insults upon our heads; + + +IV + +Lord, disarm thy justice. Cast down thine eye upon us, and heed the +cries of the bruised and wounded! + +Lord, if the rebellious cities, through their luxury and folly, have +overturned the scale-pan of thy balance, resisting and denying thee; + +Lord, before the breath of the Alps, that praiseth God winter and +summer, all the trees of the fields, obedient, bow together; + +Lord, France and Provence have sinned only through forgetfulness; do +thou forgive us our offences, for we repent of the evil of former days. + +Lord, we desire to become men, thou canst set us free. We are +Gallo-Romans, and of noble race, and we walk upright in our land. + +Lord, we are not the cause of the evil, send down upon us a ray of +peace. Lord, help our cause, and we shall live again and love thee. + + + + +THE PRESENT CAPOULIÉ OF THE FÉLIBRIGE. + + +M. Pierre Devoluy, of the town of Die, was elected at Arles, in April, +1901. The Consistory was presided over by Mistral. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +The following list contains the most important works that have been +published concerning Mistral and the Félibrige. Numerous articles have +appeared in nearly all the languages of Europe in various magazines. Of +these only such are mentioned as seem worthy of special notice. + + +WORKS CONCERNING THE FÉLIBRIGE IN GENERAL + +_America_ + +JANVIER, THOMAS A., Numerous articles in the Century Magazine, New York, + 1893, and following years. + + _An Embassy to Provence_. New York, 1893. + +PRESTON, HARRIETT, _Mistral's Calendau_. The Atlantic Monthly, New + York, 1874. + + _Aubanel's Miòugrano entreduberto_. The Atlantic Monthly, New + York, 1874. + + +_England_ + +CRAIG, DUNCAN, _Miéjour Provençal Legend, Life, Language, and + Literature_. London. + + _The Handbook of the Modern Provençal Language_. + +CROMBIE, J.W., _The Poets and Peoples of Foreign Lands: Frédéric + Mistral_. Elliot, London, 1890. + +HARTOG, CECIL, _Poets of Provence_. London Contemporary Review, 1894. + + +_France_ + +BOISSIN, FIRMIN, _Le Midi littéraire contemporain_. Douladoure, + Toulouse, 1887. + +DE BOUCHAUD, _Roumanille et le Félibrige_. Mougin, Lyons, 1896. + +BRUN, C., _L'Evolution félibréenne_. Paquet, Lyons, 1896. + +DONNADIEU, F., _Les Précurseurs des Félibres_. Quantin, Paris, 1888. + +HENNION, C., _Les Fleurs félibresques_. Paris, 1893. + +JOURDANNE, G., _Histoire du Félibrige_. Roumanille, Avignon, 1897. + +LINTILHAC, E., _Les Félibres à travers leur monde et leur poésie_. + Lemerre, Paris, 1895. + + _Précis de la littérature française_. Paris, 1890. + +LEGRÉ, L., _Le Poète Théodore Aubanel_. Paris, 1894. + +MARGON, A. DE, _Les Précurseurs des Félibres_. Béziers, 1891. + +MARIÉTON, PAUL, _La Terre provençale_. Lemerre, Paris, 1894. + + Article _Félibrige_ in the _Grande Encyclopédie_. + + Article _Mistral_ in the _Grande Encyclopédie_. + +MICHEL, S., _La Petite Patrie_. Roumanille, Avignon, 1894. + +NOULET, B., _Essai sur l'histoire littéraire des patois du midi de la + France, aux VIIIe siécle_. Montpellier, 1877. + +PARIS, GASTON, _Penseurs et poètes_. Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1896. + +RESTORI, _Histoire de la littérature provençale depuis les temps les + plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours_. Montpellier, 1895. (Translated + from the Italian.) + +ROQUE-FERRIER, A., _Mélanges de critique littéraire et de philologie_. + Montpellier, 1892. + +SAINT-RENÉ-TAILLANDIER, V., _Etudes littéraires_. Plon et Cie, + Paris, 1881. + +TAVERNIER, E., _La Renaissance provençale et Roumanille_. Gervais, + Paris, 1884. + + _Le mouvement littéraire provençal et Lis Isclo d'Or de Frédéric + Mistral_. Aix, 1876. + +DE TERRIS, J., _Roumanille et la littérature provençale_. Blond, + Paris, 1894. + +DE VINAC, M., _Les Félibres_. Richaud, Gap, 1882. + + +_Germany_ + +BÖHMER, E., _Die provenzalische Dichtung der Gegenwart_. + Heilbronn, 1870. + +KOSCHWITZ, E., _Ueber die provenzalischen Feliber und ihre Vorgänger_. + Berlin, 1894. + + _Grammaire historique de la langue des Félibres_. Greifswald and + Paris, 1894. + + A study of Bertuch's translation of Nerto in the _Litteraturblatt für + germanische und romanische Philologie_. 1892. + + A study of Provençal phonetics with a translation of the _Cant dóu + Soulèu. Sonderabdruck aus der Zeitschrift für französische Sprache + und Litteratur_. Berlin, 1893. + +SCHNEIDER, B., _Bemerkungen zur litterarischen Bewegung auf + neuprovenzalischem Sprachgebiete_. Berlin, 1887. + +WELTER, N., _Frederi Mistral, der Dichter der Provence_. + Marburg, 1899.[18] + + +_Italy_ + +LICER, MARIA, _I Felibri_, in the _Roma letteraria_. June, 1893. + +PORTAL, E., _Appunti letterari: Sulla poesia provenzale_. Pedone, + Palermo, 1890. + + _La Letteratura provenzale moderna_. Reber, Palermo, 1893. + + _Scritti vari di letteratura classica provenzale moderna_. Reber, + Palermo, 1895. + +RESTORI, A., _Letteratura provenzale_. Hoepli, Milan, 1892. + +ZUCCARO, L., _Un avvenimento letterario; Mistral tragico in the Scena + illustrata_. Florence, 1891. + + _Il Felibrigio, rinascimento delle lettere provenzali, Concordia_. + Novara, 1892. + + +_Spain_ + +TUBINO, _Historia del renacimiento literario contemporaneo en Cataluña, + Baleares y Valencia_. Madrid, 1881. + + +MISTRAL'S WORKS + +Mirèio. 1859. + +Calendau. Avignon, 1867. Paris, Lemerre, 1887. + +Lis Isclo d'Or. 1876. + +Nerto. Hachette, Paris, 1884. + +Lou Tresor dóu Fébrige. Aix, 1886. + +La Rèino Jano. Lemerre, Paris, 1890. + +Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose. Lemerre, Paris, 1897. + + +TRANSLATIONS OF MISTRAL'S WORKS + +H. GRANT, _An English Version of F. Mistral's Mirèio from the Original + Provençal_. London. + +HARRIETT PRESTON, _Mistral's Mirèio. A Provençal Poem Translated_. + Roberts Bros., Boston, 1872. Second edition, 1891. + +A. BERTUCH, _Der Trommler von Arcole_. Deutsche Dichtung, Dresden, 1890. + + _Nerto_. Trübner, Strassburg, 1890. + + _Mirèio_. Trübner, Strassburg, 1892. + + _Espouscado_. Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Litteratur, + XV2, p. 267. + +HENNION, _Mireille_. Traduction en vers français. + +E. RIGAUD, _Mireille_. Metrical translation into French, with the + original form of stanza. + +JAROSLAV VRCHLICHKY. Translation of several poems of Mistral into + Bohemian, under the title, _Z básni Mistralovych_, in the Review, + _Kvety_. Prague, 1886. + + _Hostem u Basniku_. Prague, 1891. Contains seven poems by Aubanel and + thirteen by Mistral. + +DOM SIGISMOND BOUSKA, _Le Tambour d'Arcole_, in the Review, _Lumir_. + Prague, 1893. + + Cantos IV and V of _Mirèio_, in the Review, _Vlast_. Prague, 1894. + +PELAY BOIZ, _Mirèio_, in Catalan. + +ROCA Y ROCA, _Calendau_. Lo Gay Saber, Barcelona, 1868. + +C. BARALLAT Y FALGUERA, _Mireya, poema provenzal de Frederico Mistral + puesto en prosa española_. + +MARIA LICER, _L'Angelo_ (Canto VI of _Nerto_). Italian. Iride, + Casal, 1889. + +A. NAUM, _Traduceri_. Jassy, 1891. (Translation into Rumanian of + Canto IV of _Mirèio_, _The Song of Magali_, and _The Drummer + of Arcole_.) + +T. CANNIZZARO, _La Venere d'Arli_, in _Vita Intima_. Milan, 1891. + +[Footnote 18: The present work was completed in manuscript before the +reception of Welter's book.] + + + + +INDEX + + +Aasen, Ivan, 94. +Alexandrine verse, 78, 89. +Alpilles, 11. +Amiradou, 76, 196. +Arène, Paul, 21, 234. +Ariosto, 20, 151. +Armana prouvençau, 17, 28. +Aubanel, Théodore, 15, 17, 21, 36, 88, 233. +Aucassin and Nicolette, 170. + +Balageur, Victor, 31, 32. +Bello d'Avoust, 184. +Berluc-Pérussis, 33. +Boileau, 102. +Bonaparte-Wyse, 31, 33. +Bornier, Henri de, 33. +Bréal, Michel, 34, 72. +Brunet, Jean, 16. +Brunetière, 79, 249. +Byron, 250. + +Calendau, 18, 79, 127. +Capoulié, 19, 35, 36. +Catalans, 31. +Cigale. Société de la, 20, 33. +Countess, the, 199. +Cup, 31, 32, 190. + +Dante, 40, 73, 130, 133, 160, 248. +Darmesteter, 41. +Daudet, 9, 21, 69, 152, 240 _seq._ +Dictionary of the Provençal language, 20, 92. +Drac, 165 _seq._ +Drummer of Arcole, 78, 204. + +Espouscado, 194. +Evangeline, 122. + +Faust, 248. +Félibre, 5, 27. +Félibrige, 24 _seq._ +Félibrige de Paris, 16, 20, 33. +Félibrige, foundation of, 15. +Félibrige organized, 19, 34. +Fin dón Meissounié, 186. +Floral games, 20, 32, 35. +Font-Ségugne, 17. +Fourès Auguste, 37. + +Garcin, Eugène, 15. +Giéra, Paul, 15. +Goethe, 123. +Gounod, 18. +Gras, Félix, 36, 37, 38. +Grévy, 20. + +Homer, 13, 123. +Hugo, Victor, 79, 138, 181, 203. + +Isclo d'Or, 19, 181. + +Janvier, Mrs. Thomas A., 38. +Jasmin, 6, 14, 29, 43, 73, 193. +Jeanroy, 27. +Jourdanne, 24, 37. + +Koschwitz, 49. + +Lamartine, 17, 29, 103, 130, 181, 182, 183, 204. +Landor, Walter Savage, 213, 214. +Latin race, 30, 191, 193. +Legouvé, 20. +Lemaître, Jules, 232. +Leopardi, 250. +Lintilhac, Eugène, 72. +Littré, 94. +Longfellow, 6. + +Maillane, 10, 12. +Marot, 81. +Mary, Queen of Scots, 213, 217. +Mas, 11. +Mathieu, Anselme, 13, 16, 21, 26. +Meissoun, 14. +Meyer, Paul, 33. +Mila y Fontanals, 34. +Mirabeau, 131, 243. +Mirèio, 12, 17, 28, 79, 99. +Mistral's marriage, 19. +Mistral's Memoirs, 21. +Mont-Ventoux, 148. +Museum of Arles, 21. +Musset, 181. + +Napoleon, 164. +Nerto, 20, 151. +Noulet, 43. + +Paris, Gaston, 34, 69,115. +Petrarch, 18, 19, 33, 34, 36, 73, 148, 220. +Poem of the Rhone, 21, 76, 89, 159. +Political separatism, 15. +Prègo-Diéu 84, 204, 205 _seq._, 239. +Provençal language, 43, 191 _seq._ +Psalm of Penitence, 84, 182, 200 _seq._, 239, 253. + +Queens of the Félibrige, 36. + +Rèino Jano, 21, 89, 212. +Rock of Sisyphus, 193, 208. +Ronsard, 211. +Roumanille, 7, 9, 14, 15, 17, 21, 26, 30, 36, 70. + +Saboly, 6. +Sainte-Beuve, 6. +Saint-Rémy, 7, 10. +Simon de Montfort, 37. +Songs, 189. +Sonnets of Mistral, 86. + +Tartarin, 69, 230, 240. +Tavan, Alphonse, 15, +Translation, 87, 89, 178, 247. +Tresor dón Felibrige, 20, 92. +Troubadours, 40, 44, 87, 112, 132, 147, 225, 251. + +Versification, 75. +Villemain, 29. +Virgil, 13. +Voltaire, 221. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Frédéric Mistral, by Charles Alfred Downer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL *** + +***** This file should be named 17293-0.txt or 17293-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/9/17293/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Taavi +Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Frédéric Mistral + Poet and Leader in Provence + +Author: Charles Alfred Downer + +Release Date: December 12, 2005 [EBook #17293] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Taavi +Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL] + + +Columbia University + +_STUDIES IN ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LITERATURE_ + + +FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL + +POET AND LEADER IN PROVENCE + +BY + +CHARLES ALFRED DOWNER + +ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE COLLEGE +OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK + + +NEW YORK +THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, AGENTS +66 FIFTH AVENUE +1901 + +_All rights reserved_ + + +COPYRIGHT, 1901, +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + +Norwood Press +J.S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith +Norwood Mass. U.S.A. + + + + +PREFACE + + +This study of the poetry and life-work of the leader of the modern +Provençal renaissance was submitted in partial fulfilment of the +requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Columbia +University. My interest in Mistral was first awakened by an article from +the pen of the great Romance philologist, Gaston Paris, which appeared +in the _Revue de Paris_ in October, 1894. The idea of writing the book +came to me during a visit to Provence in 1897. Two years later I visited +the south of France again, and had the pleasure of seeing Mistral in his +own home. It is my pleasant duty to express here once again my gratitude +for his kindly hospitality and for his suggestions in regard to works +upon the history of the Félibrige. Not often does he who studies the +works of a poet in a foreign tongue enjoy as I did the privilege of +hearing the verse from the poet's own lips. It was an hour not to be +forgotten, and the beauty of the language has been for me since then as +real as that of music finely rendered, and the force of the poet's +personality was impressed upon me as it scarcely could have been even +from a most sympathetic and searching perusal of his works. His great +influence in southern France and his great personal popularity are not +difficult to understand when one has seen the man. + +As the striking fact in the works of this Frenchman is that they are not +written in French, but in Provençal, a considerable portion of the +present essay is devoted to the language itself. But it did not appear +fitting that too much space should be devoted to the purely linguistic +side of the subject. There is a field here for a great deal of special +study, and the results of such investigations will be embodied in +special works by those who make philological studies their special +province. In the first division of the present work, however, along with +the life of the poet and the history of the Félibrige, a description of +the language is given, which is an account at least of its distinctive +features. A short chapter will be found devoted to the subject of the +versification of the poets who write in the new speech. This subject is +not treated in Koschwitz's admirable grammar of the language. + +The second division is devoted to the poems. The epics of Mistral, if we +may venture to use the term, are, with the exception of Lamartine's +_Jocelyn_, the most remarkable long narrative poems that have been +produced in France in modern times. At least one of them would appear to +be a work of the highest rank and destined to live. Among the short +poems that constitute the volume called _Lis Isclo d'Or_ are a number of +masterpieces. + +This book aims to present all the essential facts in the history of this +astonishing revival of a language, and to bring out the chief aspects of +Mistral's life-work. In our conclusions we have not yielded to the +temptation to prophesy. The conflicting tendencies of cosmopolitanism +and nationalism abroad in the world to-day give rise to fascinating +speculations as to the future. In the Felibrean movement we have a very +interesting problem of this kind, and no one can terminate a study of +the subject without asking himself the question, "What is going to come +out of it all?" No one can tell, and so we have not ventured beyond the +attempt to present the case as it actually exists. + +Let me here also offer an expression of gratitude to Professor Adolphe +Cohn and to Professor Henry A. Todd of Columbia University for their +advice and guidance during the past six years. Their kindness and the +inspiration of their example must be reckoned among those things that +cannot be repaid. + +NEW YORK, March, 1901. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PART FIRST + + THE REVIVAL OF THE PROVEÇAL LANGUAGE + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. Introduction. Life of Mistral 3 + II. The Félibrige 24 + III. The Modern Provençal, or, more accurately, + The Language of the Félibres 43 + IV. The Versification of the Félibres 75 + V. Mistral's Dictionary of the Provençal Language. + (Lou Tresor dóu Félibrige) 92 + + + PART SECOND + + THE POETICAL WORKS OF MISTRAL + + I. The Four Longer Poems 99 + 1. Mirèio 99 + 2. Calendau 127 + 3. Nerto 151 + 4. Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose 159 + II. Lis Isclo d'Or 181 + III. The Tragedy, La Rèino Jano 212 + + + PART THIRD + + CONCLUSIONS 237 + + + APPENDIX. Translation of the Psalm of Penitence 253 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 259 + + INDEX 265 + + + + +PART FIRST + + +THE REVIVAL OF THE PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION + + +The present century has witnessed a remarkable literary phenomenon in +the south of France, a remarkable rebirth of local patriotism. A +language has been born again, so to speak, and once more, after a sleep +of many hundred years, the sunny land that was the cradle of modern +literature, offers us a new efflorescence of poetry, embodied in the +musical tongue that never has ceased to be spoken on the soil where the +Troubadours sang of love. Those who began this movement knew not whither +they were tending. From small beginnings, out of a kindly desire to give +the humbler folk a simple, homely literature in the language of their +firesides, there grew a higher ambition. The Provençal language put +forth claims to exist coequally with the French tongue on French soil. +Memories of the former glories of the southern regions of France began +to stir within the hearts of the modern poets and leaders. They began to +chafe under the strong political and intellectual centralization that +prevails in France, and to seek to bring about a change. The movement +has passed through numerous phases, has been frequently misinterpreted +and misunderstood, and may now, after it has attained to tangible +results, be defined as an aim, on the part of its leaders, to make the +south intellectually independent of Paris. It is an attempt to restore +among the people of the Rhone region a love of their ancient customs, +language, and traditions, an effort to raise a sort of dam against the +flood of modern tendencies that threaten to overwhelm local life. These +men seek to avoid that dead level of uniformity to which the national +life of France appears to them in danger of sinking. In the earlier +days, the leaders of this movement were often accused at Paris of a +spirit of political separatism; they were actually mistrusted as +secessionists, and certain it is that among them have been several +champions of the idea of decentralization. To-day there are found in +their ranks a few who advocate the federal idea in the political +organization of France. However, there seems never to have been a time +when the movement promised seriously to bring about practical political +changes; and whatever political significance it may have to-day goes no +farther than what may be contained in germ in the effort at an intense +local life. + +The land of the Troubadours is now the land of the Félibres; these +modern singers do not forget, nor will they allow the people of the +south to forget, that the union of France with Provence was that of an +equal with an equal, not of a principal with a subordinate. Patriots +they are, however, ardent lovers of France, and proofs of their strong +affection for their country are not wanting. To-day, amid all their +activity and demonstrations in behalf of what they often call "_la +petite patrie_," no enemies or doubters are found to question their +loyalty to the greater fatherland. + +The movement began in the revival of the Provençal language, and was at +first a very modest attempt to make it serve merely better purposes than +it had done after the eclipse that followed the Albigensian war. For a +long time the linguistic and literary aspect of all this activity was +the only one that attracted any attention in the rest of France or in +Provence itself. Not that the Provençal language had ever quite died out +even as a written language. Since the days of the Troubadours there had +been a continuous succession of writers in the various dialects of +southern France, but very few of them were men of power and talent. +Among the immediate predecessors of the Félibres must be mentioned +Saboly, whose _Noëls_, or Christmas songs, are to-day known all over the +region, and Jasmin, who, however, wrote in a different dialect. Jasmin's +fame extended far beyond the limited audience for which he wrote; his +work came to the attention of the cultured through the enthusiastic +praise of Sainte-Beuve, and he is to-day very widely known. The +English-speaking world became acquainted with him chiefly through the +translations of Longfellow. Jasmin, however, looked upon himself as the +last of a line, and when, in his later years, he heard of the growing +fame of the new poets of the Rhone country, it is said he looked upon +them with disfavor, if not jealousy. Strange to say, he was, in the +early days, unknown to those whose works, like his, have now attained +well-nigh world-wide celebrity. + +The man who must justly be looked upon as the father of the present +movement was Joseph Roumanille. He was born in 1818, in the little town +of Saint-Rémy, a quaint old place, proud of some remarkable Roman +remains, situated to the south of Avignon. Roumanille was far from +foreseeing the consequences of the impulse he had given in arousing +interest in the old dialect, and, until he beheld the astonishing +successes of Mistral, strongly disapproved the ambitions of a number of +his fellow-poets to seek an audience for their productions outside of +the immediate region. He had no more ambitious aim than to raise the +patois of Saint-Rémy out of the veritable mire into which it had sunk; +it pained him to see that the speech of his fireside was never used in +writing except for trifles and obscenities. Of him is told the touching +story that one day, while reciting in his home before a company of +friends some poems in French that he had written, he observed tears in +his mother's eyes. She could not understand the poetry his friends so +much admired. Roumanille, much moved, resolved to write no verses that +his mother could not enjoy, and henceforth devoted himself ardently to +the task of purifying and perfecting the dialect of Saint-Rémy. It has +been said, no less truthfully than poetically, that from a mother's tear +was born the new Provençal poetry, destined to so splendid a career. + +We of the English-speaking race are apt to wonder at this love of a +local dialect. This vigorous attempt to create a first-rate literature, +alongside and independent of the national literature, seems strange or +unnatural. We are accustomed to one language, spoken over immense areas, +and we rejoice to see it grow and spread, more and more perfectly +unified. With all their local color, in spite of their expression of +provincial or colonial life, the writings of a Kipling are read and +enjoyed wherever the English language has penetrated. In Italy we find +patriots and writers working with utmost energy to bring into being a +really national language. Nearly all the governments of Europe seek to +impose the language of the capital upon the schools. Unification of +language seems a most desirable thing, and, superficially considered, +the tendency would appear to be in that direction. But the truth is that +there exists all over Europe a war of tongues. The Welsh, the Basques, +the Norwegians, the Bohemians, the Finns, the Hungarians, are of one +mind with Daudet and Mistral, who both express the sentiment, "He who +holds to his language, holds the key of his prison." + +So Roumanille loved and cherished the melodious speech of the Rhone +valley. He hoped to see the _langue d'oc_ saved from destruction, he +strove against the invasion of the northern speech that threatened to +overwhelm it. He wrote sweet verses and preached the gospel of the +home-speech. One day he discovered a boy whom he calls "l'enfant +sublime," and the pupil soon carried his dreams to a realization far +beyond his fondest hopes. Not Roumanille, but Frédéric Mistral has made +the new Provençal literature what it is. In him were combined all the +qualities, all the powers requisite for the task, and the task grew with +time. It became more than a question of language. Mistral soon came to +seek not only the creation of an independent literature, he aimed at +nothing less than a complete revolution, or rather a complete rebirth, +of the mental life of southern France. Provence was to save her +individuality entire. Geographically at the central point of the lands +inhabited by the so-called Latin races, she was to regain her ancient +prominence, and cause the eyes of her sisters to turn her way once more +with admiration and affection. The patois of Saint-Rémy has been +developed and expanded into a beautiful literary language. The inertia +of the Provençals themselves has been overcome. There is undoubtedly a +new intellectual life in the Rhone valley, and the fame of the Félibres +and their great work has gone abroad into distant lands. + +The purpose, then, of the present dissertation, will be to give an +account of the language of the Félibres, and to examine critically the +literary work of their acknowledged chief and guiding spirit, Frédéric +Mistral. + +The story of his life he himself has told most admirably in the preface +to the first edition of _Lis Isclo d'Or_, published at Avignon in 1874. +He was born in 1830, on the 8th day of September, at Maillane. Maillane +is a village, near Saint-Rémy, situated in the centre of a broad plain +that lies at the foot of the Alpilles, the westernmost rocky heights of +the Alps. Here the poet is still living, and here he has passed his life +almost uninterruptedly. His father's home was a little way out of the +village, and the boy was brought up at the _mas_,[1] amid farm-hands and +shepherds. His father had married a second time at the age of +fifty-five, and our poet was the only child of this second marriage. + +The story of the first meeting of his parents is thus told by the +poet:-- + +"One year, on St. John's day, Maître François Mistral was in the midst +of his wheat, which a company of harvesters were reaping. A throng of +young girls, gleaning, followed the reapers and raked up the ears that +fell. Maître François (Mèste Francés in Provençal), my father, noticed a +beautiful girl that remained behind as if she were ashamed to glean like +the others. He drew near and said to her:-- + +"'My child, whose daughter are you? What is your name?' + +"The young girl replied, 'I am the daughter of Etienne Poulinet, Maire +of Maillane. My name is Délaïde.' + +"'What! the daughter of the Maire of Maillane gleaning!' + +"'Maître,' she replied, 'our family is large, six girls and two boys, +and although our father is pretty well to do, as you know, when we ask +him for money to dress with, he answers, "Girls, if you want finery, +earn it!" And that is why I came to glean.' + +"Six months after this meeting, which reminds one of the ancient scene +of Ruth and Boaz, Maître François asked Maître Poulinet for the hand of +Délaïde, and I was born of that marriage." + +His father's lands were extensive, and a great number of men were +required to work them. The poem, _Mirèio_, is filled with pictures of +the sort of life led in the country of Maillane. Of his father he says +that he towered above them all, in stature, in wisdom, and in nobleness +of bearing. He was a handsome old man, dignified in language, firm in +command, kind to the poor about him, austere with himself alone. The +same may be said of the poet to-day. He is a strikingly handsome man, +vigorous and active, exceedingly gracious and simple in manner. His +utter lack of affectation is the more remarkable, in view of the fact +that he has been for years an object of adulation, and lives in constant +and close contact with a population of peasants. + +His schooling began at the age of nine, but the boy played truant so +frequently that he was sent to boarding-school in Avignon. Here he had a +sad time of it, and seems especially to have felt the difference of +language. Teachers and pupils alike made fun of his patois, for which he +had a strong attachment, because of the charm of the songs his mother +sung to him. Later he studied well, however, and became filled with a +love of Virgil and Homer. In them he found pictures of life that +recalled vividly the labors, the ways, and the ideas of the Maillanais. +At this time, too, he attempted a translation, in Provençal, of the +first eclogue of Virgil, and confided his efforts to a school-mate, +Anselme Mathieu, who became his life-long friend and one of the most +active among the Félibres. + +It was at this school, in 1845, that he formed his friendship with +Roumanille, who had come there as a teacher. It is not too much to say +that the revival of the Provençal language grew out of this meeting. +Roumanille had already written his poems, _Li Margarideto_ (The +Daisies). "Scarcely had he shown me," says Mistral, "in their +spring-time freshness, these lovely field-flowers, when a thrill ran +through my being and I exclaimed, 'This is the dawn my soul awaited to +awaken to the light!'" Mistral had read some Provençal, but at that time +the dialect was employed merely in derision; the writers used the speech +itself as the chief comic element in their productions. The poems of +Jasmin were as yet unknown to him. Roumanille was the first in the Rhone +country to sing the poetry of the heart. Master and pupil became firm +friends and worked together for years to raise the home-speech to the +dignity of a literary language. + +At seventeen Mistral returned home, and began a poem in four cantos, +that he has never published; though portions of it are among the poems +of _Lis Isclo d'Or_ and in the notes of _Mirèio_. This poem is called +_Li Meissoun_ (Harvest). His family, seeing his intellectual +superiority, sent him to Aix to study law. Here he again met Mathieu, +and they made up for the aridity of the Civil Code by devoting +themselves to poetry in Provençal. + +In 1851 the young man returned to the _mas_, a _licencié en droit_, and +his father said to him: "Now, my dear son, I have done my duty; you know +more than ever I learned. Choose your career; I leave you free." And the +poet tells us he threw his lawyer's gown to the winds and gave himself +up to the contemplation of what he so loved,--the splendor of his native +Provence. + +Through Roumanille he came to know Aubanel, Croustillat, and others. +They met at Avignon, full of youthful enthusiasm, and during this period +Mistral, encouraged by his friends, worked upon his greatest poem, +_Mirèio_. In 1854, on the 21st of May, the Félibrige was founded by the +seven poets,--Joseph Roumanille, Paul Giéra, Théodore Aubanel, Eugène +Garcin, Anselme Mathieu, Frédéric Mistral, Alphonse Tavan. In 1868, +Garcin published a violent attack upon the Félibres, accusing them, in +the strongest language, of seeking to bring about a political separation +of southern France from the rest of the country. This apostasy was a +cause of great grief to the others, and Garcin's name was stricken from +the official list of the founders of the Félibrige, and replaced by that +of Jean Brunet. Mistral, in the sixth canto of _Mirèio_, addresses in +eloquent verse his comrades in the Provençal Pléiade, and there we still +find the name of Garcin. + + Tù' nfin, de quau un vènt de flamo + Ventoulo, emporto e fouito l'amo + Garcin, o fiéu ardènt dóu manescau d'Alen! + + (And finally, thou whose soul is stirred and swept and whipped by a + wind of flame, Garcin, ardent son of the smith of Alleins.) + +This attack upon the Félibrige was the first of the kind ever made. Many +years later, Garcin became reconciled to his former friends and in 1897 +he was vice-president of the _Félibrige de Paris_. + +The number seven and the task undertaken by these poets and literary +reformers remind us instantly of the Pléiade, whose work in the +sixteenth century in attempting to perfect the French language was of a +very similar character. It is certain, however, that the seven poets +who inaugurated their work at the Château of Font-Ségugne, had no +thought of imitating the Pléiade either in the choice of the number +seven or in the reformation they were about to undertake. + +They began their propaganda by founding an annual publication called the +_Armana Prouvençau_, which has appeared regularly since 1855, and many +of their writings were first printed in this official magazine. Of the +seven, Aubanel alone besides Mistral has attained celebrity as a poet, +and these two with Roumanille have been usually associated in the minds +of all who have followed the movement with interest as its three +leaders. + +Mistral completed _Mirèio_ in 1859. The poem was presented by Adolphe +Dumas and Jean Reboul to Lamartine, who devoted to it one of the +"Entretiens" of his _Cours familier de littérature_. This article of +Lamartine, and his personal efforts on behalf of Mistral, contributed +greatly to the success of the poem. Lamartine wrote among other things: +"A great epic poet is born! A true Homeric poet in our own time; a poet, +born like the men of Deucalion, from a stone on the Crau, a primitive +poet in our decadent age; a Greek poet at Avignon; a poet who has +created a language out of a dialect, as Petrarch created Italian; one +who, out of a vulgar _patois_, has made a language full of imagery and +harmony delighting the imagination and the ear.... We might say that, +during the night, an island of the Archipelago, a floating Delos, has +parted from its group of Greek or Ionian islands and come silently to +join the mainland of sweet-scented Provence, bringing along one of the +divine singers of the family of the Melesigenes." + +Mistral went to Paris, where for a time he was the lion of the literary +world. The French Academy crowned his poem, and Gounod composed the +opera Mireille, which was performed for the first time in 1864, in +Paris. + +The poet did not remain long in the capital. He doubtless realized that +he was not destined to join the galaxy of Parisian writers, and it is +certain that if he had remained there his life and his influence would +have been utterly different. He returned home and immediately set to +work upon a second epic; in another seven years he completed _Calendau_, +published in Avignon in 1866. The success of this poem was decidedly +less than that of _Mirèio_. + +During these years he published many of the shorter poems that appeared +in one volume in 1875, under the title of _Lis Isclo d'Or_ (The Golden +Islands). Meanwhile the idea of the Félibrige made great progress. The +language of the Félibres had now a fixed orthography and definite +grammatical form. The appearance of a master-work had given a wonderful +impulse. The exuberance of the southern temperament responded quickly to +the call for a manifestation of patriotic enthusiasm. The Catalan poets +joined their brothers beyond the Pyrenees. The Floral games were +founded. The Félibrige passed westward beyond the Rhone and found +adherents in all south France. The centenary of Petrarch celebrated at +Avignon in 1874 tended to emphasize the importance and the glory of the +new literature. + +The definite organization of the Félibrige into a great society with its +hierarchy of officers took place in 1876, with Mistral as _Capoulié_ +(Chief or President). In this same year also the poet married Mdlle. +Marie Rivière of Dijon, and this lady, who was named first Queen of the +Félibrige by Albert de Quintana of Catalonia, the poet-laureate of the +year 1878 at the great Floral Games held in Montpellier, has become at +heart and in speech a Provençale. + +A third poem, _Nerto_, appeared in 1884, and showed the poet in a new +light; his admirers now compared him to Ariosto. This same year he made +a second journey to Paris, and was again the lion of the hour. The +_Société de la Cigale_, which had been founded in 1876, as a Paris +branch of the Félibrige, and which later became the _Société des +Félibres de Paris_, organized banquets and festivities in his honor, and +celebrated the Floral Games at Sceaux to commemorate the four hundredth +anniversary of the day when Provence became united, of her own +free-will, with France. Mistral was received with distinction by +President Grévy and by the Count of Paris, and his numerous Parisian +friends vied in bidding him welcome to the capital. His new poem was +crowned by the French Academy, receiving the Prix Vitet, the +presentation address being delivered by Legouvé. Four years later, _Lou +Tresor dóu Felibrige_, a great dictionary of all the dialects of the +_langue d'oc_, was completed, and in 1890 appeared his only dramatic +work, _La Rèino Jano_ (Queen Joanna). In 1897 he produced his last long +poem, epic in form, _Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose_ (the Poem of the Rhone). At +present he is engaged upon his _Memoirs_. + +Aside from his rare journeys to Paris, a visit to Switzerland, and +another to Italy, Mistral has rarely gone beyond the borders of his +beloved region. He is still living quietly in the little village of +Maillane, in a simple but beautiful home, surrounded with works of art +inspired by the Felibrean movement. He has survived many of his +distinguished friends. Roumanille, Mathieu, Aubanel, Daudet, and Paul +Arène have all passed away; a new generation is about him. But his +activity knows no rest. The Felibrean festivities continue, the numerous +publications in the Provençal tongue still have in him a constant +contributor. In 1899 the Museon Arlaten (the Museum of Aries) was +inaugurated, and is another proof of the constant energy and enthusiasm +of the poet. He is to-day the greatest man in the south of France, +universally beloved and revered. + +His life after all has been less a literary life than one of direct and +unceasing personal action upon the population about him. The +resurrection of the language, the publication of poems, magazines, and +newspapers, are only part of a programme tending to raise the people of +the south to a conception of their individuality as a race. He has +striven untiringly to communicate to them his own glowing enthusiasm for +the past glories of Provence, to fire them with his dream of a great +rebirth of the Latin races, to lay the foundation of a great ideal Latin +union. Wonderful is his optimism. Some of the Félibres about him are +somewhat discouraged, many of them have never set their aspirations as +high as he has done, and some look upon his dreams as Utopian. Whatever +be the future of the movement he has founded, Mistral's life in its +simple oneness, and in its astonishing success, is indeed most +remarkable. Provence, the land that first gave the world a literature +after the decay of the classic tongues, has awakened again under his +magic touch to an active mental life. A second literature is in active +being on the soil of France, a second literary language is there a +reality. Whether permanent or evanescent, this glorification of poetry, +this ardent love of the beautiful and the ideal, is a noble and +inspiring spectacle amid the turmoil and strife of this age of material +progress. + +[Footnote 1: The word _mas_, which is kin with the English _manse_ and +_mansion_, signifies the home in the country with numerous outbuildings +grouped closely about it.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FÉLIBRIGE + + +The history of the Félibrige, from its beginning, in 1854, down to the +year 1896, has been admirably written by G. Jourdanne.[2] The work is +quite exhaustive, containing, in addition to the excellently written +narrative, an engraving of the famous cup, portraits of all the most +noted Félibres, a series of elaborately written notes that discuss or +set forth many questions relating to the general theme, a very large +bibliography of the subject, comprising long lists of works that have +been written in the dialect or that have appeared in France and in other +countries concerning the Félibres, a copy of the constitution of the +society and of various statutes relating to it. It not only contains +all the material that is necessary for the study of the Félibrige, but +it is worthy of the highest praise for the spirit in which it is +written. It is an honest attempt to explain the Félibrige, and to +present fairly and fully all the problems that so remarkable a movement +has created. A perusal of the book makes it evident that the author +believes in future political consequences, and while well aware that it +is unsafe to prophesy, he has a chapter on the future of the movement. + +His history endeavors to show that the Felibrean renaissance was not a +spontaneous springing into existence. On the purely literary side, +however, it certainly bears the character of a creation; as writers, the +Provençal poets may scarcely be said to continue any preceding school or +to be closely linked with any literary past. In its inception it was a +mere attempt to write pleasing, popular verse of a better kind in the +dialect of the fireside. But the movement developed rapidly into the +ambition to endow the whole region with a real literature, to awaken a +consciousness of _race_ in the men of the south; these aims have been +realized, and a change has come over the life of Provence and the land +of the _langue d'oc_ in general. The author believes and adduces +evidences to show that all this could not have come about had the seed +not fallen upon a soil that was ready. + +The Félibrige dates from the year 1854, but the idea that lies at the +bottom of it must be traced back to the determination of Roumanille to +write in Provençal rather than in French. He produced his _Margarideto_ +in 1847 and the _Sounjarello_ in 1851. In collaboration with Mistral and +Anselme Mathieu, he edited a collection of poems by living writers under +the title _Li Prouvençalo_. During these years, too, there were meetings +of Provençal writers for the purpose of discussing questions of grammar +and spelling. These meetings, including even the historic one of May 21, +1854, were, however, really little more than friendly, social +gatherings, where a number of enthusiastic friends sang songs and made +merry. They had none of the solemnity of a conclave, or the dignity of +literary assemblies. There was no formal organization. Those writers who +were zealously interested in the rehabilitation of the Provençal speech +and connected themselves with Mistral and his friends were the +Félibres. Not until 1876 was there a Félibrige with a formal +constitution and an elaborate organization. + +The word _Félibre_ was furnished by Mistral, who had come upon it in an +old hymn wherein occurs the expression that the Virgin met Jesus in the +temple among "the seven Félibres of the law." The origin and etymology +of this word have given rise to various explanations. The Greek +_philabros_, lover of the beautiful; _philebraios_, lover of Hebrew, +hence, among the Jews, teacher; _felibris_, nursling, according to +Ducange; the Irish _filea_, bard, and _ber_, chief, have been proposed. +Jeanroy (in _Romania_, XIII, p. 463) offers the etymology: Spanish +_feligres, filii Ecclesiæ_, sons of the church, parishioners. None of +these is certain. + +Seven poets were present at this first meeting, and as the day happened +to be that of St. Estelle, the emblem of a seven-pointed star was +adopted. Very fond of the number seven are these Félibres; they tell you +of the seven chief churches of Avignon, its seven gates, seven colleges, +seven hospitals, seven popes who were there seventy years; the word +_Félibre_ has seven letters, so has Mistral's name, and he spent seven +years in writing each of his epics. + +The task that lay before these poets was twofold: they had not only to +prune and purify their dialect and produce verses, they had also to find +readers, to create a public, to begin a propaganda. The first means +adopted was the publication of the _Armana prouvençau_, already referred +to. In 1855, five hundred copies were issued, in 1894, twelve thousand. +For four years this magazine was destined for Provence alone; in 1860, +after the appearance of _Mirèio_, it was addressed to all the dwellers +in southern France. The great success of _Mirèio_ began a new period in +the history of the Félibrige. Mistral himself and the poets about him +now took an entirely new view of their mission. The uplifting of the +people, the creation of a literature that should be admired abroad as +well as at home, the complete expression of the life of Provence, in all +its aspects, past and present, escape from the implacable centralization +that tends to destroy all initiative and originality--such were the +higher aims toward which they now bent their efforts. The attention of +Paris was turned in their direction. Jasmin had already shown the +Parisians that real poetry of a high order could be written in a patois. +Lamartine and Villemain welcomed the new literature most cordially, and +the latter declared that "France is rich enough to have two +literatures." + +But the student of this history must not lose sight of the fact that the +Provençal poets are not first of all littérateurs; they are not men +devoting themselves to literature for a livelihood, or even primarily +for fame. They are patriots before they are poets. The choice of +subjects and the intense love of their native land that breathes through +all their writings, are ample proof of this. They meet to sing songs and +to speak; it is always of Provence that they sing and speak. Almost all +of them are men who ply some trade, hardly one lives by his pen alone. +This fact gives a very special character to their whole production. The +Felibrean movement is more than an astonishing literary phenomenon. + +The idea from this time on acquired more and more adherents. Scores of +writers appeared, and volumes whose titles filled many pages swelled the +output of Provençal verse. These new aims were due to the success of +_Mirèio_; but it must not be forgotten that Mistral himself, in that +poem and in the shorter poems of the same period, gave distinct +expression to the new order of ideas, so that we are constantly led back +to him, in all our study of the matter, as the creator, the continuer, +and the ever present inspirer of the Félibrige. Whatever it is, it is +through him primarily. Roumanille must be classed as one of those +precursors who are unconscious of what they do. To him the Félibres owe +two things: first of all, the idea of writing in the dialect works of +literary merit; and, secondly, the discovery of Frédéric Mistral. + +Among these new ideas, one that dominates henceforth in the story of the +Félibrige, is the idea of race. Mistral is well aware that there is no +Latin race, in the sense of blood relationship, of physical descent; he +knows that the so-called Latin race has, for the base of its unity, a +common history, a common tradition, a common religion, a common +language. + +But he believes that there is a _race méridionale_ that has been +developed into a kind of unity out of the various elements that compose +it, through their being mingled together, and accumulating during many +centuries common memories, ideas, customs, and interests. So Mistral has +devoted himself to promoting knowledge of its history, traditions, +language, and religion. As the Félibrige grew, and as Mistral felt his +power as a poet grow, he sought a larger public; he turned naturally to +the peoples most closely related to his own, and Italy and Spain were +embraced in his sympathies. The Félibrige spread beyond the limits of +France first into Spain. Victor Balaguer, exiled from his native +country, was received with open arms by the Provençals. William +Bonaparte-Wyse, an Irishman and a grand-nephew of the first Napoleon, +while on a journey through Provence, had become converted to the +Felibrean doctrines, and became an active spirit among these poets and +orators. He organized a festival in honor of Balaguer, and when, later, +the Catalan poet was permitted to return home, the Catalans sent the +famous cup to their friends in Provence. For the Félibres this cup is an +emblem of the idea of a Latin federation, and as it passes from hand to +hand and from lip to lip at the Felibrean banquets, the scene is not +unlike that wherein the Holy Graal passes about among the Knights of the +Round Table.[3] + +Celebrations of this kind have become a regular institution in southern +France. Since the day in 1862 when the town of Apt received the Félibres +officially, organizing Floral Games, in which prizes were offered for +the best poems in Provençal, the people have become accustomed to the +sight of these triumphal entries of the poets into their cities. Reports +of these brilliant festivities have gone abroad into all lands. If the +love of noise and show that characterizes the southern temperament has +caused these reunions to be somewhat unfavorably criticised as +theatrical, on the other hand the enthusiasm has been genuine, and the +results real and lasting. The _Félibrées_, so they are called, have not +all taken place in France. In 1868, Mistral, Rournieux, Bonaparte-Wyse, +and Paul Meyer went to Barcelona, where they were received with great +pomp and ceremony. Men eminent in literary and philological circles in +Paris have often accepted invitations to these festivities. In 1876, a +Felibrean club, "La Cigale," was founded in the capital; its first +president was Henri de Bornier, author of _La Fille de Roland_. +Professors and students of literature and philology in France and in +other countries began to interest themselves in the Félibres, and the +Félibrige to-day counts among its members men of science as well as men +of letters. + +In 1874 one of the most remarkable of the celebrations, due to the +initiative of M. de Berluc-Pérussis, was held at Vaucluse to celebrate +the fifth centenary of the death of Petrarch. At this _Félibrée_ the +Italians first became affiliated to the _idea_, and the Italian +ambassador, Nigra, the president of the Accademia della Crusca, Signor +Conti, and Professor Minich, from the University of Padua, were the +delegates. The Institute of France was represented for the first time. +This celebration was highly important and significant, and the scenes of +Petrarch's inspirations and the memories of the founder of the +Renaissance must have awakened responsive echoes in the hearts of the +poets who aimed at a second rebirth of poetry and learning in the same +region. + +The following year the _Société des langues romanes_ at Montpellier +offered prizes for philological as well as purely literary works, and +for the first time other dialects than the Provençal proper were +admitted in the competitions. The Languedocian, the Gascon, the +Limousin, the Béarnais, and the Catalan dialects were thus included. The +members of the jury were men of the greatest note, Gaston Paris, Michel +Bréal, Mila y Fontanals, being of their number. + +Finally, in 1876, on the 21st of May, the statutes of the Félibrige were +adopted. From them we quote the following:-- + +"The Félibrige is established to bring together and encourage all those +who, by their works, preserve the language of the land of _oc_, as well +as the men of science and the artists who study and work in the interest +of this country." + +"Political and religious discussions are forbidden in the Felibrean +meetings." + +The organization is interesting. The Félibres are divided into +_Majoraux_ and _Mainteneurs_. The former are limited to fifty in number, +and form the Consistory, which elects its own members; new members are +received on the feast of St. Estelle. + +The Consistory is presided over by a Capoulié, who wears as the emblem +of his office a seven-pointed golden star, the other Majoraux, a golden +grasshopper. + +The other Félibres are unlimited in number. Any seven Félibres dwelling +in the same place may ask the Maintenance to form them into a school. +The schools administer their own affairs. + +Every seven years the Floral Games are held, at which prizes are +distributed; every year, on the feast of St. Estelle, a general meeting +of the Félibrige takes place. Each Maintenance must meet once a year. + +At the Floral Games he who is crowned poet-laureate chooses the Queen, +and she crowns him with a wreath of olive leaves. + +To-day there are three Maintenances within the limits of French soil, +Provence, Languedoc, Aquitaine. + +Among other facts that should doubtless be reported here is, the list of +Capouliés. They have been Mistral (1876-1888), Roumanille (1888-1891), +and Félix Gras; the Queens have been Madame Mistral, Mlle. Thérèse +Roumanille, Mlle. Marie Girard, and the Comtesse Marie-Thérèse de +Chevigné, who is descended upon her mother's side from Laura de Sade, +generally believed to be Petrarch's Laura. + +Since the organization went into effect the Félibrige has expanded in +many ways, its influence has continually grown, new questions have +arisen. Among these last have been burning questions of religion and +politics, for although discussions of them are banished from Felibrean +meetings, opinions of the most various kind exist among the Félibres, +have found expression, and have well-nigh resulted in difficulties. +Until 1876 these questions slept. Mistral is a Catholic, but has managed +to hold more or less aloof from political matters. Aubanel was a zealous +Catholic, and had the title by inheritance of Printer to his Holiness. +Roumanille was a Catholic, and an ardent Royalist. When the Félibrige +came to extend its limits over into Languedoc, the poet Auguste Fourès +and his fellows proclaimed a different doctrine, and called up memories +of the past with a different view. They affirmed their adherence to the +_Renaissance méridionale_, and claimed equal rights for the Languedocian +dialect. They asserted, however, that the true tradition was republican, +and protested vigorously against the clerical and monarchical parties, +which, in their opinion, had always been for Languedoc a cause of +disaster, servitude, and misery. The memory of the terrible crusade in +the thirteenth century inspired fiery poems among them. Hatred of Simon +de Montfort and of the invaders who followed him, free-thought, and +federalism found vigorous expression in all their productions. In +Provence, too, there have been opinions differing widely from those of +the original founders, and the third Capoulié, Félix Gras, was a +Protestant. Of him M. Jourdanne writes:-- + +"Finally, in 1891, after the death of Roumanille, the highest office in +the Félibrige was taken by a man who could rally about him the two +elements that we have seen manifested, sufficiently Republican to +satisfy the most ardent in the extreme Left, sufficiently steady not to +alarm the Royalists, a great enough poet to deserve without any dispute +the first place in an assembly of poets." + +He, like Mistral, wrote epics in twelve cantos. His first work, _Li +Carbounié_, has on its title-page three remarkable lines:-- + + "I love my village more than thy village, + I love my Provence more than thy province, + I love France more than all." + +Possibly no other three lines could express as well the whole spirit of +the Félibrige. + +Our subject being Mistral and not Félix Gras, a passing mention must +suffice. One of his remarkable works is called _Toloza_, and recounts +the crusade of the Albigenses, and his novel, _The Reds of the Midi_, +first published in New York in the English translation of Mrs. Thomas A. +Janvier, is probably the most remarkable prose work that has been +written in Provençal.[4] Only the future can tell whether the Provençal +will pass through a prose cycle after its poetic cycle, in the manner of +all literatures. To many serious thinkers the attempt to create a +complete literature seems of very doubtful success. + +The problems, then, which confront the Félibres are numerous. Can they, +with any assurance of permanence, maintain two literary languages in the +same region? It is scarcely necessary to state, of course, that no one +dreams of supplanting the French language anywhere on French soil. What +attitude shall they assume toward the "patoisants," that is, those who +insist on using the local dialect, and refuse to conform to the usage of +the Félibres? Is it not useless, after all, to hope for a more perfect +unification of the dialects of the _langue d'oc_, and, if unification is +the aim, does not logical reasoning lead to the conclusion that the +French language already exists, perfectly unified, and absolutely +necessary? In the matter of politics, the most serious questions may +arise if the desires of some find more general favor. Shall the Félibres +aim at local self-government, at a confederation something like that of +the Swiss cantons? Shall they advocate the idea of independent +universities? + +As a matter of fact, none of these problems are solved, and they will +only be solved by the natural march of events. The attitude of the +leaders toward all these differing views has become one of easy +toleration. If the language of the Félibres tends already to dominate +the other dialects, if its influence is already plainly felt far beyond +Provence itself, this is due to the sheer superiority of their literary +work. If their literature had the conventional character of that of the +Troubadours, if it were addressed exclusively to a certain élite, then +their language might have been adopted by the poets of other regions, +just as in the days of the Troubadours the masters of the art of +"trobar" preferred to use the Limousin dialect. But the popular +character of the movement has prevented this. It has preached the love +of the village, and each locality, as fast as the Felibrean idea gained +ground, has shown greater affection for its own dialect. + +Mistral's work has often been compared to Dante's. But Dante did not +impose his language upon Italy by the sole superiority of his great +poem. All sorts of events, political and social, contributed to the +result, and there is little reason to expect the same future for the +work of Mistral. This comparison is made from the linguistic point of +view; it is not likely that any one will compare the two as poets. At +most, it may be said that if Dante gave expression to the whole spirit +of his age, Mistral has given complete expression to the spirit of his +little _patrie_. Should the trend of events lead to a further +unification of the dialects of southern France, there is no doubt that +the Felibrean dialect has by far the greatest chance of success. + +The people of Provence owe a great debt to the Félibres, who have +endowed them with a literature that comes closer to their sympathies +than the classic literature of France can ever come; they have been +raised in their own esteem, and there has been undoubtedly a great +awakening in their mental life. The Félibrige has given expression to +all that is noblest and best in the race, and has invariably led onward +and upward. Its mission has been one that commands respect and +admiration, and the Félibres to-day are in a position to point with +pride to the great work accomplished among their people. Arsène +Darmesteter has well said:-- + +"A nation needs poetry; it lives not by bread alone, but in the ideal +as well. Religious beliefs are weakening; and if the sense of poetic +ideals dies along with the religious sentiment, there will remain +nothing among the lower classes but material and brutal instincts. + +"Whether the Félibres were conscious of this danger, or met this popular +need instinctively, I cannot say. At any rate, their work is a good one +and a wholesome one. There still circulates, down to the lowest stratum +of the people, a stream of poetry, often obscure, until now looked upon +with disdain by all except scholars. I mean folklore, beliefs, +traditions, legends, and popular tales. Before this source of poetry +could disappear completely, the Félibres had the happy idea of taking it +up, giving it a new literary form, thus giving back to the people, +clothed in the brilliant colors of poetry, the creation of the people +themselves." + +And again: "As for this general renovation of popular poetry, I would +give it no other name than that of the Félibrige. To the Félibres is due +the honor of the movement; it is their ardor and their faith that have +developed and strengthened it." + +[Footnote 2: _Histoire du Félibrige, par_ G. Jourdanne, _Librairie +Roumanille, Avignon, 1897_.] + +[Footnote 3: The stem of the cup has the form of a palm tree, under +which two female figures, representing Catalonia and Provence, stand in +a graceful embrace. Below the figures are engraved the two following +inscriptions:-- + +Morta la diuhen qu'es, Ah! se me sabien entèndre! +Mes jo la crech viva. Ah! se me voulien segui! + (V. Balaguer.) (F. Mistral.) + +(They say she is dead, (Ah, if they could understand + but I believe she me! Ah, if they would follow + lives.) me!) +] + +[Footnote 4: In 1899, Félix Gras published a novel called _The White +Terror_. His death occurred early in 1901.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE MODERN PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE + + +The language of the Félibres is based upon the dialect spoken in the +plain of Maillane, in and about the town of Saint-Rémy. This dialect is +one of the numerous divisions of the _langue d'oc_, which Mistral claims +is spoken by nearly twelve millions of people. The literary history of +these patois has been written by B. Noulet, and shows that at the close +of the terrible struggles of the Albigenses the language seemed dead. In +1324 seven poets attempted to found at Toulouse the competitions of the +_Gai Savoir_, and so to revive the ancient poetry and the ancient +language. Their attempt failed. There was literary production of varying +degree of merit throughout two or three centuries; but until the time of +Jasmin no writer attracted any attention beyond his immediate vicinity; +and it is significant that the Félibres themselves were long in +ignorance of Jasmin. It is then not difficult to demonstrate that the +Félibrige revival bears more the character of a creation than of an +evolution. It is not at all an evolution of the literature of the +Troubadours; it is in no way like it. The language of the Félibres is +not even the descendant of the special dialect that dominated as a +literary language in the days of the Troubadours; for it was the speech +of Limousin that formed the basis of that language, and only two of the +greater poets among the Troubadours, Raimond de Vaqueiras and Fouquet de +Marseille, were natives of Provence proper. + +The dialect of Saint-Rémy is simply one of countless ramifications of +the dialects descended from the Latin. Mistral and his associates have +made their literary language out of this dialect as they found it, and +not out of the language of the Troubadours. They have regularized the +spelling, and have deliberately eliminated as far as possible words and +forms that appeared to them to be due to French influence, substituting +older and more genuine forms--forms that appeared more in accord with +the genius of the _langue d'oc_ as contrasted with the _langue d'oil_. +Thus, _glòri_, _istòri_, _paire_, replace _gloaro_, _istouèro_, _pèro_, +which are often heard among the people. This was the first step. The +second step taken arose from the necessity of making this speech of the +illiterate capable of elevated expression. Mistral claims to have used +no word unknown to the people or unintelligible to them, with the +exception that he has used freely of the stock of learned words common +to the whole Romance family of languages. These words, too, he +transforms more or less, keeping them in harmony with the forms peculiar +to the _langue d'oc_. Hence, it is true that the language of the +Félibres is a conventional, literary language, that does not represent +exactly the speech of any section of France, and is related to the +popular speech more or less as any official language is to the dialects +that underlie it. As the Félibres themselves have received all their +instruction and literary culture in the French language, they use it +among themselves, and their prose especially shows the influence of the +French to the extent that it may be said that the Provençal sentence, in +prose, appears to be a word-for-word translation of an underlying French +sentence. + +Phonetically, the dialect offers certain marked differences when +contrasted with French. First of all is the forceful utterance of the +stressed syllable; the Provençal has post-tonic syllables, unlike the +sister-speech. Here it may be said to occupy a sort of middle position +between Italian and Spanish on the one hand, and French on the other; +for in the former languages the accent is found in all parts of the +word, in French practically only upon the final, and then it is +generally weak, so that the notion of a stress is almost lost. The +stress in Provençal is placed upon one of the last two syllables only, +and only three vowels, _e_, _i_, _o_, may follow the tonic syllable. The +language, therefore, has a cadence that affects the ear differently from +the French, and that resembles more that of the Italian or Spanish +languages. + +The nasal vowels are again unlike those of the French language. The +vowel affected by the following nasal consonant preserves its own +quality of sound, and the consonant is pronounced; at the end of a word +both _m_ and _n_ are pronounced as _ng_ in the English word _ring_. The +Provençal utterance of _matin_, _tèms_, is therefore quite unlike that +of the French _matin_, _temps_. This change of the nasal consonants +into the _ng_ sound whenever they become final occurs also in the +dialects of northern Italy and northern Spain. This pronunciation of the +nasal vowels in French is, as is well known, an important factor in the +famous "accent du Midi." + +The oral vowels are in general like the French. It is curious that the +close _o_ is heard only in the infrequent diphthong _óu_, or as an +obscured, unaccented final. This absence of the close _o_ in the modern +language has led Mistral to believe that the close _o_ of Old Provençal +was pronounced like _ou_ in the modern dialect, which regularly +represents it. A second element of the "accent du Midi" just referred to +is the substitution of an open for a close _o_. The vowel sound of the +word _peur_ is not distinguished from the close sound in _peu_. In the +orthography of the Félibres the diagraph _ue_ is used as we find it in +Old French to represent this vowel. Probably the most striking feature +of the pronunciation is the unusual number of diphthongs and +triphthongs, both ascending and descending. Each vowel preserves its +proper sound, and the component vowels seem to be pronounced more slowly +and separately than in many languages. It is to be noted that _u_ in a +diphthong has the Italian sound, whereas when single it sounds as in +French. The unmarked _e_ represents the French _é_, as the _e_ mute is +unknown to the Provençal. + +The _c_ has come to sound like _s_ before _e_ and _i_, as in French. +_Ch_ and _j_ represent the sounds _ts_ and _dz_ respectively, and _g_ +before _e_ and _i_ has the latter sound. There is no aspirate _h_. The +_r_ is generally uvular. The _s_ between vowels is voiced. Only _l_, +_r_, _s_, and _n_ are pronounced as final consonants, _l_ being +extremely rare. Mistral has preserved or restored other final consonants +in order to show the etymology, but they are silent except in _liaison_ +in the elevated style of reading. + +The language is richer in vowel variety than Italian or Spanish, and the +proportion of vowel to consonant probably greater than in either. +Fortunately for the student, the spelling represents the pronunciation +very faithfully. A final consonant preceded by another is mute; among +single final consonants only _l_, _m_, _n_, _r_, _s_ are sounded; +otherwise all the letters written are pronounced. The stressed syllable +is indicated, when not normal, by the application of practically the +same principles that determine the marking of the accent in Spanish. + +The pronunciation of the Félibres is heard among the people at Maillane +and round about. Variations begin as near as Avignon.[5] + +Koschwitz' Grammar treats the language historically, and renders +unnecessary here the presentation of more than its most striking +peculiarities. Of these, one that evokes surprise upon first +acquaintance with the dialect is the fact that final _o_ marks the +feminine of nouns, adjectives, and participles. It is a close _o_, +somewhat weakly and obscurely pronounced, as compared, for instance, +with the final _o_ in Italian. In this respect Provençal is quite +anomalous among Romance languages. In some regions of the Alps, at Nice, +at Montpellier, at Le Velay, in Haute-Auvergne, in Roussillon, and in +Catalonia the Latin final _a_ is preserved, as in Italian and Spanish. + +The noun has but one form for the singular and plural. The distinction +of plural and singular depends upon the article, or upon the +demonstrative or possessive adjective accompanying the noun. In +_liaison_ adjectives take _s_ as a plural sign. So that, for the ear, +the Provençal and French languages are quite alike in regard to this +matter. The Provençal has not even the formal distinction of the nouns +in _al_, which in French make their plural in _aux_. _Cheval_ in +Provençal is _chivau_, and the plural is like the singular. A curious +fact is the use of _uni_ or _unis_, the plural of the indefinite +article, as a sign of the dual number; and this is its exclusive use. + +The subject pronoun, when unemphatic, is not expressed, but understood +from the termination of the verb. _Iéu_ (je), _tu_ (tu), and _éu_ (il) +are used as disjunctive forms, in contrast with the French. The +possessive adjective _leur_ is represented by _si_; and the reflective +_se_ is used for the first plural as well as for the third singular and +third plural. + +The moods and tenses correspond exactly to those of the French, and the +famous rule of the past participle is identical with the one that +prevails in the sister language. + +Aside from the omission of the pronoun subject, and the use of one or +two constructions not unknown to French, but not admitted to use in the +literary language, the syntax of the Provençal is identical with that of +the French. The inversions of poetry may disguise this fact a little, +but the lack of individuality in the sentence construction is obvious in +prose. Translation of Provençal prose into French prose is practically +mere word substitution. + +Instances of the constructions just mentioned are the following. The +relative object pronoun is often repeated as a personal pronoun, so that +the verb has its _object_ expressed twice. The French continually offers +redundancy of subject or complement, but not with the relative. + + "Estre, iéu, lou marran que tóuti L'estrangisson! + Estre, iéu, l'estrangié que tóuti LOU fugisson!" + + "Être, moi, le paria, que tous rebutent! + Être, moi, l'étranger que tout le monde fuit!" + +(_La Rèino Jano_, Act I, Scene III.) + +The particle _ti_ is added to a verb to make it interrogative. + +E.g. soun-ti? sont-ils? Petrarco ignoro-ti? + èro-ti? était-il? Petrarque ignore-t-il? + +This is the regular form of interrogative in the third person. It is, of +course, entirely due to the influence of colloquial French. + +The French indefinite statement with the pronoun _on_ may be represented +in Provençal by the third plural of the verb; _on m'a demandé_ is +translated _m'an demanda_, or _on m'a demanda_. + +The negative _ne_ is often suppressed, even with the correlative _que_. + +The verb _estre_ is conjugated with itself, as in Italian. + +The Provençal speech is, therefore, not at all what it would have been +if it had had an independent literary existence since the days of the +Troubadours. The influence of the French has been overwhelming, as is +naturally to be expected. A great number of idioms, that seem to be pure +gallicisms, are found, in spite of the deliberate effort, referred to +above, to eliminate French forms. In _La Rèino Jano_, Act III, Scene IV, +we find _Ié vai de nòstis os_,--_Il y va de nos os_. _Vejan_, _voyons_, +is used as a sort of interjection, as in French. The partitive article +is used precisely as in French. We meet the narrative infinitive with +_de_. In short, the French reader feels at home in the Provençal +sentence; it is the same syntax and, to a great degree, the same +rhetoric. Only in the vocabulary does he feel himself in a strange +atmosphere. + +The strength, the originality, the true _raison d'être_ of the Provençal +speech resides in its rich vocabulary. It contains a great number of +terms denoting objects known exclusively in Provence, for which there is +no corresponding term in the sister speech. Many plants have simple, +familiar names, for which the French must substitute a name that is +either only approximate, or learned and pedantic. Words of every +category exist to express usages that are exclusively Provençal. + +The study of the modern language confirms the results, as regards +etymology, reached by Diez and Fauriel and others, who have busied +themselves with the Old Provençal. The great mass of the words are +traceable to Latin etyma, as in all Romance dialects a large portion of +Germanic words are found. Greek and Arabic words are comparatively +numerous. Basque and Celtic have contributed various elements, and, as +in French, there is a long list of words the origin of which is +undetermined. + +The language shares with the other southern Romance languages a fondness +for diminutives, augmentatives, and pejoratives, and is far richer than +French in terminations of these classes. Long suffixes abound, and the +style becomes, in consequence, frequently high-sounding and exaggerated. + +One of the most evident sources of new words in the language of Mistral +is in its suffixes. Most of these are common to the other Romance +languages, and have merely undergone the phonetic changes that obtain +in this form of speech. In many instances, however, they differ in +meaning and in application from their corresponding forms in the sister +languages, and a vast number of words are found the formation of which +is peculiar to the language under consideration. These suffixes +contribute largely to give the language its external appearance; and +while a thorough and scientific study of them cannot be given here, +enough will be presented to show some of the special developments of +Mistral's language in this direction. + + +-a. + +This suffix marks the infinitive of the first conjugation, and also the +past participle. It answers to the French forms in -er and -é. As the +first conjugation is a so-called "living" conjugation, it is the +termination of many new verbs. + + +-a, -ado. + +-ado is the termination of the feminine of the past participle. This +often becomes an abstract feminine noun, answering to the French +termination -ée; _armée_ in Mistral's language is _armado_. Examples of +forms peculiar to Provençal are: + +óulivo, _an olive_. +óuliva, _to gather olives_. +óulivado, _olive gathering_. +pié, _foot_. +piado, _footprint_. + + +-age (masc.). + +This suffix is the equivalent of the French -age, and is a suffix of +frequent occurrence in forming new words. _Óulivage_ is a synonym of +_óulivado_, mentioned above. A rather curious word is the adverb arrage, +meaning _at random, haphazard_. It appears to represent a Latin adverb, +_erratice_. + +Mourtau, mourtalo, _mortal_, gives the noun mourtalage, +_a massacre_. + + +-agno (fem.). + +An interesting example of the use of this suffix is seen in the word +eigagno, _dew_, formed from aigo, _water_, as though there had been a +Latin word _aquanea_. + + +-aio (fem.). + +This ending corresponds to the French -aille. + +poulo, _a hen_. +poulaio, _a lot of hens_, _poultry_. + + +-aire (masc.). + +This represents the Latin -ator (_one who_). The corresponding feminine +in Mistral's works has always the diminutive form -arello. + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaire, toumbarello, _one who falls_ or _one who fells_. +óuliva, _to gather olives_. +óulivaire, óulivarello, _olive gatherer_. +canta, _to sing_. +cantaire, cantarello, _singer_. +panié, _basket_. +panieraire, _basket maker_. +caligna, _to court_. +calignaire, _suitor_. +paternostriaire, _one who is forever praying_. + +Like the corresponding French nouns in -eur, these nouns in -aire, as +well as those in -èire, are also used as adjectives. + + +-aire = -arium. + +The suffix sometimes represents the Latin -arium. A curious word is +_vejaire_, meaning opinion, manner of seeing, as though there had been a +Latin word _videarium_. It sometimes has the form _jaire_ or _chaire_, +through the loss of the first syllable. + + +-an, -ano. + +This suffix is common in the Romance languages. Fihan, _filial_, seems +to be peculiar to the Provençal. + + +-ànci (fem.). + +This is the form corresponding to the French -ance. _Abundance_ is in +Mistral's dialect _aboundànci_. + + +-ant, -anto. + +This is the termination of the present participle and verbal adjective +derived from verbs in -a. These words sometimes have a special meaning, +as toumbant, _declivity_. + + +-ard, -ardo. + +Gaiard is Provençal for the French _gaillard_. + + +-àri. + +This represents the Latin -arius. Abouticàri is Provençal for +_apothecary_. + + +-as. + +This is an augmentative suffix of very frequent use. + +porc, _hog_. +pourcas, _great hog_. +serp, _snake_. +serpatas, _great serpent_. +castèu, _fort_. +castelas, _fortress_. +rouco, _rock_. +roucas, _great rock_. + + +-asso. + +This is a pejorative suffix. + +vido, _life_. +vidasso, _wretched life_. + + +-astre. + +In French this suffix has the form -âtre. + +óulivastre (Fr. olivâtre), _olive in color_. + + +-at. + +Coustat is in French _côté_ (side). + +The suffix is often diminutive. + +auc, _a gander_. +aucat, _gosling_. +passero, _sparrow_. +passerat, _small sparrow_. + + +-au, -alo. + +This is the form of the widely used suffix -al. Mistral uses paternau +for _paternal_, and also the adjective formed upon paire, _father_, +peirenau, peirenalo, _fatherly_. + +bourg, _city_. +bourgau, bourgalo, _civil_. + + +-edo (fem.). + +pin, _pine_. +pinedo, _pine-grove_. +clapo, _stone_. +claparedo, _stony plain_. +óulivo, _olive_. +óulivaredo, _olive-orchard_. + + +-èire, -erello. + +This suffix corresponds to the suffix -aire, mentioned above. It is +appended to the stem of verbs not of the first conjugation. + +courre, _to run_. +courrèire, courerello, _runner_. +legi, _to read_. +legèire, legerello, _reader_. + + +-eja. + +This is an exceedingly common verb-suffix, corresponding to the Italian +-eggiare. + +toumbarèu, _kind of cart_. +toumbaraleja, _to cart_. +farandolo, _farandole_. +farandouleja, _to dance the farandole_. +poutoun, _kiss_. +poutouneja, _to kiss_. +poumpoun, _caress_. +poumpouneja, _to caress_. +segnour, _lord_. +segnoureja, _to lord it over_. +mistral, _wind of the Rhone valley_. +mistraleja, _to roar like the mistral_. +poudro, _powder_. +poudreja, _to fire a gun_. +clar, _bright_. +clareja, _to brighten_. + + +-en (masc.), -enco (fem.). + +This is a common adjective-suffix. + +souleu, _sun_. +souleien, souleienco, _sunny_. +mai, _May_. +maien, maienco, _relating to May_. +Madaleno, _Magdalen_. +madalenen, madalenenco, _like Magdalen_. + + +-ès (masc.), -esso (fem.). + +This suffix corresponds to the French -ais, -aise. Liounès = lyonnais. + + +-et (masc.), -eto (fem.). + +This is perhaps the commonest of the diminutive suffixes. + +ome, _man_. +oumenet, _little man_. +fiho, _daughter_. +fiheto, _dear daughter_. +enfan, _child_. +enfantounet, _little child_. +vènt, _wind_. +ventoulet, _breeze_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaraleto, _little leaps_. +chato, _girl_. +chatouneto, _little girl_ +malaut, _ill_. +malautounet, _sickly_. + +It will be observed that the double diminutive termination is the most +frequent. + +Sometimes the -et is not diminutive. _Óuliveto_ may mean a small olive +or a field planted with olives. + + +-èu (masc.), -ello (fem.). + +This suffix is often diminutive. + +paurin, _poor chap_. +paurinèu paurinello, _poor little fellow or girl_. +pin, _pine_. +pinatèu, _young pine_. +pinatello, _forest of young pines_. +sauvage, _wild_. +sauvagèu, sauvagello, _somewhat wild_. + +Sometimes it is not. + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbarèu, -ello, _likely to fall_. +canta, _to sing_. +cantarèu, -ello, _songful_. +crese, _to believe_. +creserèu, -ello, _inclined to belief_. + + +-i. + +This is a verb-suffix, marking the infinitive of a "living" conjugation. + +bourgau, _civil_. +abourgali, _to civilize_. + + +-ié (fem.). + +Carestié, _dearness_, stands in contrast to the Italian _carestia_. + +priva, _to train_, _to tame_. +privadié, _sweet food given in training animals_. + + +-ié (masc.), -iero (fem.). + +This is the equivalent of the French -ier. + +óulivié, _olive tree_. +bouchié, _butcher_. +pinatié, } _a dwelling_ +pinatiero,} _among pines_. + + +-ièu (masc.), -ivo (fem.). + +This is the form corresponding to the French -if, -ive. + +ablatièu, _ablative_. +vièu, vivo, _lively_. + + +-ige (m.). + +According to Mistral, this represents the Latin -ities. We incline to +think rather that it corresponds to -age, being added chiefly to words +in _e_. -age fits rather upon stems in _a_. + +gounfle, _swollen_. +gounflige, _swelling_. +Felibre. +Felibrige. +paure, _poor_. +paurige, _poverty_. + + +-iho (fem.). + +This suffix makes collective nouns. + +pastre, _shepherd_. +pastriho, _company of shepherds_. +paure, _poor_. +pauriho, _the poor_. + + +-in (m.), -ino (fem.). + +This is usually diminutive or pejorative. + +paurin, _poor wretch_. + + +-ioun (fem.). + +This corresponds to the French -ion. + +nacioun, _nation_. +abdicacioun, _abdication_. +erme, _desert_. +asserma, _to dry up_. +assermacioun, _thirst_, _dryness_. + + +-is (masc.), -isso (fem.). + +Crida, _to cry_. +cridadisso, _cries of woe_. +chapla, _to slay_. +chapladis, _slaughter_. +coula, _to flow_. +couladis or couladisso, _flowing_. +abareja, _to throw pell-mell_. +abarejadis, _confusion_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbadis, -isso, _tottering_ (adj.). + +This suffix is added to the past participle stem. + + +-isoun (fem.). + +This suffix forms nouns from verbs in -i. + +abalauvi, _to make dizzy_, _to confound_. +abalauvisoun, _vertigo_. + + +-men (masc.). + +This corresponds to the French -ment; bastimen = bâtiment, _ship_. + +abouli, _to abolish_. +aboulimen, _abolition_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbamen, _fall_. + + +-men (adverb). + +urous, urouso, _happy_. +urousamen, _happily_. + +It is to be noted here that the adverb has the vowel of the old feminine +termination _a_, and not the modern _o_. + + +-ot (masc.), -oto (fem.). + +A diminutive suffix. + +vilo, _town_. +viloto, _little town_. + +Sometimes the stem no longer exists separately. + +mignot, mignoto, _darling_. +pichot, pichoto, _little boy_, _little girl_. + + +-oto (fem.). + +passa, _to pass_. +passaroto, _passing to and fro_. + + +-ou (masc.). + +This is a noun-suffix of very frequent use. It seems to be for Latin -or +and -orium. + +jouga, _to play_. +jougadou, _player_. +abla, _to brag_ (cf. Fr. _hâbler_). +abladou, _braggart_. +abausi, _to abuse, to exaggerate_. +abausidou, _braggart_. +courre, _to run_. +courredou, _corridor_. +lava, _to wash_. +lavadou, _lavatory_. +espande, _to expand_. +espandidou, _expanse, panorama_. +escourre, _to flow out_. +escourredou, _passage_, _hollow_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbadou, _water-fall_. +abeura, _to water_. +abeuradou, _drinking-trough_. +passa, _to sift_. +passadou, _sieve_. +mounda, _to winnow_. +moundadou, _sieve_. + + +-ouge. + +This is an adjective suffix. + +iver, _winter_. +ivernouge, _wintry_. + + +-oun (masc.), -ouno (fem.). + +A diminutive suffix. + +enfan, _child_. +enfantoun, enfantouno, _little child_. +pauriho, _the poor_. +paurihoun, _poor wretch_. + + +-ounge (masc.). + +A suffix forming nouns from adjectives. + +vièi, _old_. +vieiounge, _old age_. + + +-our (fem.). + +This is like the above. + +vièi, _old_. +vièiour, _old age_. + + +-ous, -ouso. + +This is the Latin -osus; French -eux, -euse. It forms many new words in +Mistral. + +urous (Fr. heureux), _happy_. +pouderous (It. and Sp. poderoso), _powerful_. +aboundous, _abundant_. +pin, _pine_. +pinous, _covered with pines_. +escalabra, _to climb_. +escalabrous, _precipitous_. + + +-ta (fem.). + +This is the equivalent of the Latin -tas, French -té. In Mistral's +language it is usually preceded by a connecting vowel _e_. + +moundaneta, _worldliness_. +soucieta, _society_. +paureta, _poverty_. + + +-u (masc.), -udo (fem.). + +This ending terminates the past participles of verbs whose infinitive +ends in _e_. It also forms many new adjectives. + +astre, _star_. +malastru, _ill-starred_. +sabé, _to know_. +saberu, _learned_. + +The feminine form often becomes a noun. + +escourre, _to run out_. +escourregudo, _excursion_. + + +-un (masc.). + +This is a very common noun-suffix. + +clar, _bright_. +clarun, _brightness_. +rat, _rat_. +ratun, _lot of rats_, _smell of rats_. +paure, _poor_. +paurun, _poverty_. +dansa, _to dance_. +dansun, _love of dancing_. +plagne, _to pity_. +plagnun, _complaining_. +vièi, _old_. +vieiun, _old age_. + + +-uro (fem.). + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaduro, _a fall_. +escourre, _to flow away_. +escourreduro, _what flows away_. +bagna, _to wet_. +bagnaduro, _dew_. + +This partial survey of the subject of the suffixes in Mistral's dialect +will suffice to show that it is possible to create words indefinitely. +There is no academy to check abuse, no large, cultivated public to +disapprove of the new forms. The Félibres have been free. A fondness for +diminutives marks all the languages of southern Europe, and a love of +long terminations generally distinguished Spanish latinity. The language +of the Félibres is by no means free from the grandiloquence and +pomposity that results from the employment of these high-sounding and +long terminations. _Toumbarelado_, _toumbarelaire_, are rather big in +the majesty of their five syllables to denote a cart-load and its driver +respectively. The abundance of this vocabulary is at any rate manifest. +We have here not a poor dialect, but one that began with a large +vocabulary and in possession of the power of indefinite development and +recreation out of its own resources. It forms compounds with greater +readiness than French, and the learner is impressed by the unusual +number of compound adverbs, some of very peculiar formation. +_Tourna-mai_ (again) is an example. Somewhat on the model of the French +_va-et-vient_ is the word _li mounto-davalo_, the ups and downs. _Un +regardo-veni_ means a look-out. _Noun-ren_ is nothingness. _Ped-terrous_ +(earthy foot) indicates a peasant. + +Onomatopoetic words, like _zounzoun_, _vounvoun_, _dindánti_, are +common. + +Very interesting as throwing light upon the Provençal temperament are +the numerous and constantly recurring interjections. This trait in the +man of the _Midi_ is one that Daudet has brought out humorously in the +Tartarin books. It is often difficult in serious situations to take +these explosive monosyllables seriously. + +In his study of Mistral's poetry, Gaston Paris calls attention to the +fact that the Provençal vocabulary offers many words of low association, +or at least that these words suggest what is low or trivial to the +French reader; he admits that the effect upon the Provençal reader may +not be, and is likely not to be, the same; but even the latter must +occasionally experience a feeling of surprise or slight shock to find +such words used in elevated style. For the English reader it is even +worse. Many such expressions could not be rendered literally at all. +Mistral resents this criticism, and maintains that the words in question +are employed in current usage without calling up the image of the low +association. This statement, of course, must be accepted. It is true of +all languages that words rise and fall in dignity, and their origin and +association are momentarily or permanently forgotten. + +The undeniably great success of this new Provençal literature justifies +completely the revival of the dialect. As Burns speaks from his soul +only in the speech of his mother's fireside, so the Provençal nature can +only be fully expressed in the home-dialect. Roumanille wrote for +Provençals only. Mistral and his associates early became more ambitious. +His works have been invariably published with French translations, and +more readers know them through the translations than through the +originals. But they are what they are because they were conceived in the +patois, and because their author was fired with a love of the language +itself. + +As to the future of this rich and beautiful idiom, nothing can be +predicted. The Félibrige movement appears to have endowed southern +France with a literary language rivalling the French; it appears to have +given an impulse toward the unification of the dialects and subdialects +of the _langue d'oc_. But the _patoisants_ are numerous and powerful, +and will not abdicate their right to continue to speak and write their +local dialects in the face of the superiority of the Félibrige +literature. Is it to be expected that Frenchmen in the south will +hereafter know and use three languages and three literatures--the local +dialect, the language of the Félibres, and the national language and +literature? One is inclined to think not. The practical difficulties are +very great; two literatures are more than most men can become familiar +with. + +However, this much is certain: a rich, harmonious language has been +saved forever and crystallized in works of great beauty; its revival has +infused a fresh, intellectual activity into the people whose birthright +it is; it has been studied with delight by many who were not born in +sunny Provence; a very great contribution is made through it to +philological study. Enthusiasts have dreamed of its becoming an +international language, on account of its intermediary position, its +simplicity, and the fact that it is not the language of any nation. +Enthusiasm has here run pretty high, as is apt to be the case in the +south. + +In connection with the revival of all these dialects the opinion of two +men, eminent in the science of education, is of the greatest interest. +Eugène Lintilhac approves the view of a professor of Latin, member of +the Institute, who had often noticed the superiority of the peasants of +the frontier regions over those from the interior, and who said, "It is +not surprising, do they not pass their lives translating?" Michel Bréal +considers the patois a great help in the study of the official language, +on the principle that a term of comparison is necessary in the study of +a language. As between Provençal and French this comparison would be +between words, rather than in syntax. Often the child's respect for his +home would be increased if he sees the antiquity of the speech of his +fireside; if, as Bréal puts it, he is shown that his dialect conforms +frequently to the speech of Henri IV or St. Louis. "If the province has +authors like Jasmin, Roumanille, or Mistral, let the child read their +books from time to time along with his French books; he will feel proud +of his province, and will love France only the more. The clergy is well +aware of this power of the native dialect, and knows how to turn it to +account, and your culture is often without root and without depth, +because you have not recognized the strength of these bonds that bind to +a locality. The school must be fast to the soil and not merely seem to +be standing upon it. There need be no fear of thereby shaking the +authority of the official language; the necessity of the latter is +continually kept in sight by literature, journalism, the administration +of government." + +The revival of this speech could not fail to interest lovers of +literature. If not a lineal descendant, it is at least a descendant, of +the language that centuries ago brought an era of beauty and light to +Europe, that inspired Dante and Petrarch, and gave to modern literatures +the poetic forms that still bear their Provençal names. The modern +dialect is devoted to other uses now; it is still a language of +brightness and sunshine, graceful and artistic, but instead of giving +expression to the conventionalities of courtly love, or tending to +soften the natures of fierce feudal barons, it now sings chiefly of the +simple, genuine sentiments of the human heart, of the real beauties of +nature, of the charm of wholesome, outdoor life, of healthy toil and +simple living, of the love of home and country, and brings at least a +message of hope and cheer at a time when greater literatures are +burdened with a weight of discouragement and pessimism. + +[Footnote 5: The edition of _Mirèio_ published by Lemerre in 1886 +contains an _Avis sur la prononciation provençale_ wherein numerous +errors are to be noted. Here the statement is made that _all the letters +are pronounced_; that _ch_ is pronounced _ts_, as in the Spanish word +_muchacho_. The fact about the pronunciation of the _ch_ is that it +varies in different places, having at Maillane the sound _ts_, at +Avignon, for instance, the sound in the English _chin_. It is stated +further on that _ferramento_, _capello_, _fèbre_, are pronounced exactly +like the Italian words _ferramento_, _capello_, _febbre_. The truth is +that they are each pronounced somewhat differently from the Italian +words. Provençal knows nothing of double consonants in pronunciation, +and the vowels are not precisely alike in each pair of words. + +Later this sentence occurs: "Dans les triphthongues, comme _biais_, +_pièi_, _vuei_, _niue_, la voix doit dominer sur la voyelle +intermédiaire, tout en faisant sentir les autres." Only the first two of +these four words contain a triphthong. _Vuei_ is a descending diphthong, +the _ue_ representing the French _eu_. _Niue_ offers the same two vowel +sounds inverted, with the stress on the second. + +Lastly, the example is given of the name Jéuse. It is spelled without +the accent mark, and the reader is led to infer that it is pronounced as +though it were a French name. Here the _éu_ is a diphthong. The first +vowel is the French _é_, the second the Italian _u_. The stress is on +the first vowel.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE VERSIFICATION OF THE FÉLIBRES + + +The versification of the Félibres follows in the main the rules observed +by the French poets. As in all the Romance languages the verse consists +of a given number of syllables, and the number of stressed syllables in +the line is not constant. The few differences to be noted between French +verse and Provençal verse arise from three differences in the languages. +The Provençal has no _e mute_, and therefore all the syllables +theoretically counted are distinctly heard, and the masculine and the +feminine rhymes are fully distinguished in pronunciation. The new +language possesses a number of diphthongs, and the unaccented part of +the diphthong, a _u_ or an _i_, constitutes a consonant either before or +after a vowel in another word, being really a _w_ or a _y_. This +prevents hiatus, which is banished from Provençal verse as it is from +French, and here again theory and practice are in accord, for the +elision of the _e mute_ where this _e_ follows a vowel readmits hiatus +into the French line, and no such phenomenon is known to the Provençal. +Thirdly, the stressed syllable of each word is strongly marked, and +verse exists as strongly and regularly accentual as in English or +German. This is seen in the numerous poems written to be sung to an air +already existing. The accents in these pieces fall with the rhythmic +beat the English ear is accustomed to and which it so misses on first +acquaintance with French verse. A second consequence of this stronger +stress is that verse is written without rhyme; the entire _Poem of the +Rhone_ is written in ten-syllable feminine verses unrhymed. + + "O tèms di vièi d'antico bounoumío, + Que lis oustau avien ges de sarraio + E que li gènt, à Coundriéu coume au nostre, + Se gatihavon, au calèu pèr rire!" + +(Canto I.) + +Mistral has made use of all the varieties of verse known to the French +poets. One of the poems in the _Isclo d'Or_ offers an example of +fourteen-syllable verse; it is called _L'Amiradou_ (The Belvedere). Here +are the first two stanzas:-- + + "Au castèu de Tarascoun, i'a 'no rèino, i'a 'no fado + Au castèu de Tarascoun + I'a 'no fado que s'escound. + + "Aquéu que ié durbira la presoun ounte es clavado + Aquéu que ié durbira + Belèu elo l'amara."[6] + +We may note here instances of the special features of Provençal +versification mentioned above. The _i_ in _i'a_, the equivalent of the +French _il y a_, is really a consonant. This _i_ occurs again in the +fourth of the lines quoted, so that there is no hiatus between _que_ and +_ié_. In like manner the _u_ of _belèu_, in the last line, stands with +the sound of the English _w_ between this and _elo_. The _e_ of _ounte_ +is elided. It will be observed that there is a cæsura between the +seventh and eighth syllables of the long line, and that the verse has a +marked rhythmic beat, with decided trochaic movement,-- + +/_u/_u/_u/_|/_u/_u/_u/_u + +In his use of French Alexandrine, or twelve-syllable verse, Mistral +takes few liberties as to cæsura. No ternary verses are found in +_Mirèio_, that is, verses that fall into three equal parts. In general, +it may be said that his Alexandrines, except in the play _La Rèino +Jano_, represent the classical type of the French poets. To be noted, +however, is the presence of feminine cæsuras. These occur, not +theoretically or intentionally, but as a consequence of pronunciation, +and are an additional beauty in that they vary the movement of the +lines. The unstressed vowel at the hemistich, theoretically elided, is +pronounced because of the natural pause intervening between the two +parts of the verse. + + "Per óuliva tant d'aubre!--Hòu, tout acò se fai!" + +(Mirèio, Canto I.) + +In one of the divisions of _Lou Tambour d'Arcolo_ (The Drummer of +Arcole), the poet uses ten-syllable verse with the cæsura after the +sixth syllable, an exceedingly unusual cæsura, imitated from the poem +_Girard de Roussillon_. + + "Ah! lou pichot tambour | devenguè flòri! + Davans touto l'arma | --do en plen soulèu, + Pèr estelà soun front | d'un rai de glòri," etc. + +Elsewhere he uses this verse divided after the fourth syllable, and less +frequently after the fifth. + +The stanza used by Mistral throughout _Mirèio_ and _Calendau_ is his own +invention. Here is the first stanza of the second canto of _Mirèio_:-- + + "Cantas, cantas, magnanarello, + Que la culido es cantarello! + Galant soun li magnan e s'endormon di tres: + Lis amourié soun plen de fiho + Que lou bèu tèms escarrabiho, + Coume un vòu de blóundis abiho + Que raubon sa melico i roumanin dóu gres." + +This certainly is a stanza of great beauty, and eminently adapted to the +language. Mistral is exceedingly skilful in the use of it, distributing +pauses effectively, breaking the monotony of the repeated feminine +verses with enjambements, and continuing the sense from one stanza to +the next. This stanza, like the language, is pretty and would scarcely +be a suitable vehicle for poetic expression requiring great depth or +stateliness. Provençal verse in general cannot be said to possess +majesty or the rich _orchestral_ quality Brunetière finds in Victor +Hugo. Its qualities are sweetness, daintiness, rapidity, grace, a +merry, tripping flow, great smoothness, and very musical rhythm. + +_Mirèio_ contains one ballad and two lyrics in a measure differing from +that of the rest of the poem. The ballad of the _Bailiff Suffren_ has +the swing and movement a sea ballad should possess. The stanza is of six +lines, of ten syllables each, with the cæsura after the fifth syllable, +the rhymes being _abb, aba_. + + "Lou Baile Sufrèn | que sus mar coumando." + +In the third canto occurs the famous song _Magali_, so popular in +Provence. The melody is printed at the end of the volume. Mirèio's +prayer in the tenth canto is in five-syllable verse with rhymes _abbab_. + +The poems of the _Isclo d'Or_ offer over eighty varieties of strophe, a +most remarkable number. This variety is produced by combining in +different manners the verse lengths, and by changes in the succession of +rhymes. Whatever ingenuity Mistral has exercised in the creation of +rhythms, the impression must not be created that inspiration has +suffered through attention to mechanism, or that he is to be classed +with the old Provençal versifiers or those who flourished in northern +France just before the time of Marot. Artifice is always strictly +subordinated, and the poet seems to sing spontaneously. No violence is +ever done to the language in order to force it into artificial moulds, +there is no punning in rhymes, there is nothing that can be charged +against the poet as beneath the real dignity of his art. + +Let us look at some of the more striking of these verse forms. The +second of _Li Cansoun, Lou Bastimen_, offers the following form:-- + + "Lou bastimen vèn de Maiorco + Emé d'arange un cargamen: + An courouna de vèrdi torco + L'aubre-mestre dón bastimen: + Urousamen + Vèn de Maiorco + Lou bastimen."[7] + +This stanza reproduces in the sixth line the last word of the first, and +in the seventh the last word of the fourth. + +An excellent example of accentual verse set to an already existing +melody is seen in _Li Bon Prouvençau_. The air is:-- + + "Si le roi m'avait donné + Paris, sa grand ville." + +We quote the first stanza:-- + + "Boufo, au siècle mounte sian + Uno auro superbo + Que vòu faire rèn qu'un tian + De tóuti lis erbo: + Nautri, li bon Prouvençau + Aparan lou vièi casau + Ounte fan l'aleto + Nòsti dindouleto."[8] + +This poem scans itself with perfect regularity, and the rhythm of the +tune is evident to the reader who may never have heard the actual music. + +The stanza of _La Tourre de Barbentano_ is as follows:-- + + "L'Evesque d'Avignoun, Mounsen Grimau, + A fa basti 'no tourre à Barbentano + Qu' enràbio vènt de mar e tremountano + E fai despoutenta l'Esprit dóu mau. + Assegurado + Sus lou roucas + Forto e carrado + Escounjurado + Porto au soulèu soun front bouscas: + Mememen i fenestro, dins lou cas + Que vouguèsse lou Diable intra di vitro, + A fa Mounsen Grimau grava sa mitro."[9] + +Here is a stanza of _Lou Renegat_:-- + + "Jan de Gounfaroun, pres pèr de coursàri, + Dins li Janissàri + Sèt an a servi: + Fau, encò di Turc, avé la coudeno + Facho à la cadeno + Emai au rouvi."[10] + +The stanza employed in _La Cadéno de Moustié_ is remarkable in having +only one masculine and one feminine rhyme in its seven lines:-- + + "Presounié di Sarrasin, + Engimbra coume un caraco, + Em' un calot cremesin + Que lou blanc soulèu eidraco, + En virant la pouso-raco, + Rico-raco, + Blacasset pregavo ansin."[11] + +The "roumanso" of _La Rèino Jano_ offers a stanza containing only five +rhymes in fourteen lines:-- + + "Fiéu de Maiano + S'ère vengu dóu tèms + De Dono Jano, + Quand èro à soun printèms + E soubeirano + Coume èron autre-tèms, + Sènso autro engano + Que soun regard courous, + Auriéu, d'elo amourous, + Trouva, iéu benurous, + Tant fino cansouneto + Que la bello Janeto + M'aurié douna 'n mantèu + Pèr parèisse i castèu."[12] + +The rhythm of the noble _Saume de la Penitènci_ is as follows:-- + + "Segnour, à la fin ta coulèro + Largo si tron + Sus nosti front: + E dins la niue nosto galèro + Pico d'a pro + Contro li ro."[13] + +Another peculiar stanza is exhibited in _Lou Prègo-Diéu_:-- + + "Ero un tantost d'aquest estiéu + Que ni vihave ni dourmiéu: + Fasiéu miejour, tan que me plaise, + Lou cabassòu + Toucant lou sòu, + A l'aise."[14] + +Perhaps the most remarkable of all in point of originality, not to say +queerness, is _Lou Blad de Luno_. The rhyme in _lin_ is repeated +throughout seventeen stanzas, and of course no word is used twice. + + "La luno barbano + Debano + De lano. + + S'entènd peralin + L'aigo que lalejo + E batarelejo + Darrié lou moulin. + + La luno barbano + Debano + De lin."[15] + +The little poem, _Aubencho_, is interesting as offering two rhymes in +its nine lines. + +Mistral's sonnets offer some peculiarities. He has one composed of lines +of six syllables, others of eight, besides those considered regular in +French, consisting, namely, of twelve syllables. The following sonnet +addressed to Roumania appears to be unique in form:-- + + "Quand lou chaple a pres fin, que lou loup e la rùssi + An rousiga lis os, lou soulèu flamejant + Esvalis gaiamen lou brumage destrùssi + E lou prat bataié tourno lèu verdejant. + + "Après lou long trepé di Turc emai di Rùssi + T'an visto ansin renaisse, o nacioun de Trajan, + Coume l'astre lusènt, que sort dóu negre eslùssi, + Emé lou nouvelun di chato de quinge an. + + "E li raço latino + A ta lengo argentino + An couneigu l'ounour que dins toun sang i'avié; + + "E t'apelant germano, + La Prouvenço roumano + Te mando, o Roumanio, un rampau d'óulivié."[16] + +It would be a hopeless task for an English translator to attempt +versions of these poems that should reproduce the original strophe +forms. A few such translations have been made into German, which +possesses a much greater wealth of rhyme than English. Let us repeat +that it must not be imputed to Mistral as a fault that he is too clever +a versifier. His strophes are not the artificial complications of the +Troubadours, and if these greatly varied forms cost him effort to +produce, his art is most marvellously concealed. More likely it is that +the almost inexhaustible abundance of rhymes in the Provençal, and the +ease of construction of merely syllabic verse, explain in great measure +his fertility in the production of stanzas. Some others of the Félibres, +even Aubanel, in our opinion, have produced verse that is very ordinary +in quality. Verse may be made too easily in this dialect, and fluent +rhymed language that merely expresses commonplace sentiment may readily +be mistaken for poetry. + +The wealth of rhyme in the Provençal language appears to be greater than +in any other form of Romance speech. As compared with Italian and +Spanish, it may be noted that the Provençal has no proparoxytone words, +and hence a whole class of words is brought into the two categories +possible in Provençal. Though the number of different vowels and +diphthongs is greater than in these two languages, only three consonants +are found as finals, _n_, _r_, _s_ (_l_ very rarely). The consequent +great abundance of rhymes is limited by an insistence upon the rich +rhyme to an extent scarcely attainable in French; in fact, the merely +sufficient rhyme is very rare. It is unfortunate that so many of the +feminine rhymes terminate in _o_. In the _Poem of the Rhone_, composed +entirely in feminine verses, passages occur where nine successive lines +end in this letter, and the verses in _o_ vastly out-number all others. +In this unrhymed poem, assonance is very carefully avoided. + +The play, _Queen Joanna_, is remarkable among the productions of Mistral +as being the only work of any length he has produced that makes +extensive use of the Alexandrine. In fact, the versification is +precisely that of any modern French play written in verse; and we may +note here the liberties as to cæsura and enjambements which are now +usual in French verse. We remark elsewhere the lack of independence in +the dialect of Avignon, that its vocabulary alone gives it life. Not +only has it no syntax of its own, but it really has been a difficulty of +the poet in translating his own Alexandrines into French prose, not to +produce verses; nor has he always avoided them. Here, for instance, is a +distich which not only becomes French when translated word for word, but +also reproduces exactly metre and rhyme:-- + + "En un mot tout me dis que lou cèu predestino + Un reviéure de glòri à terro latino. + + "En un mot tout me dit que le ciel préstine + Un renouveau de gloire à terre latine." + +The effectiveness, the charm, and the beauty of this verse, for those +who understand and feel the language, cannot be denied; and if this +poetic literature did not meet a want, it could not exist and grow as it +does. The fact that the prose literature is so slight, so scanty, is +highly significant. The poetry that goes straight to the heart, that +speaks to the inner feeling, that calls forth a response, must be +composed in the home speech. It is exceedingly unlikely that a prose +literature of any importance will ever grow up in Provence. No great +historians or dramatists, and few novelists, will ever write in this +dialect. The people of Provence will acquire their knowledge and their +general higher culture in French literature. But they will doubtless +enjoy that poetry best which sings to them of themselves in the speech +of their firesides. Mistral has endowed them with a verse language that +has high artistic possibilities, some of which he has realized most +completely. The music of his verse is the music that expresses the +nature of his people. It is the music of the _gai savoir_. Brightness, +merriment, movement, quick and sudden emotion,--not often deep or +sustained,--exuberance and enthusiasm, love of light and life, are +predominant; and the verse, absolutely free from strong and heavy +combinations of consonants, ripples and glistens with its pretty +terminations, full of color, full of vivacity, full of the sunny south. + +[Footnote 6: + + In the castle at Tarascon there is a queen, there is a fairy, + In the castle of Tarascon + There is a fairy in hiding. + + The one who shall open the prison wherein she is confined, + The one who shall open for her, + Perhaps she will love him. +] + +[Footnote 7: The ship comes from Majorca with a cargo of oranges: the +mainmast of the ship has been crowned with green garlands: safely the +ship arrives from Majorca.] + +[Footnote 8: There blows, in this age, a proud wind, which would make a +mere hash of all herbs: we, the good Provençals, defend the old home +over which our swallows hover.] + +[Footnote 9: The bishop of Avignon, Monseigneur Grimoard, hath built a +tower at Barbentane, which excites the rage of the sea wind and the +northern blast, and strips the Spirit of Evil of his power. Solid upon +the rock, strong, square, freed of demons, it lifts its fierce brow +sunward; likewise upon the windows, in case the devil might wish to +enter thereby, Monseigneur Grimoard has had his mitre carved.] + +[Footnote 10: John of Gonfaron, captured by corsairs in the Janissaries, +served seven years. Among the Turks a man must use his skin to chains +and rust.] + +[Footnote 11: Prisoner of the Saracens, accoutred like a gypsy, with a +crimson turban, dried by the white sun, turning the creaking +water-wheel, Blac prayed thus.] + +[Footnote 12: A son of Maillane, if I had come in the days of Queen +Joanna when she was in her springtime and a sovereign such as they were +in those days, with no other diplomacy than her bright glance, in love +with her, I should have found, lucky I, so fine a song that the fair +Joanna would have given me a mantle to appear in the castles.] + +[Footnote 13: This poem will be found translated in full at the end of +the book.] + +[Footnote 14: + + It was an afternoon of this summer, + While I neither woke nor slept, + I was taking my noonday rest, as is my pleasure, + My head touching the ground at ease. +] + +[Footnote 15: + + The ghostly moon is unwinding wool. + Afar off is heard the gurgling water shaking the clapper behind the mill. + The ghostly moon is unwinding flax. +] + +[Footnote 16: When the slaughter is over, when the wolf and the buzzard +have gnawed the bones, the flaming sun scatters merrily the hurtful +vapors and the battlefield soon becomes green once more. + +After the long trampling of the Turks and Russians, thou, too, art seen +thus reborn, O nation of Trajan, like the shining star coming forth from +the dark eclipse, with the youth of a maiden of fifteen. + +And the Latin races, in thy silvery speech, have recognized the honor +that lay in thy blood; and calling thee sister, the Romance Provence +sends thee, Roumania, an olive branch.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MISTRAL'S DICTIONARY OF THE PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE + + +AU MIEJOUR + + Sant Jan, vèngue meissoun, abro si fiò de joio; + Amount sus l'aigo-vers lou pastre pensatiéu, + En l'ounour dóu païs, enausso uno mount-joio + E marco li pasquié mounte a passa l'estiéu. + + Emai iéu, en laurant--e quichant moun anchoio, + Per lou noum de Prouvenço ai fa ço que poudiéu; + E, Diéu de moun pres-fa m'aguent douna la voio, + Dins la rego, à geinoui, vuei rènde gràci à Diéu. + + En terro, fin qu'au sistre, a cava moun araire; + E lou brounze rouman e l'or dis emperaire + Treluson au soulèu dintre lou blad que sort.... + + O pople dóu Miejour, escouto moun arengo: + Se vos recounquista l'empèri de ta lengo, + Pèr t'arnesca de nòu, pesco en aquéu Tresor. + +"Saint John, at harvest time, kindles his bonfires; high up on the +mountain slope the thoughtful shepherd places a pile of stones in honor +of the country, and marks the pastures where he has passed the summer. + +"I, too, tilling and living frugally, have done what I could for the +fame of Provence; and God having permitted me to complete my task, +to-day, on my knees in the furrow, I offer thanks to Him. + +"My plough has dug into the soil down to the rock; and the Roman bronze +and the gold of the emperors gleam in the sunlight among the growing +wheat. + +"Oh, people of the South, heed my saying: If you wish to win back the +empire of your language, equip yourselves anew by drawing upon this +Treasury." + +Such is the sonnet, dated October 7, 1878, which Mistral has placed at +the beginning of his vast dictionary of the dialects of southern France. +The title of the work is _Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige_ or _Dictionnaire +provençal-français_. It is published in two large quarto volumes, +offering a total of 2361 pages. This great work occupied the poet some +ten years, and is the most complete and most important work of its kind +that has been made. The statement that this work represents for the +Provençal dialect what Littré's monumental dictionary is for the +French, is not exaggerated. Nothing that Mistral has done entitles him +in a greater degree to the gratitude of students of Romance philology, +and the fact that the work has been done in so masterful a fashion by +one who is not first of all a philologist excites our wonder and +admiration. And let us not forget that it was above all else a labor of +love, such as probably never was undertaken elsewhere, unless the work +of Ivar Aasen in the Old Norse dialects be counted as such; and there is +something that appeals strongly to the imagination in the thought of +this poet's labor to render imperishable the language so dear to him. +Years were spent in journeying about among all classes of people, +questioning workmen and sailors, asking them the names they applied to +the objects they use, recording their proverbial expressions, noting +their peculiarities of pronunciation, listening to the songs of the +peasants; and then all was reduced to order and we have a work that is +really monumental. + +The dictionary professes to contain all the words used in South France, +with their meaning in French, their proper and figurative acceptations, +augmentatives, diminutives, with examples and quotations. Along with +each word we have all its various forms as they appear in the different +dialects, its forms in the older dialects, the closely related forms in +the other Romance languages, and its etymology. A special feature of the +work in view of its destination is the placing of numerous synonyms +along with each word. The dictionary almost contains a grammar, for the +conjugation of regular and of irregular verbs in all the dialects is +given, and each word is treated in its grammatical relations. Technical +terms of all arts and trades; popular terms in natural history, with +their scientific equivalents; all the geographical names of the region +in all their forms; proper historical names; family names common in the +south; explanations as to customs, manners, institutions, traditions, +and beliefs; biographical, bibliographical, and historical facts of +importance; and a complete collection of proverbs, riddles, and popular +idioms--such are the contents of this prodigious work. + +If any weakness is to be found, it is, of course, in the etymological +part. Even here we can but pay tribute to Mistral. If he can be accused, +now and then, of suggesting an etymology that is impossible or +unscientific, let it be gratefully conceded that his desire is to offer +the etymologist all possible help by placing at his disposal all the +material that can be found. The pains Mistral has taken to look up all +possibly related words in Greek, Arabic, Basque, and English, to say +nothing of the Old Provençal and Latin, would alone suffice to call +forth the deepest gratitude on the part of all students of the subject. + +This dictionary makes order out of chaos, and although the language of +the Félibres is justly said to be an artificial literary language, we +have in this work along with the form adopted or created by the poet an +orderly presentation of all the speech-forms of the _langue d'oc_ as +they really exist in the mouths of the people. + + + + +PART SECOND + + +THE POETICAL WORKS OF MISTRAL + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FOUR LONGER POEMS + + +I. MIRÈIO (MIREILLE) + +The publication of this poem in 1859 is an event of capital importance +in the history of modern Provençal literature. Recognized immediately as +a master-work, it fired the ambitions of the Félibres, enlarged the +horizon of possibilities for the new speech, and earned for its author +the admiration of critics in and out of France. Original in language and +in conception, full of the charm of rustic life, containing a pathetic +tale of love, a sweet human interest, and glowing with pictures of the +strange and lovely landscapes of Provence, the poem charmed all readers, +and will doubtless always rank as a work that belongs to general +literature. Of no other work written in this dialect can the same be +asserted. Mistral has not had an equal success since, and in spite of +the merit of his other productions, his literary fame will certainly +always be based upon this poem. Whatever be the destiny of this revival, +the author of _Mirèio_ has probably already taken his place among the +immortals of literature. + +He has incarnated in this poem all that is sweetest and best, all that +is most typical in the life of his region. The tale is told, in general, +with complete simplicity, sobriety, and conciseness. The poet's heart +and soul are in his work from beginning to end, and it seems more +genuinely inspired than any of the long poems he has written +subsequently. + +In the first canto the author says,-- + + "Car cantan que pèr vautre, o pastre e gènt di mas." + + For we sing for you alone, O shepherds and people of the farms, + +and when he wrote this verse, he was doubtless sincere. Later, however, +he must have become conscious that a work of great artistic beauty was +growing under his hand, and that it would find a truly appreciative +public more probably among the cultivated classes than among the +peasants of Provence. Hence the French prose translation; and hence, +furthermore, a paradox in the position Mistral assumed. Since those who +really appreciate and admire his poetry are the cultivated classes who +know French, and since the peasants who use the dialect cannot feel the +artistic worth of his literary production, or even understand the +elevated diction he is forced to employ, should he not, after all, have +written in French? The idea of Roumanille was simpler and less ambitious +than that of Mistral; he aimed to give the humble classes about him a +literature within their reach, that should give them moral lessons, and +appeal to the best within them. Mistral, developing into a poet of +genius while striving to attain the same object, could not fail to +change the object, and this contradiction becomes apparent in _Mirèio_, +and constitutes a problem in any discussion of his literary work. + +The story of _Mirèio_ may be told in a few words. She is a beautiful +young girl of fifteen, living at the _mas_ of her father, Ramoun. She +falls in love with a handsome, stalwart youth, Vincèn, son of a poor +basket-maker. But the difference in worldly wealth is too great, her +father and mother violently oppose their union, and so, one night, the +maiden, in despair, rushes away from home, across the great plain of +the Crau, across the Rhone, across the island of Camargue, to the church +of the three Maries. Vincèn had told her to seek their aid in any time +of trouble. Here she prays to the three saints to give Vincèn to her, +but the poor girl has been overcome by the terrible heat of the sun in +crossing the treeless plains and is found by her parents and friends +unconscious before the altar. Vincèn comes also and joins his +lamentations to theirs. The holy caskets are lowered from the chapel +above, but no prayers avail to save the maiden's life. She expires, with +words of hope upon her lips. + +This simple tale is told in twelve cantos; it aims to be an epic, and in +its external form is such. It employs freely the _merveilleux chrètien_, +condemned by Boileau, and in one canto, _La Masco_ (The Witch), the +poet's desire to embody the superstitions of his ignorant landsmen has +led him entirely astray. The opening stanza begins in true epic +fashion:-- + + "Cante uno chato de Prouvènço + Dins lis amour de sa jouvènço." + + I sing a maiden of Provence + In her girlhood's love. + +The invocation is addressed to Christ:-- + + Thou, Lord God of my native land, + Who wast born among the shepherd-folk, + Fire my words and give me breath. + +The epic character of the poem is sustained further than in its mere +outward form; the manner of telling is truly epic. The art of the poet +is throughout singularly objective, his narrative is a narrative of +actions, his personages speak and move before us, without intervention +on the part of the author to analyze their thoughts and motives. He is +absent from his work even in the numerous descriptions. Everything is +presented from the outside. + +From the outset the poem enjoyed great success, and the enthusiastic +praise of Lamartine contributed greatly thereto. In gratitude for this, +Mistral dedicated the work to Lamartine in one of his most happy +inspirations, and these dedicatory lines appear in _Lis Isclo d'Or_ and +in all the subsequent editions of _Mirèio_. Mistral had professed great +admiration for the author of _Jocelyn_ even before 1859, but as poets +they stand in marked contrast. We may partly define Mistral's art in +stating that it is utterly unlike that of Lamartine. Mistral's +inspiration is not that of a Romantic; his art sense is derived +directly from the study of the Greek and Roman classics. In all that +Mistral has written there is very little that springs from his personal +sorrows. The great body of his poetry is epic in character, and the best +of his work in the lyric form gives expression not to merely personal +emotion, but to the feeling of the race to which he belongs. + +The action of the poem begins one day that Vincèn and his father Mèste +Ambroi, the basket-makers, were wandering along the road in search of +work. Their conversation makes them known, and depicts for us the old +_Mas des Micocoules_, the home of the prosperous father of Mirèio. We +learn of his wealth in lands, in olives, in almonds, and in bees. We +watch the farm-hands coming home at evening. When the basket-makers +reach the gate, they find the daughter of the house, who, having just +fed her silkworms, is now twisting a skein. The man and the youth ask to +sleep for the night upon a haystack, and stop in friendly talk with +Mirèio. The poet describes Vincèn, a dark, stalwart youth of sixteen, +and tells of his skill at his trade. Mèste Ramoun invites them in to +supper. Mirèio runs to serve them. In exquisite verse the poet depicts +her grace and beauty. + +When all have eaten, at the request of the farm-hands, to which Mirèio +adds hers, Mèste Ambroi sings a stirring ballad about the naval +victories of Suffren, and the gallant conduct of the Provençal sailors +who whipped the British tars. + +"And the old basket-maker finished his naval song in time, for his voice +was about to break in tears, but too soon, surely, for the farm-hands, +for, without moving, with their heads intent and lips parted, _long +after the song had ceased, they were listening still_." + +And then the men go about their affairs and leave Vincèn and Mirèio +alone together. Their talk is full of charm. Vincèn is eloquent, like a +true southerner, and tells his experiences with flashing eye and +animated gestures. Here we learn of the belief in the three Maries, who +have their church in the Camargue. Here Vincèn narrates a foot-race in +which he took part at Nimes, and Mirèio listens in rapt attention. + +"It seems to me," said she to her mother, "that for a basket-maker's +child he talks wonderfully. O mother, it is a pleasure to sleep in +winter, but now the night is too bright to sleep, but let us listen +awhile yet. I could pass my evenings and my life listening to him." + +The second canto opens with the exquisite stanza beginning,-- + + "Cantas, cantas, magnanarello + Que la culido es cantarello!" + +and the poet evidently fell in love with its music, for he repeats it, +with slight variations, several times during the canto. This second +canto is a delight from beginning to end; Mistral is here in his +element; he is at his very best. The girls sing merrily in the lovely +sunshine as they gather the silkworms, Mirèio among them. Vincèn passes +along, and the two engage in conversation. Mistral cannot be praised too +highly for the sweetness, the naturalness, the animation of this scene. +Mirèio learns of Vincèn's lonely winter evenings, of his sister, who is +like Mirèio but not so fair, and they forget to work. But they make good +the time lost, only now and then their fingers meet as they put the +silkworms into the bag. And then they find a nest of little birds, and +the saying goes that when two find a nest at the top of a tree a year +cannot pass but that Holy Church unite them. So says Mirèio; but Vincèn +adds that this is only true if the young escape before they are put into +a cage. "Jesu moun Diéu! take care," cries the young girl, "catch them +carefully, for this concerns us." So Vincèn gets the young birds, and +Mirèio puts them carefully into her bodice; but they dig and scratch, +and must be transferred to Vincèn's cap; and then the branch breaks, and +the two fall together in close embrace upon the soft grass. The poet +breaks into song:-- + +"Fresh breezes, that stir the canopy of the woods, let your merry murmur +soften into silence over the young couple! Wandering zephyrs, breathe +softly, give time to dream, give them time at least to dream of +happiness! Thou that ripplest o'er thy bed, go slowly, slowly, little +brook! Make not so much sound among the stones, make not so much sound, +for the two souls have gone off, in the same beam of fire, like a +swarming hive--let them hover in the starry air!" + +But Mirèio quickly releases herself; the young man is full of anxiety +lest she be hurt, and curses the devilish tree "planted a Friday!" But +she, with a trembling she cannot control, tells of an inner torment +that takes away hearing and sight, and keeps her heart beating. Vincèn +wonders if it may not be fear of a scolding from her mother, or a +sunstroke. Then Mirèio, in a sudden outburst, like a Wagnerian heroine, +confesses her love to the astonished boy, who remains dazed, and +believes for a time that she is cruelly trifling with him. She reassures +him, passionately. "Do not speak so," cries the boy, "from me to you +there is a labyrinth; you are the queen of the Mas, all bow before you; +I, peasant of Valabrègue, am nothing, Mirèio, but a worker in the +fields!" "Ah, what is it to me whether my beloved be a baron or a +basket-weaver, provided he is pleasing to me. Why, O Vincèn, in your +rags do you appear to me so handsome?" + +And then the young man is as inspired, and in impassioned, well-nigh +extravagant language tells of his love for Mirèio. He is like a fig tree +he once saw that grew thin and miserable out of a rock near Vaucluse, +and once a year the water comes and the tree quenches its thirst, and +renews its life for a year. And the youth is the fig tree and Mirèio the +fountain. "And would to Heaven, would to Heaven, that I, poor boy, that +I might once a year, as now, upon my knees, sun myself in the beams of +thy countenance, and graze thy fingers with a trembling kiss." And then +her mother calls. Mirèio runs to the house, while he stands motionless +as in a dream. + +No résumé or even translation can give the beauty of this canto, its +brightness, its music, its vivacity, the perfect harmony between words +and sense, the graceful succession of the rhymes and the cadence of the +stanzas. Elsewhere in the chapter on versification a reference is made +to the mechanical difficulties of translation, but there are +difficulties of a deeper order. The Félibres put forth great claims for +the richness of their vocabulary, and they undoubtedly exaggerate. Yet, +how shall we render into English or French the word _embessouna_ when +describing the fall of Mirèio and Vincèn from the tree. Mistral +writes:-- + + "Toumbon, embessouna, sus lou souple margai." + +_Bessoun_ (in French, _besson_) means a twin, and the participle +expresses the idea, _clasped together like twins_. (Mistral translates, +"serrés comme deux jumeaux.") An expression of this sort, of course, +adds little to the prose language; but this power, untrammelled by +academic traditions, of creating a word for the moment, is essential to +the freshness of poetic style. + +What is to be praised above all in these two exquisite cantos is the +pervading naturalness. The similes and metaphors, however bold and +original, are always drawn from the life of the speakers. Mèste Ambroi, +declining at first to sing, says "_Li mirau soun creba!_" (The mirrors +are broken), referring to the membranes of the locust that make its +song. "Like a scythe under the hammer," "Their heads leaning together +like two marsh-flowers in bloom, blowing in the merry wind," "His words +flowed abundantly like a sudden shower on an aftermath in May," "When +your eyes beam upon me, it seems to me I drink a draught of perfumed +wine," "My sister is burned like a branch of the date tree," "You are +like the asphodel, and the tanned hand of Summer dares not caress your +white brow," "Slender as a dragon-fly," are comparisons taken at random. +Of Mirèio the poet says, "The merry sun hath hatched her out," "Her +glance is like dew, her rounded bosom is a double peach not yet ripe." + +The background of the action is obtained by the simplest description, a +cart casting the shadow of its great wheels, a bell now and then +sounding afar off across the marshes, references to the owl adding its +plaint to the song of the nightingale, to the crickets who stop to +listen now and then, and the recurring verses about the "magnanarello" +reminds us now and then, like a lovely leitmotiv, of the group of +singing girls about the amorous pair. + +The next canto is called _La Descoucounado_ (The Opening of the +Cocoons), and it must be confessed that there is a slight falling off in +interest. All that describes the life of the country-folk is full of +sustained charm, but Mistral has not escaped the dangers that beset the +modern poet who aims at the epic style. Here begins the recounting of +the numerous superstitions of the ignorant peasants, and the wonders of +Provence are interpolated at every turn. The maidens, while engaged in +stripping the cocoons, make known a long list of popular beliefs, and +then branch off into a conversation about love. They are surprisingly +well acquainted with the writings of Jean de Nostradamus, to whom the +Félibres are indebted for a lot of erroneous ideas concerning the +Troubadours and the Courts of Love. This literary conversation is not +convincing, and we are pleased when Noro sings the pretty song of +Magali, which, composed to be sung to an air well known in Provence, has +become very popular. The idea is not new; the young girl sings of +successive forms she will assume, to avoid the attentions of her suitor, +and he, ingeniously, finds the transformation necessary to overcome her. +For instance, when she becomes a rose, he changes into a butterfly to +kiss her. At last the maiden becomes convinced of the love of her +pursuer, and is won. + +The fourth canto, _Li Demandaire_ (The Suitors), recalls the Homeric +style, and is among the finest of the poem. Alàri, the shepherd, Veran, +the keeper of horses, and Ourrias, who has herds of bulls in the +Camargue, present themselves successively for the hand of Mirèio. The +"transhumance des troupeaux" is described in verse full of vigorous +movement; the sheep are taken up into the Alps for the summer, and then +in the fall brought down to the great plain of the Crau near the Delta +of the Rhone. The whole description is made with bold, simple strokes of +the brush, offering a vivid picture not to be forgotten. Alàri, too, +offers a marvellously carved wooden cup, adorned with pastoral scenes. +Veran owns a hundred white mares, whose manes, thick and flowing like +the grass of the marshes, are untouched by the shears, and float above +their necks, as they bound fiercely along, like a fairy's scarf. They +are never subdued, and often, after years of exile from the salt meadows +of the Camargue, they throw off their rider, and gallop over twenty +leagues of marshes to the land of their birth, to breathe the free salt +air of the sea. Their element is the sea; they have surely broken loose +from the chariot of Neptune; they are still white with foam; and when +the sea roars and darkens, when the ships break their cables, the +stallions of the Camargue neigh with joy. + +And Ramoun welcomes Veran, and hopes that Mirèio will wed him, and calls +his daughter, who gently refuses. The third suitor, Ourrias, has no +better fortune. The account of this man's giant strength, the narrative +of his exploits in subduing the wild bulls, are quite Homeric. The +story is told of the scar he bears, how one of the fiercest bulls that +he had branded carried him along, threw him ahead on the ground, and +then hurled him high into the air. The strong, fierce man presents his +suit, describing the life the women lead in the Camargue; but before he +has her love, "his trident will bear flowers, the hills will melt away +like wax, and the journey to Les Baux will be by sea." This canto and +the next, recounting the fierce combat between Ourrias and Vincèn, are +really splendid narrative poetry. The style is marvellously compressed, +and the story thrilling. The sullen anger of Ourrias, his insult that +does not spare Mirèio, the indignation of Vincèn, that fires him with +unwonted strength, the battle of the two men out alone in the fields +near the mighty Pont du Gard, Vincèn's victory in the trial of strength, +the treachery of Ourrias, who sneaks back and strikes his enemy down +with the trident. "With a mighty groan the hapless boy rolls at full +length upon the grass, and the grass yields, bloody, and over his earthy +limbs the ants of the fields already make their way." The rapidity, the +compactness of the sentences, impressed Gaston Paris as very remarkable. +The assassin gallops away upon his mare, and seeks by night to cross the +Rhone. A singularly felicitous use of the supernatural is made here. +Ourrias is carried to the bottom of the river by the goblins and spirits +that come out and hover over it at night. There is a certain terror in +this termination, something that recalls parts of the Inferno. Ourrias's +superstitious fears are the effect of his guilty conscience. The souls +of the damned, their weird ceremonial, are but the outward rendering of +the inward terror he feels. + +A less legitimate use of the supernatural is made in the succeeding +canto, called _La Masco_ (The Witch). In fact, the canto is really a +blemish in the beautiful poem. Vincèn is found unconscious and carried +to the Mas des Micocoules, and various remedies tried. He comes to +himself, but the wound is deemed too serious to be healed by natural +means, and Mirèio, at the suggestion of one of her maiden friends, takes +Vincèn to the abode of the witch who lives in the Fairies' Hole under +the rocks of Les Baux. Besides the obvious objection that the magic +cure could not have been made, there is the physical impossibility of +Vincèn's having walked, in his dying condition, through the labyrinth of +subterranean passages, amid the wild scenes of a sort of Walpurgis +night. The poet was doubtless led into this error by his desire to +preserve all the legends and superstitious lore of Provence. Possibly he +was led astray also by his desire to create an epic poem, in which a +visit to the lower regions is a necessity. The entire episode is +impossible and uninteresting, and is a blot in the beautiful idyll. +Later on, this desire to insert the supernatural leads the poet to +interrupt the action of his poem, while the three Maries relate to the +unconscious Mirèio at great length the story of their coming from +Jerusalem to Provence. Interesting as folklore, or as an evidence of the +credulity of the Provençals, this narrative of the three Maries is out +of place in the poem. It does not help us out to suppose that Mirèio +dreams the narrative, for it is full of theology, history, and +traditions she could not possibly have conceived. The poem of _Mirèio_ +and all Mistral's work suffer from this desire to work into his poetry +all the history, real and legendary, of his region. + +The three Maries are Mary Magdalen, Mary, the mother of James and John, +and Mary, the mother of James the Less. After the Crucifixion they +embark with Saint Trophime, and successfully battling with the storms of +the sea, they land finally in Provence, and by a series of miracles +convert the people of Arles. This canto never would have converted +Boileau from his disapproval of the "merveilleux chrétien." + +The poet finds his true inspiration again in the life of the Mas, in the +home-bringing of the crops, in the gathering of the workers about the +table of Mèste Ramoun. This picture of patriarchal life is like a bit +out of an ancient literature; we have a feeling of the archaic, of the +primitive, we are amid the first elements of human life, where none of +the complications of the modern man find a place. Mèste Ambroi, whom +Vincèn has finally persuaded with passionate entreaties to seek the hand +of Mirèio for him, comes upon this evening scene. The interview of the +two old men is like a Greek play; their wisdom and experience are +uttered in stately, sententious language, and many a proverb falls from +their lips. Ramoun has inflexible ideas as to parental authority: "A +father is a father, his will must be done. The herd that leads the +herdsman, sooner or later, is crunched in the jaws of the wolf. If a son +resisted his father in our day, the father would have slain him perhaps! +Therefore the families were strong, united, sound, resisting the storm +like a line of plane trees! Doubtless they had their quarrels, as we +know, but when Christmas night, beneath its starry tent, brought +together the head of the house and his descendants, before the blessed +table, before the table where he presided, the old man, with his +wrinkled hand, washed it all away with his benediction!" + +But Mirèio and not Mèste Ambroi makes known to her father that it is her +hand Vincèn seeks, and the mother and father break out in anger against +the maid. Ramoun's anger leads him to speak offensively to Mèste Ambroi, +who nobly maintains his dignity amid his poverty, and recounts his +services to his country that have been so ill repaid. Ramoun is equally +proud of his wealth, earned by the sweat of his brow, and sternly +refuses. The other leaves, and then the harvesters continue their +merry-making, with singing and farandoles, about a great bonfire in +honor of Saint John. "All the hills were aglow as if stars had rained in +the darkness, and the mad wind carried up the incense of the hills and +the red gleam of the fires toward the saint, hovering in the blue +twilight." + +That night Mirèio grieved and wept for Vincèn, and, remembering what he +had told her of the three Saint Maries, rises before the dawn and flees +away. Her journey across the Crau and the island of Camargue is narrated +with numerous details and descriptions; they are never extraneous to the +action, and are a constant source of beauty and interest. The strange, +barren plain of the Crau, covered with the stones that once destroyed a +race of Giants, as the legend has it, is vividly described, as the +maiden flies across it in the ardent rays of the June sun. She stops to +pray to a saint that he send her a draught of water, and immediately she +comes upon a well. Here she meets a little Arlesian boy who tells her +"in his golden speech" of the glories of Arles. "But," says the poet, +"O soft, dark city, the child forgot to tell thy supreme wonder; O +fertile land of Arles, Heaven gives pure beauty to thy daughters, as it +gives grapes to the autumn, and perfumes to the mountains and wings to +the bird." The little fellow talks of many things and leads her to his +home. From here the fisherman ferries her over the broad Rhone, and we +accompany her over the Camargue, down to the sea. A mirage deceives her +for a time, she sees the town and church, but it soon vanishes in air, +and the maiden hurries on in the fierce heat. + +Her prayer in the chapel is written in another verse form:-- + + "O Santi Mario + Que poudès en flour + Chanja nòsti plour + Clinas lèu l'auriho + De-vers ma doulour!" + + O Holy Maries, who can change our tears to blossoms, incline + quickly an ear unto my grief! + +Before the prayer is ended, there begins the vision of the three Maries, +descending to her from Heaven. + +Mèste Ramoun discovers the flight of the unhappy maiden, and with all +his family starts in pursuit. After the first outburst of grief, he +sends out a messenger. + +"Let the mowers and the ploughmen leave the scythes and the ploughs! Say +to the harvesters to throw down their sickles, bid the shepherds leave +their flocks, bid them come to me!" + +The boy goes out into the fields, among the mowers and gleaners, and +everywhere solemnly delivers his message in the selfsame words. He goes +down to the Crau, among the dwarf oaks, and summons the shepherds. All +these toilers gather about the head of the farm and his wife, who await +them in gloomy silence. Mèste Ramoun, without making clear what +misfortune has overtaken him, entreats the men to tell him what they +have seen. And the chief of the haymakers, father of seven sons, tells +of an evil omen, how, for the first time in thirty years, at the +beginning of his day's work, he had cut himself. The parents moan the +more. Then a mower from Tarascon tells how as he began his work he had +discovered a nest wherein the young birds had been done to death by a +myriad of invading ants. Again "the tale of woe was a lance-thrust for +the father and mother." A third had been taken as with epilepsy, a +shudder had passed over him, and through his dishevelled hair as through +the heads of thistles he had felt Death pass like a wind. A fourth had +seen Mirèio just before the dawn, and had heard her say, "Will none +among the shepherds come with me to the Holy Maries?" And then while the +mother laments, preparations are made to follow the maiden to the +shrines out yonder by the sea. + +This poem, then, depicts for us the rustic life of Provence in all its +outward aspects. The pretty tale and the description of the life of the +Mas and of the Provençal landscapes are inseparably woven together, +forming an harmonious whole. It is not a tragedy, all the characters are +too utterly lacking in depth. Vincèn and Mirèio are but a boy and a +girl, children just awakening to life. The reader may be reminded of +Hermann and Dorothea, of Gabriel and Evangeline, but the creations of +the German and the American poet are greatly superior in all that +represents study of the human mind and heart. + +Goethe's poem and Mistral's have several points of likeness. Hermann +seeks to marry against his father's wish, and the objection is the +poverty of Dorothea. The case is merely inverted. Both poems imitate the +Homeric style, Goethe's more palpably than Mistral's, since the German +poet has adopted the Homeric verse. He affects, also, certain recurring +terms of expression, "Also sprach sie" and the like, and there is a +rather artificial seeking after simplicity of expression. Goethe's poem +is more interesting because of the greater solidity of the characters, +and because of the more closely knitted plot. The curiosity of the +reader is kept roused as in a well-constructed romance. Mistral's poem +has, after all, scarcely any more real local color; the rustic life of +the two poems is similar, allowing for geographical differences, and we +carry away quite as real a picture of Hermann's home and the fields +about it as of the Mas of Mèste Ramoun. Mistral's idyll terminates +tragically in that Mirèio dies of sunstroke, leaving her lover to mourn, +but the tenor of the German poem is more serious and moves us more +deeply; the background of war contributes to this, but the source of +our emotion is in the deep seriousness of the characters themselves. + +Vincèn and Mirèio are charming in their naïveté, they are unspoiled and +unreflecting. They are children, and lacking in well-defined +personality. They have no knowledge of anything beyond the customs and +superstitions of the simple folk about them. Their religion, which is so +continually before us, furnishing the very mainspring of the fatal +dénouement, is of the most superficial sort, if it can be called +religion at all. Whether you are bitten by a dog, a wolf, or a snake, or +lose your eyesight, or are in danger of losing your lover, you run to +the shrine of some saint for help. The religious feeling really runs no +deeper. In his outburst of grief upon seeing Mirèio prone upon the floor +of the chapel, the unhappy boy asks what he has done to merit such a +blow. "Has he lit his pipe in a church at the lamp? or dragged the +crucifix among thistles, like the Jews?" Of the deeper, nobler +consolations of religion, of the problems of human destiny, of the +relations of religious conviction to human conduct, there is no inkling. + +All the characters are equally on the surface. They are types rather +than individuals. They have in common the gift of eloquence. They have +no thought-life, no meditation. They are eminently sociable, frequently +loquacious. They make you think of Daudet's statement concerning the man +of the south, "When he is not talking, he is not thinking." But they +talk well, and have to an eminent degree the gift of narrative. Vincèn's +stories of what he knows and has seen are told most beautifully, and the +poet never forgets himself by making the boy utter thoughts he could not +have conceived. The boy is merely a child of his race. In any rustic +gathering in southern France you may hear a man of the people speak +dramatically and thrillingly, with resonant voice and vivid gestures, +with a marvellous power of mimicry, and the faces of the listeners +reflect all the emotions of the speaker. The numerous scenes, therefore, +wherein a group of listeners follow with keenest interest a tale that is +told, are eminently true to life. The supreme merit of Mirèio lies in +this power of narration that its author possesses. It is all action from +beginning to end, and even the digressions and episodes, which +occasionally arrest the flow of the narrative, are in themselves +admirable pieces of narrative. Most critics have found fault with these +episodes and the frequent insertion of legends. In defence of the +author, it may be said, that he must have feared while writing _Mirèio_ +that it might be his last and only opportunity to address his countrymen +in their own dialect, and in his desire to bring them back to a love of +the traditions of Provence, he yielded to the temptation to crowd his +poem rather more than he would otherwise have done. + +Mirèio, then, is a lovely poem, an idyll, a charming, vivid picture of +life in the rural parts of the Rhone region. It is singularly original. +Local color is its very essence. Its thought and action are strictly +circumscribed within the boundaries of the Crau and the Camargue, and +its originality consists in this limitation, in the fact that a poet of +this century has written a work that comes within the definition of an +epic, with all the primitive simplicity of Biblical or Classic writers, +without any agitation of the problems of modern life, without any new +thought or feeling concerning love or death, or man's relation to the +universe, using a dialect unknown at the time beyond the region +described. Its success could scarcely have been attained without the +poet's masterly prose translation, and yet it is evident that the poem +could not have been conceived and carried out in French verse. The +freshness, the artlessness, the lack of modernity, would have suffered +if the poet had bent his inspiration to the official language. Using a +new idiom, wherein he practically had no predecessor, he was free to +create expression as he went along, and was not compelled to cast his +thought in existing moulds. + +The poem cannot place its author among the very great poets of the +world, if only because of this limitation. It lacks the breadth and +depth, the everlasting interest. But it is a work of great beauty, of +wonderful purity, a sweet story, told in lovely, limpid language, and +will cause many eyes to turn awhile from other lands to the sunny +landscapes of southern France. + + +II. CALENDAU. (CALENDAL.) + +Mistral spent seven years in elaborating his second epic, as he did in +writing his first. The poem had not a popular success, and the reason +is not far to seek. The most striking limitation of the poet is his +failure to create beings of flesh and blood. Even in Mirèio this lack of +well-defined individuality in the characters begins to be apparent, but, +in general, the action of the earlier poem is confined to the world of +realities, whereas in _Calendau_ the poet has given free play to a +brilliant and vivid imagination, launching forth into the heroic and +incredible, yet without abandoning the world of real time and real +places. Allegory and symbolism are the web and woof of _Calendau_. The +poem, again, is overburdened with minute historic details and +descriptions, which are greatly magnified in the eye of his imagination. +A poet, of course, must be pardoned for this want of a sense of +proportion, but even a Provençal reader cannot be kept in constant +illusion as to the greatness of little places that can scarcely be found +upon the map, or dazzled by the magnificence of achievements that really +have left little or no impress upon the history of the world. As we +follow the poet's work in its chronological development, we find this +trait growing more and more pronounced. He sees his beloved Provence, +its past and present, and its future, too, in a magnifying mirror that +embellishes all it reflects with splendid, glowing colors, and exalts +little figures to colossal proportions. The reader falls easily under +the spell of this exuberant enthusiasm and is charmed by the poetic +power evinced. The wealth of words, the beauty of the imagery with +which, for example, the humble, well-nigh unknown little port of Cassis +and its fishing industry are described, carry us along and hold us in +momentary illusion. We see them in the poet's magic mirror for the time. +To the traveller or the sober historian all these things appear very, +very different. + +With the Félibres the success of the poem was much greater; it is a kind +of patriotic hymn, a glorification of the past of Provence, and a song +of hope for its future. Its allegory, its learned literary allusions, +its delving into obscure historic events, preclude any hope of popular +success. + +Like _Mirèio_, the poem is divided into twelve cantos, and the form of +stanza employed is the same. The heroic tone of the poem might be +thought to have required verse of greater stateliness; the recurrence of +the three feminine rhymes in the shorter verses often seems too pretty. +Like _Mirèio_, the poem has the outward marks of an epic. Unlike +_Mirèio_, it reminds us frequently of the _Chansons de geste_, and we +see that the author has been living in the world of the Old Provençal +poets. This is apparent not merely in the constant allusions, in the +reproductions of episodes, but in the manner in which the narrative +moves along. Lamartine would not have been reminded of the ancient Greek +poets had _Calendau_ preceded _Mirèio_. The conception of courtly love, +the guiding, elevating inspiration of Beatrice, leading Dante on to +greater, higher, more spiritual things, are the sources of the chief +ideas contained in _Calendau_. Vincèn and Mirèio remain throughout the +simple youth and maiden they were, but Calendau, "the simple fisherman +of Cassis," develops into a great hero, performing Herculean tasks, like +a knight of the days of chivalry, and rises higher and higher until he +wins "the empire of pure love"--his lady's hand. + +Very beautiful is the invocation addressed to the "soul of his country +that radiates, manifest in its language and in its history--that through +the greatness of its memories saves hope for him." It is the spirit +that inspired the sweet Troubadours, and set the voice of Mirabeau +thundering like the mistral. The poet proclaims his belief in his race. +"For the waves of the ages and their storms and horrors mingle the +nations and wipe out frontiers in vain. Mother Earth, Nature, ever feeds +her sons with the same milk, her hard breast will ever give the fine oil +to the olive; Spirit, ever springing into life, joyous, proud, and +living spirit that neighest in the noise of the Rhone and in the wind +thereof! spirit of the harmonious woods, and of the sunny bays, pious +soul of the fatherland, I call thee! be incarnate in my Provençal +verse!" + +We are plunged in orthodox fashion _in medias res_. The young fisherman +is seated upon the rocky heights above the sea before the beautiful +woman he loves. He does not know who she is; he has performed almost +superhuman exploits to win her; but there is an obstacle to their union. +She relates that she is the last of the family of the Princes des Baux, +who had their castle and city hewn out of the solid rock in the strange +mountains that overlook the plain of Arles. She tells the marvellous +history of the family, evoking a vision of the days of courtly love when +the Troubadours sang at the feet of the fair princesses. A panorama of +the life of those days of poetry and song moves before us. The princess +even describes and defines in poetic language the forms of verse in +vogue in the ancient days, the _Tenson_, the _Pastoral_, the _Ballad_, +the _Sirventés_, the _Romance_, the _Congé_, the _Aubade_, the _Solace +of Love_. She relates her marriage with the Count Sévéran, who +fascinated her by some mysterious power. At the wedding-feast she learns +that he is a mere bandit, leader of a band of robbers that infests the +country. She fled away through the mountains and found the grotto where +she now lives. The fishermen, seeing her appear and vanish among the +cliffs, take her to be the fairy Esterello, who is a sort of Loreley. +Calendau determines that either Sévéran or he shall die, and seeks him +out. His splendid physical appearance and bold, defiant manner arouse in +the bandit a desire to get Calendau to join his company, and the women +of the band are charmed with him. They ask to hear the story of his +life, and the great body of the poem consists of the narrative by +Calendau of his exploits. After the last one Calendau has risen to the +loftiest conception of pure love through the guidance of Esterello, like +Dante inspired by Beatrice. Then the Count holds an orgy and tries to +tempt the virtue of the hero. Calendau, after witnessing the lascivious +dances, challenges the Count to mortal combat. The latter knows now who +he is, and that Esterello is none other than the bride who fled after +the marriage-feast. Calendau is overpowered and imprisoned, and the +Count and his men set off in search of Esterello. But Calendau is freed +by Fourtuneto, one of the women, and journeys by sea from Cannes to +Cassis to defend the Princess. Here a great combat takes place with the +Count, who fires the pine-woods and perishes miserably, uttering +blasphemous imprecations. The Cassidians fight the fire, and Calendau +and the blond Princess are saved. + +"The applause of two thousand souls salutes them and acclaims them. +'Calendau, Calendau, let us plant the May for the conqueror of +Esterello. He glorifies, he brings to the light our little harbor of +fishermen, let us make him Consul, Consul for life!' So saying the +multitude accompanies the generous, happy pair of lovers, and the sun +that God rules, the great sun, rises, illumines, and procreates +endlessly new enthusiasms, new lovers." + +The poem clearly symbolizes the Provençal renascence; Calendau typifies +the modern Provençal people, rising to an ideal life and great +achievements through the memory of their traditions, and this ideal, +this memory, are personified in the person of the beautiful Princess. + +The time of the action is the eighteenth century, before the Revolution. +This is a deliberate choice of the poet who has a temporal symbolism in +mind. "I shall thus combine in my picture the three aspects of Provence +on the eve of the Revolution: in the background, the noble legends of +the past; in the foreground the social corruption of the evil days; and +before us the better future, the future and the reparation personified +in the son of the working classes, guardians of the tradition of the +country." + +As regards the execution, it is masterly, and cannot be ranked below +_Mirèio_. There is the same enthusiastic love of nature, the same +astonishing resources of expression, the same novelty and originality. +In place of the rustic nature of Mirèio, we have the wild grandeur of +mountains and sea. There is the same, nay, even greater, eloquence of +the speakers, the same musical verse. + + "Car, d'aquesto ouro, ounto es la raro + Que di delice nous separo, + Jouine, amourous que siam, libre coume d'aucèu? + Regardo: la Naturo brulo + A noste entour, e se barrulo + Dins li bras de l'Estiéu, e chulo + Lou devourant alen de soun nòve roussèu. + + "Li serre clar e blu, li colo + Palo de la calour e molo, + Boulegon trefouli si mourre.... Ve la mar: + Courouso e lindo coumo un vèire, + Dòu grand soulèu i rai bevèire + Enjusqu'au founs se laisso vèire, + Se laisso coutiga pèr lou Rose e lou Var." + +"For now, where is the limit that separates us from joy, young, amorous +as we are, free as birds! Look: Nature burns around us and rolls in the +arms of Summer, and drinks in the devouring breath of her ruddy spouse. +The clear, blue peaks, the hills, pale and soft with the heat, are +thrilled and stir their rounding summits. Behold the sea, glistening and +limpid as glass; in the thirsty rays of the great sun, she allows +herself to be seen clear to the bottom, to be caressed by the Rhone and +the Var." + +These are the words of Calendau when, seeking his reward after his final +exploit, he learns that he has won the love of Esterello. The poet never +goes further in the voluptuous strain, and the mere music of the words, +especially beginning "Ve la mar" is exquisite. They are found in the +first canto. This scene wherein the Princess refuses to wed Calendau is +typical of the poet. The northern temperament is not impressed with +these long tirades, full of ejaculations and apostrophes; they are apt +to seem unnatural, insincere, and theatrical. Intense feeling is not so +verbose in the north. In this particular Mistral is true to his race. We +quote entire the words of Calendau after the refusal of Esterello, +itself full exclamation and apostrophizing:-- + +"Then I have but won the thirst, the weariness of the midshipman, when +he is about to reach the summit of the mainmast, and sees gleaming at +the limit of the liquid plain naught but water, water eternally! Well, +if thou wilt hear it, listen! and let the heath resound with it! It is +thou, false woman that thou art, it is thou that hast deceived me, +luring me on to believe that at the summit of the peaks I should find +the splendor of a sublime dawn, that after winter spring would come, +that there is nothing so good as the food earned by labor. Thou hast +deceived me, for in the wilderness I found naught but drought; and the +wind of this world and its idle noise, the embarrassment of luxury, and +the din of glory, and what is called the enjoyment of triumph, are not +worth a little hour of love beneath a pine tree! See, from my hand the +bridle escapes, my skull is bursting, and I am not sure now that the +people in their fear are not right in dreading thee like a ghost, now +that I feel, as my reward, thy burning poison streaming through my +heart. Yes, thou art the fairy Esterello, and thou art unmasked at last, +cruel creature! In the chill of thy refusal I have known the viper. Thou +art Esterello, bitter foe to man, haunting the wild places, crowned with +nettles, defending the desert against those who clear the land. Thou art +Esterello, the fairy that sends a shudder through the foliage of the +woods and the hair of the terrified hermit; that fires with the desire +of her perfumed embrace her suitors and in malevolence drives them to +despair with infernal longings. + +"My head is bursting, and since from the heights of my supernatural love +a thunderbolt thus hurls me down, since, nothing, nothing henceforth, +from this moment on, can give me joy, since, cruel woman, when thou +couldst throw me a rope, thou leavest me, in dismay, to drink the bitter +current--let death come, black hiding-place, bottomless abyss! let me +plunge down head first!" + +And when Esterello, fearing he will slay himself, clasps him about the +neck, they stand silently embraced, "the tears, in tender mingling, rain +from their eyes; despair, agitation, a spell of happiness, keep their +lips idle, and from hell, at one bound, they rise to paradise." + +Like the creations of Victor Hugo's poetry, those of Mistral speak the +language of the author. They have his eloquence, his violent energy of +figurative speech, his love of the wild, sunny landscapes about them; +they thrill as he does, at the memories of the past; they love, as he +does, enumerations of trees and plants; they have his fondness for +action. + +The poem is filled with interesting episodes. One that is very striking +in the narrative of Esterello we shall here reproduce. + +We are at the wedding feast of Count Sévéran and the Princess des Baux. +The merry-making begins to be riotous, and the Count has made a speech +in honor of his bride, promising to take her after the melting of the +snows to his Alpine palaces, where the walls are of steel, the doors of +silver, the locks of gold, and when the sun shines their crystal roofs +glitter like flame. + +"Scarcely from his lips had fallen these wild words, when the door of +the banquet hall opens, and we see the head of an old man, wearing a +bonnet and a garment of rough cloth; we see the dust and sweat trickling +down his tanned cheeks. The bridegroom, with a terrible glance, like the +lightning flash of a fearful storm, turns suddenly pale, and seeks to +stop him; but he, whom the glance cannot harm, calmly, impassively, like +God when he clothes himself like a poor man, to confound sometimes some +rich evil-doer, slowly advances toward the bridegroom, crosses his arms, +and scans his countenance. And he says not a word to any one, and all +are afraid; a weight of lead lies upon every heart, and from without +there seems to blow in upon the lamps an icy wind. + +"Finally, a few of them, shaking off their oppression, 'If there come +not soon a famine to wipe out this hideous tribe, we shall be eaten by +beggars within four days! To the merry bridal pair, what hast thou to +say, old scullion?' And they continue to taunt him cruelly. The outraged +peasant holds his peace. 'With his blear eyes, his white pate, his +limping leg, whither comes he trudging? Pelican, bird of ill omen, go to +thy hole and hide thy sorry face.' The stranger swallows their insults, +and casts toward the bridegroom a beseeching glance. + +"But others cry: 'Come on, old man, come on! Come on, fear not the +company, the laughing and joking of these pretty gentlemen. Hunt about +the tables for the dainties and the carcasses. Hast thou a good jaw? +Here, catch this piece of pork and toss off a glass of wine!' + +"'No,' at length comes an answer from the old man, in a tone of deep +sadness, 'gentlemen, I do not beg, and have never desired what others +leave: I seek my son.'--'His son! What is he saying--the son of this +seller of eelskins hovering about the Baroness of Aiglun?' + +"And they look at each other in doubt, in burning scorn. I listened. +Then they said: 'Where is thy son? Show thy son, come on! and beware. +If, to mock us, thou lie, wretch, at the highest gargoyle of the towers +of Aiglun, without mercy, we'll hang thee!' + +"'Well, since I am disowned, and relegated to the sweepings,' the old +man begins, draped in his _sayon_, and with a majesty that frightens us, +'you shall hear the crow sing!' Then the Count, turning the color of the +wall, cold as a bench of stone, said, 'Varlets, here, cast out this +dismal phantom!' Two tears of fire, that pierced the ground, and that I +still see shining, streamed down the countenance of the poor old man, +ah! so bitter, that we all became white as shrouds. + +"'Like Death, I come where I am forgotten, without summons. I am wrong!' +broke out the unhappy man, 'but I wished to see my daughter-in-law. +Come on, cast out this dismal phantom, who is, however, thy father, O +splendid bridegroom!' + +"I uttered a cry; all the guests rose from their chairs. But the +relentless old man went on: 'My lords, to tear from the evil fruit its +whole covering, I have but two words to say. Be seated, for I still see +on the table dishes not yet eaten.' + +"Standing like palings, silent, anxious, the guests remained with hearts +scarce beating. I trembled, my eyes in mist. We were like the dead of +the churchyard about some funeral feast, full of terror and mystery. The +Count grinned sardonically. + +"'Thou shalt run in vain, wretch,' said the venerable father, 'the +vengeance of God will surely reach thee! To-day thou makest me bow my +head; but thy bride, if she have some honor, will presently flee from +thee as from the pest, for thou shalt some day hang, accursed of God!' I +rush to the arms of my father-in-law. 'Stop, stop;' but he, leaning down +to my ear, said: 'Without knowing the vine or measuring the furrows, +thou hast bought the wine, mad girl! Go, thou didst not weep all thy +tears in thy swaddling clothes! Knowest thou whom thou hast? a +robber-chief!'" + +And the scene continues, weirdly dramatic, like some old romantic tale +of feudal days. Such scenes of gloom and terror are not frequent in +Mistral. This one is probably the best of its kind he has attempted. + +On his way to seek Count Sévéran in his fastness, Calendau "enters, +awestruck, into the stupendous valley, deep, frowning, cold, saturnine, +and fierce; the daylight darts into this enclosure an instant upon the +viper and the lizard, then, behind the jagged peaks, it vanishes. The +Esteron rolls below. Now, Calendau feels a shudder in his soul, and +winds his horn. The call resounds in the depths of the gorges. It seems +as though he calls to his aid the spirits of the place. And he thinks of +the paladin dying at Roncevaux." + +For the sake of greater completeness, we summarize briefly the exploits +of the hero. As has been stated, they compose the great body of the +poem, and are narrated by him to the Count and his company of thieves +and women. The narrative begins with the account of the little port of +Cassis, his native place; and one of the stanzas is a setting for the +surprising proverb:-- + + "Tau qu'a vist Paris, + Se noun a vist Cassis, + Pòu dire: N'ai rèn vist!" + + He who has seen Paris, and has not seen Cassis, may say, "I have + seen nothing." + +No less than forty stanzas are taken up with the wonders of Cassis, and +more than half of those are devoted to naming the fish the Cassidians +catch. It is to be feared that other than Provençal readers and students +of natural history will fail to share the enthusiasm of the poet here. +Calendau's father used to read out of an ancient book; and the hero +recounts the history of Provence, going back to the times of the +Ligurians, telling us of the coming of the Greeks, who brought the art +of sculpture for the future Puget. We hear of the founding of +Marseilles, the days of Diana and Apollo, followed by the coming of the +Romans. The victory of Caius Marius is celebrated, the conquest of +Julius Cæsar deplored. We learn of the introduction of Christianity. We +come down to the glorious days of Raymond of Toulouse. + +"And enraptured to be free, young, robust, happy in the joy of living, +in those days a whole people was seen at the feet of Beauty; and singing +blame or praises a hundred Troubadours flourished; and from its cradle, +amid vicissitudes, Europe smiled upon our merry singing." + +"O flowers, ye came too soon! Nation in bloom, the sword cut down thy +blossoming! Bright sun of the south, thou shonest too powerfully, and +the thunder-storms gathered. Dethroned, made barefoot, and gagged, the +Provençal language, proud, however, as before, went off to live among +the shepherds and the sailors." + +"Language of love, if there are fools and bastards, ah! by Saint Cyr, +thou shalt have the men of the land upon thy side, and as long as the +fierce mistral shall roar in the rocks, sensitive to an insult offered +thee, we shall defend thee with red cannon-balls, for thou art the +fatherland, and thou art freedom!" + +This love of the language itself pervades all the work of our poet, but +rarely has he expressed it more energetically, not to say violently, +than here. + +Calendau reaches the point where he first catches a glimpse of the +Princess. He tells of the legends concerning the fairy Esterello, and of +the _Fada_ (Les Enfées). This last is a name given to idiots or to the +insane, who are supposed to have come under her spell. + + "E degun auso + Se trufa d'éli, car an quicon de sacra!" + + And none dares mock them, for they have in them something sacred. + +The fisherman makes many attempts to find her again, and at last +succeeds. She haughtily dismisses his suit. + + "Vai, noun sies proun famous, ni proun fort, ni proun fin." + + Go, thou art not famous enough, nor strong enough, nor fine enough. + +He realizes her great superiority, and, after a time of deep +discouragement, rouses himself and sets about to deserve and win her by +deeds of daring, by making a great name for himself. + +His first idea is to seek wealth, so he builds a great boat and captures +twelve hundred tunny fish. The fishing scenes are depicted with all the +glow of fancy and brilliant word-painting for which Mistral is so +remarkable. Calendau is now rich, and brings jewels to his lady. She +haughtily refuses them, and the fisherman throws them away. + + "--Eh! bèn, ié fau, d'abord, ingrato, + Que toun cor dur ansin me trato + E que de mi presènt noun t'enchau mai qu' acò, + Vagon au Diable!--E li bandisse + Pataflòu! dins lou precepice."... + + "Well," said I to her, "since, ungrateful woman, thy hard heart + treats me thus, and thou carest no more about my presents than + that, let them go to the devil!" and I hurled them, _pataflòu_, + into the precipice.... + +Here the tone is not one that an English reader finds serious; the +sending the jewels to the Devil, in the presence of the beautiful lady, +and the interjection, seem trivial. Evidently they are not so, for the +Princess is mollified at once. + +"He was not very astute, he who made thee believe that the love of a +proud soul can be won with a few trinkets! Ah, where are the handsome +Troubadours, masters of love?" + +She tells the love-stories of Geoffroy Rudel, of Ganbert de Puy-Abot, of +Foulquet of Marseilles, of Guillaume de Balaün, of Guillaume de la +Tour, and her words fall upon Calendau's heart like a flame. He catches +a glimpse of an existence of constant ecstasy. + +His second exploit is a tournament on the water, where the combatants +stand on boats, and are rowed violently against one another, each +striking his lance against the wooden breastplate of his adversary. His +victory wins for him the hatred of the Cassidians, for his enemy accuses +him of cornering the fish. Esterello consoles him with more stories from +the _Chansons de geste_ and the songs of the Troubadours. + +In the seventh canto is described in magnificent language Calendau's +exploit on the Mont Ventoux. This is a remarkable mountain, visible all +over the southern portion of the Rhone valley, standing in solitary +grandeur, like a great pyramid dominating the plain. Its summit is +exceedingly difficult of access. It appears to be the first mountain +that literature records as having been ascended for pleasure. This +ascent is the subject of one of Petrarch's letters. + +During nine days Calendau felled the larches that grew upon the flanks +of the mighty mountain, and hurled the forest piecemeal into the +torrent below. At the Rocher du Cire he is frightfully stung by myriads +of bees, during his attempt to obtain as a trophy for his lady a +quantity of honey from this well-nigh inaccessible place. The kind of +criticism that is appropriate for realistic literature is here quite out +of place. It must be said, however, that the episode is far from +convincing. Calendau compares his sufferings to those of a soul in hell, +condemned to the cauldron of oil. Yet he makes a safe escape, and we +never hear of the physical consequences of his terrible punishment. + +The canto, in its vivid language, its movement, its life, is one of the +most astonishing that has come from the pen of its author. It offers +beautiful examples of his inspiration in depicting the lovely aspects of +nature. He finds words of liquid sweetness to describe the music of the +morning breezes breathing through the mass of trees:-- + + "La Ventoureso matiniero, + En trespirant dins la sourniero + Dis aubre, fernissié coume un pur cantadis, + Ounte di colo e di vallado, + Tóuti li voues en assemblado, + Mandavon sa boufaroulado. + Li mèle tranquilas, li mèle mescladis," etc. + + The morning breeze of the Mont Ventoux, breathing into the mass of + trees, quivered like a pure symphony of song wherein all the voices + of hill and dale sent their breathings. + +In the last line the word _tranquilas_ is meant to convey the idea "in +tranquil grandeur." + +This ruthless destruction of the forest brings down upon Calendau the +anger of his lady; he has dishonored the noble mountain. "Sacrilegious +generation, ye have the harvest of the plains, the chestnut and the +olives of the hillsides, but the beetling brows of the mountains belong +to God!" and the lady continues an eloquent defence of the trees, "the +beloved sons, the inseparable nurslings, the joy, the colossal glory of +the universal nurse!" and pictures the vengeance Nature wreaks when she +is wronged. Calendau is humbled and departs. + +His next exploit is the settling of the feud between two orders of +Masons. He displays marvellous bravery in facing the fighting crowds, +and they choose him to be umpire. He delivers a noble speech in favor of +peace, full of allusions to the architectural glories of Provence, that +grew up when "faith and union lent their torch." He tells the story of +the building of the bridge of Avignon. "Noah himself with his ark could +have passed beneath each of its arches." He touches their emotions with +his appeal for peace, and they depart reconciled. + +And now Esterello begins to love him. She bids him strive for the +noblest things, to love country and humanity, to become a knight, an +apostle; and after Calendau has performed the feat of capturing the +famous brigand Marco-Mau, after he has been crowned in the feasts at +Aix, and resisted victorious the wiles of the women that surround the +Count Sévéran, and saved his lady in the fearful combat on the +fire-surrounded rock, he wins her. + + +III. NERTO + +In spite of its utter unreality _Nerto_ is a charming tale, written in a +sprightly vein, with here and there a serious touch, reminding the +reader frequently of Ariosto. The Devil, the Saints, and the Angels +figure in it prominently; but the Devil is not a very terrible personage +in Provence, and the Angels are entirely lacking in Miltonic grandeur. +The scene of the story is laid in the time of Benedict XIII, who was +elected Pope at Avignon in 1394. The story offers a lively picture of +the papal court, reminding the reader forcibly of the description found +in Daudet's famous tale of the Pope's mule. It is filled throughout with +legends relating to the Devil, and with superstitious beliefs of the +Middle Age. It is not always easy to determine when the poet is serious +in his statement of religious belief, occasionally he appears to be so, +and then a line or so shows us that he has a legend in mind. In the +prologue of the poem he says:-- + + "Crèire, coundus à la vitòri. + Douta, vaqui l' endourmitòri + E la pouisoun dins lou barriéu + E la lachuslo dins lou riéu." + + To believe leads to victory. Doubt is the narcotic, and the poison + in the barrel, and the euphorbia in the stream. + + "E, quand lou pople a perdu fe, + L'infèr abrivo si boufet." + + And when the people have lost faith, + Hell sets its bellows blowing. + +Then later we read: "What is this world? A wager between Christ and the +Demon. Thousands of years ago he challenged God, and when the great game +began, they played with great loose rocks from the hills, at quoits, and +if any one is unwilling to believe this, let him go to Mount Léberon and +see the stone thrown by Satan." + +So we see that the theology was merely a means of leading up to a local +legend. + +The story is briefly as follows: Nerto, like all Mistral's heroines, is +exceedingly young, thirteen years of age. Her father, the Baron Pons, +had gambled away everything he owned in this world, when she was a very +little child, and while walking along a lonely road one night he met the +Devil, who took advantage of his despair to tempt him with the sight of +heaps of money. The wretched father sold his daughter's soul to the Evil +One. Now on his death-bed he tells his child the fearful tale; one means +of salvation lies open for her--she must go to the Pope. Benedict XIII +is besieged in the great palace at Avignon, but the Baron knows of a +secret passage from his castle leading under the river Durance to one of +the towers of the papal residence. He bids Nerto go to seek deliverance +from the bond, and to make known to the Pope the means of escape. Nerto +reaches the palace at the moment when all is in great commotion, for the +enemy have succeeded in setting it on fire. She is first seen by the +Pope's nephew Don Rodrigue, an exceedingly wicked young man, a sort of +brawling Don Juan, who seems to have been guilty of numerous +assassinations. He immediately begins to talk love to the maiden, as the +means of saving her from the Devil, "the path of love is full of flowers +and leads to Paradise." But Nerto has been taught that the road to +Heaven is full of stones and thorns, and her innocence saves her from +the passionate outburst of the licentious youth. And Nerto is taken to +the Pope, whom she finds sadly enthroned in all his splendor, and brings +him the news of a means of escape. The last Pope of Avignon bearing the +sacred elements, _pourtant soun Diéu_, follows the maiden through the +underground passage, and escapes with all his followers. At +Château-Renard he sets up his court with the King of Forcalquier, +Naples, and Jerusalem and Donna Iolanthe his Queen. Nerto asks the Pope +to save her soul, but he is powerless. Only a miracle can save a soul +sold to Satan. She must enter a convent, and pray to the Saints +continually. The Court is about to move to Arles, she shall enter the +convent there. On the way, Don Rodrigue makes love to her assiduously, +but the young girl's heart seems untroubled. + +At Arles we witness a great combat of animals, in which the lion of +Arles, along with four bulls, is turned loose in the arena. The lion +kills all but one of the bulls. The fourth beast, enraged, gores the +lion. The royal brute rushes among the spectators and makes for the +King's throne. Nerto and the Queen are crouching in terror before him, +when Don Rodrigue slays the animal, saving Nerto's life. Nay, he saves +more than her life, for had she died then she would have been a prey to +the flames of Hell. + +Nerto becomes a nun, but Don Rodrigue, with a band of ribald followers, +succeeds in carrying her off with all the other nuns. They are all +driven by the King's soldiers into the cemetery of the Aliscamps. Nerto +wanders away during the battle and is lost among the tombs. At dawn the +next day she strays far out to a forest, where she finds a hermit. The +old man welcomes her, and believes he can save her soul. The Angel +Gabriel visits him frequently, and he will speak to him. But the Angel +disapproves, condemns the pride of the anchorite, and soars away to the +stars without a word of hope or consolation, and so in great anxiety the +pious man bids her go back to the convent, and prays Saint Gabriel, +Saint Consortia, Saint Tullia, Saint Gent, Saint Verdème, Saint Julien, +Saint Trophime, Saint Formin, and Saint Stephen to accompany her. + +Don Rodrigue is living in a palace built for him in one night by the +Devil, wherein are seven halls, each devoted to one of the seven mortal +sins. Hither Nerto wanders; here Rodrigue finds her, and begins his +passionate love-making afresh. But Nerto remains true to her vows, +although the germ of love has been in her heart since the day Rodrigue +saved her from the lion. On learning that she is in the Devil's castle, +she is filled with terror, believing the fatal day has arrived. She +confesses her love. The maiden cries: "Woe is me, Nerto loves you, but +if Hell should swallow us up, would there be any love for the damned? +Rodrigue, no, there is none. If you would but break the tie that binds +you, if, with one happy wing-stroke, you could soar up to the summits +where lives last forever, where hearts vanish united in the bosom of +God, I should be delivered, it seems to me, in the same upward impulse; +for, in heaven or in the abyss, I am inseparable from you." Rodrigue +replies sadly, that his past is too dreadful, that only the ocean could +wipe it out. "Rodrigue, one burst of repentance is worth a long penance. +Courage, come, only one look toward Heaven!" The Devil appears. He +swells with pride in this, his finest triumph; black souls he has in +plenty, but since the beginning of his reign over the lower regions he +has never captured an immaculate victim like this soul. Rodrigue inverts +his sword, and at the sign of the cross, a terrific hurricane sweeps +away the palace, Don Rodrigue, and the Devil, and nothing is left but a +nun of stone who is still visible in the midst of a field on the site of +the château. In an Epilogue we learn from the Archangel who visits the +hermit that the knight and the maiden were both saved. + +It is difficult to characterize the curious combination of levity and +seriousness that runs through this tale. There is no illusion of reality +anywhere; there is no agony of soul in Baron Pon's confession; Nerto's +terror when she learns that she is the property of the Devil is far from +impressive, because she says too much, with expressions that are too +pretty, perhaps because the rippling octosyllabic verse, in Provençal at +least, cannot be serious; it is hardly worth while to mention the +objection that if the Devil can be worsted at any time merely by +inverting a sword, especially when the sword is that of an assassin and +a rake, whose repentance is scarcely touched upon and is by no means +disinterested, it is clear that the Demon has wasted his time at a very +foolish game; a religious mind might feel a deeper sort of reverence for +the Archangels than is evinced here. Yet it cannot be said that the poem +parodies things sacred and sublime, and it appears to be utterly without +philosophical intention. Mistral really has to a surprising degree the +naïveté of writers of former centuries, and as regards the tale itself +and its general treatment it could almost have been written by a +contemporary of the events it relates. + + +IV. LOU POUÈMO DÓU ROSE + +The _Poem of the Rhone_, the third of the poems in twelve cantos that +Mistral has written, appeared in 1897. It completes the symmetry of his +life work; the former epics extolled the life of the fields, the +mountains, and the sea, the last glorifies the beautiful river that +brings life to his native soil. More than either of the other long +poems, it is an act of affection for the past, for the Rhone of the poem +is the Rhone of his early childhood, before the steam-packets churned +its waters, or the railroads poured up their smoke along its banks. +Although the poet has interwoven in it a tale of merest fancy, it is +essentially realistic, differing notably in this respect from Calendau. +This realism descends to the merest details, and the poetic quality of +the work suffers considerably in many passages. The poet does not shrink +from minute enumeration of cargoes, or technical description of boats, +or word-for-word reproduction of the idle talk of boatwomen, or the +apparently inexhaustible profanity of the boatmen. The life on the river +is vividly portrayed, and we put down the book with a sense of really +having made the journey from Lyons to Beaucaire with the fleet of seven +boats of Master Apian. + +On opening the volume the reader is struck first of all with the novel +versification. It is blank verse, the line being precisely that of +Dante's _Divina Commedia_. Not only is there no rhyme, but assonance is +very carefully avoided. The effect of this unbroken succession of +feminine verses is slightly monotonous, though the poet shifts his +pauses skilfully. The rhythm of the lines is marked, the effect upon the +ear being quite like that of English iambic pentameters hypercatalectic. +The absence of rhyme is the more noteworthy in that rhyme offers little +difficulty in Provençal. Doubtless the poet was pleased to show an +additional claim to superiority for his speech over the French as a +vehicle for poetic thought; for while on the one hand the rules of rhyme +and hiatus give the poet writing in Provençal less trouble than when +writing in French, on the other hand this poem proves that splendid +blank verse may be written in the new language. + +The plan of the poem is briefly as follows: it describes the departure +of a fleet of boats from Lyons, accompanies them down the river to +Beaucaire, describes the fair and the return up the river, the boats +being hauled by eighty horses; narrates the collision with a steamboat +coming down the stream, which drags the animals into the water, setting +the boats adrift in the current, destroying them and their cargo, and +typifying as it were the ruin of the old traffic on the Rhone. The river +itself is described, its dangerous shoals, its beautiful banks, its +towns and castles. We learn how the boats were manoeuvred; the life on +board and the ideas of the men are set before us minutely. Legends and +stories concerning the river and the places along the shores abound, of +course; and into this general background is woven the tale of a Prince +of Orange and a little maiden called the Anglore, two of the curiously +half-real, half-unreal beings that Mistral seems to love to create. The +Prince comes on board the fleet, intending to see Orange and Provence; +some day he is to be King of Holland, but has already sickened of court +ceremonies and intrigues. + + "Uno foulié d'amour s'es mes en tèsto." + +This dreamy, imaginative, blond Prince is in search of a Naïade and the +mysterious "swan-flower," wherein the fair nymph is hidden. This flower +he wears as an emblem. When the boatmen see it, they recognize it as the +_fleur de Rhône_ that the Anglore is so fond of culling. The men get +Jean Roche, one of their number, to tell the Prince who this mysterious +Anglore is, and we learn that she is a little, laughing maiden, who +wanders barefoot on the sand, so charming that any of the sailors, were +she to make a sign, would spring into the water to go and print a kiss +upon her little foot. Not only is the Prince in search of a nymph and a +flower, not only does he wish to behold Orange, he wishes also to learn +the language in which the Countess of Die sang lays of love with +Raimbaud of Orange. He is full of thoughts of the olden days, he feels +regret for the lost conquests. "But why should he feel regret, if he may +recover the sunny land of his forefathers by drinking it in with eager +eyes! What need is there of gleaming swords to seize what the eye shows +us?" He cares little for royalty. + +"Strongholds crumble away, as may be seen on all these hills; +everything falls to ruin and is renewed. But on thy summits, unchanging +Nature, forever the thyme shall bloom, and the shepherds and +shepherdesses frolic on the grass at the return of spring." + +The Prince apostrophizes the "empire of the sun," bordering like a +silver hem the dazzling Rhone, the "poetic empire of Provence, that with +its name alone doth charm the world," and he calls to mind the empire of +the Bosonides, the memory of which survives in the speech of the +boatmen; they call the east shore "empire," the west shore "kingdom." + +The journey is full of episodes. The owner of the fleet, Apian, is a +sententious individual. He is devoted to his river life, full of +religious fervor, continually crossing himself or praying to Saint +Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors. This faith, however, is not +entire. If a man falls into the water, the fellows call to him, +"Recommend thyself to Saint Nicholas, but swim for dear life." As the +English expression has it, "Trust to God, but keep your powder dry." +Master Apian always says the Lord's Prayer aloud when he puts off from +shore, and solemnly utters the words, "In the name of God and the Holy +Virgin, to the Rhone!" His piety, however, does not prevent him from +interrupting his prayer to swear at the men most vigorously. Says he, +"Let whoever would learn to pray, follow the water," but his arguments +and experiences rather teach the vanity of prayer. He is full of +superstitious tales. He has views of life. + +"Life is a journey like that of the bark. It has its bad, its good days. +The wise man, when the waves smile, ought to know how to behave; in the +breakers he must go slow. But man is born for toil, for navigation. He +who rows gets his pay at the end of the month. He who is afraid of +blistering his hands takes a dive into the abyss of poverty." He tells a +story of Napoleon in flight down the Rhone, of the women who cried out +at him, reviling him, bidding him give back their sons, shaking their +fists and crying out, "Into the Rhone with him." Once when he was +changing horses at an inn, a woman, bleeding a fowl at the door, +exclaimed: "Ha, the cursed monster! If I had him here, I'd plant my +knife into his throat like that!" The emperor, unknown to her, draws +near. "What did he do to you?" said he. "I had two sons," replied the +bereaved mother wrathfully, "two handsome boys, tall as towers. He +killed them for me in his battles."--"Their names will not perish in the +stars," said Napoleon sadly. "Why could I not fall like them? for they +died for their country on the field of glory."--"But who are you?"--"I +am the emperor."--"Ah!" The good woman fell upon her knees dismayed, +kissed his hands, begged his forgiveness, and all in tears--Here the +story is interrupted. + +Wholly charming and altogether original is the tale of the little maiden +whom the boatmen name L'Anglore, and whom Jean Roche loves. The men have +named her so for fun. They knew her well, having seen her from earliest +childhood, half naked, paddling in the water along the shore, sunning +herself like the little lizard they call _anglore_. Now she had grown, +and eked out a poor living by seeking for gold in the sands brought down +by the Ardèche. + +The little maid believed in the story of the Drac, a sort of merman, +that lived in the Rhone, and had power to fascinate the women who +ventured into the water. There was once a very widespread superstition +concerning this Protean creature; and the women washing in the river +often had a figure of the Drac, in the form of a lizard, carved upon the +piece of wood with which they beat the linen, as a sort of talisman +against his seduction. The mother of the Anglore had told her of his +wiles; and one story impressed her above all--the story of the young +woman who, fascinated by the Drac, lost her footing in the water and was +carried whirling down into the depths. At the end of seven years she +returned and told her tale. She had been seized by the Drac, and for +seven years he kept her to nurse his little Drac. + +The Anglore was never afraid while seeking the specks of gold in the +sunlight. But at night it was different. A gem of poetry is the scene in +the sixth canto, full of witchery and charm, wherein the imagination of +the little maid, wandering out along the water in the mysterious +moonlight, causes her to fancy she sees the Drac in the form of a fair +youth smiling upon her, offering her a wild flower, uttering sweet, +mysterious words of love that die away in the water. She often came +again to meet him; and she noticed that if ever she crossed herself on +entering the water, as she had always done when a little girl, the Drac +would not appear. These three or four pages mark the genuine poet and +the master of language. The mysterious night, oppressively warm, the +moonlight shining on the little white figure, the deep silence, broken +only by the faint murmur of the river and the distant singing of a +nightingale, the gleam of the glowworms, compose a scene of fantastic +beauty. The slightest sounds startle her, whether it be a fish leaping +at the surface of the water to seize a fly, the gurgling of a little +eddy, or the shrill cry of a bat. There is a certain voluptuous beauty +in the very sound of the words that describe the little nymph, kissed by +the moonbeams:-- + + "alusentido + Pèr li rai de la luno que beisavon + Soun fin coutet, sa jouino car ambrenco, + Si bras poupin, sis esquino rabloto + E si pousseto armouniouso e fermo + Que s'amagavon coume dos tourtouro + Dins l'esparpai de sa cabeladuro." + +The last three lines fall like a caress upon the ear. Mistral often +attains a perfect melody of words with the harmonious succession of +varied vowel sounds and the well-marked cadence of his verse. + +When Apian's fleet comes down the river and passes the spot where the +little maid seeks for gold, the men see her and invite her on board. She +will go down to Beaucaire to sell her findings. Jean Roche offers +himself in marriage, but she will have none of him; she loves the vision +seen beneath the waves. When the Anglore spies the blond-haired Prince, +she turns pale and nearly swoons. "'Tis he, 'tis he!" she cries, and she +stands fascinated. William, charmed with the little maid, says to her, +"I recognize thee, O Rhone flower, blooming on the water--flower of good +omen that I saw in a dream." The little maid calls him Drac, identifies +the flower in his hand, and lives on in this hallucination. The boatmen +consider that she has lost her reason, and say she must have drunk of +the fountain of Tourne. The little maid hears them, and bids them speak +low, for their fate is written at the fountain of Tourne; and like a +Sibyl, raising her bare arm, she describes the mysterious carvings on +the rock, and the explanation given by a witch she knew. These carvings, +according to Mistral's note, were dedicated to the god Mithra. The +meaning given by the witch is that the day the Drac shall leave the +river Rhone forever, that day the boatmen shall perish. The men do not +laugh, for they have already heard of the great boats that can make +their way against the current without horses. Apian breaks out into +furious imprecations against the men who would ruin the thousands that +depend for their living upon the river. One is struck by this +introduction of a question of political economy into a poem. + +During the journey to Avignon the Prince falls more and more in love +with the little Anglore, whom no sort of evidence can shake out of her +belief that the Prince is the Drac, for the Drac can assume any form at +pleasure. Her delusion is so complete, so naïve, that the prince, +romantic by nature, is entirely under the spell. + +There come on board three Venetian women, who possess the secret of a +treasure, twelve golden statues of the Apostles buried at Avignon. The +Prince leaves the boat to help them find the place, and the little maid +suffers intensely the pangs of jealousy. But he comes back to her, and +takes her all about the great fair at Beaucaire. That night, however, he +wanders out alone, and while calling to mind the story of Aucassin and +Nicolette, he is sandbagged, but not killed. The Anglore believes he has +left his human body on the ground so as to visit his caverns beneath the +Rhone. William seems unhurt, and at the last dinner before they start to +go up the river again, surrounded by the crew, he makes them a truly +Felibrean speech:-- + +"Do you know, friends, to whom I feel like consecrating our last meal in +Beaucaire? To the patriots of the Rhodanian shores, to the dauntless men +who, in olden days, maintained themselves in the strong castle that +stands before our eyes, to the dwellers along the riverbanks who +defended so valiantly their customs, their free trade, and their great +free Rhone. If the sons of those forefathers who fell bravely in the +strife, to-day have forgotten their glory, well, so much the worse for +the sons! But you, my mates, you who have preserved the call, Empire! +and who, like the brave men you are, will soon go and defend the Rhone +in its very life, fighting your last battle with me, a stranger, but +enraptured and intoxicated with the light of your Rhone, come, raise +your glasses to the cause of the vanquished!" + +The love scenes between the Prince and the Anglore continue during the +journey up the river. Her devotion to him is complete; she knows not +whither she goes, if to perish, then let it be with him. In a moment of +enthusiasm William makes a passionate declaration. + +"Trust me, Anglore, since I have freely chosen thee, since thou hast +brought me thy deep faith in the beautiful wonders of the fable, since +thou art she who, without thought, yields to her love, as wax melts in +the sun, since thou livest free of all our bonds and shams, since in thy +blood, in thy pure bosom, lies the renewal of the old sap, I, on my +faith as a Prince, I swear to thee that none but me, O my Rhone flower, +shall have the happiness to pluck thee as a flower of love and as a +wife!" + +But this promise is never kept. One day the boats meet the steamer +coming down the river. Apian, pale and silent, watches the magic bark +whose wheels beat like great paws, and, raising great waves, come down +steadily upon him. + +The captain cries, "One side!" but, obstinate and angry, Apian tries to +force the steamer to give way. The result is disastrous. The steamer +catches in the towing cables and drags the horses into the water. The +boats drift back and are hurled against a bridge. William and the +Anglore are thrown into the river and are lost. All the others escape +with their lives. Jean Roche is not sure but that he was the Drac after +all, who, foreseeing the shipwreck, had thus followed the boats, to +carry the Anglore at last down into the depths of the river. Maître +Apian accepts his ruin philosophically. Addressing his men, he says: +"Ah, my seven boats! my splendid draught horses! All gone, all ruined! +It is the end of the business! Poor fellow-boatmen, you may well say, +'good-by to a pleasant life.' To-day the great Rhone has died, as far as +we are concerned." + +The idea of the poem is, then, to tell of the old life on the Rhone. +To-day the river flows almost as in the days when its shores were untrod +by men. Rarely is any sort of boat seen upon its swift and dangerous +current. Mistral portrays the life he knew, and he has done it with +great power and vividness. The fanciful tale of the Prince and the +Anglore, suggested by the beliefs and superstitions of the humble folk, +was introduced, doubtless, as a necessary love story. The little maid +Anglore, half mad in her illusion, is none the less a very sympathetic +creation, and surely quite original. This tale, however, running through +the poem like a thread, is not the poem, nor does it fill +proportionately a large place therein. The poem is, as its title +proclaims, the Poem of the Rhone, a poem of sincere regret for the good +old days when the muscular sons of Condrieu ruled the stream, the days +of jollity, of the curious boating tournaments of which one is described +in _Calendau_, when the children used to watch the boats go by with a +Condrillot at the helm, and the Rhone was swarming like a mighty +beehive. The poet notes in sorrow that all is dead. The river flows on, +broad and silent, and no vestige of all its past activity remains, but +here and there a trace of the cables that used to rub along the stones. + +As we said at the outset, what is most striking about this poem is its +realism. The poet revels in enumerating the good things the men had to +eat at the feast of Saint Nicholas; he describes with a wealth of +vocabulary and a flood of technical terms quite bewildering every sort +of boat, and all its parts with their uses; he reproduces the talk of +the boatmen, leaving unvarnished their ignorance and superstition, +their roughness and brutality; he describes their appearance, their +long hair and large earrings; he explains the manner of guiding the +boats down the swirling, treacherous waters, amid the dangers of shoals +and hidden rocks; he describes all the cargoes, not finding it beneath +the dignity of an epic poem to tell us of the kegs of foamy beer that is +destined for the thirsty throats of the drinkers at Beaucaire; as the +boats pass Condrieu, he reproduces the gossip of the boatmen's wives; he +does not omit the explanations of Apian addressed to the Prince +concerning fogs and currents; he is often humorous, telling us of the +heavy merchants who promenade their paunches whereon the watch-charms +rattle against their snug little money carried in a belt; he describes +the passengers, tells us their various trades and destinations, is even +cynical; tells of the bourgeois, who, once away from their wives, grow +suddenly lavish with their money, and like pigs let loose in the street, +take up the whole roadway; he does not shrink from letting us know that +the men chew a cud of tobacco while they talk; he mentions the price of +goods; he puts into the mouth of Jean Roche's mother a great many +practical and material considerations as to the matter of taking a +wife, and a very wise and practical old lady she is; he treats as +"joyeusetés" the conversation of the Venetian women who inform the +Prince that in their city the noblewoman, once married, may have quite a +number of lovers without exciting any comment, the husband being rather +relieved than otherwise; he allows his boatmen to swear and call one +another vile names, and a howling, brawling lot they frequently become; +and when at last we get to the fair at Beaucaire, there are pages of +minute enumerations that can scarcely be called Homeric. In short, a +very large part of the book is prose, animated, vigorous, often +exaggerated, but prose. Like his other long poems it is singularly +objective. Rarely does the author interrupt his narrative or description +to give an opinion, to speak in his own name, or to analyze the +situation he has created. Like the other poems, too, it is sprinkled +with tales and legends of all sorts, some of them charming. +Superstitions abound. Mistral shares the fondness of the Avignonnais for +the number seven. Apian has seven boats, the Drac keeps his victim seven +years, the woman of Condrieu has seven sons. + +The poem offers the same beauties as the others, an astonishing power of +description first of all. Mistral is always masterly, always poetic in +depicting the landscape and the life that moves thereon, and especially +in evoking the life of the past. He revives for us the princesses and +queens, the knights and troubadours, and they move before us, a +fascinating, glittering pageant. The perfume of flowers, the sunlight on +the water, the great birds flying in the air, the silent drifting of the +boats in the broad valley, the reflection of the tall poplars in the +water, the old ruins that crown the hilltops--all these things are +exquisitely woven into the verse, and more than a mere word-painting +they create a mood in the reader in unison with the mood of the person +of whom he is reading. + +In touching truly deep and serious things Mistral is often superficial, +and passes them off with a commonplace. An instance in this poem is the +episode of the convicts on their way to the galleys at Toulon. No +terrible indignation, no heartfelt pity, is expressed. Apian silences +one of his crew who attempts to mock at the unhappy wretches. "They are +miserable enough without an insult! and do not seem to recognize them, +for, branded on the shoulder, they seek the shade. Let this be an +example to you all. They are going to eat beans at Toulon, poor fellows! +All sorts of men are there,--churchmen, rascals, nobles, notaries, even +some who are innocent!" + +And the poet concludes, "Thus the world, thus the agitation, the stir of +life, good, evil, pleasure, pain, pass along swiftly, confusedly, +between day and night, on the river of time, rolling along and fleeing." + +The enthusiasm of the poet leads him into exaggeration whenever he comes +to a wonder of Provence. Things are relative in this world, and the same +words carry different meanings. Avignon is scarcely a colossal pile of +towers, and would not remind many of Venice, even at sunset, and we must +make a discount when we hear that the boats are _engulfed_ in the +_fierce_ (_sic_) arch of the _colossal_ bridge of stone that Benezet, +the shepherd, erected seven hundred years ago. A moment later he refers +daintily and accurately to the chapel of Saint Nicholas "riding on the +bridge, slender and pretty." The epithets sound larger, too, in +Provençal; the view of Avignon is "espetaclouso," the walls of the +castle are "gigantesco." + +Especially admirable in its sober, energetic expression is the account +of the _Remonte_, in the eleventh canto, wherein we see the eighty +horses, grouped in fours, tug slowly up the river. + +"The long file on the rough-paved path, dragging the weighty train of +boats, in spite of the impetuous waters, trudges steadily along. And +beneath the lofty branches of the great white poplars, in the stillness +of the Rhone valley, in the splendor of the rising sun, walking beside +the straining horses that drive a mist from their nostrils, the first +driver says the prayer." + +With each succeeding poem the vocabulary of Mistral seems to grow, along +with the boldness of expression. All his poems he has himself translated +into French, and these translations are remarkable in more than one +respect. That of the _Poem of the Rhone_ is especially full of rare +French words, and it cannot be imputed to the leader of the Provençal +poets that he is not past master of the French vocabulary. Often his +French expression is as strange as the original. Not many French +writers would express themselves as he does in the following:-- + +"Et il tressaille de jumeler le nonchaloir de sa jeunesse au renouveau +de la belle ingénue." + +In this translation, also, more than in the preceding, there is +occasionally an affectation of archaism, which rather adds to than +detracts from the poetic effect of his prose, and the number of lines in +the prose translation that are really ten-syllable verses is quite +remarkable. On one page (page 183 of the third edition, Lemerre) more +than half the lines are verses. + +Is the _Poem of the Rhone_ a great poem? Whether it is or not, it +accomplishes admirably the purpose of its author, to fix in beautiful +verse the former life of the Rhone. That much of it is prosaic was +inevitable; the nature of the subject rendered it so. It is full of +beauties, and the poet who wrote _Mirèio_ and completed it before his +thirtieth year, has shown that in the last decade of his threescore +years and ten he could produce a work as full of fire, energy, life, and +enthusiasm as in the stirring days when the Félibrige was young. In this +poem there occurs a passage put into the mouth of the Prince, which +gives a view of life that we suspect is the poet's own. He here calls +the Prince a young sage, and as we look back over Mistral's life, and +review its aims, and the conditions in which he has striven, we incline +to think that here, in a few words, he has condensed his thought. + +"For what is life but a dream, a distant appearance, an illusion gliding +on the water, which, fleeing ever before our eyes, dazzles us like a +mirror flashing, entices and lures us on! Ah, how good it is to sail on +ceaselessly toward one's desire, even though it is but a dream! The time +will come, it is near, perhaps, when men will have everything within +their reach, when they will possess everything, when they will know and +have proved everything; and, regretting the old mirages, who knows but +what they will not grow weary of living!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +LIS ISCLO D'OR + + +The lover of poetry will probably find more to admire and cherish in +this volume than in any other that has come from the pen of its author, +excepting, possibly, the best passages of _Mirèio_. It is the collection +of his short poems that appeared from time to time in different +Provençal publications, the earliest dating as far back as 1848, the +latest written in 1888. They are a very complete expression of his +poetic ideas, and contain among their number gems of purest poesy. The +poet's lyre has not many strings, and the strains of sadness, of pensive +melancholy, are almost absent. Mistral has once, and very successfully, +tried the theme of Lainartine's _Lac_, of Musset's _Souvenir_, of Hugo's +_Tristesse d'Olympio_; but his poem is not an elegy, it has not the +intensity, the passion, the deep undertone of any of the three great +Romanticists. _La Fin dóu Meissounié_ is a beautiful, pathetic, and +touching tale, that easily brings a tear, and _Lou Saume de la +Penitènci_ is without doubt one of the noblest poems inspired in the +heart of any Frenchman by the disaster of 1870. But these poems, though +among the best according to the feeling for poetry of a reader from +northern lands, are not characteristic of the volume in general. The +dominant strain is energy, a clarion-call of life and light, an appeal +to his fellow-countrymen to be strong and independent; the sun of +Provence, the language of Provence, the ideals of Provence, the memories +of Provence, these are his themes. His poetry is not personal, but +social. Of his own joys and sorrows scarce a word, unless we say what is +doubtless the truth, that his joys and sorrows, his regrets and hopes, +are identical with those of his native land, and that he has blended his +being completely with the life about him. The volume contains a great +number of pieces written for special occasions, for the gatherings of +the Félibres, for their weddings. Many of them are addressed to persons +in France and out, who have been in various ways connected with the +Félibrige. Of these the greeting to Lamartine is especially felicitous +in expression, and the following stanza from it forms the dedication of +_Mirèio_:-- + + "Te counsacre Mirèio: eo moun cor e moun amo, + Es la flour de mis an; + Es un rasin de Crau qu' emé touto sa ramo + Te porge un païsan." + +The entire poem, literally translated, is as follows:-- + + If I have the good fortune to see my bark early upon the waves, + Without fear of winter, + Blessings upon thee, O divine Lamartine, + Who hast taken the helm! + + If my prow bears a bouquet of blooming laurel, + It is thou hast made it for me; + If my sail swelleth, it is the breath of thy glory + That bloweth it. + + Therefore, like a pilot who of a fair church + Climbeth the hill + And upon the altar of the saint that hath saved him at sea + Hangeth a miniature ship. + + I consecrate Mirèio to thee; 'tis my heart and my soul, + 'Tis the flower of my years; + 'Tis a cluster of grapes from the Crau that with all its leaves + A peasant offers thee. + + Generous as a king, when thou broughtest me fame + In the midst of Paris, + Thou knowest that, in thy home, the day thou saidst to me, + "Tu Marcellus eris!" + + Like the pomegranate in the ripening sunbeam, + My heart opened, + And, unable to find more tender speech, + Broke out in tears. + +It is interesting to notice that the earliest poem of our author, _La +Bella d'Avoust_, is a tale of the supernatural, a poem of mystery; it is +an order of poetic inspiration rather rare in his work, and this first +poem is quite as good as anything of its kind to be found in _Mirèio_ or +_Nerto_. It has the form of a song with the refrain:-- + + Ye little nightingales, ye grasshoppers, be still! + Hear the song of the beauty of August! + +Margaï of Val-Mairane, intoxicated with love, goes down into the plain +two hours before the day. Descending the hill, she is wild. "In vain," +she says, "I seek him, I have missed him. Ah, my heart trembles." + +The poem is full of imagery, delicate and pretty. Margaï is so lovely +that in the clouds the moon, enshrouded, says to the cloud very softly, +"Cloud, beautiful cloud, pass away, my face would let fall a ray on +Margaï, thy shadow hinders me." And the bird offers to console her, and +the glow-worm offers his light to guide her to her lover. Margaï comes +and goes until she meets her lover in the shadow of the trees. She tells +of her weeping, of the moon, the birdling, and the glow-worm. "But thy +brow is dark, art thou ill? Shall I return to my father's house?" + +"If my face is sad, on my faith, it is because a black moth hovering +about hath alarmed me." + +And Margaï says, "Thy voice, once so sweet, to-day seems a trembling +sound beneath the earth; I shudder at it." + +"If my voice is so hoarse, it is because while waiting for thee I lay +upon my back in the grass." + +"I was dying with longing, but now it is with fear. For the day of our +elopement, beloved, thou wearest mourning!" + +"If my cloak be sombre and black, so is the night, and yet the night +also glimmers." + +When the star of the shepherds began to pale, and when the king of +stars was about to appear, suddenly off they went, upon a black horse. +And the horse flew on the stony road, and the ground shook beneath the +lovers, and 'tis said fantastic witches danced about them until day, +laughing loudly. + +Then the white moon wrapped herself again, the birdling on the branch +flew off in fright, even the glow-worm, poor little thing, put out his +lamp, and quickly crept away under the grass. And it is said that at the +wedding of poor Margaï there was little feasting, little laughing, and +the betrothal and the dancing took place in a spot where fire was seen +through the crevices. + +"Vale of Val-Mairane, road to the Baux, never again o'er hill or plain +did ye see Margaï. Her mother prays and weeps, and will not have enough +of speaking of her lovely shepherdess." + +This weird, legendary tale was composed in 1848. The next effort of the +poet is one of his masterpieces, wherein his inspiration is truest and +most poetical. _La Fin dóu Meissounié_ (The Reaper's Death) is a noble, +genuinely pathetic tale, told in beautifully varied verse, full of the +love of field work, and aglow with sympathy for the toilers. The figure +of the old man, stricken down suddenly by an accidental blow from the +scythe of a young man mowing behind him, as he lies dying on the rough +ground, urging the gleaners to go on and not mind him, praying to Saint +John,--the patron of the harvesters,--is one not to be forgotten. The +description of the mowing, the long line of toilers with their scythes, +the fierce sun making their blood boil, the sheaves falling by hundreds, +the ruddy grain waving in the breath of the mistral, the old chief +leading the band, "the strong affection that urged the men on to cut +down the harvest,"--all is vividly pictured, and foretells the future +poet of _Mirèio_. The words of the old man are full of his energy and +faith: "The wheat, swollen and ripe, is scattering in the summer wind; +do not leave to the birds and ants, O binders, the wheat that comes from +God!" "What good is your weeping? better sing with the young fellows, +for I, before you all, have finished my task. Perhaps, in the land where +I shall be presently, it will be hard for me, when evening comes, to +hear no more, stretched out upon the grass, as I used to, the strong, +clear singing of the youth rising up amid the trees; but it appears, +friends, that it was my star, or perhaps the Master, the One above, +seeing the ripe grain, gathers it in. Come, come, good-by, I am going +gently. Then, children, when you carry off the sheaves upon the cart, +take away your chief on the load of wheat." + +And he begs Saint John to remember his olive trees, his family, who will +sup at Christmas-tide without him. "If sometimes I have murmured, +forgive me! The sickle, meeting a stone, cries out, O master Saint John, +the friend of God, patron of the reapers, father of the poor, up there +in Paradise, remember me." + +And after the old man's death "the reapers, silent, sickle in hand, go +on with the work in haste, for the hot mistral was shaking the ears." + +Among these earlier poems are found some cleverly told, homely tales, +with a pointed moral. Such are _La Plueio_ (The Rain), _La Rascladuro de +Petrin_ (The Scraping from the Kneading-trough). They are really +excellent, and teach the lesson that the tillers of the soil have a holy +calling, of which they may be proud, and that God sends them health and +happiness, peace and liberty. The second of the poems just mentioned is +a particularly amusing story of choosing a wife according to the care +she takes of her kneading-trough, the idea being derived from an old +fablieau. There are one or two others purely humorous and capitally +told. After 1860, however, the poet abandoned these homely, simple +tales, that doubtless realized Roumanille's ideas of one aspect of the +literary revival he was seeking to bring about. + +The poems are not arranged chronologically, but are classified as Songs, +Romances, Sirventés, Reveries, Plaints, Sonnets, Nuptial Songs, etc. + +The _Cansoun_ (Songs) are sung at every reunion of the Félibrige. They +are set to melodies well known in Provence, and are spirited and +vigorous indeed. The Germans who write about Provence are fond of making +known the fact that the air of the famous _Hymn to the Sun_ is a melody +written by Kuecken. There is _Lou Bastimen_ (The Ship), as full of dash +and go as any English sea ballad. _La Coutigo_ (The Tickling) is a +dialogue between a mother and her love-sick son. _La Coupo_ (The Cup) +is the song of the Félibres _par excellence_; it was composed for the +reception of a silver cup, sent to the Félibres by the Catalans. The +_coupo felibrenco_ is now a feature of all their banquets. The song +expresses the enthusiasm of the Félibres for their cause. The refrain +is, "Holy cup, overflowing, pour out in plenty the enthusiasms and the +energy of the strong." The most significant lines are:-- + + Of a proud, free people + We are perhaps the end; + And, if the Félibres fall, + Our nation will fall. + + Of a race that germs anew + Perhaps we are the first growth; + Of our land we are perhaps + The pillars and the chiefs. + + Pour out for us hope + And dreams of youth, + The memory of the past + And faith in the coming year. + +The ideas and sentiments, then, that are expressed in the shorter poems +of Mistral, written since the publication of _Mirèio_, have been, in the +main, the ancient glories and liberties of Provence, a clinging to +national traditions, to local traditions, and to the religion and ideas +of ancestors, a profound dislike of certain modern ideas of progress, +hatred of the levelling influence of Paris, love of the Provençal +speech, belief in the Latin race, in the Roman Catholic Church, unshaken +faith in the future, love of the ideal and hatred of what is servile and +sordid, an ardent love of Nature, an intense love of life and movement. +These things are reflected in every variety of word and figure. He is +not the poet of the romantic type, self-centred, filling his verse with +the echoes of his own loves and joys and woes, nor is his poetry as +large as humanity; Provence, France, the Latin race, are the limits +beyond which it has no message or interest. + +Possibly no poet ever wrote as many lines to laud the language he was +using. Such lines abound in each volume he has produced. + + "Se la lengo di moussu + Toumbo en gargavaio + Se tant d'escrivan coussu + Pescon de ravaio, + Nàutri, li bon Prouvençau + Vers li serre li plus aut + Enauren la lengo + De nòsti valengo." + + If the language of the messieurs falls among the sweepings, if so + many comfortably well-off writers fish for small fry, we, the good + Provençals, toward the highest summits, raise the language of our + valleys. + +The Sirventés addressed to the Catalan poets begins:-- + + "Fraire de Catalougno, escoutas! Nous an di + Que fasias peralin reviéure e resplendi + Un di rampau de nosto lengo." + + Brothers from Catalonia, listen! We have heard that ye cause one of + the branches of our language to revive and flourish yonder. + +In the same poem, the poet sings of the Troubadours, whom none have +since surpassed, who in the face of the clergy raised the language of +the common people, sang in the very ears of the kings, sang with love, +and sang freely, the coming of a new world and contempt for ancient +fears, and later on he says:-- + +"From the Alps to the Pyrenees, hand in hand, poets, let us then raise +up the old Romance speech! It is the sign of the family, the sacrament +that binds the sons to the forefathers, man to the soil! It is the +thread that holds the nest in the branches. Fearless guardians of our +beautiful speech, let us keep it free and pure, and bright as silver, +for a whole people drinks at this spring; for when, with faces on the +ground, a people falls into slavery, if it holds its language, it holds +the key that delivers it from the chains." + +The final stanza of the poem, written in honor of Jasmin in 1870, is as +follows:-- + +"For our dead and our fathers, and our sacred rights as a people and as +poets, that yesterday were trampled beneath the feet of the usurper, +and, outraged, cried out, now live again in glory! Now, between the two +seas the language of Oc triumphs. O Jasmin, thou hast avenged us!" + +In the _Rock of Sisyphus_ the poet says, "Formerly we kept the language +that Nature herself put upon our lips." + +In the _Poem to the Latin Race_ we read:-- + +"Thy mother tongue, the great stream that spreads abroad in seven +branches, pouring out love and light like an echo from Paradise, thy +golden speech, O Romance daughter of the King-People, is the song that +will live on human lips as long as speech shall have reason." + +Elsewhere we find:-- + +"Oh, maintain thy historic speech. It is the proof that always thou +carriest on high and free, thy coat of arms. In the language, a mystery, +an old treasure is found. Each year the nightingale puts on new plumage, +but keeps its song." + +One entire poem, _Espouscado_, is a bitterly indignant protest against +those who would suppress the dialect, against the regents and the +rectors whom "we must pay with our pennies to hear them scoff at the +language that binds us to our fathers and our soil!" And the poet cries +out, "No, no, we'll keep our rebellious _langue d'oc_, grumble who will. +We'll speak it in the stables, at harvest-time, among the silkworms, +among lovers, among neighbors, etc., etc. It shall be the language of +joy and of brotherhood. We'll joke and laugh with it;--and as for the +army, we'll take it to the barracks to keep off homesickness." + +And his anger rising, he exclaims:-- + +"O the fools, the fools, who wean their children from it to stuff them +with self-sufficiency, fatuity, and hunger! Let them get drowned in the +throng! But thou, O my Provence, be not disturbed about the sons that +disown thee and repudiate thy speech. They are dead, they are still-born +children that survive, fed on bad milk." + +And he concludes:-- + +"But, eldest born of Nature, you, the sun-browned boys, who speak with +the maidens in the ancient tongue, fear not; you shall remain the +masters! Like the walnuts of the plain, gnarled, stout, calm, +motionless, exploited and ill-treated as you may be, O peasants (as they +call you), you will remain masters of the land!" + +This was written in 1888. The quotations might be multiplied; these +suffice, however, to show the intense love of the poet for "the language +of the soil," the energy with which he has constantly struggled for its +maintenance. He is far from looking upon the multiplication of dialects +as an evil, points to the literary glory of Greece amid her many forms +of speech, and does not even seek to impose his own language upon the +rest of southern France. He sympathizes with every attempt, wherever +made, the world over, to raise up a patois into a language. Statesmen +will probably think otherwise, and there are nations which would at +once take an immense stride forward if they could attain one language +and a purely national literature. The modern world does not appear to be +marching in accordance with Mistral's view. + +The poems inspired by the love of the ancient ideals and literature of +Provence are very beautiful. They have in general a fascinating swing +and rhythm, and are filled with charming imagery. One of the best is +_L'Amiradou_ (The Belvedere), the story of a fairy imprisoned in the +castle at Tarascon, "who will doubtless love the one who shall free +her." Three knights attempt the rescue and fail. Then there comes along +a little Troubadour, and sings so sweetly of the prowess of his +forefathers, of the splendor of the Latin race, that the guard are +charmed and the bolts fly back. And the fairy goes up to the top of the +tower with the little Troubadour, and they stand mute with love, and +look out over all the beautiful landscape, and the old monuments of +Provence with their lessons. This is the kingdom of the fairy, and she +bestows it upon him. "For he who knows how to read in this radiant +book, must grow above all others, and all that his eye beholds, without +paying any tithe, is his in abundance." + +The lilt of this little _romance_, with its pretty repetitions, is +delightful, and the symbolism is, of course, perfectly obvious. + +There is the touching story of the Troubadour Catalan, slain by robbers +in the Bois de Boulogne, where the Pré de Catalan now is; there is the +tale that accounts for the great chain that hangs across the gorge at +Moustiers, a chain over six hundred feet long, bearing a star in the +centre. A knight, being prisoner among the Saracens, vows to hang the +chain before the chapel of the Virgin, if ever he returns home. + + "A ti pèd, vierge Mario, + Ma cadeno penjarai, + Se jamai + Tourne mai + A Moustié, dins ma patrio!" + +There is the tale of the Princess Clémence, daughter of a king of +Provence. Her father was deformed, and the heir-presumptive to the +French crown sought her in marriage. In order that the prince might be +sure she had inherited none of the father's deformity, she was called +upon to show herself in the garb of Lady Godiva before his ambassadors. +This rather delicate subject is handled with consummate art. + +The idea of federalism is found expressed with sufficient clearness in +various parts of these poems of the Golden Isles, and the patriotism of +the poet, his love of France, is perfectly evident, in spite of all that +has been said to the contrary. In the poem addressed to the Catalans, +after numerous allusions to the dissensions and rebellions of bygone +days, we read:-- + +"Now, however, it is clear; now, however, we know that in the divine +order all is for the best; the Provençals, a unanimous flame, are part +of great France, frankly, loyally; the Catalans, with good-will, are +part of magnanimous Spain. For the brook must flow to the sea, and the +stone must fall on the heap; the wheat is best protected from the +treacherous cold wind when planted close; and the little boats, if they +are to navigate safely, when the waves are black and the air dark, must +sail together. For it is good to be many, it is a fine thing to say, 'We +are children of France!'" + +But in days of peace let each province develop its own life in its own +way. + +"And France and Spain, when they see their children warming themselves +together in the sunbeams of the fatherland, singing matins out of the +same book, will say, 'The children have sense enough, let them laugh and +play together, now they are old enough to be free.' + +"And we shall see, I promise you, the ancient freedom come down, O +happiness, upon the smallest city, and love alone bind the races +together; and if ever the black talon of the tyrant is seen, all the +races will bound up to drive out the bird of prey!" + +Of all the poems of Mistral expressing this order of ideas, the one +entitled _The Countess_ made the greatest stir. It appeared in 1866, and +called forth much angry discussion and imputation of treason from the +enemies of the new movement. _The Countess_ is an allegorical +representation of Provence; the fair descendant of imperial ancestors is +imprisoned in a convent by her half-sister France. Formerly she +possessed a hundred fortified towns, twenty seaports; she had olives, +fruit, and grain in abundance; a great river watered her fields; a +great wind vivified the land, and the proud noblewoman could live +without her neighbor, and she sang so sweetly that all loved her, poets +and suitors thronged about her. + +Now, in the convent where she is cloistered all are dressed alike, all +obey the rule of the same bell, all joy is gone. The half-sister has +broken her tambourines and taken away her vineyards, and gives out that +her sister is dead. + +Then the poet breaks into an appeal to the strong to break into the +great convent, to hang the abbess, and say to the Countess, "Appear +again, O splendor! Away with grief, away! Long life to joy!" + +Each stanza is followed by the refrain:-- + + "Ah! se me sabien entèndre! + Ah! se me voulien segui!" + + Ah! if they could understand me! + Ah! if they would follow me! + +Mistral disdained to reply to the storm of accusations and +incriminations raised by the publication of this poem. _Lou Saumede la +Penitènci_, that appeared in 1870, set at rest all doubts concerning his +deep and sincere patriotism. + +_The Psalm of Penitence_ is possibly the finest of the short poems. It +is certainly surpassed by no other in intensity of feeling, in genuine +inspiration, in nobility and beauty of expression. It is a hymn of +sorrow over the woes of France, a prayer of humility and resignation +after the disaster of 1870. The reader must accept the idea, of course, +that the defeat of the French was a visitation of Providence in +punishment for sin. + + "Segnour, à la fin ta coulèro + Largo si tron + Sus nòsti front: + E dins la niue nosto galèro + Pico d'a pro + Contro li ro." + + Lord, at last thy wrath hurls its thunderbolts upon our foreheads: + + And in the night our vessel strikes its prow against the rocks. + +France was punished for irreligion, for closing the temples, for +abandoning the sacraments and commandments, for losing faith in all +except selfish interest and so-called progress, for contempt of the +Bible and pride in science. + +The poet makes confession:-- + + "Segnour, sian tis enfant proudigue; + Mai nàutri sian + Ti vièi crestian: + Que ta Justiço nous castigue, + Mai au trepas + Nous laisses pas!" + + Lord, we are thy prodigal sons; but we are thy Christians of old: + + Let thy justice chastise us, but give us not over unto death! + +Then the poet prays in the name of all the brave men who gave up their +lives in battle, in the name of all the mothers who will never again see +their sons, in the name of the poor, the strong, the dead, in the name +of all the defeats and tears and sorrow, the slaughter and the fires, +the affronts endured, that God disarm his justice, and he concludes:-- + + "Segnour, voulen deveni d'ome; + En libertà + Pos nous bouta! + Sian Gau-Rouman e gentilome, + E marchan dre + Dins noste endré. + + "Segnour, dóu mau sian pas Pencauso. + Mando eiçabas + Un rai de pas! + Segnour, ajudo nosto Causo, + E reviéuren + E t'amaren." + + Lord, we desire to become men; thou canst set us free! + + We are Gallo-Romans and of noble race, and we walk upright in our + land. + + Lord, we are not the cause of the evil. Send down upon us a ray of + peace! Lord, aid our Cause, and we shall live again and love thee. + +The poem called _The Stone of Sisyphus_ completes sufficiently the +evidence necessary to exculpate Mistral of the charge of antipatriotism +and makes clear his thought. Provence was once a nation, she consented +years ago to lose her identity in the union with France. Now it is +proposed to heap up all the old traditions, the Gai Savoir, the glory of +the Troubadours, the old language, the old customs, and burn them on a +pyre. Well, France is a great people and _Vive la nation_. But some +would go further, some would suppress the nation: "Down with the +frontiers, national glories are an abomination! Wipe out the past, man +is God! _Vive l'humanité_!" Our patrimony we repudiate. What are Joan of +Arc, Saint Louis, and Turenne? All that is old rubbish. + +Then the people cry with Victor Hugo, "_Emperaire, siegues maudi, maudi, +maudi! nous as vendu_" and hurl down the Vendôme column, burn Paris, +slaughter the priests, and then, worn out, commence again, like +Sisyphus, to push the rock of progress. + +So much for the conservatism of Mistral. + +We shall conclude this story of the shorter poems with some that are not +polemical or essentially Provençal; three or four are especially +noteworthy. _The Drummer of Arcole_, _Lou Prègo-Diéu_, _Rescontre_ +(Meeting), might properly find a place in any anthology of general +poetry, and an ode on the death of Lamartine is sincere and beautiful. +Such poems must be read in the original. + +The first one, _The Drummer of Arcole_, is the story of a drummer boy +who saved the day at Arcole by beating the charge; but after the wars +are over, he is forgotten, and remains a drummer as before, becomes old +and regrets his life given up to the service of his country. But one +day, passing along the streets of Paris, he chances to look up at the +Pantheon, and there in the huge pediment he reads the words, "_Aux +grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante_." + +"'Drummer, raise thy head!' calls out a passer-by! 'The one up there, +hast thou seen him?' Toward the temple that stood superb the old man +raised his bewildered eyes. Just then the joyous sun shook his golden +locks above enchanted Paris.... + +"When the soldier saw the dome of the Pantheon rising toward heaven, and +with his drum hanging at his side, beating the charge, as if it were +real, he recognized himself, the boy of Arcole, away up there, right at +the side of the great Napoleon, intoxicated with his former fury, seeing +himself, so high, in full relief, above the years, the clouds, the +storms, in glory, azure, sunshine, he felt a gentle swelling in his +heart, and fell dead upon the pavement." + +_Lou Prègo-Diéu_ is a sweet poem embodying a popular belief. Prègo-diéu +is the name of a little insect, so called from the peculiar arrangement +of its legs and antennse that makes it appear to be in an attitude of +prayer. Mistral's poetic ideas have been largely suggested to him by +popular beliefs and the stories he heard at his fireside when a boy. +This poem is one of the best of the kind he has produced, and, being +eminently, characteristic, will find juster treatment in a literal +translation than in a commentary. The first half was written during the +time he was at work upon _Mirèio_ in 1856, the second in 1874. We quote +the first stanza in the original, for the sake of showing its rhythm. + + "Ero un tantost d'aquel estiéu + Que ni vihave ni dourmiéu: + Fasiéu miejour, tau que me plaise, + Lou cahessòu + Toucant lou sòn + A l'aise." + + +I + +It was one afternoon this summer, while I was neither awake nor asleep. +I was taking a noon siesta, as is my pleasure, my head at ease upon the +ground. + +And greenish among the stubble, upon a spear of blond barley, with a +double row of seeds, I saw a prègo-diéu. + +"Beautiful insect," said I, "I have heard that, as a reward for thy +ceaseless praying, God hath given thee the gift of divination. + +"Tell me now, good friend, if she I love hath slept well; tell what she +is thinking at this hour, and what she is doing; tell me if she is +laughing or weeping." + +The insect, that was kneeling, stirred upon the tube of the tiny, +leaning ear, and unfolded and waved his little wings. + +And his speech, softer than the softest breath of a zephyr wafted in a +wood, sweet and mysterious, reached my ear. + +"I see a maiden," said he, "in the cool shade beneath a cherry tree; the +waving branches touch her; the boughs hang thick with cherries. + +"The cherries are fully ripe, fragrant, solid, red, and, amid the smooth +leaves, make one hungry, and, hanging, tempt one. + +"But the cherry tree offers in vain the sweetness and the pleasing color +of its bright, firm fruit, red as coral. + +"She sighs, trying to see if she can jump high enough to pluck them. +Would that my lover might come! He would climb up, and throw them down +into my apron." + +So I say to the reapers: "Reapers, leave behind you a little corner +uncut, where, during the summer, the prègo-diéu may have shelter." + + +II + +This autumn, going down a sunken road, I wandered off across the fields, +lost in earthly thoughts. + +And, once more, amid the stubble, I saw, clinging to a tiny ear of +grain, folded up in his double wing, the prègo-diéu. + +"Beautiful insect," said I then, "I have heard that, as a reward for thy +ceaseless praying, God hath given thee the gift of divination. + +"And that if some child, lost amid the harvest fields, asks of thee his +way, thou, little creature, showest him the way through the wheat. + +"In the pleasures and pains of this world, I see that I, poor child, am +astray; for, as he grows, man feels his wickedness. + +"In the grain and in the chaff, in fear and in pride, in budding hope, +alas for me, I see my ruin. + +"I love space, and I am in chains; among thorns I walk barefoot; Love is +God, and Love sins; every enthusiasm after action is disappointed. + +"What we accomplished is wiped out; brute instinct is satisfied, and the +ideal is not reached; we must be born amid tears, and be stung among the +flowers. + +"Evil is hideous, and it smiles upon me; the flesh is fair, and it rots; +the water is bitter, and I would drink; I am languishing, I want to die +and yet to live. + +"I am falling faint and weary; O prègo-diéu, cause some slight hope of +something true to shine upon me; show me the way." + +And straightway I saw that the insect stretched forth its slender arm +toward Heaven; mysterious, mute, earnest, it was praying. + + * * * * * + +Such reference to religious doubt is elsewhere absent from Mistral's +work. His faith is strong, and the energy of his life-work has its +source largely, not only in this religious faith, but in his firm belief +in himself, in his race, and in the mission he has felt called upon to +undertake. Reflected obviously in the above poem is the growth of the +poet in experience and in thought. + +Lastly, among the poems of his _Isclo d'Or_, we wish to call attention +to one that, in its theme, recalls _Le Lac_, _La Tristesse d'Olympio_, +and _Le Souvenir_. The poet comes upon the scene of his first love, and +apostrophizes the natural objects about him. All four poets intone the +strain, "Ye rocks and trees, guard the memory of our love." + + "O coumbo d'Uriage + Bos fresqueirous, + Ounte aven fa lou viage + Dis amourous, + O vau qu'aven noumado + Noste univers, + Se perdes ta ramado + Gardo mi vers." + +O vale of Uriage, cool wood, where we made our lovers' journey; O vale +that we called our world, if thou lose thy verdure, keep my verses. + +Ye flowers of the high meadows that no man knoweth, watered by Alpine +snows, ye are less pure and fresh in the month of April than the little +mouth that smiles for me. + +Ye thunders and stern voices of the peaks, murmurings of wild woods, +torrents from the mountains, there is a voice that dominates you all, +the clear, beautiful voice of my love. + +Alas! vale of Uriage, we may never return to thy leafy nooks. She, a +star, vanisheth in air, and I, folding my tent, go forth into the +wilderness. + + * * * * * + +Apart from the intrinsic worth of the thought or sentiment, there is +found in Mistral the essential gift of the poet, the power of +expression--of clothing in words that fully embody the meaning, and seem +to sing, in spontaneous musical flow, the inner inspiration. He is +superior to the other poets of the Félibrige, not only in the energy, +the vitality of his personality, and in the fertility of his ideas, but +also in this great gift of language. Even if he creates his vocabulary +as he goes along, somewhat after the fashion of Ronsard and the +_Pléiade_, he does this in strict accordance with the genius of his +dialect, fortunately for him, untrammelled by traditions, and, what is +significant, he does it acceptably. He is the master. His fellow-poets +proclaim and acclaim his supremacy. No one who has penetrated to any +degree into the genius of the Romance languages can fail to agree that +in this point exists a master of one of its forms. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TEAGEDY, LA RÈINO JANO + + +The peculiar qualities and limitations of Mistral are possibly nowhere +better evidenced than in this play. Full of charming passages, +frequently eloquent, here and there very poetic, it is scarcely +dramatic, and certainly not a tragedy either of the French or the +Shakespearian type. The most striking lines, the most eloquent tirades, +arise less from the exigences of the drama than from the constant desire +of the poet to give expression to his love of Provence. The attention of +the reader is diverted at every turn from the adventures of the persons +in the play to the glories and the beauties of the lovely land in which +our poet was born. The matter of a play is certainly contained in the +subject, but the energy of the author has not been spent upon the +invention of strong situations, upon the clash of wills, upon the +psychology of his characters, upon the interplay of passions, but rather +upon strengthening in the hearts of his Provençal hearers the love of +the good Queen Joanna, whose life has some of the romance of that of +Mary, Queen of Scots, and upon letting them hear from her lips and from +the lips of her courtiers the praises of Provence. + +Mistral enumerates eight dramatic works treating the life of his +heroine. They are a tragedy in five acts and a verse by Magnon (Paris, +1656), called _Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples_; a tragedy in five acts and +in verse by Laharpe, produced in 1781, entitled, _Jeanne de Naples_; an +opéra-comique in three acts, the book by De Leuven and Brunswick, the +music by Monpon and Bordèse, produced in 1840; an Italian tragedy, _La +Regina Griovanna_, by the Marquis of Casanova, written about 1840; an +Italian opera, the libretto by Ghislanzoni, who is known as the +librettist of _Aïda_, the music by Petrella (Milan, 1875); a play in +verse by Brunetti, called _Griovanna I di Napoli_ (Naples, 1881); a +Hungarian play by Rakosi, _Johanna es Endre_, and lastly the trilogy of +Walter Savage Landor, _Andrea of Hungary_, _Griovanna of Naples_, and +_Fra Rupert_ (London, 1853). Mistral's play is dated May, 1890. + +It may be said concerning the work of Landor, which is a poem in +dramatic form rather than a play, that it offers scarcely any points of +resemblance with Mistral's beyond the few essential facts in the lives +of Andrea and Joanna. Both poets take for granted the innocence of the +Queen. It is worth noting that Provence is but once referred to in the +entire work of the English poet. + +The introduction that precedes Mistral's play quotes the account of the +life of the Queen from the _Dictionnaire_ of Moréri (Lyons, 1681), which +we here translate. + +"Giovanna, first of the name, Queen of Jerusalem, Naples, and Sicily, +Duchess of Apulia and Calabria, Countess of Provence, etc., was a +daughter of Charles of Sicily, Duke of Calabria, who died in 1328, +before his father Robert, and of Marie of Valois, his second wife. She +was only nineteen years of age when she assumed the government of her +dominions after her grandfather's death in 1343. She had already been +married by him to his nephew, Andrea of Hungary. This was not a happy +marriage; for the inclinations of both were extremely contrary, and the +prince was controlled by a Franciscan monk named Robert, and the +princess by a washerwoman called Filippa Catenese. These indiscreet +advisers brought matters to extremes, so that Andrea was strangled in +1345. The disinterested historians state ingenuously that Joanna was not +guilty of this crime, although the others accuse her of it. She married +again, on the 2d of August, 1346. Her second husband was Louis of +Tarento, her cousin; and she was obliged to leave Naples to avoid the +armed attack of Louis, King of Hungary, who committed acts of extreme +violence in this state. Joanna, however, quieted all these things by her +prudence, and after losing this second husband, on the 25th of March, +1362, she married not long afterward a third, James of Aragon, Prince of +Majorca, who, however, tarried not long with her. So seeing herself a +widow for the third time, she made a fourth match in 1376 with Otto of +Brunswick, of the House of Saxony; and as she had no children, she +adopted a relative, Charles of Duras.... This ungrateful prince revolted +against Queen Joanna, his benefactress.... He captured Naples, and laid +siege to the Castello Nuovo, where the Queen was. She surrendered. +Charles of Duras had her taken to Muro, in the Basilicata, and had her +put to death seven or eight months afterward. She was then in her +fifty-eighth year.... Some authors say that he caused her to be +smothered, others that she was strangled; but the more probable view is +that she was beheaded, in 1382, on the 5th of May. It is said that a +Provençal astrologer, doubtless a certain Anselme who lived at that +time, and who is very famous in the history of Provence, being +questioned as to the future husband of the young princess, replied, +'Maritabitur cum ALIO.' This word is composed of the initials of the +names of her four husbands, Andrea, Louis, James, and Otto. This +princess, furthermore, was exceedingly clever, fond of the sciences and +of men of learning, of whom she had a great many at her court, liberal +and beautiful, prudent, wise, and not lacking in piety. She it is that +sold Avignon to the popes. Boccaccio, Balde, and other scholars of her +time speak of her with praise." + +In offering an explanation of the great popularity enjoyed by Joanna of +Naples among the people of Provence, the poet does not hesitate to +acknowledge that along with her beauty, her personal charm, her +brilliant arrival on the gorgeous galley at the court of Clement VI, +whither she came, eloquent and proud, to exculpate herself, her long +reign and its vicissitudes, her generous efforts to reform abuses, must +be counted also the grewsome procession of her four husbands; and this +popularity, he says, is still alive, after five centuries. The poet +places her among such historic figures as Caius Marius, Ossian, King +Arthur, Count Raymond of Toulouse, the good King René, Anne of Brittany, +Roland, the Cid, to which the popular mind has attached heroic legends, +race traditions, and mysterious monuments. The people of Provence still +look back upon the days of their independence when she reigned, a sort +of good fairy, as the good old times of Queen Joanna. Countless castles, +bridges, churches, monuments, testify to her life among this +enthusiastic people. Roads and ruins, towers and aqueducts, bear her +name. Proverbs exist wherein it is preserved. "For us," says Mistral, +"the fair Joanna is what Mary Stuart is for the Scotch,--a mirage of +retrospective love, a regret of youth, of nationality, of poetry passed +away. And analogies are not lacking in the lives of the two royal, +tragic enchantresses." Petrarch, speaking of her and her young husband +surrounded by Hungarians, refers to them as two lambs among wolves. In a +letter dated from Vancluse, August, 1346, he deplores the death of the +King, but makes no allusion to the complicity of the Queen. + +Boccaccio proclaims her the special pride of Italy, so gracious, gentle, +and kindly, that she seemed rather the companion than the queen of her +subjects. + +Our author cites likewise some of her accusers, and considers most of +the current sayings against her as apocryphal. Some of these will not +bear quotation in English. Mistral evidently wishes to believe her +innocent, and he makes out a pretty good case. He approves the remark of +Scipione Ammirato, that she contracted four successive marriages through +a desire to have direct heirs. Another notices that had she been +dissolute, she would have preferred the liberty of remaining a widow. +The poet cites Pope Innocent VI, who gave her the golden rose, and sets +great store upon the expression of Saint Catherine of Siena, who calls +her "Venerabile madre in Gesù Cristo," and he concludes by saying, "We +prefer to concur in the judgment of the good Giannone (1676-1748), which +so well agrees with our traditions." + +The first act opens with a picture that might tempt a painter of Italian +scenes. The Queen and her gay court are seated on the lawn of the palace +garden at Naples, overlooking the bay and islands. At the very outset we +hear of the Gai Savoir, and the Queen utters the essentially Provençal +sentiment that "the chief glory the world should strive for is light, +for joy and love are the children of the sun, and art and literature the +great torches." She calls upon Anfan of Sisteron to speak to her of her +Provence, "the land of God, of song and youth, the finest jewel in her +crown," and Anfan, in long and eloquent tirades, tells of Toulouse and +Nice and the Isles of Gold, reviews the settling of the Greeks, the +domination of the Romans, and the sojourn of the Saracens; Aix and +Arles, les Baux, Toulon, are glorified again; we hear of the old +liberties of these towns where men sleep, sing, and shout, and of the +magnificence of the papal court at Avignon. + + "Enfin, en Avignoun, i'a lou papo! grandour + Poudé, magnificènci, e poumpo e resplendour, + Que mestrejon la terro e fan, sènso messorgo, + Boufa l'alen de Diéu i ribo de la Sorgo." + + Lastly, in Avignon, there's the Pope! greatness, power, + magnificence, pomp, and splendor, dominating the earth, and without + exaggeration, causing the breath of God to blow upon the banks of + the Sorgue. + +We learn that the brilliancy and animation of the court at Avignon +outshine the glories of Rome, and in language that fairly glitters with +its high-sounding, highly colored words. We hear of Petrarch and Laura, +and the associations of Vaucluse. + +At this juncture the Prince arrives, and is struck by the resemblance of +the scene to a court of love; he wonders if they are not discussing the +question whether love is not drowned in the nuptial holy water font, or +whether the lady inspires the lover as much with her presence as when +absent. And the Queen defends her mode of life and temperament; she +cannot brook the cold and gloomy ways of the north. Were we to apply +the methods of Voltaire's strictures of Corneille to this play, it might +be interesting to see how many _vers de comédie_ could be found in these +scenes of dispute between the prince consort and his light-hearted wife. + + "A l'avans! zóu! en fèsto arrouinas lou Tresor!" + + Go ahead! that's right, ruin the treasury with your feasts! + +and to his objections to so many flattering courtiers, the Queen +replies:-- + + "Voulès que moun palais devèngue un mounastié?" + + Do you want my palace to become a monastery? + +Joanna replies nobly and eloquently to the threats of her husband to +assume mastery over her by violent means, and, in spite of the +anachronism (the poet makes her use and seemingly invent the term +_Renascence_), her defence of the arts and science of her time is +forceful and enthusiastic, and carries the reader along. That this sort +of eloquence is dramatic, appears, however, rather doubtful. + +The next scene interests us more directly in the characters before us. +The Prince, left alone with his confidant, Fra Rupert, gives expression +to his passionate love for the Queen, and pours forth the bitterness of +his soul to see it unrequited. The fierce Hungarian monk denounces, +rather justly, it appears to us, the license and levity of the Italian +court, and incites Andrea to an appeal to the Pope, "a potentate that +has no army, whose dominion extends from pole to pole, who binds and +unbinds at his will, upholds, makes, or unmakes thrones as an almighty +master." + +But Andrea fears the Queen would never pardon him. + + "E se noun ai en plen lou mèu si caresso, + L'empèri universal! m'es un gourg d'amaresso!" + + And if I have not fully the honey of her caresses + The empire of the world is to me a gulf of bitterness. + +Finally the monk and La Catanaise stand alone before us. This woman is +the Queen's nurse, who loves her with a fierce sort of passion, and it +is she who commits the crime that causes the play to be called a +tragedy. This final scene brings out a flood of the most violent +vituperation from this veritable virago, some of it exceedingly low in +tone. The friar leaves with the threat to have a red-hot nail run +through her hellish tongue, and La Catanaise, standing alone, gives +vent to her fury in threats of murder. + +The next act reveals the Hall of Honor in the Castel-Nuovo at Naples. +Andrea in anger proclaims himself king, and in the presence of the Queen +and the Italian courtiers gives away one after another all the offices +and honors of the realm to his Hungarian followers. A conflict with +drawn swords is about to ensue, when the Queen rushes between the +would-be combatants, reminding them of the decree of the Pope; but +Andrea in fury accuses the Queen of conduct worthy a shameless +adventuress, and cites the reports that liken her to Semiramis in her +orgies. The Prince of Taranto throws down his glove to the enraged +Andrea, who replies by a threat to bring him to the executioner. The +Prince of Taranto answers that the executioner may be the supreme law +for a king, + + "Mai pèr un qu'a l'ounour dins lou piés e dins l'amo, + Uno escorno, cousin, se purgo emé la lamo." + + But for one who has honor in his breast and his soul, + An insult, cousin, is purged with the sword. + +Andrea turns to his knights, and leaving the room with them points to +the flag bearing the block and axe as emblems. The partisans of Joanna +remain full of indignation. La Catanaise addresses them. The Sicilians, +she says, waste no time in words, but have a speedier method of +punishing a wrong, and she reminds them of the massacre at Palermo. The +Prince of Taranto discountenances the proposed crime, for the Queen's +fair name would suffer. But the fierce woman points to the flag. "Do you +see that axe hanging from a thread? You are all cowards! Let me act +alone." And the Prince nobly replies, "Philippine, battles are fought in +the sunlight; men of our renown, men of my stamp, do not crouch down in +the dark shadow of a plot." And the Catanaise again shows the flag. "Do +you see the axe falling upon the block?" + +Joanna enters to offer the Prince her thanks for his chivalrous defence +of her fair name, and dismisses the other courtiers. The ensuing brief +scene between the Queen and the Prince is really very eloquent and very +beautiful. The Queen recalls the fact that she was married at nine to +Andrea, then only a child too; and she has never known love. The poorest +of the shepherdesses on the mountains of Calabria may quench her thirst +at the spring, but she, the Queen of the Sun, if to pass away the time, +or to have the appearance of happiness, she loves to listen to the echo +of song, to behold the joy and brilliancy of a noble fête, her very +smile becomes criminal. And the Prince reminds her that she is the +Provençal queen, and that in the great times of that people, if the +consort were king, love was a god, and he recalls the names of all the +ladies made famous by the Troubadours. Thereupon the Queen in an +outburst of enthusiasm truly Felibrean invokes the God of Love, the God +that slew Dido, and speaks in the spirit of the days of courtly love, "O +thou God of Love, hearken unto me. If my fatal beauty is destined sooner +or later to bring about my death, let this flame within me be, at least, +the pyre that shall kindle the song of the poet! Let my beauty be the +luminous star exalting men's hearts to lofty visions!" + +The chivalrous Prince is dismissed, and Joanna is alone with, her +thoughts. The little page Dragonet sings outside a plaintive song with +the refrain:-- + + "Que regrèt! + Jamai digues toun secrèt." + + What regret! + Never tell thy secret. + +La Catanaise endeavors to excite the fears of the Queen, insinuating +that the Pope may give the crown to Andrea. Joanna has no fear. + +"We shall have but to appear before the country with this splendor of +irresistible grace, and like the smoke borne away by the breeze, +suddenly my enemies shall disappear." + +We may ask whether such self-praise comes gracefully from the Queen +herself, whether she might not be less conscious of her own charm. La +Catanaise is again alone on the scene, threatening. "The bow is drawn, +the hen setting." This last comparison, the reader will remark, would be +simply impossible as the termination of an act in a serious English +play. This last scene, too, is wofully weak and purposeless. + +The conversation of three courtiers at the beginning of Act III apprises +us of the fact that the Pope has succeeded in bringing about a +reconciliation between the royal pair, and that they are both to be +crowned, and as a matter of precaution, the nurse Philippine, and the +monk Fra Rupert are to be sent upon their several ways. The scene is +next filled by the conspirators, La Catanaise directing the details of +the plots. It is made clear that the Queen is utterly ignorant of these +proceedings, which are after all useless; for we fail to see what valid +motive these plotters have to urge them on to their contemptible deed. A +brilliant banquet scene ensues, wherein Anfan of Sisteron sings a song +of seven stanzas about the fairy Mélusine, and seven times Dragonet +sings the refrain, "Sian de la raço di lesert" (We are of the race of +the lizards). And there are enthusiastic tirades in praise of the Queen +and of Provence, and all is merry. But Andrea spills salt upon the +table, which evil augury seems to be taken seriously. This little +episode is foolish, and unwrorthy of a tragedy. We are on the verge of +an assassination. Either the gloomy forebodings and the terror of the +event should be impressed upon us, or the exaggerated gayety and high +spirits of the revellers should by contrast make the coming event seem +more terrible; but the spilling of salt is utterly trivial. After the +feast La Catanaise and her daughter proceed to their devilish work, in +the room now lighted only by the pale rays of the moon, while the voice +of the screech-owl is heard outside. The trap is set for the King; he is +strangled just out of sight with the silken noose. The Queen is roused +by her nurse. The palace is in an uproar, and the act terminates with a +passionate demand for vengeance and justice on the part of Fra Rupert. + +And now the Fourth Act. Here Mistral is in his element; here his love of +rocky landscapes, of azure seas and golden islands, of song and +festivity, finds full play. The tragedy is forgotten, the dramatic +action completely interrupted,--never mind. We accompany the Queen on +her splendid galley all the way from Naples to Marseilles. She leaves +amid the acclamations of the Neapolitans, recounts the splendors of the +beautiful bay, and promises to return "like the star of night coming out +of the mist, laurel in hand, on the white wings of her Provençal +galley." The boat starts, the rowers sing their plaintive rhythmic +songs, the Queen is enraptured by the beauty of the fleeing shores, the +white sail glistens in the glorious blue above. She is lulled by the +motion of the boat and the waving of the hangings of purple and gold. +Midway on her journey she receives a visit from the Infante of Majorca, +James of Aragon, who seems to be wandering over that part of the sea; +then the astrologer Anselme predicts her marriage with _Alio_ and her +death. She shall be visited with the sins of her ancestors; the blood +spilled by Charles of Anjou cries for vengeance. The Queen passes +through a moment of gloom. She dispels it, exclaiming: "Be it so, strike +where thou wilt, O fate, I am a queen; I shall fight, if need be, until +death, to uphold my cause and my womanly honor. If my wild planet is +destined to sink in a sea of blood and tears, the glittering trace I +shall leave on the earth will show at least that I was worthy to be thy +great queen, O brilliant Provence!" + +She descends into the ship, and the rowers resume their song. Later we +arrive at Nice, where the Queen is received by an exultant throng. She +forgets the awful predictions and is utterly filled with delight. She +will visit all the cities where she is loved, her ambition is to see her +flag greeted all along the Mediterranean with shouts of joy and love. +She feels herself to be a Provençale. "Come, people, here I am; breathe +me in, drink me in! It is sweet to me to be yours, and sweet to please +you; and you may gaze in love and admiration upon me, for I am your +queen!" + +The journey is resumed. We pass the Isles of Gold, and the raptures are +renewed. At Marseilles the Queen is received by the Consuls, and swears +solemnly to respect all the rights, customs, and privileges of the land, +and the Consul exacts as the last oath that she swear to see that the +noble speech of Arles shall be maintained and spoken in the land of +Provence. The act closes with the sentiment, "May Provence triumph in +every way!" + +The last act brings us to the great hall of the papal palace at Avignon, +where the Pope is to pronounce judgment upon the Queen. Fra Rupert, +disguised as a pilgrim, harangues the throng, and two Hungarian knights +are beaten in duel by Galéas of Mantua. This duel, with its alternate +cries of Dau! Dau! Tè! Tè! Zóu! Zóu! is difficult to take seriously and +reminds us of Tartarin. The Queen enters in conversation with Petrarch. +The Hungarian knights utter bitter accusations against the Queen, who +gives them in place of iron chains the golden chains about her neck, +whereupon the knights gallantly declare their hearts are won forever. +The doors open at the back and we see the papal court. Bertrand des +Baux gives a hideous account of the torture and death of those who had +a hand in the death of Andrea. The Queen makes a long speech, expressing +her deep grief at the calumnies and slander that beset her. The court +and people resolve themselves into a kind of opera chorus, expressing +their various sentiments in song. The Queen next reviews her life with +Andrea, and concludes:-- + +"And it seemed to me noble and worthy of a queen to melt with a glance +the cold of the frost, to make the almond tree blossom with a smile, to +be amiable to all, affable, generous, and lead my people with a thread +of wool! Yes, all the thought of my mad youth was to be loved and to +reign by the power of love. Who could have foretold that, afterward, on +the day of the great disaster, all this should be made a reproach +against me! that I should be accused, at the age of twenty, of +instigating an awful crime!" + +And she breaks down weeping. The page, the people, the pilgrim, and the +astrologer again sing in a sort of operatic ensemble their various +emotions. The Pope absolves the Queen, the pilgrim denounces the verdict +furiously, and is put to death by Galéas of Mantua. So ends the play. + +_La Rèino Jano_ is a pageant rather than a tragedy. It is full of song +and sunshine, glow and glitter. The characters all talk in the +exaggerated and exuberant style of Mistral, who is not dramatist enough +to create independent being, living before us. The central personage is +in no sense a tragic character. The fanatical Fra Rupert and the low, +vile-tongued Catanaise are not tragic characters. The psychology +throughout is decidedly upon the surface. + +The author in his introduction warns us that to judge this play we must +place ourselves at the point of view of the Provençals, in whom many an +expression or allusion that leaves the ordinary reader or spectator +untouched, will possibly awaken, as he hopes, some particular emotion. +This is true of all his literature; the Provençal language, the +traditions, the memories of Provence, are the web and woof of it all. + +It is interesting to note the impression made by the language upon a +Frenchman and a critic of the rank of Jules Lemaître. He says in +concluding his review of this play:-- + +"The language is too gay, it has too much sing-song, it is too +harmonious. It does not possess the rough gravity of the Spanish, and +has too few of the _i_'s and _e_'s that soften the sonority of the +Italian. I may venture to say it is too expressive, too full of +onomatopoeia. Imagine a language, in which to say, "He bursts out +laughing," one must use the word _s'escacalasso_! There are too many +_on_'s and _oun_'s and too much _ts_ and _dz_ in the pronunciation. So +that the Provençal language, in spite of everything, keeps a certain +patois vulgarity. It forces the poet, so to say, to perpetual +song-making. It must be very difficult, in that language, to have an +individual style, still more difficult to express abstract ideas. But it +is a merry language." + +The play has never yet been performed, and until a trial is made, one is +inclined to think it would not be effective, except as a spectacle. It +is curious that the Troubadours produced no dramatic literature +whatever, and that the same lack is found in the modern revival. + +Aubanel's _Lou Pan dóu Pecat_ (The Bread of Sin), written in 1863, and +performed in 1878 at Montpellier, seems to have been successful, and +was played at Paris at the Théâtre Libre in 1888, in the +verse-translation made by Paul Arène. Aubanel wrote two other plays, +_Lou Pastre_, which is lost, and _Lou Raubatòn_, a work that must be +considered unfinished. Two plays, therefore, constitute the entire +dramatic production in the new language. + + + + +PART THIRD + + +CONCLUSIONS + + + + +CONCLUSIONS + + +It would be idle to endeavor to determine whether Mistral is to be +classed as a great poet, or whether the Félibres have produced a great +literature, and nothing is defined when the statement is made that +Mistral is or is not a great poet. His genius may be said to be limited +geographically, for if from it were eliminated all that pertains +directly to Provence, the remainder would be almost nothing. The only +human nature known to the poet is the human nature of Provence, and +while it is perfectly true that a human being in Provence could be +typical of human nature in general, and arouse interest in all men +through his humanity common to all, the fact is, that Mistral has not +sought to express what is of universal interest, but has invariably +chosen to present human life in its Provençal aspects and from one point +of view only. A second limitation is found in the unvarying exteriority +of his method of presenting human nature. Never does he probe deeply +into the souls of his Provençals. Very vividly indeed does he reproduce +their words and gestures; but of the deeper under-currents, the inner +conflicts, the agonies of doubt and indecision, the bitterness of +disappointments, the lofty aspirations toward a higher inner life or a +closer communion with the universe, the moral problems that shake a +human soul, not a syllable. Nor is he a poet who pours out his own soul +into verse. + +External nature is for him, again, nature as seen in Provence. The rocks +and trees, the fields and the streams, do not awaken in him a stir of +emotions because of their power to compel a mood in any responsive +poetic soul, but they excite him primarily as the rocks and trees, the +fields and streams of his native region. He is no mere word-painter. +Rarely do his descriptions appear to exist for their own sake. They +furnish a necessary, fitting, and delightful background to the action of +his poems. They are too often indications of what a Provençal ought to +consider admirable or wonderful, they are sometimes spoiled by the +poet's excessive partiality for his own little land. His work is ever +the work of a man with a mission. + +There is no profound treatment of the theme of love. Each of the long +poems and his play have a love story as the centre of interest, but the +lovers are usually children, and their love utterly without +complications. There is everywhere a lovely purity, a delightful +simplicity, a straightforward naturalness that is very charming, but in +this theme as in the others, Mistral is incapable of tragic depths and +heights. So it is as regards the religious side of man's nature. The +poet's work is filled with allusions to religion; there are countless +legends concerning saints and hermits, descriptions of churches and the +papal palace, there is the detailed history of the conversion of +Provence to Christianity, but the deepest religious spirit is not his. +Only twice in all his work do we come upon a profounder religious sense, +in the second half of _Lou Prègo-Diéu_ and in _Lou Saume de la +Penitènci_. There is no doubt that Mistral is a believer, but religious +feeling has not a large place in his work; there are no other +meditations upon death and destiny. + +And this _âme du Midi, spirit of Provence_, the genius of his race that +he has striven to express, what is it? How shall it be defined or +formulated? Alphonse Daudet, who knew it, and loved it, whose Parisian +life and world-wide success did not destroy in him the love of his +native Provence, who loved the very food of the Midi above all others, +and jumped up in joy when a southern intonation struck his ear, and who +was continually beset with longings to return to the beloved region, has +well defined it. He was the friend of Mistral and followed the poet's +efforts and achievements with deep and affectionate interest. It is not +difficult to see that the satire in the "Tartarin" series is not unkind, +nor is it untrue. Daudet approved of the Félibrige movement, though what +he himself wrote in Provençal is insignificant. He believed that the +national literature could be best vivified by those who most loved their +homes, that the best originality could thus be attained. He has +said:[17]-- + +"The imagination of the southerners differs from that of the northerners +in that it does not mingle the different elements and forms in +literature, and remains lucid in its outbreaks. In our most complex +natures you never encounter the entanglement of directions, relations, +and figures that characterizes a Carlyle, a Browning, or a Poe. For this +reason the man of the north always finds fault with the man of the south +for his lack of depth and darkness. + +"If we consider the most violent of human passions, love, we see that +the southerner makes it the great affair of his life, but does not allow +himself to become disorganized. He likes the talk that goes with it, its +lightness, its change. He hates the slavery of it. It furnishes a +pretext for serenades, fine speeches, light scoffing, caresses. He finds +it difficult to comprehend the joining together of love and death, which +lies in the northern nature, and casts a shade of melancholy upon these +brief delights." + +Daudet notes the ease with which the southerner is carried away and +duped by the mirage of his own fancy, his semi-sincerity in excitement +and enthusiasm. He admired the natural eloquence of his Provençals. He +found a justification for their exaggerations. + +"Is it right to accuse a man of lying, who is intoxicated with his own +eloquence, who, without evil intent, or love of deceit, or any instinct +of scheming or false trading, seeks to embellish his own life, and other +people's, with stories he knows to be illusions, but which he wishes +were true? Is Don Quixote a liar? Are all the poets deceivers who aim to +free us from realities, to go soaring off into space? After all, among +southerners, there is no deception. Each one, within himself, restores +things to their proper proportions." + +Daudet had Mistral's love of the sunshine. He needed it to inspire him. +He believed it explained the southern nature. + +Concerning the absence of metaphysics in the race he says:-- + +"These reasonings may culminate in a state of mind such as we see +extolled in Buddhism, a colorless state, joyless and painless, across +which the fleeting splendors of thought pass like stars. Well, the man +of the south cares naught for that sort of paradise. The vein of real +sensation is freely, perpetually open, open to life. The side that +pertains to abstraction, to logic, is lost in mist." + +We have referred to the power of story-telling among the Provençals and +their responsiveness as listeners. Daudet mentions the contrast to be +observed between an audience of southerners and the stolid, +self-contained attitude of a crowd in the north. + +The evil side of the southern temperament, the faults that accompany +these traits, are plainly stated by the great novelist. Enthusiasm turns +to hypocrisy, or brag; the love of what glitters, to a passion for +luxury at any cost; sociability, the desire to please, become weakness +and fulsome flattery. The orator beats his breast, his voice is hoarse, +choked with emotion, his tears flow conveniently, he appeals to +patriotism and the noblest sentiments. There is a legend, according to +Daudet, which says that when Mirabeau cried out, "We will not leave +unless driven out at the point of the bayonet," a voice off at one side +corrected the utterance, murmuring sarcastically, "And if the bayonets +come, we make tracks!" + +The southerner, when he converses, is roused to animation readily. His +eye flashes, his words are uttered with strong intonations, the +impressiveness of a quiet, earnest, self-contained manner is unknown to +him. + +Daudet is a novelist and a humorist. Mistral is a poet; hence, although +he professes to aim at a full expression of the "soul of his Provence," +there are many aspects of the Provençal nature that he has not touched +upon. He has omitted all the traits that lend themselves to satirical +treatment, and, although he is in many ways a remarkable realist, he has +very little dramatic power, and seems to lack the gift of searching +analysis of individual character. It is hardly fair to reckon it as a +shortcoming in the poet and apostle of Provence that he presents only +what is most beautiful in the life about him. The novelist offers us a +faithful and vivid image of the men of his own day. The poet glorifies +the past, clings to tradition, and exhorts his countrymen to return to +it. + +Essentially and above all else a conservative, Mistral has the gravest +doubts about so-called modern progress. Undoubtedly honest in desiring +the well-being of his fellow Provençals, he believes that this can be +preserved or attained only by a following of tradition. There must be no +breaking with the past. Daudet, late in life, adhered to this doctrine. +His son quotes him as saying:-- + +"I am following, with gladness, the results of the impulse Mistral has +given. Return to tradition! that is our salvation in the present going +to pieces. I have always felt this instinctively. It came to me clearly +only a few years ago. It is a bad thing to become wholly loosened from +the soil, to forget the village church spire. Curiously enough poetry +attaches only to objects that have come down to us, that have had long +use. What is called _progress_, a vague and very doubtful term, rouses +the lower parts of our intelligence. The higher parts vibrate the better +for what has moved and inspired a long series of imaginative minds, +inheriting each from a predecessor, strengthened by the sight of the +same landscapes, by the same perfumes, by the touch of the same +furniture, polished by wear. Very ancient impressions sink into the +depth of that obscure memory which we may call the _race-memory_, out of +which is woven the mass of individual memories." + +Mistral is truly the poet of the Midi. One can best see how superior he +is as an artist in words by comparing him with the foremost of his +fellow-poets. He is a master of language. He has the eloquence, the +enthusiasm, the optimism of his race. His poetic earnestness saves his +tendency to exaggerate. His style, in all its superiority, is a southern +style, full of interjections, full of long, sonorous words. His thought, +his expressions, are ever lucid. His art is almost wholly objective. His +work has extraordinary unity, and therefore does not escape the monotony +that was unavoidable when the poet voluntarily limited himself to a +single purpose in life, and to treatment of the themes thereunto +pertaining. Believers in material progress, those who look for great +changes in political and social conditions, will turn from Mistral with +indifference. His contentment with present things, and his love of the +past, are likely to irritate them. Those who seek in a poet consolation +in the personal trials of life, a new message concerning human destiny, +a new note in the everlasting themes that the great poets have sung, +will be disappointed. + +A word must be said of him as a writer of French. In the earlier years +he felt the weight of the Academy. He did not feel that French would +allow full freedom. He was scrupulous and timid. He soon shook off this +timidity and became a really remarkable wielder of the French tongue. +His translations of his own works have doubtless reached a far wider +public than the works themselves, and are certainly characterized by +great boldness, clearness, and an astonishingly large vocabulary. + +His earlier work is clearly inspired by his love of Greek literature, +and those qualities in Latin literature wherein the Greek genius shines +through, possibly also by some mysterious affinity with the Greek spirit +resulting from climate or atavism. This never entirely left him. When +later he writes of Provence in the Middle Age, of the days of the +Troubadours, his manner does not change; his work offers no analogies +here with the French Romantic school. + +No poet, it would seem, was ever so in love with his own language; no +artist ever so loved the mere material he was using. Mistral loves the +words he uses, he loves their sound, he loves to hear them from the lips +of those about him; he loves the intonations and the cadences of his +verse; his love is for the speech itself aside from any meaning it +conveys. A beautiful instrument it is indeed. Possibly nothing is more +peculiarly striking about him than this extreme enthusiasm for his +golden speech, his _lengo d'or_. + +To him must be conceded the merit of originality, great originality. In +seeking the source of many of his conceptions, one is led to the +conclusion, and his own testimony bears it out, that they are the +creations of his own fancy. If there is much prosaic realism in the +_Poem of the Rhone_, the Prince and the Anglore are purely the children +of Mistral's almost naïve imagination, and Calendau and Esterello are +attached to the real world of history by the slenderest bonds. When we +seek for resemblances between his conceptions and those of other poets, +we can undoubtedly find them. Mireille now and then reminds of Daphnis +and Chloe, of Hermann and Dorothea, of Evangeline, but the differences +are far more in evidence than the resemblances. Esterello is in an +attitude toward Calendau not without analogy to that of Beatrice toward +Dante, but it would be impossible to find at any point the slightest +imitation of Dante. Some readers have been reminded of Faust in reading +_Nerto_, but beyond the scheme of the Devil to secure a woman's soul, +there is little similarity. Nothing could be more utterly without +philosophy than _Nerto_. Mistral has drawn his inspirations from within +himself; he has not worked over the poems and legends of former poets, +or sought much of his subject-matter in the productions of former ages. +He has not suffered from the deep reflection, the pondering, and the +doubt that destroy originality. + +If Mistral had written his poems in French, he would certainly have +stood apart from the general line of French poets. It would have been +impossible to attach him to any of the so-called "schools" of poetry +that have followed one another during this century in France. He is as +unlike the Romantics as he is unlike the Parnassians. M. Brunetière +would find no difficulty in applying to his work the general epithet of +"social" that so well characterizes French literature considered in its +main current, for Mistral always sings to his fellow-men to move them, +to persuade them, to stir their hearts. Almost all of his poems in the +lyrical form show him as the spokesman of his fellows or as the leader +urging them to action. He is therefore not of the school of "Art for +Art's sake," but his art is consecrated to the cause he represents. + +His thought is ever pure and high; his lessons are lessons of love, of +noble aims, of energy and enthusiasm. He is full of love for the best in +the past, love of his native soil, love of his native landscapes, love +of the men about him, love of his country. He is a poet of the "Gai +Saber," joyous and healthy, he has never felt a trace of the bitterness, +the disenchantment, the gloom and the pain of a Byron or a Leopardi. He +is eminently representative of the race he seeks to glorify in its own +eyes and in the world's, himself a type of that race at its very best, +with all its exuberance and energy, with its need of outward +manifestation, life and movement. An important place must be assigned to +him among those who have bodied forth their poetic conceptions in the +various euphonious forms of speech descended from the ancient speech of +Rome. + +In Provence, and far beyond its borders, he is known and loved. His +activity has not ceased. His voice is still heard, clear, strong, +hopeful, inspiring. _Mireille_ is sung in the ruined Roman theatre at +Aries, museums are founded to preserve Provençal art and antiquities, +the Felibrean feasts continue with unabated enthusiasm. Mistral's life +is a successful life; he has revived a language, created a literature, +inspired a people. So potent is art to-day in the old land of the +Troubadours. All the charm and beauty of that sunny land, all that is +enchanting in its past, all the best, in the ideal sense, that may be +hoped for in its future, is expressed in his musical, limpid, lovely +verse. Such a poet and such a leader of men is rare in the annals of +literature. Such complete oneness of purpose and of achievement is rare +among men. + +[Footnote 17: See _Revue de Paris_, 15 avril, 1898.] + + + + +APPENDIX + + +We offer here a literal prose translation of the _Psalm of Penitence_. + + +THE PSALM OF PENITENCE + +I + +Lord, at last thy wrath hurleth its thunderbolts upon our foreheads, and +in the night our vessel strikes its prow against the rocks. + +Lord, thou cuttest us down with the sword of the barbarian like fine +wheat, and not one of the cravens that we shielded comes to our defence. + +Lord, thou twistest us like a willow wand, thou breakest down to-day all +our pride; there is none to envy us, who but yesterday were so proud. + +Lord, our land goeth to ruin in war and strife; and if thou withhold thy +mercy, great and small will devour one another. + +Lord, thou art terrible, thou strikest us upon the back; in awful +turmoil thou breakest our power, compelling us to confess past evil. + + +II + +Lord, we had strayed away from the austerity of the old laws and ways. +Virtues, domestic customs, we had destroyed and demolished. + +Lord, giving an evil example, and denying thee like the heathen, we had +one day closed up thy temples and mocked thy Holy Christ. + +Lord, leaving behind us thy sacraments and commandments, we had brutally +lost belief in all but self-interest and progress! + +Lord, in the waste heavens we have clouded thy light with our smoke, and +to-day the sons mock the nakedness and purity of their fathers. + +Lord, we have blown upon thy Bible with the breath of false knowledge; +and holding ourselves up like the poplar trees, we wretched beings have +declared ourselves gods. + +Lord, we have left the furrow, we have trampled all respect under foot; +and with the heavy wine that intoxicates us we defile the innocent. + + +III + +Lord, we are thy prodigal children, but we are thy Christians of old; +let thy justice chastise us, but give us not over unto death. + +Lord, in the name of so many brave men, who went forth fearless, +valiant, docile, grave, and then fell in battle; + +Lord, in the name of so many mothers, who are about to pray to God for +their sons, and who next year, alas! and the year thereafter, shall see +them no more; + +Lord, in the name of so many women who have at their bosoms a little +child, and who, poor creatures, moisten the earth and the sheets of +their beds with tears; + +Lord, in the name of the poor, in the name of the strong, in the name of +the dead who shall die for their country, their duty, and their faith; + +Lord, for so many defeats, so many tears and woes, for so many towns +ravaged, for so much brave, holy blood; + +Lord, for so many adversities, for so much mourning throughout our +France, for so many insults upon our heads; + + +IV + +Lord, disarm thy justice. Cast down thine eye upon us, and heed the +cries of the bruised and wounded! + +Lord, if the rebellious cities, through their luxury and folly, have +overturned the scale-pan of thy balance, resisting and denying thee; + +Lord, before the breath of the Alps, that praiseth God winter and +summer, all the trees of the fields, obedient, bow together; + +Lord, France and Provence have sinned only through forgetfulness; do +thou forgive us our offences, for we repent of the evil of former days. + +Lord, we desire to become men, thou canst set us free. We are +Gallo-Romans, and of noble race, and we walk upright in our land. + +Lord, we are not the cause of the evil, send down upon us a ray of +peace. Lord, help our cause, and we shall live again and love thee. + + + + +THE PRESENT CAPOULIÉ OF THE FÉLIBRIGE. + + +M. Pierre Devoluy, of the town of Die, was elected at Arles, in April, +1901. The Consistory was presided over by Mistral. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +The following list contains the most important works that have been +published concerning Mistral and the Félibrige. Numerous articles have +appeared in nearly all the languages of Europe in various magazines. Of +these only such are mentioned as seem worthy of special notice. + + +WORKS CONCERNING THE FÉLIBRIGE IN GENERAL + +_America_ + +JANVIER, THOMAS A., Numerous articles in the Century Magazine, New York, + 1893, and following years. + + _An Embassy to Provence_. New York, 1893. + +PRESTON, HARRIETT, _Mistral's Calendau_. The Atlantic Monthly, New + York, 1874. + + _Aubanel's Miòugrano entreduberto_. The Atlantic Monthly, New + York, 1874. + + +_England_ + +CRAIG, DUNCAN, _Miéjour Provençal Legend, Life, Language, and + Literature_. London. + + _The Handbook of the Modern Provençal Language_. + +CROMBIE, J.W., _The Poets and Peoples of Foreign Lands: Frédéric + Mistral_. Elliot, London, 1890. + +HARTOG, CECIL, _Poets of Provence_. London Contemporary Review, 1894. + + +_France_ + +BOISSIN, FIRMIN, _Le Midi littéraire contemporain_. Douladoure, + Toulouse, 1887. + +DE BOUCHAUD, _Roumanille et le Félibrige_. Mougin, Lyons, 1896. + +BRUN, C., _L'Evolution félibréenne_. Paquet, Lyons, 1896. + +DONNADIEU, F., _Les Précurseurs des Félibres_. Quantin, Paris, 1888. + +HENNION, C., _Les Fleurs félibresques_. Paris, 1893. + +JOURDANNE, G., _Histoire du Félibrige_. Roumanille, Avignon, 1897. + +LINTILHAC, E., _Les Félibres à travers leur monde et leur poésie_. + Lemerre, Paris, 1895. + + _Précis de la littérature française_. Paris, 1890. + +LEGRÉ, L., _Le Poète Théodore Aubanel_. Paris, 1894. + +MARGON, A. DE, _Les Précurseurs des Félibres_. Béziers, 1891. + +MARIÉTON, PAUL, _La Terre provençale_. Lemerre, Paris, 1894. + + Article _Félibrige_ in the _Grande Encyclopédie_. + + Article _Mistral_ in the _Grande Encyclopédie_. + +MICHEL, S., _La Petite Patrie_. Roumanille, Avignon, 1894. + +NOULET, B., _Essai sur l'histoire littéraire des patois du midi de la + France, aux VIIIe siécle_. Montpellier, 1877. + +PARIS, GASTON, _Penseurs et poètes_. Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1896. + +RESTORI, _Histoire de la littérature provençale depuis les temps les + plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours_. Montpellier, 1895. (Translated + from the Italian.) + +ROQUE-FERRIER, A., _Mélanges de critique littéraire et de philologie_. + Montpellier, 1892. + +SAINT-RENÉ-TAILLANDIER, V., _Etudes littéraires_. Plon et Cie, + Paris, 1881. + +TAVERNIER, E., _La Renaissance provençale et Roumanille_. Gervais, + Paris, 1884. + + _Le mouvement littéraire provençal et Lis Isclo d'Or de Frédéric + Mistral_. Aix, 1876. + +DE TERRIS, J., _Roumanille et la littérature provençale_. Blond, + Paris, 1894. + +DE VINAC, M., _Les Félibres_. Richaud, Gap, 1882. + + +_Germany_ + +BÖHMER, E., _Die provenzalische Dichtung der Gegenwart_. + Heilbronn, 1870. + +KOSCHWITZ, E., _Ueber die provenzalischen Feliber und ihre Vorgänger_. + Berlin, 1894. + + _Grammaire historique de la langue des Félibres_. Greifswald and + Paris, 1894. + + A study of Bertuch's translation of Nerto in the _Litteraturblatt für + germanische und romanische Philologie_. 1892. + + A study of Provençal phonetics with a translation of the _Cant dóu + Soulèu. Sonderabdruck aus der Zeitschrift für französische Sprache + und Litteratur_. Berlin, 1893. + +SCHNEIDER, B., _Bemerkungen zur litterarischen Bewegung auf + neuprovenzalischem Sprachgebiete_. Berlin, 1887. + +WELTER, N., _Frederi Mistral, der Dichter der Provence_. + Marburg, 1899.[18] + + +_Italy_ + +LICER, MARIA, _I Felibri_, in the _Roma letteraria_. June, 1893. + +PORTAL, E., _Appunti letterari: Sulla poesia provenzale_. Pedone, + Palermo, 1890. + + _La Letteratura provenzale moderna_. Reber, Palermo, 1893. + + _Scritti vari di letteratura classica provenzale moderna_. Reber, + Palermo, 1895. + +RESTORI, A., _Letteratura provenzale_. Hoepli, Milan, 1892. + +ZUCCARO, L., _Un avvenimento letterario; Mistral tragico in the Scena + illustrata_. Florence, 1891. + + _Il Felibrigio, rinascimento delle lettere provenzali, Concordia_. + Novara, 1892. + + +_Spain_ + +TUBINO, _Historia del renacimiento literario contemporaneo en Cataluña, + Baleares y Valencia_. Madrid, 1881. + + +MISTRAL'S WORKS + +Mirèio. 1859. + +Calendau. Avignon, 1867. Paris, Lemerre, 1887. + +Lis Isclo d'Or. 1876. + +Nerto. Hachette, Paris, 1884. + +Lou Tresor dóu Fébrige. Aix, 1886. + +La Rèino Jano. Lemerre, Paris, 1890. + +Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose. Lemerre, Paris, 1897. + + +TRANSLATIONS OF MISTRAL'S WORKS + +H. GRANT, _An English Version of F. Mistral's Mirèio from the Original + Provençal_. London. + +HARRIETT PRESTON, _Mistral's Mirèio. A Provençal Poem Translated_. + Roberts Bros., Boston, 1872. Second edition, 1891. + +A. BERTUCH, _Der Trommler von Arcole_. Deutsche Dichtung, Dresden, 1890. + + _Nerto_. Trübner, Strassburg, 1890. + + _Mirèio_. Trübner, Strassburg, 1892. + + _Espouscado_. Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Litteratur, + XV2, p. 267. + +HENNION, _Mireille_. Traduction en vers français. + +E. RIGAUD, _Mireille_. Metrical translation into French, with the + original form of stanza. + +JAROSLAV VRCHLICHKY. Translation of several poems of Mistral into + Bohemian, under the title, _Z básni Mistralovych_, in the Review, + _Kvety_. Prague, 1886. + + _Hostem u Basniku_. Prague, 1891. Contains seven poems by Aubanel and + thirteen by Mistral. + +DOM SIGISMOND BOUSKA, _Le Tambour d'Arcole_, in the Review, _Lumir_. + Prague, 1893. + + Cantos IV and V of _Mirèio_, in the Review, _Vlast_. Prague, 1894. + +PELAY BOIZ, _Mirèio_, in Catalan. + +ROCA Y ROCA, _Calendau_. Lo Gay Saber, Barcelona, 1868. + +C. BARALLAT Y FALGUERA, _Mireya, poema provenzal de Frederico Mistral + puesto en prosa española_. + +MARIA LICER, _L'Angelo_ (Canto VI of _Nerto_). Italian. Iride, + Casal, 1889. + +A. NAUM, _Traduceri_. Jassy, 1891. (Translation into Rumanian of + Canto IV of _Mirèio_, _The Song of Magali_, and _The Drummer + of Arcole_.) + +T. CANNIZZARO, _La Venere d'Arli_, in _Vita Intima_. Milan, 1891. + +[Footnote 18: The present work was completed in manuscript before the +reception of Welter's book.] + + + + +INDEX + + +Aasen, Ivan, 94. +Alexandrine verse, 78, 89. +Alpilles, 11. +Amiradou, 76, 196. +Arène, Paul, 21, 234. +Ariosto, 20, 151. +Armana prouvençau, 17, 28. +Aubanel, Théodore, 15, 17, 21, 36, 88, 233. +Aucassin and Nicolette, 170. + +Balageur, Victor, 31, 32. +Bello d'Avoust, 184. +Berluc-Pérussis, 33. +Boileau, 102. +Bonaparte-Wyse, 31, 33. +Bornier, Henri de, 33. +Bréal, Michel, 34, 72. +Brunet, Jean, 16. +Brunetière, 79, 249. +Byron, 250. + +Calendau, 18, 79, 127. +Capoulié, 19, 35, 36. +Catalans, 31. +Cigale. Société de la, 20, 33. +Countess, the, 199. +Cup, 31, 32, 190. + +Dante, 40, 73, 130, 133, 160, 248. +Darmesteter, 41. +Daudet, 9, 21, 69, 152, 240 _seq._ +Dictionary of the Provençal language, 20, 92. +Drac, 165 _seq._ +Drummer of Arcole, 78, 204. + +Espouscado, 194. +Evangeline, 122. + +Faust, 248. +Félibre, 5, 27. +Félibrige, 24 _seq._ +Félibrige de Paris, 16, 20, 33. +Félibrige, foundation of, 15. +Félibrige organized, 19, 34. +Fin dón Meissounié, 186. +Floral games, 20, 32, 35. +Font-Ségugne, 17. +Fourès Auguste, 37. + +Garcin, Eugène, 15. +Giéra, Paul, 15. +Goethe, 123. +Gounod, 18. +Gras, Félix, 36, 37, 38. +Grévy, 20. + +Homer, 13, 123. +Hugo, Victor, 79, 138, 181, 203. + +Isclo d'Or, 19, 181. + +Janvier, Mrs. Thomas A., 38. +Jasmin, 6, 14, 29, 43, 73, 193. +Jeanroy, 27. +Jourdanne, 24, 37. + +Koschwitz, 49. + +Lamartine, 17, 29, 103, 130, 181, 182, 183, 204. +Landor, Walter Savage, 213, 214. +Latin race, 30, 191, 193. +Legouvé, 20. +Lemaître, Jules, 232. +Leopardi, 250. +Lintilhac, Eugène, 72. +Littré, 94. +Longfellow, 6. + +Maillane, 10, 12. +Marot, 81. +Mary, Queen of Scots, 213, 217. +Mas, 11. +Mathieu, Anselme, 13, 16, 21, 26. +Meissoun, 14. +Meyer, Paul, 33. +Mila y Fontanals, 34. +Mirabeau, 131, 243. +Mirèio, 12, 17, 28, 79, 99. +Mistral's marriage, 19. +Mistral's Memoirs, 21. +Mont-Ventoux, 148. +Museum of Arles, 21. +Musset, 181. + +Napoleon, 164. +Nerto, 20, 151. +Noulet, 43. + +Paris, Gaston, 34, 69,115. +Petrarch, 18, 19, 33, 34, 36, 73, 148, 220. +Poem of the Rhone, 21, 76, 89, 159. +Political separatism, 15. +Prègo-Diéu 84, 204, 205 _seq._, 239. +Provençal language, 43, 191 _seq._ +Psalm of Penitence, 84, 182, 200 _seq._, 239, 253. + +Queens of the Félibrige, 36. + +Rèino Jano, 21, 89, 212. +Rock of Sisyphus, 193, 208. +Ronsard, 211. +Roumanille, 7, 9, 14, 15, 17, 21, 26, 30, 36, 70. + +Saboly, 6. +Sainte-Beuve, 6. +Saint-Rémy, 7, 10. +Simon de Montfort, 37. +Songs, 189. +Sonnets of Mistral, 86. + +Tartarin, 69, 230, 240. +Tavan, Alphonse, 15, +Translation, 87, 89, 178, 247. +Tresor dón Felibrige, 20, 92. +Troubadours, 40, 44, 87, 112, 132, 147, 225, 251. + +Versification, 75. +Villemain, 29. +Virgil, 13. +Voltaire, 221. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Frédéric Mistral, by Charles Alfred Downer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL *** + +***** This file should be named 17293-8.txt or 17293-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/9/17293/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Taavi +Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Frédéric Mistral + Poet and Leader in Provence + +Author: Charles Alfred Downer + +Release Date: December 12, 2005 [EBook #17293] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Taavi +Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"> + <img src="images/01.jpg" + alt="FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL" + title="FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL" /><br /> + <span class="caption">FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h4>Columbia University</h4> + +<h4><i>STUDIES IN ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LITERATURE</i></h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL</h1> + +<h2>POET AND LEADER IN PROVENCE</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>CHARLES ALFRED DOWNER</h2> + +<h4>ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE COLLEGE +OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK</h4> + +<p> </p> + +<h5> +NEW YORK<br /> +THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS<br /> +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, AGENTS<br /> +66 FIFTH AVENUE<br /> +1901<br /> +</h5> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h5><i>All rights reserved</i></h5> + + +<h5> +COPYRIGHT, 1901,<br /> +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.<br /> +</h5> + +<h5> +Norwood Press<br /> +J.S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith<br /> +Norwood Mass. U.S.A.<br /> +</h5> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagev" name="pagev"></a>Pg v</span></p> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>This study of the poetry and life-work of the leader of the modern +Provençal renaissance was submitted in partial fulfilment of the +requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Columbia +University. My interest in Mistral was first awakened by an article from +the pen of the great Romance philologist, Gaston Paris, which appeared +in the <i>Revue de Paris</i> in October, 1894. The idea of writing the book +came to me during a visit to Provence in 1897. Two years later I visited +the south of France again, and had the pleasure of seeing Mistral in his +own home. It is my pleasant duty to express here once again my gratitude +for his kindly hospitality and for his suggestions in regard to works +upon the history of the Félibrige. Not often does he who studies the +works of a poet in a foreign tongue enjoy as I did the privilege of +hearing the verse from the poet's own lips. It was an hour not to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevi" name="pagevi"></a>Pg vi</span> +forgotten, and the beauty of the language has been for me since then as +real as that of music finely rendered, and the force of the poet's +personality was impressed upon me as it scarcely could have been even +from a most sympathetic and searching perusal of his works. His great +influence in southern France and his great personal popularity are not +difficult to understand when one has seen the man.</p> + +<p>As the striking fact in the works of this Frenchman is that they are not +written in French, but in Provençal, a considerable portion of the +present essay is devoted to the language itself. But it did not appear +fitting that too much space should be devoted to the purely linguistic +side of the subject. There is a field here for a great deal of special +study, and the results of such investigations will be embodied in +special works by those who make philological studies their special +province. In the first division of the present work, however, along with +the life of the poet and the history of the Félibrige, a description of +the language is given, which is an account at least of its distinctive +features. A short chapter will be found devoted to the subject of the +versifica<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevii" name="pagevii"></a>Pg vii</span>tion of the poets who write in the new speech. This subject is +not treated in Koschwitz's admirable grammar of the language.</p> + +<p>The second division is devoted to the poems. The epics of Mistral, if we +may venture to use the term, are, with the exception of Lamartine's +<i>Jocelyn</i>, the most remarkable long narrative poems that have been +produced in France in modern times. At least one of them would appear to +be a work of the highest rank and destined to live. Among the short +poems that constitute the volume called <i>Lis Isclo d'Or</i> are a number of +masterpieces.</p> + +<p>This book aims to present all the essential facts in the history of this +astonishing revival of a language, and to bring out the chief aspects of +Mistral's life-work. In our conclusions we have not yielded to the +temptation to prophesy. The conflicting tendencies of cosmopolitanism +and nationalism abroad in the world to-day give rise to fascinating +speculations as to the future. In the Felibrean movement we have a very +interesting problem of this kind, and no one can terminate a study of +the subject without asking himself the question, "What is going to come +out of it all?" No one can tell, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="pageviii" name="pageviii"></a>Pg viii</span> so we have not ventured beyond the +attempt to present the case as it actually exists.</p> + +<p>Let me here also offer an expression of gratitude to Professor Adolphe +Cohn and to Professor Henry A. Todd of Columbia University for their +advice and guidance during the past six years. Their kindness and the +inspiration of their example must be reckoned among those things that +cannot be repaid.</p> + +<p>NEW YORK, March, 1901.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageix" name="pageix"></a>Pg ix</span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="Contents"> + <tr> + <td>CHAPTER</td><td> </td><td></td><td>PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td>PREFACE</td><td align="right"><a href="#pagev">v</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td>CONTENTS</td><td align="right"><a href="#pageix">ix</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td align="center"><b>PART FIRST</b></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td align="center"><b>THE REVIVAL OF THE PROVEÇAL LANGUAGE</b></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right">I.</td><td></td><td>Introduction. Life of Mistral</td><td align="right"><a href="#page3">3</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right">II.</td><td></td><td>The Félibrige</td><td align="right"><a href="#page24">24</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right">III.</td><td></td><td>The Modern Provençal, or, more accurately, The Language of the Félibres</td><td align="right"><a href="#page43">43</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right">IV.</td><td></td><td>The Versification of the Félibres</td><td align="right"><a href="#page75">75</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right">V.</td><td></td><td>Mistral's Dictionary of the Provençal Language. (Lou Tresor dóu Félibrige)</td><td align="right"><a href="#page92">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td align="center"><b>PART SECOND</b></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td align="center"><b>THE POETICAL WORKS OF MISTRAL</b></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right">I.</td><td></td><td>The Four Longer Poems</td><td align="right"><a href="#page99">99</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">1. Mirèio</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page99">99</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">2. Calendau</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page127">127</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">3. Nerto</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page151">151</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">4. Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page159">159</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right">II.</td><td></td><td>Lis Isclo d'Or</td><td align="right"><a href="#page181">181</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right">III.</td><td></td><td>The Tragedy, La Rèino Jano</td><td align="right"><a href="#page212">212</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagex" name="pagex"></a>Pg x</span></td><td></td><td align="center"><b>PART THIRD</b></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td>CONCLUSIONS</td><td align="right"><a href="#page237">237</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td>APPENDIX. Translation of the Psalm of Penitence</td><td align="right"><a href="#page253">253</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td>BIBLIOGRAPHY</td><td align="right"><a href="#page259">259</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td><td></td><td>INDEX</td><td align="right"><a href="#page265">265</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PART FIRST</h2> + + +<h2>THE REVIVAL OF THE PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page3" name="page3"></a>Pg 3</span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3> + + +<p>The present century has witnessed a remarkable literary phenomenon in +the south of France, a remarkable rebirth of local patriotism. A +language has been born again, so to speak, and once more, after a sleep +of many hundred years, the sunny land that was the cradle of modern +literature, offers us a new efflorescence of poetry, embodied in the +musical tongue that never has ceased to be spoken on the soil where the +Troubadours sang of love. Those who began this movement knew not whither +they were tending. From small beginnings, out of a kindly desire to give +the humbler folk a simple, homely literature in the language of their +firesides, there grew a higher ambition. The Provençal language put +forth claims to exist coequally with the French tongue on<span class="pagenum"><a id="page4" name="page4"></a>Pg 4</span> French soil. +Memories of the former glories of the southern regions of France began +to stir within the hearts of the modern poets and leaders. They began to +chafe under the strong political and intellectual centralization that +prevails in France, and to seek to bring about a change. The movement +has passed through numerous phases, has been frequently misinterpreted +and misunderstood, and may now, after it has attained to tangible +results, be defined as an aim, on the part of its leaders, to make the +south intellectually independent of Paris. It is an attempt to restore +among the people of the Rhone region a love of their ancient customs, +language, and traditions, an effort to raise a sort of dam against the +flood of modern tendencies that threaten to overwhelm local life. These +men seek to avoid that dead level of uniformity to which the national +life of France appears to them in danger of sinking. In the earlier +days, the leaders of this movement were often accused at Paris of a +spirit of political separatism; they were actually mistrusted as +secessionists, and certain it is that among them have been several +champions of the idea of decentraliza<span class="pagenum"><a id="page5" name="page5"></a>Pg 5</span>tion. To-day there are found in +their ranks a few who advocate the federal idea in the political +organization of France. However, there seems never to have been a time +when the movement promised seriously to bring about practical political +changes; and whatever political significance it may have to-day goes no +farther than what may be contained in germ in the effort at an intense +local life.</p> + +<p>The land of the Troubadours is now the land of the Félibres; these +modern singers do not forget, nor will they allow the people of the +south to forget, that the union of France with Provence was that of an +equal with an equal, not of a principal with a subordinate. Patriots +they are, however, ardent lovers of France, and proofs of their strong +affection for their country are not wanting. To-day, amid all their +activity and demonstrations in behalf of what they often call "<i>la +petite patrie</i>," no enemies or doubters are found to question their +loyalty to the greater fatherland.</p> + +<p>The movement began in the revival of the Provençal language, and was at +first a very modest attempt to make it serve merely better purposes than +it had done after the eclipse that<span class="pagenum"><a id="page6" name="page6"></a>Pg 6</span> followed the Albigensian war. For a +long time the linguistic and literary aspect of all this activity was +the only one that attracted any attention in the rest of France or in +Provence itself. Not that the Provençal language had ever quite died out +even as a written language. Since the days of the Troubadours there had +been a continuous succession of writers in the various dialects of +southern France, but very few of them were men of power and talent. +Among the immediate predecessors of the Félibres must be mentioned +Saboly, whose <i>Noëls</i>, or Christmas songs, are to-day known all over the +region, and Jasmin, who, however, wrote in a different dialect. Jasmin's +fame extended far beyond the limited audience for which he wrote; his +work came to the attention of the cultured through the enthusiastic +praise of Sainte-Beuve, and he is to-day very widely known. The +English-speaking world became acquainted with him chiefly through the +translations of Longfellow. Jasmin, however, looked upon himself as the +last of a line, and when, in his later years, he heard of the growing +fame of the new poets of the Rhone country, it is said he looked upon +them with disfavor, if not jealousy.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page7" name="page7"></a>Pg 7</span> Strange to say, he was, in the +early days, unknown to those whose works, like his, have now attained +well-nigh world-wide celebrity.</p> + +<p>The man who must justly be looked upon as the father of the present +movement was Joseph Roumanille. He was born in 1818, in the little town +of Saint-Rémy, a quaint old place, proud of some remarkable Roman +remains, situated to the south of Avignon. Roumanille was far from +foreseeing the consequences of the impulse he had given in arousing +interest in the old dialect, and, until he beheld the astonishing +successes of Mistral, strongly disapproved the ambitions of a number of +his fellow-poets to seek an audience for their productions outside of +the immediate region. He had no more ambitious aim than to raise the +patois of Saint-Rémy out of the veritable mire into which it had sunk; +it pained him to see that the speech of his fireside was never used in +writing except for trifles and obscenities. Of him is told the touching +story that one day, while reciting in his home before a company of +friends some poems in French that he had written, he observed tears in +his mother's eyes. She could not understand the poetry his friends so +much admired. Rou<span class="pagenum"><a id="page8" name="page8"></a>Pg 8</span>manille, much moved, resolved to write no verses that +his mother could not enjoy, and henceforth devoted himself ardently to +the task of purifying and perfecting the dialect of Saint-Rémy. It has +been said, no less truthfully than poetically, that from a mother's tear +was born the new Provençal poetry, destined to so splendid a career.</p> + +<p>We of the English-speaking race are apt to wonder at this love of a +local dialect. This vigorous attempt to create a first-rate literature, +alongside and independent of the national literature, seems strange or +unnatural. We are accustomed to one language, spoken over immense areas, +and we rejoice to see it grow and spread, more and more perfectly +unified. With all their local color, in spite of their expression of +provincial or colonial life, the writings of a Kipling are read and +enjoyed wherever the English language has penetrated. In Italy we find +patriots and writers working with utmost energy to bring into being a +really national language. Nearly all the governments of Europe seek to +impose the language of the capital upon the schools. Unification of +language seems a most desirable thing, and, superficially consid<span class="pagenum"><a id="page9" name="page9"></a>Pg 9</span>ered, +the tendency would appear to be in that direction. But the truth is that +there exists all over Europe a war of tongues. The Welsh, the Basques, +the Norwegians, the Bohemians, the Finns, the Hungarians, are of one +mind with Daudet and Mistral, who both express the sentiment, "He who +holds to his language, holds the key of his prison."</p> + +<p>So Roumanille loved and cherished the melodious speech of the Rhone +valley. He hoped to see the <i>langue d'oc</i> saved from destruction, he +strove against the invasion of the northern speech that threatened to +overwhelm it. He wrote sweet verses and preached the gospel of the +home-speech. One day he discovered a boy whom he calls "l'enfant +sublime," and the pupil soon carried his dreams to a realization far +beyond his fondest hopes. Not Roumanille, but Frédéric Mistral has made +the new Provençal literature what it is. In him were combined all the +qualities, all the powers requisite for the task, and the task grew with +time. It became more than a question of language. Mistral soon came to +seek not only the creation of an independent literature, he aimed at +nothing less than a complete revolution, or rather a com<span class="pagenum"><a id="page10" name="page10"></a>Pg 10</span>plete rebirth, +of the mental life of southern France. Provence was to save her +individuality entire. Geographically at the central point of the lands +inhabited by the so-called Latin races, she was to regain her ancient +prominence, and cause the eyes of her sisters to turn her way once more +with admiration and affection. The patois of Saint-Rémy has been +developed and expanded into a beautiful literary language. The inertia +of the Provençals themselves has been overcome. There is undoubtedly a +new intellectual life in the Rhone valley, and the fame of the Félibres +and their great work has gone abroad into distant lands.</p> + +<p>The purpose, then, of the present dissertation, will be to give an +account of the language of the Félibres, and to examine critically the +literary work of their acknowledged chief and guiding spirit, Frédéric +Mistral.</p> + +<p>The story of his life he himself has told most admirably in the preface +to the first edition of <i>Lis Isclo d'Or</i>, published at Avignon in 1874. +He was born in 1830, on the 8th day of September, at Maillane. Maillane +is a village, near Saint-Rémy, situated in the centre of a broad<span class="pagenum"><a id="page11" name="page11"></a>Pg 11</span> plain +that lies at the foot of the Alpilles, the westernmost rocky heights of +the Alps. Here the poet is still living, and here he has passed his life +almost uninterruptedly. His father's home was a little way out of the +village, and the boy was brought up at the <i>mas</i>,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> amid farm-hands and +shepherds. His father had married a second time at the age of +fifty-five, and our poet was the only child of this second marriage.</p> + +<p>The story of the first meeting of his parents is thus told by the +poet:—</p> + +<p>"One year, on St. John's day, Maître François Mistral was in the midst +of his wheat, which a company of harvesters were reaping. A throng of +young girls, gleaning, followed the reapers and raked up the ears that +fell. Maître François (Mèste Francés in Provençal), my father, noticed a +beautiful girl that remained behind as if she were ashamed to glean like +the others. He drew near and said to her:—</p> + +<p>"'My child, whose daughter are you? What is your name?'</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page12" name="page12"></a>Pg 12</span></p> + +<p>"The young girl replied, 'I am the daughter of Etienne Poulinet, Maire +of Maillane. My name is Délaïde.'</p> + +<p>"'What! the daughter of the Maire of Maillane gleaning!'</p> + +<p>"'Maître,' she replied, 'our family is large, six girls and two boys, +and although our father is pretty well to do, as you know, when we ask +him for money to dress with, he answers, "Girls, if you want finery, +earn it!" And that is why I came to glean.'</p> + +<p>"Six months after this meeting, which reminds one of the ancient scene +of Ruth and Boaz, Maître François asked Maître Poulinet for the hand of +Délaïde, and I was born of that marriage."</p> + +<p>His father's lands were extensive, and a great number of men were +required to work them. The poem, <i>Mirèio</i>, is filled with pictures of +the sort of life led in the country of Maillane. Of his father he says +that he towered above them all, in stature, in wisdom, and in nobleness +of bearing. He was a handsome old man, dignified in language, firm in +command, kind to the poor about him, austere with himself alone. The +same may be said of the poet to-day. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="page13" name="page13"></a>Pg 13</span> is a strikingly handsome man, +vigorous and active, exceedingly gracious and simple in manner. His +utter lack of affectation is the more remarkable, in view of the fact +that he has been for years an object of adulation, and lives in constant +and close contact with a population of peasants.</p> + +<p>His schooling began at the age of nine, but the boy played truant so +frequently that he was sent to boarding-school in Avignon. Here he had a +sad time of it, and seems especially to have felt the difference of +language. Teachers and pupils alike made fun of his patois, for which he +had a strong attachment, because of the charm of the songs his mother +sung to him. Later he studied well, however, and became filled with a +love of Virgil and Homer. In them he found pictures of life that +recalled vividly the labors, the ways, and the ideas of the Maillanais. +At this time, too, he attempted a translation, in Provençal, of the +first eclogue of Virgil, and confided his efforts to a school-mate, +Anselme Mathieu, who became his life-long friend and one of the most +active among the Félibres.</p> + +<p>It was at this school, in 1845, that he formed<span class="pagenum"><a id="page14" name="page14"></a>Pg 14</span> his friendship with +Roumanille, who had come there as a teacher. It is not too much to say +that the revival of the Provençal language grew out of this meeting. +Roumanille had already written his poems, <i>Li Margarideto</i> (The +Daisies). "Scarcely had he shown me," says Mistral, "in their +spring-time freshness, these lovely field-flowers, when a thrill ran +through my being and I exclaimed, 'This is the dawn my soul awaited to +awaken to the light!'" Mistral had read some Provençal, but at that time +the dialect was employed merely in derision; the writers used the speech +itself as the chief comic element in their productions. The poems of +Jasmin were as yet unknown to him. Roumanille was the first in the Rhone +country to sing the poetry of the heart. Master and pupil became firm +friends and worked together for years to raise the home-speech to the +dignity of a literary language.</p> + +<p>At seventeen Mistral returned home, and began a poem in four cantos, +that he has never published; though portions of it are among the poems +of <i>Lis Isclo d'Or</i> and in the notes of <i>Mirèio</i>. This poem is called +<i>Li Meissoun</i> (Harvest). His family, seeing his intellectual +supe<span class="pagenum"><a id="page15" name="page15"></a>Pg 15</span>riority, sent him to Aix to study law. Here he again met Mathieu, +and they made up for the aridity of the Civil Code by devoting +themselves to poetry in Provençal.</p> + +<p>In 1851 the young man returned to the <i>mas</i>, a <i>licencié en droit</i>, and +his father said to him: "Now, my dear son, I have done my duty; you know +more than ever I learned. Choose your career; I leave you free." And the +poet tells us he threw his lawyer's gown to the winds and gave himself +up to the contemplation of what he so loved,—the splendor of his native +Provence.</p> + +<p>Through Roumanille he came to know Aubanel, Croustillat, and others. +They met at Avignon, full of youthful enthusiasm, and during this period +Mistral, encouraged by his friends, worked upon his greatest poem, +<i>Mirèio</i>. In 1854, on the 21st of May, the Félibrige was founded by the +seven poets,—Joseph Roumanille, Paul Giéra, Théodore Aubanel, Eugène +Garcin, Anselme Mathieu, Frédéric Mistral, Alphonse Tavan. In 1868, +Garcin published a violent attack upon the Félibres, accusing them, in +the strongest language, of seeking to bring about a political separation +of southern France from the rest of the country. This<span class="pagenum"><a id="page16" name="page16"></a>Pg 16</span> apostasy was a +cause of great grief to the others, and Garcin's name was stricken from +the official list of the founders of the Félibrige, and replaced by that +of Jean Brunet. Mistral, in the sixth canto of <i>Mirèio</i>, addresses in +eloquent verse his comrades in the Provençal Pléiade, and there we still +find the name of Garcin.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Tù' nfin, de quau un vènt de flamo<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ventoulo, emporto e fouito l'amo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Garcin, o fiéu ardènt dóu manescau d'Alen!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(And finally, thou whose soul is stirred and swept and whipped by a +wind of flame, Garcin, ardent son of the smith of Alleins.)</p></div> + +<p>This attack upon the Félibrige was the first of the kind ever made. Many +years later, Garcin became reconciled to his former friends and in 1897 +he was vice-president of the <i>Félibrige de Paris</i>.</p> + +<p>The number seven and the task undertaken by these poets and literary +reformers remind us instantly of the Pléiade, whose work in the +sixteenth century in attempting to perfect the French language was of a +very similar character. It is certain, however, that the seven<span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>Pg 17</span> poets +who inaugurated their work at the Château of Font-Ségugne, had no +thought of imitating the Pléiade either in the choice of the number +seven or in the reformation they were about to undertake.</p> + +<p>They began their propaganda by founding an annual publication called the +<i>Armana Prouvençau</i>, which has appeared regularly since 1855, and many +of their writings were first printed in this official magazine. Of the +seven, Aubanel alone besides Mistral has attained celebrity as a poet, +and these two with Roumanille have been usually associated in the minds +of all who have followed the movement with interest as its three +leaders.</p> + +<p>Mistral completed <i>Mirèio</i> in 1859. The poem was presented by Adolphe +Dumas and Jean Reboul to Lamartine, who devoted to it one of the +"Entretiens" of his <i>Cours familier de littérature</i>. This article of +Lamartine, and his personal efforts on behalf of Mistral, contributed +greatly to the success of the poem. Lamartine wrote among other things: +"A great epic poet is born! A true Homeric poet in our own time; a poet, +born like the men of Deucalion, from a stone on the Crau, a primi<span class="pagenum"><a id="page18" name="page18"></a>Pg 18</span>tive +poet in our decadent age; a Greek poet at Avignon; a poet who has +created a language out of a dialect, as Petrarch created Italian; one +who, out of a vulgar <i>patois</i>, has made a language full of imagery and +harmony delighting the imagination and the ear.... We might say that, +during the night, an island of the Archipelago, a floating Delos, has +parted from its group of Greek or Ionian islands and come silently to +join the mainland of sweet-scented Provence, bringing along one of the +divine singers of the family of the Melesigenes."</p> + +<p>Mistral went to Paris, where for a time he was the lion of the literary +world. The French Academy crowned his poem, and Gounod composed the +opera Mireille, which was performed for the first time in 1864, in +Paris.</p> + +<p>The poet did not remain long in the capital. He doubtless realized that +he was not destined to join the galaxy of Parisian writers, and it is +certain that if he had remained there his life and his influence would +have been utterly different. He returned home and immediately set to +work upon a second epic; in another seven years he completed <i>Calendau</i>, +published<span class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>Pg 19</span> in Avignon in 1866. The success of this poem was decidedly +less than that of <i>Mirèio</i>.</p> + +<p>During these years he published many of the shorter poems that appeared +in one volume in 1875, under the title of <i>Lis Isclo d'Or</i> (The Golden +Islands). Meanwhile the idea of the Félibrige made great progress. The +language of the Félibres had now a fixed orthography and definite +grammatical form. The appearance of a master-work had given a wonderful +impulse. The exuberance of the southern temperament responded quickly to +the call for a manifestation of patriotic enthusiasm. The Catalan poets +joined their brothers beyond the Pyrenees. The Floral games were +founded. The Félibrige passed westward beyond the Rhone and found +adherents in all south France. The centenary of Petrarch celebrated at +Avignon in 1874 tended to emphasize the importance and the glory of the +new literature.</p> + +<p>The definite organization of the Félibrige into a great society with its +hierarchy of officers took place in 1876, with Mistral as <i>Capoulié</i> +(Chief or President). In this same year also the poet married Mdlle. +Marie Rivière of Dijon, and this lady, who was named first Queen of the +Félibrige<span class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name="page20"></a>Pg 20</span> by Albert de Quintana of Catalonia, the poet-laureate of the +year 1878 at the great Floral Games held in Montpellier, has become at +heart and in speech a Provençale.</p> + +<p>A third poem, <i>Nerto</i>, appeared in 1884, and showed the poet in a new +light; his admirers now compared him to Ariosto. This same year he made +a second journey to Paris, and was again the lion of the hour. The +<i>Société de la Cigale</i>, which had been founded in 1876, as a Paris +branch of the Félibrige, and which later became the <i>Société des +Félibres de Paris</i>, organized banquets and festivities in his honor, and +celebrated the Floral Games at Sceaux to commemorate the four hundredth +anniversary of the day when Provence became united, of her own +free-will, with France. Mistral was received with distinction by +President Grévy and by the Count of Paris, and his numerous Parisian +friends vied in bidding him welcome to the capital. His new poem was +crowned by the French Academy, receiving the Prix Vitet, the +presentation address being delivered by Legouvé. Four years later, <i>Lou +Tresor dóu Felibrige</i>, a great dictionary of all the dialects of the +<i>langue d'oc</i>, was completed, and in 1890 appeared his<span class="pagenum"><a id="page21" name="page21"></a>Pg 21</span> only dramatic +work, <i>La Rèino Jano</i> (Queen Joanna). In 1897 he produced his last long +poem, epic in form, <i>Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose</i> (the Poem of the Rhone). At +present he is engaged upon his <i>Memoirs</i>.</p> + +<p>Aside from his rare journeys to Paris, a visit to Switzerland, and +another to Italy, Mistral has rarely gone beyond the borders of his +beloved region. He is still living quietly in the little village of +Maillane, in a simple but beautiful home, surrounded with works of art +inspired by the Felibrean movement. He has survived many of his +distinguished friends. Roumanille, Mathieu, Aubanel, Daudet, and Paul +Arène have all passed away; a new generation is about him. But his +activity knows no rest. The Felibrean festivities continue, the numerous +publications in the Provençal tongue still have in him a constant +contributor. In 1899 the Museon Arlaten (the Museum of Aries) was +inaugurated, and is another proof of the constant energy and enthusiasm +of the poet. He is to-day the greatest man in the south of France, +universally beloved and revered.</p> + +<p>His life after all has been less a literary life<span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>Pg 22</span> than one of direct and +unceasing personal action upon the population about him. The +resurrection of the language, the publication of poems, magazines, and +newspapers, are only part of a programme tending to raise the people of +the south to a conception of their individuality as a race. He has +striven untiringly to communicate to them his own glowing enthusiasm for +the past glories of Provence, to fire them with his dream of a great +rebirth of the Latin races, to lay the foundation of a great ideal Latin +union. Wonderful is his optimism. Some of the Félibres about him are +somewhat discouraged, many of them have never set their aspirations as +high as he has done, and some look upon his dreams as Utopian. Whatever +be the future of the movement he has founded, Mistral's life in its +simple oneness, and in its astonishing success, is indeed most +remarkable. Provence, the land that first gave the world a literature +after the decay of the classic tongues, has awakened again under his +magic touch to an active mental life. A second literature is in active +being on the soil of France, a second literary language is there a +reality. Whether permanent or evanescent, this glorification of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name="page23"></a>Pg 23</span> poetry, +this ardent love of the beautiful and the ideal, is a noble and +inspiring spectacle amid the turmoil and strife of this age of material +progress.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name="page24"></a>Pg 24</span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE FÉLIBRIGE</h3> + + +<p>The history of the Félibrige, from its beginning, in 1854, down to the +year 1896, has been admirably written by G. Jourdanne.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> The work is +quite exhaustive, containing, in addition to the excellently written +narrative, an engraving of the famous cup, portraits of all the most +noted Félibres, a series of elaborately written notes that discuss or +set forth many questions relating to the general theme, a very large +bibliography of the subject, comprising long lists of works that have +been written in the dialect or that have appeared in France and in other +countries concerning the Félibres, a copy of the constitution of the +society and of various statutes relating to it. It not only<span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name="page25"></a>Pg 25</span> contains +all the material that is necessary for the study of the Félibrige, but +it is worthy of the highest praise for the spirit in which it is +written. It is an honest attempt to explain the Félibrige, and to +present fairly and fully all the problems that so remarkable a movement +has created. A perusal of the book makes it evident that the author +believes in future political consequences, and while well aware that it +is unsafe to prophesy, he has a chapter on the future of the movement.</p> + +<p>His history endeavors to show that the Felibrean renaissance was not a +spontaneous springing into existence. On the purely literary side, +however, it certainly bears the character of a creation; as writers, the +Provençal poets may scarcely be said to continue any preceding school or +to be closely linked with any literary past. In its inception it was a +mere attempt to write pleasing, popular verse of a better kind in the +dialect of the fireside. But the movement developed rapidly into the +ambition to endow the whole region with a real literature, to awaken a +consciousness of <i>race</i> in the men of the south; these aims have been +realized, and a change has come over the life of Provence and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page26" name="page26"></a>Pg 26</span> the land +of the <i>langue d'oc</i> in general. The author believes and adduces +evidences to show that all this could not have come about had the seed +not fallen upon a soil that was ready.</p> + +<p>The Félibrige dates from the year 1854, but the idea that lies at the +bottom of it must be traced back to the determination of Roumanille to +write in Provençal rather than in French. He produced his <i>Margarideto</i> +in 1847 and the <i>Sounjarello</i> in 1851. In collaboration with Mistral and +Anselme Mathieu, he edited a collection of poems by living writers under +the title <i>Li Prouvençalo</i>. During these years, too, there were meetings +of Provençal writers for the purpose of discussing questions of grammar +and spelling. These meetings, including even the historic one of May 21, +1854, were, however, really little more than friendly, social +gatherings, where a number of enthusiastic friends sang songs and made +merry. They had none of the solemnity of a conclave, or the dignity of +literary assemblies. There was no formal organization. Those writers who +were zealously interested in the rehabilitation of the Provençal speech +and connected themselves with Mistral and his friends were the +Féli<span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27"></a>Pg 27</span>bres. Not until 1876 was there a Félibrige with a formal +constitution and an elaborate organization.</p> + +<p>The word <i>Félibre</i> was furnished by Mistral, who had come upon it in an +old hymn wherein occurs the expression that the Virgin met Jesus in the +temple among "the seven Félibres of the law." The origin and etymology +of this word have given rise to various explanations. The Greek +<i>philabros</i>, lover of the beautiful; <i>philebraios</i>, lover of Hebrew, +hence, among the Jews, teacher; <i>felibris</i>, nursling, according to +Ducange; the Irish <i>filea</i>, bard, and <i>ber</i>, chief, have been proposed. +Jeanroy (in <i>Romania</i>, XIII, p. 463) offers the etymology: Spanish +<i>feligres, filii Ecclesiæ</i>, sons of the church, parishioners. None of +these is certain.</p> + +<p>Seven poets were present at this first meeting, and as the day happened +to be that of St. Estelle, the emblem of a seven-pointed star was +adopted. Very fond of the number seven are these Félibres; they tell you +of the seven chief churches of Avignon, its seven gates, seven colleges, +seven hospitals, seven popes who were there seventy years; the word +<i>Félibre</i> has seven letters, so has Mistral's name,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>Pg 28</span> and he spent seven +years in writing each of his epics.</p> + +<p>The task that lay before these poets was twofold: they had not only to +prune and purify their dialect and produce verses, they had also to find +readers, to create a public, to begin a propaganda. The first means +adopted was the publication of the <i>Armana prouvençau</i>, already referred +to. In 1855, five hundred copies were issued, in 1894, twelve thousand. +For four years this magazine was destined for Provence alone; in 1860, +after the appearance of <i>Mirèio</i>, it was addressed to all the dwellers +in southern France. The great success of <i>Mirèio</i> began a new period in +the history of the Félibrige. Mistral himself and the poets about him +now took an entirely new view of their mission. The uplifting of the +people, the creation of a literature that should be admired abroad as +well as at home, the complete expression of the life of Provence, in all +its aspects, past and present, escape from the implacable centralization +that tends to destroy all initiative and originality—such were the +higher aims toward which they now bent their efforts. The attention of +Paris was turned in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page29" name="page29"></a>Pg 29</span> their direction. Jasmin had already shown the +Parisians that real poetry of a high order could be written in a patois. +Lamartine and Villemain welcomed the new literature most cordially, and +the latter declared that "France is rich enough to have two +literatures."</p> + +<p>But the student of this history must not lose sight of the fact that the +Provençal poets are not first of all littérateurs; they are not men +devoting themselves to literature for a livelihood, or even primarily +for fame. They are patriots before they are poets. The choice of +subjects and the intense love of their native land that breathes through +all their writings, are ample proof of this. They meet to sing songs and +to speak; it is always of Provence that they sing and speak. Almost all +of them are men who ply some trade, hardly one lives by his pen alone. +This fact gives a very special character to their whole production. The +Felibrean movement is more than an astonishing literary phenomenon.</p> + +<p>The idea from this time on acquired more and more adherents. Scores of +writers appeared, and volumes whose titles filled many pages swelled the +output of Provençal verse.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" name="page30"></a>Pg 30</span> These new aims were due to the success of +<i>Mirèio</i>; but it must not be forgotten that Mistral himself, in that +poem and in the shorter poems of the same period, gave distinct +expression to the new order of ideas, so that we are constantly led back +to him, in all our study of the matter, as the creator, the continuer, +and the ever present inspirer of the Félibrige. Whatever it is, it is +through him primarily. Roumanille must be classed as one of those +precursors who are unconscious of what they do. To him the Félibres owe +two things: first of all, the idea of writing in the dialect works of +literary merit; and, secondly, the discovery of Frédéric Mistral.</p> + +<p>Among these new ideas, one that dominates henceforth in the story of the +Félibrige, is the idea of race. Mistral is well aware that there is no +Latin race, in the sense of blood relationship, of physical descent; he +knows that the so-called Latin race has, for the base of its unity, a +common history, a common tradition, a common religion, a common +language.</p> + +<p>But he believes that there is a <i>race méridionale</i> that has been +developed into a kind of unity out of the various elements that com<span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>Pg 31</span>pose +it, through their being mingled together, and accumulating during many +centuries common memories, ideas, customs, and interests. So Mistral has +devoted himself to promoting knowledge of its history, traditions, +language, and religion. As the Félibrige grew, and as Mistral felt his +power as a poet grow, he sought a larger public; he turned naturally to +the peoples most closely related to his own, and Italy and Spain were +embraced in his sympathies. The Félibrige spread beyond the limits of +France first into Spain. Victor Balaguer, exiled from his native +country, was received with open arms by the Provençals. William +Bonaparte-Wyse, an Irishman and a grand-nephew of the first Napoleon, +while on a journey through Provence, had become converted to the +Felibrean doctrines, and became an active spirit among these poets and +orators. He organized a festival in honor of Balaguer, and when, later, +the Catalan poet was permitted to return home, the Catalans sent the +famous cup to their friends in Provence. For the Félibres this cup is an +emblem of the idea of a Latin federation, and as it passes from hand to +hand and from lip to lip at the Felibrean<span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>Pg 32</span> banquets, the scene is not +unlike that wherein the Holy Graal passes about among the Knights of the +Round Table.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Celebrations of this kind have become a regular institution in southern +France. Since the day in 1862 when the town of Apt received the Félibres +officially, organizing Floral Games, in which prizes were offered for +the best poems in Provençal, the people have become accustomed to the +sight of these triumphal entries of the poets into their cities. Reports +of these brilliant festivities have gone abroad into all lands. If the +love of noise and show that characterizes the southern temperament has +caused these reunions to be somewhat unfavorably criticised as +theatrical, on the other hand the enthusiasm has been genuine, and the +results<span class="pagenum"><a id="page33" name="page33"></a>Pg 33</span> real and lasting. The <i>Félibrées</i>, so they are called, have not +all taken place in France. In 1868, Mistral, Rournieux, Bonaparte-Wyse, +and Paul Meyer went to Barcelona, where they were received with great +pomp and ceremony. Men eminent in literary and philological circles in +Paris have often accepted invitations to these festivities. In 1876, a +Felibrean club, "La Cigale," was founded in the capital; its first +president was Henri de Bornier, author of <i>La Fille de Roland</i>. +Professors and students of literature and philology in France and in +other countries began to interest themselves in the Félibres, and the +Félibrige to-day counts among its members men of science as well as men +of letters.</p> + +<p>In 1874 one of the most remarkable of the celebrations, due to the +initiative of M. de Berluc-Pérussis, was held at Vaucluse to celebrate +the fifth centenary of the death of Petrarch. At this <i>Félibrée</i> the +Italians first became affiliated to the <i>idea</i>, and the Italian +ambassador, Nigra, the president of the Accademia della Crusca, Signor +Conti, and Professor Minich, from the University of Padua, were the +delegates. The Institute of France was repre<span class="pagenum"><a id="page34" name="page34"></a>Pg 34</span>sented for the first time. +This celebration was highly important and significant, and the scenes of +Petrarch's inspirations and the memories of the founder of the +Renaissance must have awakened responsive echoes in the hearts of the +poets who aimed at a second rebirth of poetry and learning in the same +region.</p> + +<p>The following year the <i>Société des langues romanes</i> at Montpellier +offered prizes for philological as well as purely literary works, and +for the first time other dialects than the Provençal proper were +admitted in the competitions. The Languedocian, the Gascon, the +Limousin, the Béarnais, and the Catalan dialects were thus included. The +members of the jury were men of the greatest note, Gaston Paris, Michel +Bréal, Mila y Fontanals, being of their number.</p> + +<p>Finally, in 1876, on the 21st of May, the statutes of the Félibrige were +adopted. From them we quote the following:—</p> + +<p>"The Félibrige is established to bring together and encourage all those +who, by their works, preserve the language of the land of <i>oc</i>, as well +as the men of science and the artists who study and work in the interest +of this country."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page35" name="page35"></a>Pg 35</span></p> + +<p>"Political and religious discussions are forbidden in the Felibrean +meetings."</p> + +<p>The organization is interesting. The Félibres are divided into +<i>Majoraux</i> and <i>Mainteneurs</i>. The former are limited to fifty in number, +and form the Consistory, which elects its own members; new members are +received on the feast of St. Estelle.</p> + +<p>The Consistory is presided over by a Capoulié, who wears as the emblem +of his office a seven-pointed golden star, the other Majoraux, a golden +grasshopper.</p> + +<p>The other Félibres are unlimited in number. Any seven Félibres dwelling +in the same place may ask the Maintenance to form them into a school. +The schools administer their own affairs.</p> + +<p>Every seven years the Floral Games are held, at which prizes are +distributed; every year, on the feast of St. Estelle, a general meeting +of the Félibrige takes place. Each Maintenance must meet once a year.</p> + +<p>At the Floral Games he who is crowned poet-laureate chooses the Queen, +and she crowns him with a wreath of olive leaves.</p> + +<p>To-day there are three Maintenances within<span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" name="page36"></a>Pg 36</span> the limits of French soil, +Provence, Languedoc, Aquitaine.</p> + +<p>Among other facts that should doubtless be reported here is, the list of +Capouliés. They have been Mistral (1876-1888), Roumanille (1888-1891), +and Félix Gras; the Queens have been Madame Mistral, Mlle. Thérèse +Roumanille, Mlle. Marie Girard, and the Comtesse Marie-Thérèse de +Chevigné, who is descended upon her mother's side from Laura de Sade, +generally believed to be Petrarch's Laura.</p> + +<p>Since the organization went into effect the Félibrige has expanded in +many ways, its influence has continually grown, new questions have +arisen. Among these last have been burning questions of religion and +politics, for although discussions of them are banished from Felibrean +meetings, opinions of the most various kind exist among the Félibres, +have found expression, and have well-nigh resulted in difficulties. +Until 1876 these questions slept. Mistral is a Catholic, but has managed +to hold more or less aloof from political matters. Aubanel was a zealous +Catholic, and had the title by inheritance of Printer to his Holiness. +Roumanille was a Catholic, and an ardent Royalist. When the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page37" name="page37"></a>Pg 37</span> Félibrige +came to extend its limits over into Languedoc, the poet Auguste Fourès +and his fellows proclaimed a different doctrine, and called up memories +of the past with a different view. They affirmed their adherence to the +<i>Renaissance méridionale</i>, and claimed equal rights for the Languedocian +dialect. They asserted, however, that the true tradition was republican, +and protested vigorously against the clerical and monarchical parties, +which, in their opinion, had always been for Languedoc a cause of +disaster, servitude, and misery. The memory of the terrible crusade in +the thirteenth century inspired fiery poems among them. Hatred of Simon +de Montfort and of the invaders who followed him, free-thought, and +federalism found vigorous expression in all their productions. In +Provence, too, there have been opinions differing widely from those of +the original founders, and the third Capoulié, Félix Gras, was a +Protestant. Of him M. Jourdanne writes:—</p> + +<p>"Finally, in 1891, after the death of Roumanille, the highest office in +the Félibrige was taken by a man who could rally about him the two +elements that we have seen manifested,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38"></a>Pg 38</span> sufficiently Republican to +satisfy the most ardent in the extreme Left, sufficiently steady not to +alarm the Royalists, a great enough poet to deserve without any dispute +the first place in an assembly of poets."</p> + +<p>He, like Mistral, wrote epics in twelve cantos. His first work, <i>Li +Carbounié</i>, has on its title-page three remarkable lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I love my village more than thy village,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I love my Provence more than thy province,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I love France more than all."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Possibly no other three lines could express as well the whole spirit of +the Félibrige.</p> + +<p>Our subject being Mistral and not Félix Gras, a passing mention must +suffice. One of his remarkable works is called <i>Toloza</i>, and recounts +the crusade of the Albigenses, and his novel, <i>The Reds of the Midi</i>, +first published in New York in the English translation of Mrs. Thomas A. +Janvier, is probably the most remarkable prose work that has been +written in Provençal.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Only the future can tell whether the Provençal +will pass through a prose cycle after its poetic cycle, in the manner of +all literatures. To<span class="pagenum"><a id="page39" name="page39"></a>Pg 39</span> many serious thinkers the attempt to create a +complete literature seems of very doubtful success.</p> + +<p>The problems, then, which confront the Félibres are numerous. Can they, +with any assurance of permanence, maintain two literary languages in the +same region? It is scarcely necessary to state, of course, that no one +dreams of supplanting the French language anywhere on French soil. What +attitude shall they assume toward the "patoisants," that is, those who +insist on using the local dialect, and refuse to conform to the usage of +the Félibres? Is it not useless, after all, to hope for a more perfect +unification of the dialects of the <i>langue d'oc</i>, and, if unification is +the aim, does not logical reasoning lead to the conclusion that the +French language already exists, perfectly unified, and absolutely +necessary? In the matter of politics, the most serious questions may +arise if the desires of some find more general favor. Shall the Félibres +aim at local self-government, at a confederation something like that of +the Swiss cantons? Shall they advocate the idea of independent +universities?</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, none of these problems<span class="pagenum"><a id="page40" name="page40"></a>Pg 40</span> are solved, and they will +only be solved by the natural march of events. The attitude of the +leaders toward all these differing views has become one of easy +toleration. If the language of the Félibres tends already to dominate +the other dialects, if its influence is already plainly felt far beyond +Provence itself, this is due to the sheer superiority of their literary +work. If their literature had the conventional character of that of the +Troubadours, if it were addressed exclusively to a certain élite, then +their language might have been adopted by the poets of other regions, +just as in the days of the Troubadours the masters of the art of +"trobar" preferred to use the Limousin dialect. But the popular +character of the movement has prevented this. It has preached the love +of the village, and each locality, as fast as the Felibrean idea gained +ground, has shown greater affection for its own dialect.</p> + +<p>Mistral's work has often been compared to Dante's. But Dante did not +impose his language upon Italy by the sole superiority of his great +poem. All sorts of events, political and social, contributed to the +result, and there is little reason to expect the same future for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page41" name="page41"></a>Pg 41</span> +work of Mistral. This comparison is made from the linguistic point of +view; it is not likely that any one will compare the two as poets. At +most, it may be said that if Dante gave expression to the whole spirit +of his age, Mistral has given complete expression to the spirit of his +little <i>patrie</i>. Should the trend of events lead to a further +unification of the dialects of southern France, there is no doubt that +the Felibrean dialect has by far the greatest chance of success.</p> + +<p>The people of Provence owe a great debt to the Félibres, who have +endowed them with a literature that comes closer to their sympathies +than the classic literature of France can ever come; they have been +raised in their own esteem, and there has been undoubtedly a great +awakening in their mental life. The Félibrige has given expression to +all that is noblest and best in the race, and has invariably led onward +and upward. Its mission has been one that commands respect and +admiration, and the Félibres to-day are in a position to point with +pride to the great work accomplished among their people. Arsène +Darmesteter has well said:—</p> + +<p>"A nation needs poetry; it lives not by<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42"></a>Pg 42</span> bread alone, but in the ideal +as well. Religious beliefs are weakening; and if the sense of poetic +ideals dies along with the religious sentiment, there will remain +nothing among the lower classes but material and brutal instincts.</p> + +<p>"Whether the Félibres were conscious of this danger, or met this popular +need instinctively, I cannot say. At any rate, their work is a good one +and a wholesome one. There still circulates, down to the lowest stratum +of the people, a stream of poetry, often obscure, until now looked upon +with disdain by all except scholars. I mean folklore, beliefs, +traditions, legends, and popular tales. Before this source of poetry +could disappear completely, the Félibres had the happy idea of taking it +up, giving it a new literary form, thus giving back to the people, +clothed in the brilliant colors of poetry, the creation of the people +themselves."</p> + +<p>And again: "As for this general renovation of popular poetry, I would +give it no other name than that of the Félibrige. To the Félibres is due +the honor of the movement; it is their ardor and their faith that have +developed and strengthened it."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page43" name="page43"></a>Pg 43</span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE MODERN PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE</h3> + + +<p>The language of the Félibres is based upon the dialect spoken in the +plain of Maillane, in and about the town of Saint-Rémy. This dialect is +one of the numerous divisions of the <i>langue d'oc</i>, which Mistral claims +is spoken by nearly twelve millions of people. The literary history of +these patois has been written by B. Noulet, and shows that at the close +of the terrible struggles of the Albigenses the language seemed dead. In +1324 seven poets attempted to found at Toulouse the competitions of the +<i>Gai Savoir</i>, and so to revive the ancient poetry and the ancient +language. Their attempt failed. There was literary production of varying +degree of merit throughout two or three centuries; but until the time of +Jasmin no writer attracted any attention beyond his immediate vicinity; +and it is significant that the Félibres themselves were long in +ignorance of Jasmin. It is<span class="pagenum"><a id="page44" name="page44"></a>Pg 44</span> then not difficult to demonstrate that the +Félibrige revival bears more the character of a creation than of an +evolution. It is not at all an evolution of the literature of the +Troubadours; it is in no way like it. The language of the Félibres is +not even the descendant of the special dialect that dominated as a +literary language in the days of the Troubadours; for it was the speech +of Limousin that formed the basis of that language, and only two of the +greater poets among the Troubadours, Raimond de Vaqueiras and Fouquet de +Marseille, were natives of Provence proper.</p> + +<p>The dialect of Saint-Rémy is simply one of countless ramifications of +the dialects descended from the Latin. Mistral and his associates have +made their literary language out of this dialect as they found it, and +not out of the language of the Troubadours. They have regularized the +spelling, and have deliberately eliminated as far as possible words and +forms that appeared to them to be due to French influence, substituting +older and more genuine forms—forms that appeared more in accord with +the genius of the <i>langue d'oc</i> as contrasted with the <i>langue d'oil</i>. +Thus, <i>glòri</i>, <i>istòri</i>, <i>paire</i>, replace <i>gloaro</i>, <i>istouèro</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page45" name="page45"></a>Pg 45</span> <i>pèro</i>, +which are often heard among the people. This was the first step. The +second step taken arose from the necessity of making this speech of the +illiterate capable of elevated expression. Mistral claims to have used +no word unknown to the people or unintelligible to them, with the +exception that he has used freely of the stock of learned words common +to the whole Romance family of languages. These words, too, he +transforms more or less, keeping them in harmony with the forms peculiar +to the <i>langue d'oc</i>. Hence, it is true that the language of the +Félibres is a conventional, literary language, that does not represent +exactly the speech of any section of France, and is related to the +popular speech more or less as any official language is to the dialects +that underlie it. As the Félibres themselves have received all their +instruction and literary culture in the French language, they use it +among themselves, and their prose especially shows the influence of the +French to the extent that it may be said that the Provençal sentence, in +prose, appears to be a word-for-word translation of an underlying French +sentence.</p> + +<p>Phonetically, the dialect offers certain marked<span class="pagenum"><a id="page46" name="page46"></a>Pg 46</span> differences when +contrasted with French. First of all is the forceful utterance of the +stressed syllable; the Provençal has post-tonic syllables, unlike the +sister-speech. Here it may be said to occupy a sort of middle position +between Italian and Spanish on the one hand, and French on the other; +for in the former languages the accent is found in all parts of the +word, in French practically only upon the final, and then it is +generally weak, so that the notion of a stress is almost lost. The +stress in Provençal is placed upon one of the last two syllables only, +and only three vowels, <i>e</i>, <i>i</i>, <i>o</i>, may follow the tonic syllable. The +language, therefore, has a cadence that affects the ear differently from +the French, and that resembles more that of the Italian or Spanish +languages.</p> + +<p>The nasal vowels are again unlike those of the French language. The +vowel affected by the following nasal consonant preserves its own +quality of sound, and the consonant is pronounced; at the end of a word +both <i>m</i> and <i>n</i> are pronounced as <i>ng</i> in the English word <i>ring</i>. The +Provençal utterance of <i>matin</i>, <i>tèms</i>, is therefore quite unlike that +of the French <i>matin</i>, <i>temps</i>. This change of the nasal consonants<span class="pagenum"><a id="page47" name="page47"></a>Pg 47</span> +into the <i>ng</i> sound whenever they become final occurs also in the +dialects of northern Italy and northern Spain. This pronunciation of the +nasal vowels in French is, as is well known, an important factor in the +famous "accent du Midi."</p> + +<p>The oral vowels are in general like the French. It is curious that the +close <i>o</i> is heard only in the infrequent diphthong <i>óu</i>, or as an +obscured, unaccented final. This absence of the close <i>o</i> in the modern +language has led Mistral to believe that the close <i>o</i> of Old Provençal +was pronounced like <i>ou</i> in the modern dialect, which regularly +represents it. A second element of the "accent du Midi" just referred to +is the substitution of an open for a close <i>o</i>. The vowel sound of the +word <i>peur</i> is not distinguished from the close sound in <i>peu</i>. In the +orthography of the Félibres the diagraph <i>ue</i> is used as we find it in +Old French to represent this vowel. Probably the most striking feature +of the pronunciation is the unusual number of diphthongs and +triphthongs, both ascending and descending. Each vowel preserves its +proper sound, and the component vowels seem to be pronounced more slowly +and separately than in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page48" name="page48"></a>Pg 48</span> many languages. It is to be noted that <i>u</i> in a +diphthong has the Italian sound, whereas when single it sounds as in +French. The unmarked <i>e</i> represents the French <i>é</i>, as the <i>e</i> mute is +unknown to the Provençal.</p> + +<p>The <i>c</i> has come to sound like <i>s</i> before <i>e</i> and <i>i</i>, as in French. +<i>Ch</i> and <i>j</i> represent the sounds <i>ts</i> and <i>dz</i> respectively, and <i>g</i> +before <i>e</i> and <i>i</i> has the latter sound. There is no aspirate <i>h</i>. The +<i>r</i> is generally uvular. The <i>s</i> between vowels is voiced. Only <i>l</i>, +<i>r</i>, <i>s</i>, and <i>n</i> are pronounced as final consonants, <i>l</i> being +extremely rare. Mistral has preserved or restored other final consonants +in order to show the etymology, but they are silent except in <i>liaison</i> +in the elevated style of reading.</p> + +<p>The language is richer in vowel variety than Italian or Spanish, and the +proportion of vowel to consonant probably greater than in either. +Fortunately for the student, the spelling represents the pronunciation +very faithfully. A final consonant preceded by another is mute; among +single final consonants only <i>l</i>, <i>m</i>, <i>n</i>, <i>r</i>, <i>s</i> are sounded; +otherwise all the letters written are pronounced. The stressed syllable +is indicated, when not normal, by the application of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>Pg 49</span> practically the +same principles that determine the marking of the accent in Spanish.</p> + +<p>The pronunciation of the Félibres is heard among the people at Maillane +and round about. Variations begin as near as Avignon.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>Koschwitz' Grammar treats the language<span class="pagenum"><a id="page50" name="page50"></a>Pg 50</span> historically, and renders +unnecessary here the presentation of more than its most striking +peculiarities. Of these, one that evokes surprise upon first +acquaintance with the dialect is the fact that final <i>o</i> marks the +feminine of nouns, adjectives, and participles. It is a close <i>o</i>, +somewhat weakly and obscurely pronounced, as compared, for instance, +with the final <i>o</i> in Italian. In this respect Provençal is quite +anomalous among Romance languages. In some regions of the Alps, at Nice, +at Montpellier, at Le Velay, in Haute-Auvergne, in Roussillon, and in +Catalonia the Latin final <i>a</i> is preserved, as in Italian and Spanish.</p> + +<p>The noun has but one form for the singular and plural. The distinction +of plural and singular depends upon the article, or upon the +demonstrative or possessive adjective accompanying the noun. In +<i>liaison</i> adjectives take <i>s</i> as a plural sign. So that, for the ear, +the Provençal and French languages are quite alike in regard to this +matter. The Provençal has not even the formal distinction of the nouns +in <i>al</i>, which in French make their plural in <i>aux</i>. <i>Cheval</i> in +Provençal is <i>chivau</i>, and the plural is like the singular. A curious +fact is the use of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>Pg 51</span> <i>uni</i> or <i>unis</i>, the plural of the indefinite +article, as a sign of the dual number; and this is its exclusive use.</p> + +<p>The subject pronoun, when unemphatic, is not expressed, but understood +from the termination of the verb. <i>Iéu</i> (je), <i>tu</i> (tu), and <i>éu</i> (il) +are used as disjunctive forms, in contrast with the French. The +possessive adjective <i>leur</i> is represented by <i>si</i>; and the reflective +<i>se</i> is used for the first plural as well as for the third singular and +third plural.</p> + +<p>The moods and tenses correspond exactly to those of the French, and the +famous rule of the past participle is identical with the one that +prevails in the sister language.</p> + +<p>Aside from the omission of the pronoun subject, and the use of one or +two constructions not unknown to French, but not admitted to use in the +literary language, the syntax of the Provençal is identical with that of +the French. The inversions of poetry may disguise this fact a little, +but the lack of individuality in the sentence construction is obvious in +prose. Translation of Provençal prose into French prose is practically +mere word substitution.</p> + +<p>Instances of the constructions just mentioned<span class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>Pg 52</span> are the following. The +relative object pronoun is often repeated as a personal pronoun, so that +the verb has its <i>object</i> expressed twice. The French continually offers +redundancy of subject or complement, but not with the relative.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Estre, iéu, lou marran que tóuti L'estrangisson!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Estre, iéu, l'estrangié que tóuti LOU fugisson!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Être, moi, le paria, que tous rebutent!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Être, moi, l'étranger que tout le monde fuit!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">(<i>La Rèino Jano</i>, Act I, Scene III.)<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The particle <i>ti</i> is added to a verb to make it interrogative.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +E.g. soun-ti? sont-ils? Petrarco ignoro-ti?<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">èro-ti? était-il? Petrarque ignore-t-il?</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>This is the regular form of interrogative in the third person. It is, of +course, entirely due to the influence of colloquial French.</p> + +<p>The French indefinite statement with the pronoun <i>on</i> may be represented +in Provençal by the third plural of the verb; <i>on m'a demandé</i> is +translated <i>m'an demanda</i>, or <i>on m'a demanda</i>.</p> + +<p>The negative <i>ne</i> is often suppressed, even with the correlative <i>que</i>.</p> + +<p>The verb <i>estre</i> is conjugated with itself, as in Italian.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>Pg 53</span></p> + +<p>The Provençal speech is, therefore, not at all what it would have been +if it had had an independent literary existence since the days of the +Troubadours. The influence of the French has been overwhelming, as is +naturally to be expected. A great number of idioms, that seem to be pure +gallicisms, are found, in spite of the deliberate effort, referred to +above, to eliminate French forms. In <i>La Rèino Jano</i>, Act III, Scene IV, +we find <i>Ié vai de nòstis os</i>,—<i>Il y va de nos os</i>. <i>Vejan</i>, <i>voyons</i>, +is used as a sort of interjection, as in French. The partitive article +is used precisely as in French. We meet the narrative infinitive with +<i>de</i>. In short, the French reader feels at home in the Provençal +sentence; it is the same syntax and, to a great degree, the same +rhetoric. Only in the vocabulary does he feel himself in a strange +atmosphere.</p> + +<p>The strength, the originality, the true <i>raison d'être</i> of the Provençal +speech resides in its rich vocabulary. It contains a great number of +terms denoting objects known exclusively in Provence, for which there is +no corresponding term in the sister speech. Many plants have simple, +familiar names, for which the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page54" name="page54"></a>Pg 54</span> French must substitute a name that is +either only approximate, or learned and pedantic. Words of every +category exist to express usages that are exclusively Provençal.</p> + +<p>The study of the modern language confirms the results, as regards +etymology, reached by Diez and Fauriel and others, who have busied +themselves with the Old Provençal. The great mass of the words are +traceable to Latin etyma, as in all Romance dialects a large portion of +Germanic words are found. Greek and Arabic words are comparatively +numerous. Basque and Celtic have contributed various elements, and, as +in French, there is a long list of words the origin of which is +undetermined.</p> + +<p>The language shares with the other southern Romance languages a fondness +for diminutives, augmentatives, and pejoratives, and is far richer than +French in terminations of these classes. Long suffixes abound, and the +style becomes, in consequence, frequently high-sounding and exaggerated.</p> + +<p>One of the most evident sources of new words in the language of Mistral +is in its suffixes. Most of these are common to the other Romance +languages, and have merely undergone<span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" name="page55"></a>Pg 55</span> the phonetic changes that obtain +in this form of speech. In many instances, however, they differ in +meaning and in application from their corresponding forms in the sister +languages, and a vast number of words are found the formation of which +is peculiar to the language under consideration. These suffixes +contribute largely to give the language its external appearance; and +while a thorough and scientific study of them cannot be given here, +enough will be presented to show some of the special developments of +Mistral's language in this direction.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-a.</p> + +<p>This suffix marks the infinitive of the first conjugation, and also the +past participle. It answers to the French forms in -er and -é. As the +first conjugation is a so-called "living" conjugation, it is the +termination of many new verbs.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-a, -ado.</p> + +<p>-ado is the termination of the feminine of the past participle. This +often becomes an abstract feminine noun, answering to the French +termination -ée; <i>armée</i> in Mistral's language is<span class="pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>Pg 56</span> <i>armado</i>. Examples of +forms peculiar to Provençal are:</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +óulivo, <i>an olive</i>.<br /> +óuliva, <i>to gather olives</i>.<br /> +óulivado, <i>olive gathering</i>.<br /> +pié, <i>foot</i>.<br /> +piado, <i>footprint</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-age (masc.).</p> + +<p>This suffix is the equivalent of the French -age, and is a suffix of +frequent occurrence in forming new words. <i>Óulivage</i> is a synonym of +<i>óulivado</i>, mentioned above. A rather curious word is the adverb arrage, +meaning <i>at random, haphazard</i>. It appears to represent a Latin adverb, +<i>erratice</i>.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +Mourtau, mourtalo, <i>mortal</i>, gives the noun mourtalage, <i>a massacre</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-agno (fem.).</p> + +<p>An interesting example of the use of this suffix is seen in the word +eigagno, <i>dew</i>, formed from aigo, <i>water</i>, as though there had been a +Latin word <i>aquanea</i>.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-aio (fem.).</p> + +<p>This ending corresponds to the French -aille.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +poulo, <i>a hen</i>.<br /> +poulaio, <i>a lot of hens</i>, <i>poultry</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>Pg 57</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-aire (masc.).</p> + +<p>This represents the Latin -ator (<i>one who</i>). The corresponding feminine +in Mistral's works has always the diminutive form -arello.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +toumba, <i>to fall</i>.<br /> +toumbaire, toumbarello, <i>one who falls</i> or <i>one who fells</i>.<br /> +óuliva, <i>to gather olives</i>.<br /> +óulivaire, óulivarello, <i>olive gatherer</i>.<br /> +canta, <i>to sing</i>.<br /> +cantaire, cantarello, <i>singer</i>.<br /> +panié, <i>basket</i>.<br /> +panieraire, <i>basket maker</i>.<br /> +caligna, <i>to court</i>.<br /> +calignaire, <i>suitor</i>.<br /> +paternostriaire, <i>one who is forever praying</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Like the corresponding French nouns in -eur, these nouns in -aire, as +well as those in -èire, are also used as adjectives.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-aire = -arium.</p> + +<p>The suffix sometimes represents the Latin -arium. A curious word is +<i>vejaire</i>, meaning opinion, manner of seeing, as though there had been a +Latin word <i>videarium</i>. It sometimes has the form <i>jaire</i> or <i>chaire</i>, +through the loss of the first syllable.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-an, -ano.</p> + +<p>This suffix is common in the Romance languages. Fihan, <i>filial</i>, seems +to be peculiar to the Provençal.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58"></a>Pg 58</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ànci (fem.).</p> + +<p>This is the form corresponding to the French -ance. <i>Abundance</i> is in +Mistral's dialect <i>aboundànci</i>.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ant, -anto.</p> + +<p>This is the termination of the present participle and verbal adjective +derived from verbs in -a. These words sometimes have a special meaning, +as toumbant, <i>declivity</i>.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ard, -ardo.</p> + +<p>Gaiard is Provençal for the French <i>gaillard</i>.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-àri.</p> + +<p>This represents the Latin -arius. Abouticàri is Provençal for +<i>apothecary</i>.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-as.</p> + +<p>This is an augmentative suffix of very frequent use.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +porc, <i>hog</i>.<br /> +pourcas, <i>great hog</i>.<br /> +serp, <i>snake</i>.<br /> +serpatas, <i>great serpent</i>.<br /> +castèu, <i>fort</i>.<br /> +castelas, <i>fortress</i>.<br /> +rouco, <i>rock</i>.<br /> +roucas, <i>great rock</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" name="page59"></a>Pg 59</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-asso.</p> + +<p>This is a pejorative suffix.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +vido, <i>life</i>.<br /> +vidasso, <i>wretched life</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-astre.</p> + +<p>In French this suffix has the form -âtre.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +óulivastre (Fr. olivâtre), <i>olive in color</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-at.</p> + +<p>Coustat is in French <i>côté</i> (side).</p> + +<p>The suffix is often diminutive.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +auc, <i>a gander</i>.<br /> +aucat, <i>gosling</i>.<br /> +passero, <i>sparrow</i>.<br /> +passerat, <i>small sparrow</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-au, -alo.</p> + +<p>This is the form of the widely used suffix -al. Mistral uses paternau +for <i>paternal</i>, and also the adjective formed upon paire, <i>father</i>, +peirenau, peirenalo, <i>fatherly</i>.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +bourg, <i>city</i>.<br /> +bourgau, bourgalo, <i>civil</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-edo (fem.).</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +pin, <i>pine</i>.<br /> +pinedo, <i>pine-grove</i>.<br /> +clapo, <i>stone</i>.<br /> +claparedo, <i>stony plain</i>.<br /> +óulivo, <i>olive</i>.<br /> +óulivaredo, <i>olive-orchard</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>Pg 60</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-èire, -erello.</p> + +<p>This suffix corresponds to the suffix -aire, mentioned above. It is +appended to the stem of verbs not of the first conjugation.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +courre, <i>to run</i>.<br /> +courrèire, courerello, <i>runner</i>.<br /> +legi, <i>to read</i>.<br /> +legèire, legerello, <i>reader</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-eja.</p> + +<p>This is an exceedingly common verb-suffix, corresponding to the Italian +-eggiare.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +toumbarèu, <i>kind of cart</i>.<br /> +toumbaraleja, <i>to cart</i>.<br /> +farandolo, <i>farandole</i>.<br /> +farandouleja, <i>to dance the farandole</i>.<br /> +poutoun, <i>kiss</i>.<br /> +poutouneja, <i>to kiss</i>.<br /> +poumpoun, <i>caress</i>.<br /> +poumpouneja, <i>to caress</i>.<br /> +segnour, <i>lord</i>.<br /> +segnoureja, <i>to lord it over</i>.<br /> +mistral, <i>wind of the Rhone valley</i>.<br /> +mistraleja, <i>to roar like the mistral</i>.<br /> +poudro, <i>powder</i>.<br /> +poudreja, <i>to fire a gun</i>.<br /> +clar, <i>bright</i>.<br /> +clareja, <i>to brighten</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-en (masc.), -enco (fem.).</p> + +<p>This is a common adjective-suffix.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +souleu, <i>sun</i>.<br /> +souleien, souleienco, <i>sunny</i>.<br /> +mai, <i>May</i>.<br /> +maien, maienco, <i>relating to May</i>.<br /> +Madaleno, <i>Magdalen</i>.<br /> +madalenen, madalenenco, <i>like Magdalen</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>Pg 61</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ès (masc.), -esso (fem.).</p> + +<p>This suffix corresponds to the French -ais, -aise. Liounès = lyonnais.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-et (masc.), -eto (fem.).</p> + +<p>This is perhaps the commonest of the diminutive suffixes.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +ome, <i>man</i>.<br /> +oumenet, <i>little man</i>.<br /> +fiho, <i>daughter</i>.<br /> +fiheto, <i>dear daughter</i>.<br /> +enfan, <i>child</i>.<br /> +enfantounet, <i>little child</i>.<br /> +vènt, <i>wind</i>.<br /> +ventoulet, <i>breeze</i>.<br /> +toumba, <i>to fall</i>.<br /> +toumbaraleto, <i>little leaps</i>.<br /> +chato, <i>girl</i>.<br /> +chatouneto, <i>little girl</i><br /> +malaut, <i>ill</i>.<br /> +malautounet, <i>sickly</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>It will be observed that the double diminutive termination is the most +frequent.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the -et is not diminutive. <i>Óuliveto</i> may mean a small olive +or a field planted with olives.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-èu (masc.), -ello (fem.).</p> + +<p>This suffix is often diminutive.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +paurin, <i>poor chap</i>.<br /> +paurinèu paurinello, <i>poor little fellow or girl</i>.<br /> +pin, <i>pine</i>.<br /> +pinatèu, <i>young pine</i>.<br /> +pinatello, <i>forest of young pines</i>.<br /> +sauvage, <i>wild</i>.<br /> +sauvagèu, sauvagello, <i>somewhat wild</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name="page62"></a>Pg 62</span></p> + +<p>Sometimes it is not.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +toumba, <i>to fall</i>.<br /> +toumbarèu, -ello, <i>likely to fall</i>.<br /> +canta, <i>to sing</i>.<br /> +cantarèu, -ello, <i>songful</i>.<br /> +crese, <i>to believe</i>.<br /> +creserèu, -ello, <i>inclined to belief</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-i.</p> + +<p>This is a verb-suffix, marking the infinitive of a "living" conjugation.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +bourgau, <i>civil</i>.<br /> +abourgali, <i>to civilize</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ié (fem.).</p> + +<p>Carestié, <i>dearness</i>, stands in contrast to the Italian <i>carestia</i>.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +priva, <i>to train</i>, <i>to tame</i>.<br /> +privadié, <i>sweet food given in training animals</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ié (masc.), -iero (fem.).</p> + +<p>This is the equivalent of the French -ier.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +óulivié, <i>olive tree</i>.<br /> +bouchié, <i>butcher</i>.<br /> +pinatié, } <i>a dwelling</i><br /> +pinatiero,} <i>among pines</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ièu (masc.), -ivo (fem.).</p> + +<p>This is the form corresponding to the French -if, -ive.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +ablatièu, <i>ablative</i>.<br /> +vièu, vivo, <i>lively</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63"></a>Pg 63</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ige (m.).</p> + +<p>According to Mistral, this represents the Latin -ities. We incline to +think rather that it corresponds to -age, being added chiefly to words +in <i>e</i>. -age fits rather upon stems in <i>a</i>.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +gounfle, <i>swollen</i>.<br /> +gounflige, <i>swelling</i>.<br /> +Felibre.<br /> +Felibrige.<br /> +paure, <i>poor</i>.<br /> +paurige, <i>poverty</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-iho (fem.).</p> + +<p>This suffix makes collective nouns.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +pastre, <i>shepherd</i>.<br /> +pastriho, <i>company of shepherds</i>.<br /> +paure, <i>poor</i>.<br /> +pauriho, <i>the poor</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-in (m.), -ino (fem.).</p> + +<p>This is usually diminutive or pejorative.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +paurin, <i>poor wretch</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ioun (fem.).</p> + +<p>This corresponds to the French -ion.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +nacioun, <i>nation</i>.<br /> +abdicacioun, <i>abdication</i>.<br /> +erme, <i>desert</i>.<br /> +asserma, <i>to dry up</i>.<br /> +assermacioun, <i>thirst</i>, <i>dryness</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>Pg 64</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-is (masc.), -isso (fem.).</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +Crida, <i>to cry</i>.<br /> +cridadisso, <i>cries of woe</i>.<br /> +chapla, <i>to slay</i>.<br /> +chapladis, <i>slaughter</i>.<br /> +coula, <i>to flow</i>.<br /> +couladis or couladisso, <i>flowing</i>.<br /> +abareja, <i>to throw pell-mell</i>.<br /> +abarejadis, <i>confusion</i>.<br /> +toumba, <i>to fall</i>.<br /> +toumbadis, -isso, <i>tottering</i> (adj.).<br /> +</p> + +<p>This suffix is added to the past participle stem.</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-isoun (fem.).</p> + +<p>This suffix forms nouns from verbs in -i.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +abalauvi, <i>to make dizzy</i>, <i>to confound</i>.<br /> +abalauvisoun, <i>vertigo</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-men (masc.).</p> + +<p>This corresponds to the French -ment; bastimen = bâtiment, <i>ship</i>.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +abouli, <i>to abolish</i>.<br /> +aboulimen, <i>abolition</i>.<br /> +toumba, <i>to fall</i>.<br /> +toumbamen, <i>fall</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-men (adverb).</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +urous, urouso, <i>happy</i>.<br /> +urousamen, <i>happily</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>It is to be noted here that the adverb has the vowel of the old feminine +termination <i>a</i>, and not the modern <i>o</i>.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page65" name="page65"></a>Pg 65</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ot (masc.), -oto (fem.).</p> + +<p>A diminutive suffix.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +vilo, <i>town</i>.<br /> +viloto, <i>little town</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Sometimes the stem no longer exists separately.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +mignot, mignoto, <i>darling</i>.<br /> +pichot, pichoto, <i>little boy</i>, <i>little girl</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-oto (fem.).</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +passa, <i>to pass</i>.<br /> +passaroto, <i>passing to and fro</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ou (masc.).</p> + +<p>This is a noun-suffix of very frequent use. It seems to be for Latin -or +and -orium.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +jouga, <i>to play</i>.<br /> +jougadou, <i>player</i>.<br /> +abla, <i>to brag</i> (cf. Fr. <i>hâbler</i>).<br /> +abladou, <i>braggart</i>.<br /> +abausi, <i>to abuse, to exaggerate</i>.<br /> +abausidou, <i>braggart</i>.<br /> +courre, <i>to run</i>.<br /> +courredou, <i>corridor</i>.<br /> +lava, <i>to wash</i>.<br /> +lavadou, <i>lavatory</i>.<br /> +espande, <i>to expand</i>.<br /> +espandidou, <i>expanse, panorama</i>.<br /> +escourre, <i>to flow out</i>.<br /> +escourredou, <i>passage</i>, <i>hollow</i>.<br /> +toumba, <i>to fall</i>.<br /> +toumbadou, <i>water-fall</i>.<br /> +abeura, <i>to water</i>.<br /> +abeuradou, <i>drinking-trough</i>.<br /> +passa, <i>to sift</i>.<br /> +passadou, <i>sieve</i>.<br /> +mounda, <i>to winnow</i>.<br /> +moundadou, <i>sieve</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page66" name="page66"></a>Pg 66</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ouge.</p> + +<p>This is an adjective suffix.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +iver, <i>winter</i>.<br /> +ivernouge, <i>wintry</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-oun (masc.), -ouno (fem.).</p> + +<p>A diminutive suffix.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +enfan, <i>child</i>.<br /> +enfantoun, enfantouno, <i>little child</i>.<br /> +pauriho, <i>the poor</i>.<br /> +paurihoun, <i>poor wretch</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ounge (masc.).</p> + +<p>A suffix forming nouns from adjectives.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +vièi, <i>old</i>.<br /> +vieiounge, <i>old age</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-our (fem.).</p> + +<p>This is like the above.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +vièi, <i>old</i>.<br /> +vièiour, <i>old age</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ous, -ouso.</p> + +<p>This is the Latin -osus; French -eux, -euse. It forms many new words in +Mistral.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +urous (Fr. heureux), <i>happy</i>.<br /> +pouderous (It. and Sp. poderoso), <i>powerful</i>.<br /> +aboundous, <i>abundant</i>.<br /> +pin, <i>pine</i>.<br /> +pinous, <i>covered with pines</i>.<br /> +escalabra, <i>to climb</i>.<br /> +escalabrous, <i>precipitous</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page67" name="page67"></a>Pg 67</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-ta (fem.).</p> + +<p>This is the equivalent of the Latin -tas, French -té. In Mistral's +language it is usually preceded by a connecting vowel <i>e</i>.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +moundaneta, <i>worldliness</i>.<br /> +soucieta, <i>society</i>.<br /> +paureta, <i>poverty</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-u (masc.), -udo (fem.).</p> + +<p>This ending terminates the past participles of verbs whose infinitive +ends in <i>e</i>. It also forms many new adjectives.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +astre, <i>star</i>.<br /> +malastru, <i>ill-starred</i>.<br /> +sabé, <i>to know</i>.<br /> +saberu, <i>learned</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>The feminine form often becomes a noun.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +escourre, <i>to run out</i>.<br /> +escourregudo, <i>excursion</i>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="suffix">-un (masc.).</p> + +<p>This is a very common noun-suffix.</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +clar, <i>bright</i>.<br /> +clarun, <i>brightness</i>.<br /> +rat, <i>rat</i>.<br /> +ratun, <i>lot of rats</i>, <i>smell of rats</i>.<br /> +paure, <i>poor</i>.<br /> +paurun, <i>poverty</i>.<br /> +dansa, <i>to dance</i>.<br /> +dansun, <i>love of dancing</i>.<br /> +plagne, <i>to pity</i>.<br /> +plagnun, <i>complaining</i>.<br /> +vièi, <i>old</i>.<br /> +vieiun, <i>old age</i>.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page68" name="page68"></a>Pg 68</span></p> + + +<p class="suffix">-uro (fem.).</p> + +<p class="provancal"> +toumba, <i>to fall</i>.<br /> +toumbaduro, <i>a fall</i>.<br /> +escourre, <i>to flow away</i>.<br /> +escourreduro, <i>what flows away</i>.<br /> +bagna, <i>to wet</i>.<br /> +bagnaduro, <i>dew</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>This partial survey of the subject of the suffixes in Mistral's dialect +will suffice to show that it is possible to create words indefinitely. +There is no academy to check abuse, no large, cultivated public to +disapprove of the new forms. The Félibres have been free. A fondness for +diminutives marks all the languages of southern Europe, and a love of +long terminations generally distinguished Spanish latinity. The language +of the Félibres is by no means free from the grandiloquence and +pomposity that results from the employment of these high-sounding and +long terminations. <i>Toumbarelado</i>, <i>toumbarelaire</i>, are rather big in +the majesty of their five syllables to denote a cart-load and its driver +respectively. The abundance of this vocabulary is at any rate manifest. +We have here not a poor dialect, but one that began with a large +vocabulary and in possession of the power of indefinite development and +recreation out of its own resources. It forms compounds<span class="pagenum"><a id="page69" name="page69"></a>Pg 69</span> with greater +readiness than French, and the learner is impressed by the unusual +number of compound adverbs, some of very peculiar formation. +<i>Tourna-mai</i> (again) is an example. Somewhat on the model of the French +<i>va-et-vient</i> is the word <i>li mounto-davalo</i>, the ups and downs. <i>Un +regardo-veni</i> means a look-out. <i>Noun-ren</i> is nothingness. <i>Ped-terrous</i> +(earthy foot) indicates a peasant.</p> + +<p>Onomatopoetic words, like <i>zounzoun</i>, <i>vounvoun</i>, <i>dindánti</i>, are +common.</p> + +<p>Very interesting as throwing light upon the Provençal temperament are +the numerous and constantly recurring interjections. This trait in the +man of the <i>Midi</i> is one that Daudet has brought out humorously in the +Tartarin books. It is often difficult in serious situations to take +these explosive monosyllables seriously.</p> + +<p>In his study of Mistral's poetry, Gaston Paris calls attention to the +fact that the Provençal vocabulary offers many words of low association, +or at least that these words suggest what is low or trivial to the +French reader; he admits that the effect upon the Provençal reader may +not be, and is likely not to be, the same; but even the latter must +occasionally experience a feeling<span class="pagenum"><a id="page70" name="page70"></a>Pg 70</span> of surprise or slight shock to find +such words used in elevated style. For the English reader it is even +worse. Many such expressions could not be rendered literally at all. +Mistral resents this criticism, and maintains that the words in question +are employed in current usage without calling up the image of the low +association. This statement, of course, must be accepted. It is true of +all languages that words rise and fall in dignity, and their origin and +association are momentarily or permanently forgotten.</p> + +<p>The undeniably great success of this new Provençal literature justifies +completely the revival of the dialect. As Burns speaks from his soul +only in the speech of his mother's fireside, so the Provençal nature can +only be fully expressed in the home-dialect. Roumanille wrote for +Provençals only. Mistral and his associates early became more ambitious. +His works have been invariably published with French translations, and +more readers know them through the translations than through the +originals. But they are what they are because they were conceived in the +patois, and because their author was fired with a love of the language +itself.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page71" name="page71"></a>Pg 71</span></p> + +<p>As to the future of this rich and beautiful idiom, nothing can be +predicted. The Félibrige movement appears to have endowed southern +France with a literary language rivalling the French; it appears to have +given an impulse toward the unification of the dialects and subdialects +of the <i>langue d'oc</i>. But the <i>patoisants</i> are numerous and powerful, +and will not abdicate their right to continue to speak and write their +local dialects in the face of the superiority of the Félibrige +literature. Is it to be expected that Frenchmen in the south will +hereafter know and use three languages and three literatures—the local +dialect, the language of the Félibres, and the national language and +literature? One is inclined to think not. The practical difficulties are +very great; two literatures are more than most men can become familiar +with.</p> + +<p>However, this much is certain: a rich, harmonious language has been +saved forever and crystallized in works of great beauty; its revival has +infused a fresh, intellectual activity into the people whose birthright +it is; it has been studied with delight by many who were not born in +sunny Provence; a very great contri<span class="pagenum"><a id="page72" name="page72"></a>Pg 72</span>bution is made through it to +philological study. Enthusiasts have dreamed of its becoming an +international language, on account of its intermediary position, its +simplicity, and the fact that it is not the language of any nation. +Enthusiasm has here run pretty high, as is apt to be the case in the +south.</p> + +<p>In connection with the revival of all these dialects the opinion of two +men, eminent in the science of education, is of the greatest interest. +Eugène Lintilhac approves the view of a professor of Latin, member of +the Institute, who had often noticed the superiority of the peasants of +the frontier regions over those from the interior, and who said, "It is +not surprising, do they not pass their lives translating?" Michel Bréal +considers the patois a great help in the study of the official language, +on the principle that a term of comparison is necessary in the study of +a language. As between Provençal and French this comparison would be +between words, rather than in syntax. Often the child's respect for his +home would be increased if he sees the antiquity of the speech of his +fireside; if, as Bréal puts it, he is shown that his dialect conforms +frequently to the speech of Henri IV<span class="pagenum"><a id="page73" name="page73"></a>Pg 73</span> or St. Louis. "If the province has +authors like Jasmin, Roumanille, or Mistral, let the child read their +books from time to time along with his French books; he will feel proud +of his province, and will love France only the more. The clergy is well +aware of this power of the native dialect, and knows how to turn it to +account, and your culture is often without root and without depth, +because you have not recognized the strength of these bonds that bind to +a locality. The school must be fast to the soil and not merely seem to +be standing upon it. There need be no fear of thereby shaking the +authority of the official language; the necessity of the latter is +continually kept in sight by literature, journalism, the administration +of government."</p> + +<p>The revival of this speech could not fail to interest lovers of +literature. If not a lineal descendant, it is at least a descendant, of +the language that centuries ago brought an era of beauty and light to +Europe, that inspired Dante and Petrarch, and gave to modern literatures +the poetic forms that still bear their Provençal names. The modern +dialect is devoted to other uses now; it is still a language of +brightness<span class="pagenum"><a id="page74" name="page74"></a>Pg 74</span> and sunshine, graceful and artistic, but instead of giving +expression to the conventionalities of courtly love, or tending to +soften the natures of fierce feudal barons, it now sings chiefly of the +simple, genuine sentiments of the human heart, of the real beauties of +nature, of the charm of wholesome, outdoor life, of healthy toil and +simple living, of the love of home and country, and brings at least a +message of hope and cheer at a time when greater literatures are +burdened with a weight of discouragement and pessimism.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page75" name="page75"></a>Pg 75</span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE VERSIFICATION OF THE FÉLIBRES</h3> + + +<p>The versification of the Félibres follows in the main the rules observed +by the French poets. As in all the Romance languages the verse consists +of a given number of syllables, and the number of stressed syllables in +the line is not constant. The few differences to be noted between French +verse and Provençal verse arise from three differences in the languages. +The Provençal has no <i>e mute</i>, and therefore all the syllables +theoretically counted are distinctly heard, and the masculine and the +feminine rhymes are fully distinguished in pronunciation. The new +language possesses a number of diphthongs, and the unaccented part of +the diphthong, a <i>u</i> or an <i>i</i>, constitutes a consonant either before or +after a vowel in another word, being really a <i>w</i> or a <i>y</i>. This +prevents hiatus, which is banished from Provençal verse as it is from +French, and here again theory and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" name="page76"></a>Pg 76</span> practice are in accord, for the +elision of the <i>e mute</i> where this <i>e</i> follows a vowel readmits hiatus +into the French line, and no such phenomenon is known to the Provençal. +Thirdly, the stressed syllable of each word is strongly marked, and +verse exists as strongly and regularly accentual as in English or +German. This is seen in the numerous poems written to be sung to an air +already existing. The accents in these pieces fall with the rhythmic +beat the English ear is accustomed to and which it so misses on first +acquaintance with French verse. A second consequence of this stronger +stress is that verse is written without rhyme; the entire <i>Poem of the +Rhone</i> is written in ten-syllable feminine verses unrhymed.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"O tèms di vièi d'antico bounoumío,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que lis oustau avien ges de sarraio<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E que li gènt, à Coundriéu coume au nostre,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Se gatihavon, au calèu pèr rire!"<br /></span> +</div> <div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">(Canto I.)<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Mistral has made use of all the varieties of verse known to the French +poets. One of the poems in the <i>Isclo d'Or</i> offers an example of +fourteen-syllable verse; it is called <i>L'Amiradou</i> (The Belvedere). Here +are the first two stanzas:—</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page77" name="page77"></a>Pg 77</span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Au castèu de Tarascoun, i'a 'no rèino, i'a 'no fado<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Au castèu de Tarascoun<br /></span> +<span class="i6">I'a 'no fado que s'escound.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Aquéu que ié durbira la presoun ounte es clavado<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Aquéu que ié durbira<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Belèu elo l'amara."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>We may note here instances of the special features of Provençal +versification mentioned above. The <i>i</i> in <i>i'a</i>, the equivalent of the +French <i>il y a</i>, is really a consonant. This <i>i</i> occurs again in the +fourth of the lines quoted, so that there is no hiatus between <i>que</i> and +<i>ié</i>. In like manner the <i>u</i> of <i>belèu</i>, in the last line, stands with +the sound of the English <i>w</i> between this and <i>elo</i>. The <i>e</i> of <i>ounte</i> +is elided. It will be observed that there is a cæsura between the +seventh and eighth syllables of the long line, and that the verse has a +marked rhythmic beat, with decided trochaic movement,—</p> + +<p><img src="images/02.jpg" +alt="/_u/_u/_u/_|/_u/_u/_u/_u" /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page78" name="page78"></a>Pg 78</span></p> + +<p>In his use of French Alexandrine, or twelve-syllable verse, Mistral +takes few liberties as to cæsura. No ternary verses are found in +<i>Mirèio</i>, that is, verses that fall into three equal parts. In general, +it may be said that his Alexandrines, except in the play <i>La Rèino +Jano</i>, represent the classical type of the French poets. To be noted, +however, is the presence of feminine cæsuras. These occur, not +theoretically or intentionally, but as a consequence of pronunciation, +and are an additional beauty in that they vary the movement of the +lines. The unstressed vowel at the hemistich, theoretically elided, is +pronounced because of the natural pause intervening between the two +parts of the verse.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Per óuliva tant d'aubre!—Hòu, tout acò se fai!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">(Mirèio, Canto I.)<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In one of the divisions of <i>Lou Tambour d'Arcolo</i> (The Drummer of +Arcole), the poet uses ten-syllable verse with the cæsura after the +sixth syllable, an exceedingly unusual cæsura, imitated from the poem +<i>Girard de Roussillon</i>.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ah! lou pichot tambour | devenguè flòri!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Davans touto l'arma | —do en plen soulèu,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pèr estelà soun front | d'un rai de glòri," etc.<br /></span> +</div></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page79" name="page79"></a>Pg 79</span></p> + +<p>Elsewhere he uses this verse divided after the fourth syllable, and less +frequently after the fifth.</p> + +<p>The stanza used by Mistral throughout <i>Mirèio</i> and <i>Calendau</i> is his own +invention. Here is the first stanza of the second canto of <i>Mirèio</i>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"Cantas, cantas, magnanarello,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Que la culido es cantarello!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Galant soun li magnan e s'endormon di tres:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Lis amourié soun plen de fiho<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Que lou bèu tèms escarrabiho,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Coume un vòu de blóundis abiho<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que raubon sa melico i roumanin dóu gres."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This certainly is a stanza of great beauty, and eminently adapted to the +language. Mistral is exceedingly skilful in the use of it, distributing +pauses effectively, breaking the monotony of the repeated feminine +verses with enjambements, and continuing the sense from one stanza to +the next. This stanza, like the language, is pretty and would scarcely +be a suitable vehicle for poetic expression requiring great depth or +stateliness. Provençal verse in general cannot be said to possess +majesty or the rich <i>orchestral</i> quality Brunetière finds in Victor +Hugo. Its qualities are sweetness, daintiness, rapidity,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name="page80"></a>Pg 80</span> grace, a +merry, tripping flow, great smoothness, and very musical rhythm.</p> + +<p><i>Mirèio</i> contains one ballad and two lyrics in a measure differing from +that of the rest of the poem. The ballad of the <i>Bailiff Suffren</i> has +the swing and movement a sea ballad should possess. The stanza is of six +lines, of ten syllables each, with the cæsura after the fifth syllable, +the rhymes being <i>abb, aba</i>.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Lou Baile Sufrèn | que sus mar coumando."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In the third canto occurs the famous song <i>Magali</i>, so popular in +Provence. The melody is printed at the end of the volume. Mirèio's +prayer in the tenth canto is in five-syllable verse with rhymes <i>abbab</i>.</p> + +<p>The poems of the <i>Isclo d'Or</i> offer over eighty varieties of strophe, a +most remarkable number. This variety is produced by combining in +different manners the verse lengths, and by changes in the succession of +rhymes. Whatever ingenuity Mistral has exercised in the creation of +rhythms, the impression must not be created that inspiration has +suffered through attention to mechanism, or that he is to be classed +with the old Provençal versifiers or those who flourished in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page81" name="page81"></a>Pg 81</span> northern +France just before the time of Marot. Artifice is always strictly +subordinated, and the poet seems to sing spontaneously. No violence is +ever done to the language in order to force it into artificial moulds, +there is no punning in rhymes, there is nothing that can be charged +against the poet as beneath the real dignity of his art.</p> + +<p>Let us look at some of the more striking of these verse forms. The +second of <i>Li Cansoun, Lou Bastimen</i>, offers the following form:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Lou bastimen vèn de Maiorco<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Emé d'arange un cargamen:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An courouna de vèrdi torco<br /></span> +<span class="i0">L'aubre-mestre dón bastimen:<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Urousamen<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Vèn de Maiorco<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Lou bastimen."<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This stanza reproduces in the sixth line the last word of the first, and +in the seventh the last word of the fourth.</p> + +<p>An excellent example of accentual verse set to an already existing +melody is seen in <i>Li Bon Prouvençau</i>. The air is:—</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page82" name="page82"></a>Pg 82</span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Si le roi m'avait donné<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Paris, sa grand ville."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>We quote the first stanza:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Boufo, au siècle mounte sian<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Uno auro superbo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que vòu faire rèn qu'un tian<br /></span> +<span class="i2">De tóuti lis erbo:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nautri, li bon Prouvençau<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Aparan lou vièi casau<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ounte fan l'aleto<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Nòsti dindouleto."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This poem scans itself with perfect regularity, and the rhythm of the +tune is evident to the reader who may never have heard the actual music.</p> + +<p>The stanza of <i>La Tourre de Barbentano</i> is as follows:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"L'Evesque d'Avignoun, Mounsen Grimau,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A fa basti 'no tourre à Barbentano<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Qu' enràbio vènt de mar e tremountano<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E fai despoutenta l'Esprit dóu mau.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Assegurado<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Sus lou roucas<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Forto e carrado<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Escounjurado<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="page83" name="page83"></a>Pg 83</span> +<span class="i0">Porto au soulèu soun front bouscas:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mememen i fenestro, dins lou cas<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que vouguèsse lou Diable intra di vitro,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A fa Mounsen Grimau grava sa mitro."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here is a stanza of <i>Lou Renegat</i>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Jan de Gounfaroun, pres pèr de coursàri,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Dins li Janissàri<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Sèt an a servi:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fau, encò di Turc, avé la coudeno<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Facho à la cadeno<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Emai au rouvi."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The stanza employed in <i>La Cadéno de Moustié</i> is remarkable in having +only one masculine and one feminine rhyme in its seven lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Presounié di Sarrasin,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Engimbra coume un caraco,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Em' un calot cremesin<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que lou blanc soulèu eidraco,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">En virant la pouso-raco,<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="page84" name="page84"></a>Pg 84</span> +<span class="i4">Rico-raco,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Blacasset pregavo ansin."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The "roumanso" of <i>La Rèino Jano</i> offers a stanza containing only five +rhymes in fourteen lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"Fiéu de Maiano<br /></span> +<span class="i0">S'ère vengu dóu tèms<br /></span> +<span class="i2">De Dono Jano,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quand èro à soun printèms<br /></span> +<span class="i2">E soubeirano<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Coume èron autre-tèms,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sènso autro engano<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que soun regard courous,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Auriéu, d'elo amourous,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Trouva, iéu benurous,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tant fino cansouneto<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que la bello Janeto<br /></span> +<span class="i0">M'aurié douna 'n mantèu<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pèr parèisse i castèu."<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The rhythm of the noble <i>Saume de la Penitènci</i> is as follows:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Segnour, à la fin ta coulèro<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Largo si tron<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="page85" name="page85"></a>Pg 85</span> +<span class="i4">Sus nosti front:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E dins la niue nosto galèro<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Pico d'a pro<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Contro li ro."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Another peculiar stanza is exhibited in <i>Lou Prègo-Diéu</i>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ero un tantost d'aquest estiéu<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que ni vihave ni dourmiéu:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fasiéu miejour, tan que me plaise,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Lou cabassòu<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Toucant lou sòu,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">A l'aise."<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Perhaps the most remarkable of all in point of originality, not to say +queerness, is <i>Lou Blad de Luno</i>. The rhyme in <i>lin</i> is repeated +throughout seventeen stanzas, and of course no word is used twice.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"La luno barbano<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Debano<br /></span> +<span class="i2">De lano.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum"><a id="page86" name="page86"></a>Pg 86</span> +<span class="i0">S'entènd peralin<br /></span> +<span class="i0">L'aigo que lalejo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E batarelejo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Darrié lou moulin.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">La luno barbano<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Debano<br /></span> +<span class="i2">De lin."<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The little poem, <i>Aubencho</i>, is interesting as offering two rhymes in +its nine lines.</p> + +<p>Mistral's sonnets offer some peculiarities. He has one composed of lines +of six syllables, others of eight, besides those considered regular in +French, consisting, namely, of twelve syllables. The following sonnet +addressed to Roumania appears to be unique in form:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Quand lou chaple a pres fin, que lou loup e la rùssi<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An rousiga lis os, lou soulèu flamejant<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Esvalis gaiamen lou brumage destrùssi<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E lou prat bataié tourno lèu verdejant.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Après lou long trepé di Turc emai di Rùssi<br /></span> +<span class="i0">T'an visto ansin renaisse, o nacioun de Trajan,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Coume l'astre lusènt, que sort dóu negre eslùssi,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Emé lou nouvelun di chato de quinge an.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="page87" name="page87"></a>Pg 87</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"E li raço latino<br /></span> +<span class="i4">A ta lengo argentino<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An couneigu l'ounour que dins toun sang i'avié;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"E t'apelant germano,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">La Prouvenço roumano<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Te mando, o Roumanio, un rampau d'óulivié."<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It would be a hopeless task for an English translator to attempt +versions of these poems that should reproduce the original strophe +forms. A few such translations have been made into German, which +possesses a much greater wealth of rhyme than English. Let us repeat +that it must not be imputed to Mistral as a fault that he is too clever +a versifier. His strophes are not the artificial complications of the +Troubadours, and if these greatly varied<span class="pagenum"><a id="page88" name="page88"></a>Pg 88</span> forms cost him effort to +produce, his art is most marvellously concealed. More likely it is that +the almost inexhaustible abundance of rhymes in the Provençal, and the +ease of construction of merely syllabic verse, explain in great measure +his fertility in the production of stanzas. Some others of the Félibres, +even Aubanel, in our opinion, have produced verse that is very ordinary +in quality. Verse may be made too easily in this dialect, and fluent +rhymed language that merely expresses commonplace sentiment may readily +be mistaken for poetry.</p> + +<p>The wealth of rhyme in the Provençal language appears to be greater than +in any other form of Romance speech. As compared with Italian and +Spanish, it may be noted that the Provençal has no proparoxytone words, +and hence a whole class of words is brought into the two categories +possible in Provençal. Though the number of different vowels and +diphthongs is greater than in these two languages, only three consonants +are found as finals, <i>n</i>, <i>r</i>, <i>s</i> (<i>l</i> very rarely). The consequent +great abundance of rhymes is limited by an insistence upon the rich +rhyme to an extent scarcely attainable in French; in fact, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page89" name="page89"></a>Pg 89</span> merely +sufficient rhyme is very rare. It is unfortunate that so many of the +feminine rhymes terminate in <i>o</i>. In the <i>Poem of the Rhone</i>, composed +entirely in feminine verses, passages occur where nine successive lines +end in this letter, and the verses in <i>o</i> vastly out-number all others. +In this unrhymed poem, assonance is very carefully avoided.</p> + +<p>The play, <i>Queen Joanna</i>, is remarkable among the productions of Mistral +as being the only work of any length he has produced that makes +extensive use of the Alexandrine. In fact, the versification is +precisely that of any modern French play written in verse; and we may +note here the liberties as to cæsura and enjambements which are now +usual in French verse. We remark elsewhere the lack of independence in +the dialect of Avignon, that its vocabulary alone gives it life. Not +only has it no syntax of its own, but it really has been a difficulty of +the poet in translating his own Alexandrines into French prose, not to +produce verses; nor has he always avoided them. Here, for instance, is a +distich which not only becomes French when translated word for word, but +also reproduces exactly metre and rhyme:—</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page90" name="page90"></a>Pg 90</span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"En un mot tout me dis que lou cèu predestino<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Un reviéure de glòri à terro latino.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"En un mot tout me dit que le ciel préstine<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Un renouveau de gloire à terre latine."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The effectiveness, the charm, and the beauty of this verse, for those +who understand and feel the language, cannot be denied; and if this +poetic literature did not meet a want, it could not exist and grow as it +does. The fact that the prose literature is so slight, so scanty, is +highly significant. The poetry that goes straight to the heart, that +speaks to the inner feeling, that calls forth a response, must be +composed in the home speech. It is exceedingly unlikely that a prose +literature of any importance will ever grow up in Provence. No great +historians or dramatists, and few novelists, will ever write in this +dialect. The people of Provence will acquire their knowledge and their +general higher culture in French literature. But they will doubtless +enjoy that poetry best which sings to them of themselves in the speech +of their firesides. Mistral has endowed them with a verse language that +has high artistic possibilities, some of which he<span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name="page91"></a>Pg 91</span> has realized most +completely. The music of his verse is the music that expresses the +nature of his people. It is the music of the <i>gai savoir</i>. Brightness, +merriment, movement, quick and sudden emotion,—not often deep or +sustained,—exuberance and enthusiasm, love of light and life, are +predominant; and the verse, absolutely free from strong and heavy +combinations of consonants, ripples and glistens with its pretty +terminations, full of color, full of vivacity, full of the sunny south.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page92" name="page92"></a>Pg 92</span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>MISTRAL'S DICTIONARY OF THE PROVENÇAL LANGUAGE</h3> + + +<h4>AU MIEJOUR</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sant Jan, vèngue meissoun, abro si fiò de joio;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Amount sus l'aigo-vers lou pastre pensatiéu,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">En l'ounour dóu païs, enausso uno mount-joio<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E marco li pasquié mounte a passa l'estiéu.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Emai iéu, en laurant—e quichant moun anchoio,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Per lou noum de Prouvenço ai fa ço que poudiéu;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E, Diéu de moun pres-fa m'aguent douna la voio,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dins la rego, à geinoui, vuei rènde gràci à Diéu.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">En terro, fin qu'au sistre, a cava moun araire;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E lou brounze rouman e l'or dis emperaire<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Treluson au soulèu dintre lou blad que sort....<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O pople dóu Miejour, escouto moun arengo:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Se vos recounquista l'empèri de ta lengo,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pèr t'arnesca de nòu, pesco en aquéu Tresor.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Saint John, at harvest time, kindles his bonfires; high up on the +mountain slope the thoughtful shepherd places a pile of stones in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page93" name="page93"></a>Pg 93</span> honor +of the country, and marks the pastures where he has passed the summer.</p> + +<p>"I, too, tilling and living frugally, have done what I could for the +fame of Provence; and God having permitted me to complete my task, +to-day, on my knees in the furrow, I offer thanks to Him.</p> + +<p>"My plough has dug into the soil down to the rock; and the Roman bronze +and the gold of the emperors gleam in the sunlight among the growing +wheat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, people of the South, heed my saying: If you wish to win back the +empire of your language, equip yourselves anew by drawing upon this +Treasury."</p> + +<p>Such is the sonnet, dated October 7, 1878, which Mistral has placed at +the beginning of his vast dictionary of the dialects of southern France. +The title of the work is <i>Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige</i> or <i>Dictionnaire +provençal-français</i>. It is published in two large quarto volumes, +offering a total of 2361 pages. This great work occupied the poet some +ten years, and is the most complete and most important work of its kind +that has been made. The statement that this work represents for the +Provençal dialect<span class="pagenum"><a id="page94" name="page94"></a>Pg 94</span> what Littré's monumental dictionary is for the +French, is not exaggerated. Nothing that Mistral has done entitles him +in a greater degree to the gratitude of students of Romance philology, +and the fact that the work has been done in so masterful a fashion by +one who is not first of all a philologist excites our wonder and +admiration. And let us not forget that it was above all else a labor of +love, such as probably never was undertaken elsewhere, unless the work +of Ivar Aasen in the Old Norse dialects be counted as such; and there is +something that appeals strongly to the imagination in the thought of +this poet's labor to render imperishable the language so dear to him. +Years were spent in journeying about among all classes of people, +questioning workmen and sailors, asking them the names they applied to +the objects they use, recording their proverbial expressions, noting +their peculiarities of pronunciation, listening to the songs of the +peasants; and then all was reduced to order and we have a work that is +really monumental.</p> + +<p>The dictionary professes to contain all the words used in South France, +with their mean<span class="pagenum"><a id="page95" name="page95"></a>Pg 95</span>ing in French, their proper and figurative acceptations, +augmentatives, diminutives, with examples and quotations. Along with +each word we have all its various forms as they appear in the different +dialects, its forms in the older dialects, the closely related forms in +the other Romance languages, and its etymology. A special feature of the +work in view of its destination is the placing of numerous synonyms +along with each word. The dictionary almost contains a grammar, for the +conjugation of regular and of irregular verbs in all the dialects is +given, and each word is treated in its grammatical relations. Technical +terms of all arts and trades; popular terms in natural history, with +their scientific equivalents; all the geographical names of the region +in all their forms; proper historical names; family names common in the +south; explanations as to customs, manners, institutions, traditions, +and beliefs; biographical, bibliographical, and historical facts of +importance; and a complete collection of proverbs, riddles, and popular +idioms—such are the contents of this prodigious work.</p> + +<p>If any weakness is to be found, it is, of course,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page96" name="page96"></a>Pg 96</span> in the etymological +part. Even here we can but pay tribute to Mistral. If he can be accused, +now and then, of suggesting an etymology that is impossible or +unscientific, let it be gratefully conceded that his desire is to offer +the etymologist all possible help by placing at his disposal all the +material that can be found. The pains Mistral has taken to look up all +possibly related words in Greek, Arabic, Basque, and English, to say +nothing of the Old Provençal and Latin, would alone suffice to call +forth the deepest gratitude on the part of all students of the subject.</p> + +<p>This dictionary makes order out of chaos, and although the language of +the Félibres is justly said to be an artificial literary language, we +have in this work along with the form adopted or created by the poet an +orderly presentation of all the speech-forms of the <i>langue d'oc</i> as +they really exist in the mouths of the people.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PART SECOND</h2> + + +<h2>THE POETICAL WORKS OF MISTRAL</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page99" name="page99"></a>Pg 99</span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>THE FOUR LONGER POEMS</h3> + + +<h4>I. MIRÈIO (MIREILLE)</h4> + +<p>The publication of this poem in 1859 is an event of capital importance +in the history of modern Provençal literature. Recognized immediately as +a master-work, it fired the ambitions of the Félibres, enlarged the +horizon of possibilities for the new speech, and earned for its author +the admiration of critics in and out of France. Original in language and +in conception, full of the charm of rustic life, containing a pathetic +tale of love, a sweet human interest, and glowing with pictures of the +strange and lovely landscapes of Provence, the poem charmed all readers, +and will doubtless always rank as a work that belongs to general +literature. Of no other work written in this dialect can the same be +asserted. Mistral has not had an equal success since, and in spite of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>Pg 100</span> +the merit of his other productions, his literary fame will certainly +always be based upon this poem. Whatever be the destiny of this revival, +the author of <i>Mirèio</i> has probably already taken his place among the +immortals of literature.</p> + +<p>He has incarnated in this poem all that is sweetest and best, all that +is most typical in the life of his region. The tale is told, in general, +with complete simplicity, sobriety, and conciseness. The poet's heart +and soul are in his work from beginning to end, and it seems more +genuinely inspired than any of the long poems he has written +subsequently.</p> + +<p>In the first canto the author says,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Car cantan que pèr vautre, o pastre e gènt di mas."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For we sing for you alone, O shepherds and people of the farms,<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and when he wrote this verse, he was doubtless sincere. Later, however, +he must have become conscious that a work of great artistic beauty was +growing under his hand, and that it would find a truly appreciative +public more probably among the cultivated classes than among the +peasants of Provence. Hence the French prose translation; and hence, +furthermore, a paradox in the position Mistral assumed. Since those<span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>Pg 101</span> who +really appreciate and admire his poetry are the cultivated classes who +know French, and since the peasants who use the dialect cannot feel the +artistic worth of his literary production, or even understand the +elevated diction he is forced to employ, should he not, after all, have +written in French? The idea of Roumanille was simpler and less ambitious +than that of Mistral; he aimed to give the humble classes about him a +literature within their reach, that should give them moral lessons, and +appeal to the best within them. Mistral, developing into a poet of +genius while striving to attain the same object, could not fail to +change the object, and this contradiction becomes apparent in <i>Mirèio</i>, +and constitutes a problem in any discussion of his literary work.</p> + +<p>The story of <i>Mirèio</i> may be told in a few words. She is a beautiful +young girl of fifteen, living at the <i>mas</i> of her father, Ramoun. She +falls in love with a handsome, stalwart youth, Vincèn, son of a poor +basket-maker. But the difference in worldly wealth is too great, her +father and mother violently oppose their union, and so, one night, the +maiden, in despair, rushes<span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>Pg 102</span> away from home, across the great plain of +the Crau, across the Rhone, across the island of Camargue, to the church +of the three Maries. Vincèn had told her to seek their aid in any time +of trouble. Here she prays to the three saints to give Vincèn to her, +but the poor girl has been overcome by the terrible heat of the sun in +crossing the treeless plains and is found by her parents and friends +unconscious before the altar. Vincèn comes also and joins his +lamentations to theirs. The holy caskets are lowered from the chapel +above, but no prayers avail to save the maiden's life. She expires, with +words of hope upon her lips.</p> + +<p>This simple tale is told in twelve cantos; it aims to be an epic, and in +its external form is such. It employs freely the <i>merveilleux chrètien</i>, +condemned by Boileau, and in one canto, <i>La Masco</i> (The Witch), the +poet's desire to embody the superstitions of his ignorant landsmen has +led him entirely astray. The opening stanza begins in true epic +fashion:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Cante uno chato de Prouvènço<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dins lis amour de sa jouvènço."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I sing a maiden of Provence<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In her girlhood's love.<br /></span> +</div></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>Pg 103</span></p> + +<p>The invocation is addressed to Christ:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou, Lord God of my native land,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who wast born among the shepherd-folk,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fire my words and give me breath.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The epic character of the poem is sustained further than in its mere +outward form; the manner of telling is truly epic. The art of the poet +is throughout singularly objective, his narrative is a narrative of +actions, his personages speak and move before us, without intervention +on the part of the author to analyze their thoughts and motives. He is +absent from his work even in the numerous descriptions. Everything is +presented from the outside.</p> + +<p>From the outset the poem enjoyed great success, and the enthusiastic +praise of Lamartine contributed greatly thereto. In gratitude for this, +Mistral dedicated the work to Lamartine in one of his most happy +inspirations, and these dedicatory lines appear in <i>Lis Isclo d'Or</i> and +in all the subsequent editions of <i>Mirèio</i>. Mistral had professed great +admiration for the author of <i>Jocelyn</i> even before 1859, but as poets +they stand in marked contrast. We may partly define Mistral's art in +stating that it is utterly unlike that of Lamartine. Mistral's +inspiration<span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>Pg 104</span> is not that of a Romantic; his art sense is derived +directly from the study of the Greek and Roman classics. In all that +Mistral has written there is very little that springs from his personal +sorrows. The great body of his poetry is epic in character, and the best +of his work in the lyric form gives expression not to merely personal +emotion, but to the feeling of the race to which he belongs.</p> + +<p>The action of the poem begins one day that Vincèn and his father Mèste +Ambroi, the basket-makers, were wandering along the road in search of +work. Their conversation makes them known, and depicts for us the old +<i>Mas des Micocoules</i>, the home of the prosperous father of Mirèio. We +learn of his wealth in lands, in olives, in almonds, and in bees. We +watch the farm-hands coming home at evening. When the basket-makers +reach the gate, they find the daughter of the house, who, having just +fed her silkworms, is now twisting a skein. The man and the youth ask to +sleep for the night upon a haystack, and stop in friendly talk with +Mirèio. The poet describes Vincèn, a dark, stalwart youth of sixteen, +and tells of his skill at his trade. Mèste Ramoun invites them in to +supper.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>Pg 105</span> Mirèio runs to serve them. In exquisite verse the poet depicts +her grace and beauty.</p> + +<p>When all have eaten, at the request of the farm-hands, to which Mirèio +adds hers, Mèste Ambroi sings a stirring ballad about the naval +victories of Suffren, and the gallant conduct of the Provençal sailors +who whipped the British tars.</p> + +<p>"And the old basket-maker finished his naval song in time, for his voice +was about to break in tears, but too soon, surely, for the farm-hands, +for, without moving, with their heads intent and lips parted, <i>long +after the song had ceased, they were listening still</i>."</p> + +<p>And then the men go about their affairs and leave Vincèn and Mirèio +alone together. Their talk is full of charm. Vincèn is eloquent, like a +true southerner, and tells his experiences with flashing eye and +animated gestures. Here we learn of the belief in the three Maries, who +have their church in the Camargue. Here Vincèn narrates a foot-race in +which he took part at Nimes, and Mirèio listens in rapt attention.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me," said she to her mother, "that for a basket-maker's +child he talks wonderfully. O mother, it is a pleasure to sleep<span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>Pg 106</span> in +winter, but now the night is too bright to sleep, but let us listen +awhile yet. I could pass my evenings and my life listening to him."</p> + +<p>The second canto opens with the exquisite stanza beginning,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Cantas, cantas, magnanarello<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que la culido es cantarello!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and the poet evidently fell in love with its music, for he repeats it, +with slight variations, several times during the canto. This second +canto is a delight from beginning to end; Mistral is here in his +element; he is at his very best. The girls sing merrily in the lovely +sunshine as they gather the silkworms, Mirèio among them. Vincèn passes +along, and the two engage in conversation. Mistral cannot be praised too +highly for the sweetness, the naturalness, the animation of this scene. +Mirèio learns of Vincèn's lonely winter evenings, of his sister, who is +like Mirèio but not so fair, and they forget to work. But they make good +the time lost, only now and then their fingers meet as they put the +silkworms into the bag. And then they find a nest of little birds, and +the saying goes that when two find a nest at the top of a tree a year +cannot pass but that Holy<span class="pagenum"><a id="page107" name="page107"></a>Pg 107</span> Church unite them. So says Mirèio; but Vincèn +adds that this is only true if the young escape before they are put into +a cage. "Jesu moun Diéu! take care," cries the young girl, "catch them +carefully, for this concerns us." So Vincèn gets the young birds, and +Mirèio puts them carefully into her bodice; but they dig and scratch, +and must be transferred to Vincèn's cap; and then the branch breaks, and +the two fall together in close embrace upon the soft grass. The poet +breaks into song:—</p> + +<p>"Fresh breezes, that stir the canopy of the woods, let your merry murmur +soften into silence over the young couple! Wandering zephyrs, breathe +softly, give time to dream, give them time at least to dream of +happiness! Thou that ripplest o'er thy bed, go slowly, slowly, little +brook! Make not so much sound among the stones, make not so much sound, +for the two souls have gone off, in the same beam of fire, like a +swarming hive—let them hover in the starry air!"</p> + +<p>But Mirèio quickly releases herself; the young man is full of anxiety +lest she be hurt, and curses the devilish tree "planted a Friday!" But +she, with a trembling she cannot control, tells<span class="pagenum"><a id="page108" name="page108"></a>Pg 108</span> of an inner torment +that takes away hearing and sight, and keeps her heart beating. Vincèn +wonders if it may not be fear of a scolding from her mother, or a +sunstroke. Then Mirèio, in a sudden outburst, like a Wagnerian heroine, +confesses her love to the astonished boy, who remains dazed, and +believes for a time that she is cruelly trifling with him. She reassures +him, passionately. "Do not speak so," cries the boy, "from me to you +there is a labyrinth; you are the queen of the Mas, all bow before you; +I, peasant of Valabrègue, am nothing, Mirèio, but a worker in the +fields!" "Ah, what is it to me whether my beloved be a baron or a +basket-weaver, provided he is pleasing to me. Why, O Vincèn, in your +rags do you appear to me so handsome?"</p> + +<p>And then the young man is as inspired, and in impassioned, well-nigh +extravagant language tells of his love for Mirèio. He is like a fig tree +he once saw that grew thin and miserable out of a rock near Vaucluse, +and once a year the water comes and the tree quenches its thirst, and +renews its life for a year. And the youth is the fig tree and Mirèio the +fountain. "And would to Heaven, would to Heaven,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>Pg 109</span> that I, poor boy, that +I might once a year, as now, upon my knees, sun myself in the beams of +thy countenance, and graze thy fingers with a trembling kiss." And then +her mother calls. Mirèio runs to the house, while he stands motionless +as in a dream.</p> + +<p>No résumé or even translation can give the beauty of this canto, its +brightness, its music, its vivacity, the perfect harmony between words +and sense, the graceful succession of the rhymes and the cadence of the +stanzas. Elsewhere in the chapter on versification a reference is made +to the mechanical difficulties of translation, but there are +difficulties of a deeper order. The Félibres put forth great claims for +the richness of their vocabulary, and they undoubtedly exaggerate. Yet, +how shall we render into English or French the word <i>embessouna</i> when +describing the fall of Mirèio and Vincèn from the tree. Mistral +writes:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Toumbon, embessouna, sus lou souple margai."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><i>Bessoun</i> (in French, <i>besson</i>) means a twin, and the participle +expresses the idea, <i>clasped together like twins</i>. (Mistral translates, +"serrés comme deux jumeaux.") An expression of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>Pg 110</span> this sort, of course, +adds little to the prose language; but this power, untrammelled by +academic traditions, of creating a word for the moment, is essential to +the freshness of poetic style.</p> + +<p>What is to be praised above all in these two exquisite cantos is the +pervading naturalness. The similes and metaphors, however bold and +original, are always drawn from the life of the speakers. Mèste Ambroi, +declining at first to sing, says "<i>Li mirau soun creba!</i>" (The mirrors +are broken), referring to the membranes of the locust that make its +song. "Like a scythe under the hammer," "Their heads leaning together +like two marsh-flowers in bloom, blowing in the merry wind," "His words +flowed abundantly like a sudden shower on an aftermath in May," "When +your eyes beam upon me, it seems to me I drink a draught of perfumed +wine," "My sister is burned like a branch of the date tree," "You are +like the asphodel, and the tanned hand of Summer dares not caress your +white brow," "Slender as a dragon-fly," are comparisons taken at random. +Of Mirèio the poet says, "The merry sun hath hatched her out," "Her +glance is like dew,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111"></a>Pg 111</span> her rounded bosom is a double peach not yet ripe."</p> + +<p>The background of the action is obtained by the simplest description, a +cart casting the shadow of its great wheels, a bell now and then +sounding afar off across the marshes, references to the owl adding its +plaint to the song of the nightingale, to the crickets who stop to +listen now and then, and the recurring verses about the "magnanarello" +reminds us now and then, like a lovely leitmotiv, of the group of +singing girls about the amorous pair.</p> + +<p>The next canto is called <i>La Descoucounado</i> (The Opening of the +Cocoons), and it must be confessed that there is a slight falling off in +interest. All that describes the life of the country-folk is full of +sustained charm, but Mistral has not escaped the dangers that beset the +modern poet who aims at the epic style. Here begins the recounting of +the numerous superstitions of the ignorant peasants, and the wonders of +Provence are interpolated at every turn. The maidens, while engaged in +stripping the cocoons, make known a long list of popular beliefs, and +then branch off into a conversation about love. They are surprisingly +well<span class="pagenum"><a id="page112" name="page112"></a>Pg 112</span> acquainted with the writings of Jean de Nostradamus, to whom the +Félibres are indebted for a lot of erroneous ideas concerning the +Troubadours and the Courts of Love. This literary conversation is not +convincing, and we are pleased when Noro sings the pretty song of +Magali, which, composed to be sung to an air well known in Provence, has +become very popular. The idea is not new; the young girl sings of +successive forms she will assume, to avoid the attentions of her suitor, +and he, ingeniously, finds the transformation necessary to overcome her. +For instance, when she becomes a rose, he changes into a butterfly to +kiss her. At last the maiden becomes convinced of the love of her +pursuer, and is won.</p> + +<p>The fourth canto, <i>Li Demandaire</i> (The Suitors), recalls the Homeric +style, and is among the finest of the poem. Alàri, the shepherd, Veran, +the keeper of horses, and Ourrias, who has herds of bulls in the +Camargue, present themselves successively for the hand of Mirèio. The +"transhumance des troupeaux" is described in verse full of vigorous +movement; the sheep are taken up into the Alps for the summer, and then +in the fall brought down to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>Pg 113</span> the great plain of the Crau near the Delta +of the Rhone. The whole description is made with bold, simple strokes of +the brush, offering a vivid picture not to be forgotten. Alàri, too, +offers a marvellously carved wooden cup, adorned with pastoral scenes. +Veran owns a hundred white mares, whose manes, thick and flowing like +the grass of the marshes, are untouched by the shears, and float above +their necks, as they bound fiercely along, like a fairy's scarf. They +are never subdued, and often, after years of exile from the salt meadows +of the Camargue, they throw off their rider, and gallop over twenty +leagues of marshes to the land of their birth, to breathe the free salt +air of the sea. Their element is the sea; they have surely broken loose +from the chariot of Neptune; they are still white with foam; and when +the sea roars and darkens, when the ships break their cables, the +stallions of the Camargue neigh with joy.</p> + +<p>And Ramoun welcomes Veran, and hopes that Mirèio will wed him, and calls +his daughter, who gently refuses. The third suitor, Ourrias, has no +better fortune. The account of this man's giant strength, the narrative +of his<span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>Pg 114</span> exploits in subduing the wild bulls, are quite Homeric. The +story is told of the scar he bears, how one of the fiercest bulls that +he had branded carried him along, threw him ahead on the ground, and +then hurled him high into the air. The strong, fierce man presents his +suit, describing the life the women lead in the Camargue; but before he +has her love, "his trident will bear flowers, the hills will melt away +like wax, and the journey to Les Baux will be by sea." This canto and +the next, recounting the fierce combat between Ourrias and Vincèn, are +really splendid narrative poetry. The style is marvellously compressed, +and the story thrilling. The sullen anger of Ourrias, his insult that +does not spare Mirèio, the indignation of Vincèn, that fires him with +unwonted strength, the battle of the two men out alone in the fields +near the mighty Pont du Gard, Vincèn's victory in the trial of strength, +the treachery of Ourrias, who sneaks back and strikes his enemy down +with the trident. "With a mighty groan the hapless boy rolls at full +length upon the grass, and the grass yields, bloody, and over his earthy +limbs the ants of the fields already make their way." The<span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>Pg 115</span> rapidity, the +compactness of the sentences, impressed Gaston Paris as very remarkable. +The assassin gallops away upon his mare, and seeks by night to cross the +Rhone. A singularly felicitous use of the supernatural is made here. +Ourrias is carried to the bottom of the river by the goblins and spirits +that come out and hover over it at night. There is a certain terror in +this termination, something that recalls parts of the Inferno. Ourrias's +superstitious fears are the effect of his guilty conscience. The souls +of the damned, their weird ceremonial, are but the outward rendering of +the inward terror he feels.</p> + +<p>A less legitimate use of the supernatural is made in the succeeding +canto, called <i>La Masco</i> (The Witch). In fact, the canto is really a +blemish in the beautiful poem. Vincèn is found unconscious and carried +to the Mas des Micocoules, and various remedies tried. He comes to +himself, but the wound is deemed too serious to be healed by natural +means, and Mirèio, at the suggestion of one of her maiden friends, takes +Vincèn to the abode of the witch who lives in the Fairies' Hole under +the rocks of Les Baux. Besides the obvious<span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116"></a>Pg 116</span> objection that the magic +cure could not have been made, there is the physical impossibility of +Vincèn's having walked, in his dying condition, through the labyrinth of +subterranean passages, amid the wild scenes of a sort of Walpurgis +night. The poet was doubtless led into this error by his desire to +preserve all the legends and superstitious lore of Provence. Possibly he +was led astray also by his desire to create an epic poem, in which a +visit to the lower regions is a necessity. The entire episode is +impossible and uninteresting, and is a blot in the beautiful idyll. +Later on, this desire to insert the supernatural leads the poet to +interrupt the action of his poem, while the three Maries relate to the +unconscious Mirèio at great length the story of their coming from +Jerusalem to Provence. Interesting as folklore, or as an evidence of the +credulity of the Provençals, this narrative of the three Maries is out +of place in the poem. It does not help us out to suppose that Mirèio +dreams the narrative, for it is full of theology, history, and +traditions she could not possibly have conceived. The poem of <i>Mirèio</i> +and all Mistral's work suffer from this desire to work into his<span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117"></a>Pg 117</span> poetry +all the history, real and legendary, of his region.</p> + +<p>The three Maries are Mary Magdalen, Mary, the mother of James and John, +and Mary, the mother of James the Less. After the Crucifixion they +embark with Saint Trophime, and successfully battling with the storms of +the sea, they land finally in Provence, and by a series of miracles +convert the people of Arles. This canto never would have converted +Boileau from his disapproval of the "merveilleux chrétien."</p> + +<p>The poet finds his true inspiration again in the life of the Mas, in the +home-bringing of the crops, in the gathering of the workers about the +table of Mèste Ramoun. This picture of patriarchal life is like a bit +out of an ancient literature; we have a feeling of the archaic, of the +primitive, we are amid the first elements of human life, where none of +the complications of the modern man find a place. Mèste Ambroi, whom +Vincèn has finally persuaded with passionate entreaties to seek the hand +of Mirèio for him, comes upon this evening scene. The interview of the +two old men is like a Greek play; their wisdom and experience are +uttered<span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>Pg 118</span> in stately, sententious language, and many a proverb falls from +their lips. Ramoun has inflexible ideas as to parental authority: "A +father is a father, his will must be done. The herd that leads the +herdsman, sooner or later, is crunched in the jaws of the wolf. If a son +resisted his father in our day, the father would have slain him perhaps! +Therefore the families were strong, united, sound, resisting the storm +like a line of plane trees! Doubtless they had their quarrels, as we +know, but when Christmas night, beneath its starry tent, brought +together the head of the house and his descendants, before the blessed +table, before the table where he presided, the old man, with his +wrinkled hand, washed it all away with his benediction!"</p> + +<p>But Mirèio and not Mèste Ambroi makes known to her father that it is her +hand Vincèn seeks, and the mother and father break out in anger against +the maid. Ramoun's anger leads him to speak offensively to Mèste Ambroi, +who nobly maintains his dignity amid his poverty, and recounts his +services to his country that have been so ill repaid. Ramoun is equally +proud of his wealth, earned by the sweat of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>Pg 119</span> his brow, and sternly +refuses. The other leaves, and then the harvesters continue their +merry-making, with singing and farandoles, about a great bonfire in +honor of Saint John. "All the hills were aglow as if stars had rained in +the darkness, and the mad wind carried up the incense of the hills and +the red gleam of the fires toward the saint, hovering in the blue +twilight."</p> + +<p>That night Mirèio grieved and wept for Vincèn, and, remembering what he +had told her of the three Saint Maries, rises before the dawn and flees +away. Her journey across the Crau and the island of Camargue is narrated +with numerous details and descriptions; they are never extraneous to the +action, and are a constant source of beauty and interest. The strange, +barren plain of the Crau, covered with the stones that once destroyed a +race of Giants, as the legend has it, is vividly described, as the +maiden flies across it in the ardent rays of the June sun. She stops to +pray to a saint that he send her a draught of water, and immediately she +comes upon a well. Here she meets a little Arlesian boy who tells her +"in his golden speech" of the glories of Arles.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page120" name="page120"></a>Pg 120</span> "But," says the poet, +"O soft, dark city, the child forgot to tell thy supreme wonder; O +fertile land of Arles, Heaven gives pure beauty to thy daughters, as it +gives grapes to the autumn, and perfumes to the mountains and wings to +the bird." The little fellow talks of many things and leads her to his +home. From here the fisherman ferries her over the broad Rhone, and we +accompany her over the Camargue, down to the sea. A mirage deceives her +for a time, she sees the town and church, but it soon vanishes in air, +and the maiden hurries on in the fierce heat.</p> + +<p>Her prayer in the chapel is written in another verse form:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"O Santi Mario<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que poudès en flour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Chanja nòsti plour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Clinas lèu l'auriho<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De-vers ma doulour!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>O Holy Maries, who can change our tears to blossoms, incline +quickly an ear unto my grief!</p></div> + +<p>Before the prayer is ended, there begins the vision of the three Maries, +descending to her from Heaven.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>Pg 121</span></p> + +<p>Mèste Ramoun discovers the flight of the unhappy maiden, and with all +his family starts in pursuit. After the first outburst of grief, he +sends out a messenger.</p> + +<p>"Let the mowers and the ploughmen leave the scythes and the ploughs! Say +to the harvesters to throw down their sickles, bid the shepherds leave +their flocks, bid them come to me!"</p> + +<p>The boy goes out into the fields, among the mowers and gleaners, and +everywhere solemnly delivers his message in the selfsame words. He goes +down to the Crau, among the dwarf oaks, and summons the shepherds. All +these toilers gather about the head of the farm and his wife, who await +them in gloomy silence. Mèste Ramoun, without making clear what +misfortune has overtaken him, entreats the men to tell him what they +have seen. And the chief of the haymakers, father of seven sons, tells +of an evil omen, how, for the first time in thirty years, at the +beginning of his day's work, he had cut himself. The parents moan the +more. Then a mower from Tarascon tells how as he began his work he had +discovered a nest wherein the young birds had been done to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>Pg 122</span> death by a +myriad of invading ants. Again "the tale of woe was a lance-thrust for +the father and mother." A third had been taken as with epilepsy, a +shudder had passed over him, and through his dishevelled hair as through +the heads of thistles he had felt Death pass like a wind. A fourth had +seen Mirèio just before the dawn, and had heard her say, "Will none +among the shepherds come with me to the Holy Maries?" And then while the +mother laments, preparations are made to follow the maiden to the +shrines out yonder by the sea.</p> + +<p>This poem, then, depicts for us the rustic life of Provence in all its +outward aspects. The pretty tale and the description of the life of the +Mas and of the Provençal landscapes are inseparably woven together, +forming an harmonious whole. It is not a tragedy, all the characters are +too utterly lacking in depth. Vincèn and Mirèio are but a boy and a +girl, children just awakening to life. The reader may be reminded of +Hermann and Dorothea, of Gabriel and Evangeline, but the creations of +the German and the American poet are greatly superior in all that +represents study of the human mind and heart.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>Pg 123</span></p> + +<p>Goethe's poem and Mistral's have several points of likeness. Hermann +seeks to marry against his father's wish, and the objection is the +poverty of Dorothea. The case is merely inverted. Both poems imitate the +Homeric style, Goethe's more palpably than Mistral's, since the German +poet has adopted the Homeric verse. He affects, also, certain recurring +terms of expression, "Also sprach sie" and the like, and there is a +rather artificial seeking after simplicity of expression. Goethe's poem +is more interesting because of the greater solidity of the characters, +and because of the more closely knitted plot. The curiosity of the +reader is kept roused as in a well-constructed romance. Mistral's poem +has, after all, scarcely any more real local color; the rustic life of +the two poems is similar, allowing for geographical differences, and we +carry away quite as real a picture of Hermann's home and the fields +about it as of the Mas of Mèste Ramoun. Mistral's idyll terminates +tragically in that Mirèio dies of sunstroke, leaving her lover to mourn, +but the tenor of the German poem is more serious and moves us more +deeply; the background of war contributes to this, but the source of +our<span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>Pg 124</span> emotion is in the deep seriousness of the characters themselves.</p> + +<p>Vincèn and Mirèio are charming in their naïveté, they are unspoiled and +unreflecting. They are children, and lacking in well-defined +personality. They have no knowledge of anything beyond the customs and +superstitions of the simple folk about them. Their religion, which is so +continually before us, furnishing the very mainspring of the fatal +dénouement, is of the most superficial sort, if it can be called +religion at all. Whether you are bitten by a dog, a wolf, or a snake, or +lose your eyesight, or are in danger of losing your lover, you run to +the shrine of some saint for help. The religious feeling really runs no +deeper. In his outburst of grief upon seeing Mirèio prone upon the floor +of the chapel, the unhappy boy asks what he has done to merit such a +blow. "Has he lit his pipe in a church at the lamp? or dragged the +crucifix among thistles, like the Jews?" Of the deeper, nobler +consolations of religion, of the problems of human destiny, of the +relations of religious conviction to human conduct, there is no inkling.</p> + +<p>All the characters are equally on the surface.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a>Pg 125</span> They are types rather +than individuals. They have in common the gift of eloquence. They have +no thought-life, no meditation. They are eminently sociable, frequently +loquacious. They make you think of Daudet's statement concerning the man +of the south, "When he is not talking, he is not thinking." But they +talk well, and have to an eminent degree the gift of narrative. Vincèn's +stories of what he knows and has seen are told most beautifully, and the +poet never forgets himself by making the boy utter thoughts he could not +have conceived. The boy is merely a child of his race. In any rustic +gathering in southern France you may hear a man of the people speak +dramatically and thrillingly, with resonant voice and vivid gestures, +with a marvellous power of mimicry, and the faces of the listeners +reflect all the emotions of the speaker. The numerous scenes, therefore, +wherein a group of listeners follow with keenest interest a tale that is +told, are eminently true to life. The supreme merit of Mirèio lies in +this power of narration that its author possesses. It is all action from +beginning to end, and even the digressions and episodes, which +occasionally arrest the flow of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>Pg 126</span> narrative, are in themselves +admirable pieces of narrative. Most critics have found fault with these +episodes and the frequent insertion of legends. In defence of the +author, it may be said, that he must have feared while writing <i>Mirèio</i> +that it might be his last and only opportunity to address his countrymen +in their own dialect, and in his desire to bring them back to a love of +the traditions of Provence, he yielded to the temptation to crowd his +poem rather more than he would otherwise have done.</p> + +<p>Mirèio, then, is a lovely poem, an idyll, a charming, vivid picture of +life in the rural parts of the Rhone region. It is singularly original. +Local color is its very essence. Its thought and action are strictly +circumscribed within the boundaries of the Crau and the Camargue, and +its originality consists in this limitation, in the fact that a poet of +this century has written a work that comes within the definition of an +epic, with all the primitive simplicity of Biblical or Classic writers, +without any agitation of the problems of modern life, without any new +thought or feeling concerning love or death, or man's relation to the +universe, using a dialect unknown at the time beyond the region +de<span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>Pg 127</span>scribed. Its success could scarcely have been attained without the +poet's masterly prose translation, and yet it is evident that the poem +could not have been conceived and carried out in French verse. The +freshness, the artlessness, the lack of modernity, would have suffered +if the poet had bent his inspiration to the official language. Using a +new idiom, wherein he practically had no predecessor, he was free to +create expression as he went along, and was not compelled to cast his +thought in existing moulds.</p> + +<p>The poem cannot place its author among the very great poets of the +world, if only because of this limitation. It lacks the breadth and +depth, the everlasting interest. But it is a work of great beauty, of +wonderful purity, a sweet story, told in lovely, limpid language, and +will cause many eyes to turn awhile from other lands to the sunny +landscapes of southern France.</p> + + +<h4>II. CALENDAU. (CALENDAL.)</h4> + +<p>Mistral spent seven years in elaborating his second epic, as he did in +writing his first. The poem had not a popular success, and the reason<span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" name="page128"></a>Pg 128</span> +is not far to seek. The most striking limitation of the poet is his +failure to create beings of flesh and blood. Even in Mirèio this lack of +well-defined individuality in the characters begins to be apparent, but, +in general, the action of the earlier poem is confined to the world of +realities, whereas in <i>Calendau</i> the poet has given free play to a +brilliant and vivid imagination, launching forth into the heroic and +incredible, yet without abandoning the world of real time and real +places. Allegory and symbolism are the web and woof of <i>Calendau</i>. The +poem, again, is overburdened with minute historic details and +descriptions, which are greatly magnified in the eye of his imagination. +A poet, of course, must be pardoned for this want of a sense of +proportion, but even a Provençal reader cannot be kept in constant +illusion as to the greatness of little places that can scarcely be found +upon the map, or dazzled by the magnificence of achievements that really +have left little or no impress upon the history of the world. As we +follow the poet's work in its chronological development, we find this +trait growing more and more pronounced. He sees his beloved Provence, +its past and present, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name="page129"></a>Pg 129</span> its future, too, in a magnifying mirror that +embellishes all it reflects with splendid, glowing colors, and exalts +little figures to colossal proportions. The reader falls easily under +the spell of this exuberant enthusiasm and is charmed by the poetic +power evinced. The wealth of words, the beauty of the imagery with +which, for example, the humble, well-nigh unknown little port of Cassis +and its fishing industry are described, carry us along and hold us in +momentary illusion. We see them in the poet's magic mirror for the time. +To the traveller or the sober historian all these things appear very, +very different.</p> + +<p>With the Félibres the success of the poem was much greater; it is a kind +of patriotic hymn, a glorification of the past of Provence, and a song +of hope for its future. Its allegory, its learned literary allusions, +its delving into obscure historic events, preclude any hope of popular +success.</p> + +<p>Like <i>Mirèio</i>, the poem is divided into twelve cantos, and the form of +stanza employed is the same. The heroic tone of the poem might be +thought to have required verse of greater stateliness; the recurrence of +the three feminine<span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130"></a>Pg 130</span> rhymes in the shorter verses often seems too pretty. +Like <i>Mirèio</i>, the poem has the outward marks of an epic. Unlike +<i>Mirèio</i>, it reminds us frequently of the <i>Chansons de geste</i>, and we +see that the author has been living in the world of the Old Provençal +poets. This is apparent not merely in the constant allusions, in the +reproductions of episodes, but in the manner in which the narrative +moves along. Lamartine would not have been reminded of the ancient Greek +poets had <i>Calendau</i> preceded <i>Mirèio</i>. The conception of courtly love, +the guiding, elevating inspiration of Beatrice, leading Dante on to +greater, higher, more spiritual things, are the sources of the chief +ideas contained in <i>Calendau</i>. Vincèn and Mirèio remain throughout the +simple youth and maiden they were, but Calendau, "the simple fisherman +of Cassis," develops into a great hero, performing Herculean tasks, like +a knight of the days of chivalry, and rises higher and higher until he +wins "the empire of pure love"—his lady's hand.</p> + +<p>Very beautiful is the invocation addressed to the "soul of his country +that radiates, manifest in its language and in its history—that through +the greatness of its memories saves<span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>Pg 131</span> hope for him." It is the spirit +that inspired the sweet Troubadours, and set the voice of Mirabeau +thundering like the mistral. The poet proclaims his belief in his race. +"For the waves of the ages and their storms and horrors mingle the +nations and wipe out frontiers in vain. Mother Earth, Nature, ever feeds +her sons with the same milk, her hard breast will ever give the fine oil +to the olive; Spirit, ever springing into life, joyous, proud, and +living spirit that neighest in the noise of the Rhone and in the wind +thereof! spirit of the harmonious woods, and of the sunny bays, pious +soul of the fatherland, I call thee! be incarnate in my Provençal +verse!"</p> + +<p>We are plunged in orthodox fashion <i>in medias res</i>. The young fisherman +is seated upon the rocky heights above the sea before the beautiful +woman he loves. He does not know who she is; he has performed almost +superhuman exploits to win her; but there is an obstacle to their union. +She relates that she is the last of the family of the Princes des Baux, +who had their castle and city hewn out of the solid rock in the strange +mountains that overlook the plain of Arles. She tells the mar<span class="pagenum"><a id="page132" name="page132"></a>Pg 132</span>vellous +history of the family, evoking a vision of the days of courtly love when +the Troubadours sang at the feet of the fair princesses. A panorama of +the life of those days of poetry and song moves before us. The princess +even describes and defines in poetic language the forms of verse in +vogue in the ancient days, the <i>Tenson</i>, the <i>Pastoral</i>, the <i>Ballad</i>, +the <i>Sirventés</i>, the <i>Romance</i>, the <i>Congé</i>, the <i>Aubade</i>, the <i>Solace +of Love</i>. She relates her marriage with the Count Sévéran, who +fascinated her by some mysterious power. At the wedding-feast she learns +that he is a mere bandit, leader of a band of robbers that infests the +country. She fled away through the mountains and found the grotto where +she now lives. The fishermen, seeing her appear and vanish among the +cliffs, take her to be the fairy Esterello, who is a sort of Loreley. +Calendau determines that either Sévéran or he shall die, and seeks him +out. His splendid physical appearance and bold, defiant manner arouse in +the bandit a desire to get Calendau to join his company, and the women +of the band are charmed with him. They ask to hear the story of his +life, and the great body of the poem consists of the narrative by<span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>Pg 133</span> +Calendau of his exploits. After the last one Calendau has risen to the +loftiest conception of pure love through the guidance of Esterello, like +Dante inspired by Beatrice. Then the Count holds an orgy and tries to +tempt the virtue of the hero. Calendau, after witnessing the lascivious +dances, challenges the Count to mortal combat. The latter knows now who +he is, and that Esterello is none other than the bride who fled after +the marriage-feast. Calendau is overpowered and imprisoned, and the +Count and his men set off in search of Esterello. But Calendau is freed +by Fourtuneto, one of the women, and journeys by sea from Cannes to +Cassis to defend the Princess. Here a great combat takes place with the +Count, who fires the pine-woods and perishes miserably, uttering +blasphemous imprecations. The Cassidians fight the fire, and Calendau +and the blond Princess are saved.</p> + +<p>"The applause of two thousand souls salutes them and acclaims them. +'Calendau, Calendau, let us plant the May for the conqueror of +Esterello. He glorifies, he brings to the light our little harbor of +fishermen, let us make him Consul, Consul for life!' So saying<span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>Pg 134</span> the +multitude accompanies the generous, happy pair of lovers, and the sun +that God rules, the great sun, rises, illumines, and procreates +endlessly new enthusiasms, new lovers."</p> + +<p>The poem clearly symbolizes the Provençal renascence; Calendau typifies +the modern Provençal people, rising to an ideal life and great +achievements through the memory of their traditions, and this ideal, +this memory, are personified in the person of the beautiful Princess.</p> + +<p>The time of the action is the eighteenth century, before the Revolution. +This is a deliberate choice of the poet who has a temporal symbolism in +mind. "I shall thus combine in my picture the three aspects of Provence +on the eve of the Revolution: in the background, the noble legends of +the past; in the foreground the social corruption of the evil days; and +before us the better future, the future and the reparation personified +in the son of the working classes, guardians of the tradition of the +country."</p> + +<p>As regards the execution, it is masterly, and cannot be ranked below +<i>Mirèio</i>. There is the same enthusiastic love of nature, the same +astonishing resources of expression, the same<span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135"></a>Pg 135</span> novelty and originality. +In place of the rustic nature of Mirèio, we have the wild grandeur of +mountains and sea. There is the same, nay, even greater, eloquence of +the speakers, the same musical verse.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"Car, d'aquesto ouro, ounto es la raro<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Que di delice nous separo,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jouine, amourous que siam, libre coume d'aucèu?<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Regardo: la Naturo brulo<br /></span> +<span class="i4">A noste entour, e se barrulo<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Dins li bras de l'Estiéu, e chulo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lou devourant alen de soun nòve roussèu.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"Li serre clar e blu, li colo<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Palo de la calour e molo,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Boulegon trefouli si mourre.... Ve la mar:<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Courouso e lindo coumo un vèire,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Dòu grand soulèu i rai bevèire<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Enjusqu'au founs se laisso vèire,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Se laisso coutiga pèr lou Rose e lou Var."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"For now, where is the limit that separates us from joy, young, amorous +as we are, free as birds! Look: Nature burns around us and rolls in the +arms of Summer, and drinks in the devouring breath of her ruddy spouse. +The clear, blue peaks, the hills, pale and soft with the heat, are +thrilled and stir their rounding summits. Behold the sea, glistening and +lim<span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136"></a>Pg 136</span>pid as glass; in the thirsty rays of the great sun, she allows +herself to be seen clear to the bottom, to be caressed by the Rhone and +the Var."</p> + +<p>These are the words of Calendau when, seeking his reward after his final +exploit, he learns that he has won the love of Esterello. The poet never +goes further in the voluptuous strain, and the mere music of the words, +especially beginning "Ve la mar" is exquisite. They are found in the +first canto. This scene wherein the Princess refuses to wed Calendau is +typical of the poet. The northern temperament is not impressed with +these long tirades, full of ejaculations and apostrophes; they are apt +to seem unnatural, insincere, and theatrical. Intense feeling is not so +verbose in the north. In this particular Mistral is true to his race. We +quote entire the words of Calendau after the refusal of Esterello, +itself full exclamation and apostrophizing:—</p> + +<p>"Then I have but won the thirst, the weariness of the midshipman, when +he is about to reach the summit of the mainmast, and sees gleaming at +the limit of the liquid plain naught but water, water eternally! Well, +if thou wilt<span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>Pg 137</span> hear it, listen! and let the heath resound with it! It is +thou, false woman that thou art, it is thou that hast deceived me, +luring me on to believe that at the summit of the peaks I should find +the splendor of a sublime dawn, that after winter spring would come, +that there is nothing so good as the food earned by labor. Thou hast +deceived me, for in the wilderness I found naught but drought; and the +wind of this world and its idle noise, the embarrassment of luxury, and +the din of glory, and what is called the enjoyment of triumph, are not +worth a little hour of love beneath a pine tree! See, from my hand the +bridle escapes, my skull is bursting, and I am not sure now that the +people in their fear are not right in dreading thee like a ghost, now +that I feel, as my reward, thy burning poison streaming through my +heart. Yes, thou art the fairy Esterello, and thou art unmasked at last, +cruel creature! In the chill of thy refusal I have known the viper. Thou +art Esterello, bitter foe to man, haunting the wild places, crowned with +nettles, defending the desert against those who clear the land. Thou art +Esterello, the fairy that sends a shudder through the foliage of the +woods and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138"></a>Pg 138</span> hair of the terrified hermit; that fires with the desire +of her perfumed embrace her suitors and in malevolence drives them to +despair with infernal longings.</p> + +<p>"My head is bursting, and since from the heights of my supernatural love +a thunderbolt thus hurls me down, since, nothing, nothing henceforth, +from this moment on, can give me joy, since, cruel woman, when thou +couldst throw me a rope, thou leavest me, in dismay, to drink the bitter +current—let death come, black hiding-place, bottomless abyss! let me +plunge down head first!"</p> + +<p>And when Esterello, fearing he will slay himself, clasps him about the +neck, they stand silently embraced, "the tears, in tender mingling, rain +from their eyes; despair, agitation, a spell of happiness, keep their +lips idle, and from hell, at one bound, they rise to paradise."</p> + +<p>Like the creations of Victor Hugo's poetry, those of Mistral speak the +language of the author. They have his eloquence, his violent energy of +figurative speech, his love of the wild, sunny landscapes about them; +they thrill as he does, at the memories of the past; they love, as<span class="pagenum"><a id="page139" name="page139"></a>Pg 139</span> he +does, enumerations of trees and plants; they have his fondness for +action.</p> + +<p>The poem is filled with interesting episodes. One that is very striking +in the narrative of Esterello we shall here reproduce.</p> + +<p>We are at the wedding feast of Count Sévéran and the Princess des Baux. +The merry-making begins to be riotous, and the Count has made a speech +in honor of his bride, promising to take her after the melting of the +snows to his Alpine palaces, where the walls are of steel, the doors of +silver, the locks of gold, and when the sun shines their crystal roofs +glitter like flame.</p> + +<p>"Scarcely from his lips had fallen these wild words, when the door of +the banquet hall opens, and we see the head of an old man, wearing a +bonnet and a garment of rough cloth; we see the dust and sweat trickling +down his tanned cheeks. The bridegroom, with a terrible glance, like the +lightning flash of a fearful storm, turns suddenly pale, and seeks to +stop him; but he, whom the glance cannot harm, calmly, impassively, like +God when he clothes himself like a poor man, to confound sometimes some +rich evil-doer, slowly advances toward the bridegroom, crosses his arms, +and scans<span class="pagenum"><a id="page140" name="page140"></a>Pg 140</span> his countenance. And he says not a word to any one, and all +are afraid; a weight of lead lies upon every heart, and from without +there seems to blow in upon the lamps an icy wind.</p> + +<p>"Finally, a few of them, shaking off their oppression, 'If there come +not soon a famine to wipe out this hideous tribe, we shall be eaten by +beggars within four days! To the merry bridal pair, what hast thou to +say, old scullion?' And they continue to taunt him cruelly. The outraged +peasant holds his peace. 'With his blear eyes, his white pate, his +limping leg, whither comes he trudging? Pelican, bird of ill omen, go to +thy hole and hide thy sorry face.' The stranger swallows their insults, +and casts toward the bridegroom a beseeching glance.</p> + +<p>"But others cry: 'Come on, old man, come on! Come on, fear not the +company, the laughing and joking of these pretty gentlemen. Hunt about +the tables for the dainties and the carcasses. Hast thou a good jaw? +Here, catch this piece of pork and toss off a glass of wine!'</p> + +<p>"'No,' at length comes an answer from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page141" name="page141"></a>Pg 141</span> old man, in a tone of deep +sadness, 'gentlemen, I do not beg, and have never desired what others +leave: I seek my son.'—'His son! What is he saying—the son of this +seller of eelskins hovering about the Baroness of Aiglun?'</p> + +<p>"And they look at each other in doubt, in burning scorn. I listened. +Then they said: 'Where is thy son? Show thy son, come on! and beware. +If, to mock us, thou lie, wretch, at the highest gargoyle of the towers +of Aiglun, without mercy, we'll hang thee!'</p> + +<p>"'Well, since I am disowned, and relegated to the sweepings,' the old +man begins, draped in his <i>sayon</i>, and with a majesty that frightens us, +'you shall hear the crow sing!' Then the Count, turning the color of the +wall, cold as a bench of stone, said, 'Varlets, here, cast out this +dismal phantom!' Two tears of fire, that pierced the ground, and that I +still see shining, streamed down the countenance of the poor old man, +ah! so bitter, that we all became white as shrouds.</p> + +<p>"'Like Death, I come where I am forgotten, without summons. I am wrong!' +broke out the unhappy man, 'but I wished to see my<span class="pagenum"><a id="page142" name="page142"></a>Pg 142</span> daughter-in-law. +Come on, cast out this dismal phantom, who is, however, thy father, O +splendid bridegroom!'</p> + +<p>"I uttered a cry; all the guests rose from their chairs. But the +relentless old man went on: 'My lords, to tear from the evil fruit its +whole covering, I have but two words to say. Be seated, for I still see +on the table dishes not yet eaten.'</p> + +<p>"Standing like palings, silent, anxious, the guests remained with hearts +scarce beating. I trembled, my eyes in mist. We were like the dead of +the churchyard about some funeral feast, full of terror and mystery. The +Count grinned sardonically.</p> + +<p>"'Thou shalt run in vain, wretch,' said the venerable father, 'the +vengeance of God will surely reach thee! To-day thou makest me bow my +head; but thy bride, if she have some honor, will presently flee from +thee as from the pest, for thou shalt some day hang, accursed of God!' I +rush to the arms of my father-in-law. 'Stop, stop;' but he, leaning down +to my ear, said: 'Without knowing the vine or measuring the furrows, +thou hast bought the wine, mad girl! Go, thou didst not weep all thy +tears in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143"></a>Pg 143</span> thy swaddling clothes! Knowest thou whom thou hast? a +robber-chief!'"</p> + +<p>And the scene continues, weirdly dramatic, like some old romantic tale +of feudal days. Such scenes of gloom and terror are not frequent in +Mistral. This one is probably the best of its kind he has attempted.</p> + +<p>On his way to seek Count Sévéran in his fastness, Calendau "enters, +awestruck, into the stupendous valley, deep, frowning, cold, saturnine, +and fierce; the daylight darts into this enclosure an instant upon the +viper and the lizard, then, behind the jagged peaks, it vanishes. The +Esteron rolls below. Now, Calendau feels a shudder in his soul, and +winds his horn. The call resounds in the depths of the gorges. It seems +as though he calls to his aid the spirits of the place. And he thinks of +the paladin dying at Roncevaux."</p> + +<p>For the sake of greater completeness, we summarize briefly the exploits +of the hero. As has been stated, they compose the great body of the +poem, and are narrated by him to the Count and his company of thieves +and women. The narrative begins with the account of the little port of +Cassis, his native place; and one of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name="page144"></a>Pg 144</span> the stanzas is a setting for the +surprising proverb:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Tau qu'a vist Paris,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Se noun a vist Cassis,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pòu dire: N'ai rèn vist!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>He who has seen Paris, and has not seen Cassis, may say, "I have +seen nothing."</p></div> + +<p>No less than forty stanzas are taken up with the wonders of Cassis, and +more than half of those are devoted to naming the fish the Cassidians +catch. It is to be feared that other than Provençal readers and students +of natural history will fail to share the enthusiasm of the poet here. +Calendau's father used to read out of an ancient book; and the hero +recounts the history of Provence, going back to the times of the +Ligurians, telling us of the coming of the Greeks, who brought the art +of sculpture for the future Puget. We hear of the founding of +Marseilles, the days of Diana and Apollo, followed by the coming of the +Romans. The victory of Caius Marius is celebrated, the conquest of +Julius Cæsar deplored. We learn of the introduction of Christianity. We +come down to the glorious days of Raymond of Toulouse.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name="page145"></a>Pg 145</span></p> + +<p>"And enraptured to be free, young, robust, happy in the joy of living, +in those days a whole people was seen at the feet of Beauty; and singing +blame or praises a hundred Troubadours flourished; and from its cradle, +amid vicissitudes, Europe smiled upon our merry singing."</p> + +<p>"O flowers, ye came too soon! Nation in bloom, the sword cut down thy +blossoming! Bright sun of the south, thou shonest too powerfully, and +the thunder-storms gathered. Dethroned, made barefoot, and gagged, the +Provençal language, proud, however, as before, went off to live among +the shepherds and the sailors."</p> + +<p>"Language of love, if there are fools and bastards, ah! by Saint Cyr, +thou shalt have the men of the land upon thy side, and as long as the +fierce mistral shall roar in the rocks, sensitive to an insult offered +thee, we shall defend thee with red cannon-balls, for thou art the +fatherland, and thou art freedom!"</p> + +<p>This love of the language itself pervades all the work of our poet, but +rarely has he expressed it more energetically, not to say violently, +than here.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page146" name="page146"></a>Pg 146</span></p> + +<p>Calendau reaches the point where he first catches a glimpse of the +Princess. He tells of the legends concerning the fairy Esterello, and of +the <i>Fada</i> (Les Enfées). This last is a name given to idiots or to the +insane, who are supposed to have come under her spell.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"E degun auso<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Se trufa d'éli, car an quicon de sacra!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>And none dares mock them, for they have in them something sacred.</p></div> + +<p>The fisherman makes many attempts to find her again, and at last +succeeds. She haughtily dismisses his suit.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Vai, noun sies proun famous, ni proun fort, ni proun fin."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Go, thou art not famous enough, nor strong enough, nor fine enough.</p></div> + +<p>He realizes her great superiority, and, after a time of deep +discouragement, rouses himself and sets about to deserve and win her by +deeds of daring, by making a great name for himself.</p> + +<p>His first idea is to seek wealth, so he builds a great boat and captures +twelve hundred tunny fish. The fishing scenes are depicted with all the +glow of fancy and brilliant<span class="pagenum"><a id="page147" name="page147"></a>Pg 147</span> word-painting for which Mistral is so +remarkable. Calendau is now rich, and brings jewels to his lady. She +haughtily refuses them, and the fisherman throws them away.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"—Eh! bèn, ié fau, d'abord, ingrato,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Que toun cor dur ansin me trato<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E que de mi presènt noun t'enchau mai qu' acò,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Vagon au Diable!—E li bandisse<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Pataflòu! dins lou precepice."...<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Well," said I to her, "since, ungrateful woman, thy hard heart +treats me thus, and thou carest no more about my presents than +that, let them go to the devil!" and I hurled them, <i>pataflòu</i>, +into the precipice....</p></div> + +<p>Here the tone is not one that an English reader finds serious; the +sending the jewels to the Devil, in the presence of the beautiful lady, +and the interjection, seem trivial. Evidently they are not so, for the +Princess is mollified at once.</p> + +<p>"He was not very astute, he who made thee believe that the love of a +proud soul can be won with a few trinkets! Ah, where are the handsome +Troubadours, masters of love?"</p> + +<p>She tells the love-stories of Geoffroy Rudel, of Ganbert de Puy-Abot, of +Foulquet of Marseilles, of Guillaume de Balaün, of Guillaume<span class="pagenum"><a id="page148" name="page148"></a>Pg 148</span> de la +Tour, and her words fall upon Calendau's heart like a flame. He catches +a glimpse of an existence of constant ecstasy.</p> + +<p>His second exploit is a tournament on the water, where the combatants +stand on boats, and are rowed violently against one another, each +striking his lance against the wooden breastplate of his adversary. His +victory wins for him the hatred of the Cassidians, for his enemy accuses +him of cornering the fish. Esterello consoles him with more stories from +the <i>Chansons de geste</i> and the songs of the Troubadours.</p> + +<p>In the seventh canto is described in magnificent language Calendau's +exploit on the Mont Ventoux. This is a remarkable mountain, visible all +over the southern portion of the Rhone valley, standing in solitary +grandeur, like a great pyramid dominating the plain. Its summit is +exceedingly difficult of access. It appears to be the first mountain +that literature records as having been ascended for pleasure. This +ascent is the subject of one of Petrarch's letters.</p> + +<p>During nine days Calendau felled the larches that grew upon the flanks +of the mighty moun<span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name="page149"></a>Pg 149</span>tain, and hurled the forest piecemeal into the +torrent below. At the Rocher du Cire he is frightfully stung by myriads +of bees, during his attempt to obtain as a trophy for his lady a +quantity of honey from this well-nigh inaccessible place. The kind of +criticism that is appropriate for realistic literature is here quite out +of place. It must be said, however, that the episode is far from +convincing. Calendau compares his sufferings to those of a soul in hell, +condemned to the cauldron of oil. Yet he makes a safe escape, and we +never hear of the physical consequences of his terrible punishment.</p> + +<p>The canto, in its vivid language, its movement, its life, is one of the +most astonishing that has come from the pen of its author. It offers +beautiful examples of his inspiration in depicting the lovely aspects of +nature. He finds words of liquid sweetness to describe the music of the +morning breezes breathing through the mass of trees:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"La Ventoureso matiniero,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">En trespirant dins la sourniero<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dis aubre, fernissié coume un pur cantadis,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Ounte di colo e di vallado,<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150"></a>Pg 150</span> +<span class="i4">Tóuti li voues en assemblado,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Mandavon sa boufaroulado.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Li mèle tranquilas, li mèle mescladis," etc.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The morning breeze of the Mont Ventoux, breathing into the mass of +trees, quivered like a pure symphony of song wherein all the voices +of hill and dale sent their breathings.</p></div> + +<p>In the last line the word <i>tranquilas</i> is meant to convey the idea "in +tranquil grandeur."</p> + +<p>This ruthless destruction of the forest brings down upon Calendau the +anger of his lady; he has dishonored the noble mountain. "Sacrilegious +generation, ye have the harvest of the plains, the chestnut and the +olives of the hillsides, but the beetling brows of the mountains belong +to God!" and the lady continues an eloquent defence of the trees, "the +beloved sons, the inseparable nurslings, the joy, the colossal glory of +the universal nurse!" and pictures the vengeance Nature wreaks when she +is wronged. Calendau is humbled and departs.</p> + +<p>His next exploit is the settling of the feud between two orders of +Masons. He displays marvellous bravery in facing the fighting crowds, +and they choose him to be umpire. He delivers a noble speech in favor of +peace, full<span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151"></a>Pg 151</span> of allusions to the architectural glories of Provence, that +grew up when "faith and union lent their torch." He tells the story of +the building of the bridge of Avignon. "Noah himself with his ark could +have passed beneath each of its arches." He touches their emotions with +his appeal for peace, and they depart reconciled.</p> + +<p>And now Esterello begins to love him. She bids him strive for the +noblest things, to love country and humanity, to become a knight, an +apostle; and after Calendau has performed the feat of capturing the +famous brigand Marco-Mau, after he has been crowned in the feasts at +Aix, and resisted victorious the wiles of the women that surround the +Count Sévéran, and saved his lady in the fearful combat on the +fire-surrounded rock, he wins her.</p> + + +<h4>III. NERTO</h4> + +<p>In spite of its utter unreality <i>Nerto</i> is a charming tale, written in a +sprightly vein, with here and there a serious touch, reminding the +reader frequently of Ariosto. The Devil, the Saints, and the Angels +figure in it prominently; but the Devil is not a very terrible personage +in Provence,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page152" name="page152"></a>Pg 152</span> and the Angels are entirely lacking in Miltonic grandeur. +The scene of the story is laid in the time of Benedict XIII, who was +elected Pope at Avignon in 1394. The story offers a lively picture of +the papal court, reminding the reader forcibly of the description found +in Daudet's famous tale of the Pope's mule. It is filled throughout with +legends relating to the Devil, and with superstitious beliefs of the +Middle Age. It is not always easy to determine when the poet is serious +in his statement of religious belief, occasionally he appears to be so, +and then a line or so shows us that he has a legend in mind. In the +prologue of the poem he says:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Crèire, coundus à la vitòri.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Douta, vaqui l' endourmitòri<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E la pouisoun dins lou barriéu<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E la lachuslo dins lou riéu."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>To believe leads to victory. Doubt is the narcotic, and the poison +in the barrel, and the euphorbia in the stream.</p></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"E, quand lou pople a perdu fe,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">L'infèr abrivo si boufet."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And when the people have lost faith,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hell sets its bellows blowing.<br /></span> +</div></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page153" name="page153"></a>Pg 153</span></p> + +<p>Then later we read: "What is this world? A wager between Christ and the +Demon. Thousands of years ago he challenged God, and when the great game +began, they played with great loose rocks from the hills, at quoits, and +if any one is unwilling to believe this, let him go to Mount Léberon and +see the stone thrown by Satan."</p> + +<p>So we see that the theology was merely a means of leading up to a local +legend.</p> + +<p>The story is briefly as follows: Nerto, like all Mistral's heroines, is +exceedingly young, thirteen years of age. Her father, the Baron Pons, +had gambled away everything he owned in this world, when she was a very +little child, and while walking along a lonely road one night he met the +Devil, who took advantage of his despair to tempt him with the sight of +heaps of money. The wretched father sold his daughter's soul to the Evil +One. Now on his death-bed he tells his child the fearful tale; one means +of salvation lies open for her—she must go to the Pope. Benedict XIII +is besieged in the great palace at Avignon, but the Baron knows of a +secret passage from his castle leading under the river Durance to one of +the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page154" name="page154"></a>Pg 154</span> towers of the papal residence. He bids Nerto go to seek deliverance +from the bond, and to make known to the Pope the means of escape. Nerto +reaches the palace at the moment when all is in great commotion, for the +enemy have succeeded in setting it on fire. She is first seen by the +Pope's nephew Don Rodrigue, an exceedingly wicked young man, a sort of +brawling Don Juan, who seems to have been guilty of numerous +assassinations. He immediately begins to talk love to the maiden, as the +means of saving her from the Devil, "the path of love is full of flowers +and leads to Paradise." But Nerto has been taught that the road to +Heaven is full of stones and thorns, and her innocence saves her from +the passionate outburst of the licentious youth. And Nerto is taken to +the Pope, whom she finds sadly enthroned in all his splendor, and brings +him the news of a means of escape. The last Pope of Avignon bearing the +sacred elements, <i>pourtant soun Diéu</i>, follows the maiden through the +underground passage, and escapes with all his followers. At +Château-Renard he sets up his court with the King of Forcalquier, +Naples, and Jerusalem and Donna Iolanthe his Queen. Nerto asks the Pope +to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page155" name="page155"></a>Pg 155</span> save her soul, but he is powerless. Only a miracle can save a soul +sold to Satan. She must enter a convent, and pray to the Saints +continually. The Court is about to move to Arles, she shall enter the +convent there. On the way, Don Rodrigue makes love to her assiduously, +but the young girl's heart seems untroubled.</p> + +<p>At Arles we witness a great combat of animals, in which the lion of +Arles, along with four bulls, is turned loose in the arena. The lion +kills all but one of the bulls. The fourth beast, enraged, gores the +lion. The royal brute rushes among the spectators and makes for the +King's throne. Nerto and the Queen are crouching in terror before him, +when Don Rodrigue slays the animal, saving Nerto's life. Nay, he saves +more than her life, for had she died then she would have been a prey to +the flames of Hell.</p> + +<p>Nerto becomes a nun, but Don Rodrigue, with a band of ribald followers, +succeeds in carrying her off with all the other nuns. They are all +driven by the King's soldiers into the cemetery of the Aliscamps. Nerto +wanders away during the battle and is lost among the tombs. At dawn the +next day she strays far out to a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page156" name="page156"></a>Pg 156</span> forest, where she finds a hermit. The +old man welcomes her, and believes he can save her soul. The Angel +Gabriel visits him frequently, and he will speak to him. But the Angel +disapproves, condemns the pride of the anchorite, and soars away to the +stars without a word of hope or consolation, and so in great anxiety the +pious man bids her go back to the convent, and prays Saint Gabriel, +Saint Consortia, Saint Tullia, Saint Gent, Saint Verdème, Saint Julien, +Saint Trophime, Saint Formin, and Saint Stephen to accompany her.</p> + +<p>Don Rodrigue is living in a palace built for him in one night by the +Devil, wherein are seven halls, each devoted to one of the seven mortal +sins. Hither Nerto wanders; here Rodrigue finds her, and begins his +passionate love-making afresh. But Nerto remains true to her vows, +although the germ of love has been in her heart since the day Rodrigue +saved her from the lion. On learning that she is in the Devil's castle, +she is filled with terror, believing the fatal day has arrived. She +confesses her love. The maiden cries: "Woe is me, Nerto loves you, but +if Hell should swallow us up, would there be any love for the damned? +Rodrigue, no,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page157" name="page157"></a>Pg 157</span> there is none. If you would but break the tie that binds +you, if, with one happy wing-stroke, you could soar up to the summits +where lives last forever, where hearts vanish united in the bosom of +God, I should be delivered, it seems to me, in the same upward impulse; +for, in heaven or in the abyss, I am inseparable from you." Rodrigue +replies sadly, that his past is too dreadful, that only the ocean could +wipe it out. "Rodrigue, one burst of repentance is worth a long penance. +Courage, come, only one look toward Heaven!" The Devil appears. He +swells with pride in this, his finest triumph; black souls he has in +plenty, but since the beginning of his reign over the lower regions he +has never captured an immaculate victim like this soul. Rodrigue inverts +his sword, and at the sign of the cross, a terrific hurricane sweeps +away the palace, Don Rodrigue, and the Devil, and nothing is left but a +nun of stone who is still visible in the midst of a field on the site of +the château. In an Epilogue we learn from the Archangel who visits the +hermit that the knight and the maiden were both saved.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to characterize the curious com<span class="pagenum"><a id="page158" name="page158"></a>Pg 158</span>bination of levity and +seriousness that runs through this tale. There is no illusion of reality +anywhere; there is no agony of soul in Baron Pon's confession; Nerto's +terror when she learns that she is the property of the Devil is far from +impressive, because she says too much, with expressions that are too +pretty, perhaps because the rippling octosyllabic verse, in Provençal at +least, cannot be serious; it is hardly worth while to mention the +objection that if the Devil can be worsted at any time merely by +inverting a sword, especially when the sword is that of an assassin and +a rake, whose repentance is scarcely touched upon and is by no means +disinterested, it is clear that the Demon has wasted his time at a very +foolish game; a religious mind might feel a deeper sort of reverence for +the Archangels than is evinced here. Yet it cannot be said that the poem +parodies things sacred and sublime, and it appears to be utterly without +philosophical intention. Mistral really has to a surprising degree the +naïveté of writers of former centuries, and as regards the tale itself +and its general treatment it could almost have been written by a +contemporary of the events it relates.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page159" name="page159"></a>Pg 159</span></p> + + +<h4>IV. LOU POUÈMO DÓU ROSE</h4> + +<p>The <i>Poem of the Rhone</i>, the third of the poems in twelve cantos that +Mistral has written, appeared in 1897. It completes the symmetry of his +life work; the former epics extolled the life of the fields, the +mountains, and the sea, the last glorifies the beautiful river that +brings life to his native soil. More than either of the other long +poems, it is an act of affection for the past, for the Rhone of the poem +is the Rhone of his early childhood, before the steam-packets churned +its waters, or the railroads poured up their smoke along its banks. +Although the poet has interwoven in it a tale of merest fancy, it is +essentially realistic, differing notably in this respect from Calendau. +This realism descends to the merest details, and the poetic quality of +the work suffers considerably in many passages. The poet does not shrink +from minute enumeration of cargoes, or technical description of boats, +or word-for-word reproduction of the idle talk of boatwomen, or the +apparently inexhaustible profanity of the boatmen. The life on the river +is vividly portrayed, and we put down the book with a sense<span class="pagenum"><a id="page160" name="page160"></a>Pg 160</span> of really +having made the journey from Lyons to Beaucaire with the fleet of seven +boats of Master Apian.</p> + +<p>On opening the volume the reader is struck first of all with the novel +versification. It is blank verse, the line being precisely that of +Dante's <i>Divina Commedia</i>. Not only is there no rhyme, but assonance is +very carefully avoided. The effect of this unbroken succession of +feminine verses is slightly monotonous, though the poet shifts his +pauses skilfully. The rhythm of the lines is marked, the effect upon the +ear being quite like that of English iambic pentameters hypercatalectic. +The absence of rhyme is the more noteworthy in that rhyme offers little +difficulty in Provençal. Doubtless the poet was pleased to show an +additional claim to superiority for his speech over the French as a +vehicle for poetic thought; for while on the one hand the rules of rhyme +and hiatus give the poet writing in Provençal less trouble than when +writing in French, on the other hand this poem proves that splendid +blank verse may be written in the new language.</p> + +<p>The plan of the poem is briefly as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a id="page161" name="page161"></a>Pg 161</span> it describes the departure +of a fleet of boats from Lyons, accompanies them down the river to +Beaucaire, describes the fair and the return up the river, the boats +being hauled by eighty horses; narrates the collision with a steamboat +coming down the stream, which drags the animals into the water, setting +the boats adrift in the current, destroying them and their cargo, and +typifying as it were the ruin of the old traffic on the Rhone. The river +itself is described, its dangerous shoals, its beautiful banks, its +towns and castles. We learn how the boats were manœuvred; the life on +board and the ideas of the men are set before us minutely. Legends and +stories concerning the river and the places along the shores abound, of +course; and into this general background is woven the tale of a Prince +of Orange and a little maiden called the Anglore, two of the curiously +half-real, half-unreal beings that Mistral seems to love to create. The +Prince comes on board the fleet, intending to see Orange and Provence; +some day he is to be King of Holland, but has already sickened of court +ceremonies and intrigues.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Uno foulié d'amour s'es mes en tèsto."<br /></span> +</div></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page162" name="page162"></a>Pg 162</span></p> + +<p>This dreamy, imaginative, blond Prince is in search of a Naïade and the +mysterious "swan-flower," wherein the fair nymph is hidden. This flower +he wears as an emblem. When the boatmen see it, they recognize it as the +<i>fleur de Rhône</i> that the Anglore is so fond of culling. The men get +Jean Roche, one of their number, to tell the Prince who this mysterious +Anglore is, and we learn that she is a little, laughing maiden, who +wanders barefoot on the sand, so charming that any of the sailors, were +she to make a sign, would spring into the water to go and print a kiss +upon her little foot. Not only is the Prince in search of a nymph and a +flower, not only does he wish to behold Orange, he wishes also to learn +the language in which the Countess of Die sang lays of love with +Raimbaud of Orange. He is full of thoughts of the olden days, he feels +regret for the lost conquests. "But why should he feel regret, if he may +recover the sunny land of his forefathers by drinking it in with eager +eyes! What need is there of gleaming swords to seize what the eye shows +us?" He cares little for royalty.</p> + +<p>"Strongholds crumble away, as may be seen<span class="pagenum"><a id="page163" name="page163"></a>Pg 163</span> on all these hills; +everything falls to ruin and is renewed. But on thy summits, unchanging +Nature, forever the thyme shall bloom, and the shepherds and +shepherdesses frolic on the grass at the return of spring."</p> + +<p>The Prince apostrophizes the "empire of the sun," bordering like a +silver hem the dazzling Rhone, the "poetic empire of Provence, that with +its name alone doth charm the world," and he calls to mind the empire of +the Bosonides, the memory of which survives in the speech of the +boatmen; they call the east shore "empire," the west shore "kingdom."</p> + +<p>The journey is full of episodes. The owner of the fleet, Apian, is a +sententious individual. He is devoted to his river life, full of +religious fervor, continually crossing himself or praying to Saint +Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors. This faith, however, is not +entire. If a man falls into the water, the fellows call to him, +"Recommend thyself to Saint Nicholas, but swim for dear life." As the +English expression has it, "Trust to God, but keep your powder dry." +Master Apian always says the Lord's Prayer aloud when he puts off from +shore, and solemnly utters the words, "In the name of God<span class="pagenum"><a id="page164" name="page164"></a>Pg 164</span> and the Holy +Virgin, to the Rhone!" His piety, however, does not prevent him from +interrupting his prayer to swear at the men most vigorously. Says he, +"Let whoever would learn to pray, follow the water," but his arguments +and experiences rather teach the vanity of prayer. He is full of +superstitious tales. He has views of life.</p> + +<p>"Life is a journey like that of the bark. It has its bad, its good days. +The wise man, when the waves smile, ought to know how to behave; in the +breakers he must go slow. But man is born for toil, for navigation. He +who rows gets his pay at the end of the month. He who is afraid of +blistering his hands takes a dive into the abyss of poverty." He tells a +story of Napoleon in flight down the Rhone, of the women who cried out +at him, reviling him, bidding him give back their sons, shaking their +fists and crying out, "Into the Rhone with him." Once when he was +changing horses at an inn, a woman, bleeding a fowl at the door, +exclaimed: "Ha, the cursed monster! If I had him here, I'd plant my +knife into his throat like that!" The emperor, unknown to her, draws +near. "What did he do to you?" said he. "I<span class="pagenum"><a id="page165" name="page165"></a>Pg 165</span> had two sons," replied the +bereaved mother wrathfully, "two handsome boys, tall as towers. He +killed them for me in his battles."—"Their names will not perish in the +stars," said Napoleon sadly. "Why could I not fall like them? for they +died for their country on the field of glory."—"But who are you?"—"I +am the emperor."—"Ah!" The good woman fell upon her knees dismayed, +kissed his hands, begged his forgiveness, and all in tears—Here the +story is interrupted.</p> + +<p>Wholly charming and altogether original is the tale of the little maiden +whom the boatmen name L'Anglore, and whom Jean Roche loves. The men have +named her so for fun. They knew her well, having seen her from earliest +childhood, half naked, paddling in the water along the shore, sunning +herself like the little lizard they call <i>anglore</i>. Now she had grown, +and eked out a poor living by seeking for gold in the sands brought down +by the Ardèche.</p> + +<p>The little maid believed in the story of the Drac, a sort of merman, +that lived in the Rhone, and had power to fascinate the women who +ventured into the water. There was once a very widespread superstition +concerning this Protean<span class="pagenum"><a id="page166" name="page166"></a>Pg 166</span> creature; and the women washing in the river +often had a figure of the Drac, in the form of a lizard, carved upon the +piece of wood with which they beat the linen, as a sort of talisman +against his seduction. The mother of the Anglore had told her of his +wiles; and one story impressed her above all—the story of the young +woman who, fascinated by the Drac, lost her footing in the water and was +carried whirling down into the depths. At the end of seven years she +returned and told her tale. She had been seized by the Drac, and for +seven years he kept her to nurse his little Drac.</p> + +<p>The Anglore was never afraid while seeking the specks of gold in the +sunlight. But at night it was different. A gem of poetry is the scene in +the sixth canto, full of witchery and charm, wherein the imagination of +the little maid, wandering out along the water in the mysterious +moonlight, causes her to fancy she sees the Drac in the form of a fair +youth smiling upon her, offering her a wild flower, uttering sweet, +mysterious words of love that die away in the water. She often came +again to meet him; and she noticed that if ever she crossed herself on +entering the water, as she had always<span class="pagenum"><a id="page167" name="page167"></a>Pg 167</span> done when a little girl, the Drac +would not appear. These three or four pages mark the genuine poet and +the master of language. The mysterious night, oppressively warm, the +moonlight shining on the little white figure, the deep silence, broken +only by the faint murmur of the river and the distant singing of a +nightingale, the gleam of the glowworms, compose a scene of fantastic +beauty. The slightest sounds startle her, whether it be a fish leaping +at the surface of the water to seize a fly, the gurgling of a little +eddy, or the shrill cry of a bat. There is a certain voluptuous beauty +in the very sound of the words that describe the little nymph, kissed by +the moonbeams:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"alusentido<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pèr li rai de la luno que beisavon<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Soun fin coutet, sa jouino car ambrenco,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Si bras poupin, sis esquino rabloto<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E si pousseto armouniouso e fermo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que s'amagavon coume dos tourtouro<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dins l'esparpai de sa cabeladuro."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The last three lines fall like a caress upon the ear. Mistral often +attains a perfect melody of words with the harmonious succession of +varied vowel sounds and the well-marked cadence of his verse.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page168" name="page168"></a>Pg 168</span></p> + +<p>When Apian's fleet comes down the river and passes the spot where the +little maid seeks for gold, the men see her and invite her on board. She +will go down to Beaucaire to sell her findings. Jean Roche offers +himself in marriage, but she will have none of him; she loves the vision +seen beneath the waves. When the Anglore spies the blond-haired Prince, +she turns pale and nearly swoons. "'Tis he, 'tis he!" she cries, and she +stands fascinated. William, charmed with the little maid, says to her, +"I recognize thee, O Rhone flower, blooming on the water—flower of good +omen that I saw in a dream." The little maid calls him Drac, identifies +the flower in his hand, and lives on in this hallucination. The boatmen +consider that she has lost her reason, and say she must have drunk of +the fountain of Tourne. The little maid hears them, and bids them speak +low, for their fate is written at the fountain of Tourne; and like a +Sibyl, raising her bare arm, she describes the mysterious carvings on +the rock, and the explanation given by a witch she knew. These carvings, +according to Mistral's note, were dedicated to the god Mithra. The +meaning given by the witch is that the day the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page169" name="page169"></a>Pg 169</span> Drac shall leave the +river Rhone forever, that day the boatmen shall perish. The men do not +laugh, for they have already heard of the great boats that can make +their way against the current without horses. Apian breaks out into +furious imprecations against the men who would ruin the thousands that +depend for their living upon the river. One is struck by this +introduction of a question of political economy into a poem.</p> + +<p>During the journey to Avignon the Prince falls more and more in love +with the little Anglore, whom no sort of evidence can shake out of her +belief that the Prince is the Drac, for the Drac can assume any form at +pleasure. Her delusion is so complete, so naïve, that the prince, +romantic by nature, is entirely under the spell.</p> + +<p>There come on board three Venetian women, who possess the secret of a +treasure, twelve golden statues of the Apostles buried at Avignon. The +Prince leaves the boat to help them find the place, and the little maid +suffers intensely the pangs of jealousy. But he comes back to her, and +takes her all about the great fair at Beaucaire. That night, however, he +wanders out alone, and while calling to mind<span class="pagenum"><a id="page170" name="page170"></a>Pg 170</span> the story of Aucassin and +Nicolette, he is sandbagged, but not killed. The Anglore believes he has +left his human body on the ground so as to visit his caverns beneath the +Rhone. William seems unhurt, and at the last dinner before they start to +go up the river again, surrounded by the crew, he makes them a truly +Felibrean speech:—</p> + +<p>"Do you know, friends, to whom I feel like consecrating our last meal in +Beaucaire? To the patriots of the Rhodanian shores, to the dauntless men +who, in olden days, maintained themselves in the strong castle that +stands before our eyes, to the dwellers along the riverbanks who +defended so valiantly their customs, their free trade, and their great +free Rhone. If the sons of those forefathers who fell bravely in the +strife, to-day have forgotten their glory, well, so much the worse for +the sons! But you, my mates, you who have preserved the call, Empire! +and who, like the brave men you are, will soon go and defend the Rhone +in its very life, fighting your last battle with me, a stranger, but +enraptured and intoxicated with the light of your Rhone, come, raise +your glasses to the cause of the vanquished!"</p> + +<p>The love scenes between the Prince and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page171" name="page171"></a>Pg 171</span> Anglore continue during the +journey up the river. Her devotion to him is complete; she knows not +whither she goes, if to perish, then let it be with him. In a moment of +enthusiasm William makes a passionate declaration.</p> + +<p>"Trust me, Anglore, since I have freely chosen thee, since thou hast +brought me thy deep faith in the beautiful wonders of the fable, since +thou art she who, without thought, yields to her love, as wax melts in +the sun, since thou livest free of all our bonds and shams, since in thy +blood, in thy pure bosom, lies the renewal of the old sap, I, on my +faith as a Prince, I swear to thee that none but me, O my Rhone flower, +shall have the happiness to pluck thee as a flower of love and as a +wife!"</p> + +<p>But this promise is never kept. One day the boats meet the steamer +coming down the river. Apian, pale and silent, watches the magic bark +whose wheels beat like great paws, and, raising great waves, come down +steadily upon him.</p> + +<p>The captain cries, "One side!" but, obstinate and angry, Apian tries to +force the steamer to give way. The result is disastrous. The steamer +catches in the towing cables and drags the horses into the water. The +boats drift<span class="pagenum"><a id="page172" name="page172"></a>Pg 172</span> back and are hurled against a bridge. William and the +Anglore are thrown into the river and are lost. All the others escape +with their lives. Jean Roche is not sure but that he was the Drac after +all, who, foreseeing the shipwreck, had thus followed the boats, to +carry the Anglore at last down into the depths of the river. Maître +Apian accepts his ruin philosophically. Addressing his men, he says: +"Ah, my seven boats! my splendid draught horses! All gone, all ruined! +It is the end of the business! Poor fellow-boatmen, you may well say, +'good-by to a pleasant life.' To-day the great Rhone has died, as far as +we are concerned."</p> + +<p>The idea of the poem is, then, to tell of the old life on the Rhone. +To-day the river flows almost as in the days when its shores were untrod +by men. Rarely is any sort of boat seen upon its swift and dangerous +current. Mistral portrays the life he knew, and he has done it with +great power and vividness. The fanciful tale of the Prince and the +Anglore, suggested by the beliefs and superstitions of the humble folk, +was introduced, doubtless, as a necessary love story. The little maid +Anglore, half mad in her illusion, is none the less a very sympa<span class="pagenum"><a id="page173" name="page173"></a>Pg 173</span>thetic +creation, and surely quite original. This tale, however, running through +the poem like a thread, is not the poem, nor does it fill +proportionately a large place therein. The poem is, as its title +proclaims, the Poem of the Rhone, a poem of sincere regret for the good +old days when the muscular sons of Condrieu ruled the stream, the days +of jollity, of the curious boating tournaments of which one is described +in <i>Calendau</i>, when the children used to watch the boats go by with a +Condrillot at the helm, and the Rhone was swarming like a mighty +beehive. The poet notes in sorrow that all is dead. The river flows on, +broad and silent, and no vestige of all its past activity remains, but +here and there a trace of the cables that used to rub along the stones.</p> + +<p>As we said at the outset, what is most striking about this poem is its +realism. The poet revels in enumerating the good things the men had to +eat at the feast of Saint Nicholas; he describes with a wealth of +vocabulary and a flood of technical terms quite bewildering every sort +of boat, and all its parts with their uses; he reproduces the talk of +the boatmen, leaving unvarnished their ignorance and superstition, +their<span class="pagenum"><a id="page174" name="page174"></a>Pg 174</span> roughness and brutality; he describes their appearance, their +long hair and large earrings; he explains the manner of guiding the +boats down the swirling, treacherous waters, amid the dangers of shoals +and hidden rocks; he describes all the cargoes, not finding it beneath +the dignity of an epic poem to tell us of the kegs of foamy beer that is +destined for the thirsty throats of the drinkers at Beaucaire; as the +boats pass Condrieu, he reproduces the gossip of the boatmen's wives; he +does not omit the explanations of Apian addressed to the Prince +concerning fogs and currents; he is often humorous, telling us of the +heavy merchants who promenade their paunches whereon the watch-charms +rattle against their snug little money carried in a belt; he describes +the passengers, tells us their various trades and destinations, is even +cynical; tells of the bourgeois, who, once away from their wives, grow +suddenly lavish with their money, and like pigs let loose in the street, +take up the whole roadway; he does not shrink from letting us know that +the men chew a cud of tobacco while they talk; he mentions the price of +goods; he puts into the mouth of Jean Roche's mother a great many +practical and material<span class="pagenum"><a id="page175" name="page175"></a>Pg 175</span> considerations as to the matter of taking a +wife, and a very wise and practical old lady she is; he treats as +"joyeusetés" the conversation of the Venetian women who inform the +Prince that in their city the noblewoman, once married, may have quite a +number of lovers without exciting any comment, the husband being rather +relieved than otherwise; he allows his boatmen to swear and call one +another vile names, and a howling, brawling lot they frequently become; +and when at last we get to the fair at Beaucaire, there are pages of +minute enumerations that can scarcely be called Homeric. In short, a +very large part of the book is prose, animated, vigorous, often +exaggerated, but prose. Like his other long poems it is singularly +objective. Rarely does the author interrupt his narrative or description +to give an opinion, to speak in his own name, or to analyze the +situation he has created. Like the other poems, too, it is sprinkled +with tales and legends of all sorts, some of them charming. +Superstitions abound. Mistral shares the fondness of the Avignonnais for +the number seven. Apian has seven boats, the Drac keeps his victim seven +years, the woman of Condrieu has seven sons.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page176" name="page176"></a>Pg 176</span></p> + +<p>The poem offers the same beauties as the others, an astonishing power of +description first of all. Mistral is always masterly, always poetic in +depicting the landscape and the life that moves thereon, and especially +in evoking the life of the past. He revives for us the princesses and +queens, the knights and troubadours, and they move before us, a +fascinating, glittering pageant. The perfume of flowers, the sunlight on +the water, the great birds flying in the air, the silent drifting of the +boats in the broad valley, the reflection of the tall poplars in the +water, the old ruins that crown the hilltops—all these things are +exquisitely woven into the verse, and more than a mere word-painting +they create a mood in the reader in unison with the mood of the person +of whom he is reading.</p> + +<p>In touching truly deep and serious things Mistral is often superficial, +and passes them off with a commonplace. An instance in this poem is the +episode of the convicts on their way to the galleys at Toulon. No +terrible indignation, no heartfelt pity, is expressed. Apian silences +one of his crew who attempts to mock at the unhappy wretches. "They are +miserable enough<span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177"></a>Pg 177</span> without an insult! and do not seem to recognize them, +for, branded on the shoulder, they seek the shade. Let this be an +example to you all. They are going to eat beans at Toulon, poor fellows! +All sorts of men are there,—churchmen, rascals, nobles, notaries, even +some who are innocent!"</p> + +<p>And the poet concludes, "Thus the world, thus the agitation, the stir of +life, good, evil, pleasure, pain, pass along swiftly, confusedly, +between day and night, on the river of time, rolling along and fleeing."</p> + +<p>The enthusiasm of the poet leads him into exaggeration whenever he comes +to a wonder of Provence. Things are relative in this world, and the same +words carry different meanings. Avignon is scarcely a colossal pile of +towers, and would not remind many of Venice, even at sunset, and we must +make a discount when we hear that the boats are <i>engulfed</i> in the +<i>fierce</i> (<i>sic</i>) arch of the <i>colossal</i> bridge of stone that Benezet, +the shepherd, erected seven hundred years ago. A moment later he refers +daintily and accurately to the chapel of Saint Nicholas "riding on the +bridge, slender and pretty." The epithets sound larger, too, in +Provençal;<span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178"></a>Pg 178</span> the view of Avignon is "espetaclouso," the walls of the +castle are "gigantesco."</p> + +<p>Especially admirable in its sober, energetic expression is the account +of the <i>Remonte</i>, in the eleventh canto, wherein we see the eighty +horses, grouped in fours, tug slowly up the river.</p> + +<p>"The long file on the rough-paved path, dragging the weighty train of +boats, in spite of the impetuous waters, trudges steadily along. And +beneath the lofty branches of the great white poplars, in the stillness +of the Rhone valley, in the splendor of the rising sun, walking beside +the straining horses that drive a mist from their nostrils, the first +driver says the prayer."</p> + +<p>With each succeeding poem the vocabulary of Mistral seems to grow, along +with the boldness of expression. All his poems he has himself translated +into French, and these translations are remarkable in more than one +respect. That of the <i>Poem of the Rhone</i> is especially full of rare +French words, and it cannot be imputed to the leader of the Provençal +poets that he is not past master of the French vocabulary. Often his +French expression is as<span class="pagenum"><a id="page179" name="page179"></a>Pg 179</span> strange as the original. Not many French +writers would express themselves as he does in the following:—</p> + +<p>"Et il tressaille de jumeler le nonchaloir de sa jeunesse au renouveau +de la belle ingénue."</p> + +<p>In this translation, also, more than in the preceding, there is +occasionally an affectation of archaism, which rather adds to than +detracts from the poetic effect of his prose, and the number of lines in +the prose translation that are really ten-syllable verses is quite +remarkable. On one page (page 183 of the third edition, Lemerre) more +than half the lines are verses.</p> + +<p>Is the <i>Poem of the Rhone</i> a great poem? Whether it is or not, it +accomplishes admirably the purpose of its author, to fix in beautiful +verse the former life of the Rhone. That much of it is prosaic was +inevitable; the nature of the subject rendered it so. It is full of +beauties, and the poet who wrote <i>Mirèio</i> and completed it before his +thirtieth year, has shown that in the last decade of his threescore +years and ten he could produce a work as full of fire, energy, life, and +enthusiasm as in the stirring days when the Félibrige was young. In this +poem there occurs a passage put into the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page180" name="page180"></a>Pg 180</span> mouth of the Prince, which +gives a view of life that we suspect is the poet's own. He here calls +the Prince a young sage, and as we look back over Mistral's life, and +review its aims, and the conditions in which he has striven, we incline +to think that here, in a few words, he has condensed his thought.</p> + +<p>"For what is life but a dream, a distant appearance, an illusion gliding +on the water, which, fleeing ever before our eyes, dazzles us like a +mirror flashing, entices and lures us on! Ah, how good it is to sail on +ceaselessly toward one's desire, even though it is but a dream! The time +will come, it is near, perhaps, when men will have everything within +their reach, when they will possess everything, when they will know and +have proved everything; and, regretting the old mirages, who knows but +what they will not grow weary of living!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page181" name="page181"></a>Pg 181</span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>LIS ISCLO D'OR</h3> + + +<p>The lover of poetry will probably find more to admire and cherish in +this volume than in any other that has come from the pen of its author, +excepting, possibly, the best passages of <i>Mirèio</i>. It is the collection +of his short poems that appeared from time to time in different +Provençal publications, the earliest dating as far back as 1848, the +latest written in 1888. They are a very complete expression of his +poetic ideas, and contain among their number gems of purest poesy. The +poet's lyre has not many strings, and the strains of sadness, of pensive +melancholy, are almost absent. Mistral has once, and very successfully, +tried the theme of Lainartine's <i>Lac</i>, of Musset's <i>Souvenir</i>, of Hugo's +<i>Tristesse d'Olympio</i>; but his poem is not an elegy, it has not the +intensity, the passion, the deep undertone of any of the three great +Romanticists. <i>La Fin dóu Meissounié</i> is a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name="page182"></a>Pg 182</span> beautiful, pathetic, and +touching tale, that easily brings a tear, and <i>Lou Saume de la +Penitènci</i> is without doubt one of the noblest poems inspired in the +heart of any Frenchman by the disaster of 1870. But these poems, though +among the best according to the feeling for poetry of a reader from +northern lands, are not characteristic of the volume in general. The +dominant strain is energy, a clarion-call of life and light, an appeal +to his fellow-countrymen to be strong and independent; the sun of +Provence, the language of Provence, the ideals of Provence, the memories +of Provence, these are his themes. His poetry is not personal, but +social. Of his own joys and sorrows scarce a word, unless we say what is +doubtless the truth, that his joys and sorrows, his regrets and hopes, +are identical with those of his native land, and that he has blended his +being completely with the life about him. The volume contains a great +number of pieces written for special occasions, for the gatherings of +the Félibres, for their weddings. Many of them are addressed to persons +in France and out, who have been in various ways connected with the +Félibrige. Of these the greeting to Lamartine is especially<span class="pagenum"><a id="page183" name="page183"></a>Pg 183</span> felicitous +in expression, and the following stanza from it forms the dedication of +<i>Mirèio</i>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Te counsacre Mirèio: eo moun cor e moun amo,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Es la flour de mis an;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Es un rasin de Crau qu' emé touto sa ramo<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Te porge un païsan."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The entire poem, literally translated, is as follows:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If I have the good fortune to see my bark early upon the waves,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Without fear of winter,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Blessings upon thee, O divine Lamartine,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Who hast taken the helm!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If my prow bears a bouquet of blooming laurel,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">It is thou hast made it for me;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If my sail swelleth, it is the breath of thy glory<br /></span> +<span class="i4">That bloweth it.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Therefore, like a pilot who of a fair church<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Climbeth the hill<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And upon the altar of the saint that hath saved him at sea<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Hangeth a miniature ship.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I consecrate Mirèio to thee; 'tis my heart and my soul,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">'Tis the flower of my years;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis a cluster of grapes from the Crau that with all its leaves<br /></span> +<span class="i4">A peasant offers thee.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184"></a>Pg 184</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Generous as a king, when thou broughtest me fame<br /></span> +<span class="i4">In the midst of Paris,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou knowest that, in thy home, the day thou saidst to me,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">"Tu Marcellus eris!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Like the pomegranate in the ripening sunbeam,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">My heart opened,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, unable to find more tender speech,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Broke out in tears.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is interesting to notice that the earliest poem of our author, <i>La +Bella d'Avoust</i>, is a tale of the supernatural, a poem of mystery; it is +an order of poetic inspiration rather rare in his work, and this first +poem is quite as good as anything of its kind to be found in <i>Mirèio</i> or +<i>Nerto</i>. It has the form of a song with the refrain:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ye little nightingales, ye grasshoppers, be still!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hear the song of the beauty of August!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Margaï of Val-Mairane, intoxicated with love, goes down into the plain +two hours before the day. Descending the hill, she is wild. "In vain," +she says, "I seek him, I have missed him. Ah, my heart trembles."</p> + +<p>The poem is full of imagery, delicate and pretty. Margaï is so lovely +that in the clouds<span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185"></a>Pg 185</span> the moon, enshrouded, says to the cloud very softly, +"Cloud, beautiful cloud, pass away, my face would let fall a ray on +Margaï, thy shadow hinders me." And the bird offers to console her, and +the glow-worm offers his light to guide her to her lover. Margaï comes +and goes until she meets her lover in the shadow of the trees. She tells +of her weeping, of the moon, the birdling, and the glow-worm. "But thy +brow is dark, art thou ill? Shall I return to my father's house?"</p> + +<p>"If my face is sad, on my faith, it is because a black moth hovering +about hath alarmed me."</p> + +<p>And Margaï says, "Thy voice, once so sweet, to-day seems a trembling +sound beneath the earth; I shudder at it."</p> + +<p>"If my voice is so hoarse, it is because while waiting for thee I lay +upon my back in the grass."</p> + +<p>"I was dying with longing, but now it is with fear. For the day of our +elopement, beloved, thou wearest mourning!"</p> + +<p>"If my cloak be sombre and black, so is the night, and yet the night +also glimmers."</p> + +<p>When the star of the shepherds began to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page186" name="page186"></a>Pg 186</span> pale, and when the king of +stars was about to appear, suddenly off they went, upon a black horse. +And the horse flew on the stony road, and the ground shook beneath the +lovers, and 'tis said fantastic witches danced about them until day, +laughing loudly.</p> + +<p>Then the white moon wrapped herself again, the birdling on the branch +flew off in fright, even the glow-worm, poor little thing, put out his +lamp, and quickly crept away under the grass. And it is said that at the +wedding of poor Margaï there was little feasting, little laughing, and +the betrothal and the dancing took place in a spot where fire was seen +through the crevices.</p> + +<p>"Vale of Val-Mairane, road to the Baux, never again o'er hill or plain +did ye see Margaï. Her mother prays and weeps, and will not have enough +of speaking of her lovely shepherdess."</p> + +<p>This weird, legendary tale was composed in 1848. The next effort of the +poet is one of his masterpieces, wherein his inspiration is truest and +most poetical. <i>La Fin dóu Meissounié</i> (The Reaper's Death) is a noble, +genuinely pathetic tale, told in beautifully varied verse,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page187" name="page187"></a>Pg 187</span> full of the +love of field work, and aglow with sympathy for the toilers. The figure +of the old man, stricken down suddenly by an accidental blow from the +scythe of a young man mowing behind him, as he lies dying on the rough +ground, urging the gleaners to go on and not mind him, praying to Saint +John,—the patron of the harvesters,—is one not to be forgotten. The +description of the mowing, the long line of toilers with their scythes, +the fierce sun making their blood boil, the sheaves falling by hundreds, +the ruddy grain waving in the breath of the mistral, the old chief +leading the band, "the strong affection that urged the men on to cut +down the harvest,"—all is vividly pictured, and foretells the future +poet of <i>Mirèio</i>. The words of the old man are full of his energy and +faith: "The wheat, swollen and ripe, is scattering in the summer wind; +do not leave to the birds and ants, O binders, the wheat that comes from +God!" "What good is your weeping? better sing with the young fellows, +for I, before you all, have finished my task. Perhaps, in the land where +I shall be presently, it will be hard for me, when evening comes, to +hear no more, stretched out upon the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page188" name="page188"></a>Pg 188</span> grass, as I used to, the strong, +clear singing of the youth rising up amid the trees; but it appears, +friends, that it was my star, or perhaps the Master, the One above, +seeing the ripe grain, gathers it in. Come, come, good-by, I am going +gently. Then, children, when you carry off the sheaves upon the cart, +take away your chief on the load of wheat."</p> + +<p>And he begs Saint John to remember his olive trees, his family, who will +sup at Christmas-tide without him. "If sometimes I have murmured, +forgive me! The sickle, meeting a stone, cries out, O master Saint John, +the friend of God, patron of the reapers, father of the poor, up there +in Paradise, remember me."</p> + +<p>And after the old man's death "the reapers, silent, sickle in hand, go +on with the work in haste, for the hot mistral was shaking the ears."</p> + +<p>Among these earlier poems are found some cleverly told, homely tales, +with a pointed moral. Such are <i>La Plueio</i> (The Rain), <i>La Rascladuro de +Petrin</i> (The Scraping from the Kneading-trough). They are really +excellent, and teach the lesson that the tillers of the soil have a holy +calling, of which they may be<span class="pagenum"><a id="page189" name="page189"></a>Pg 189</span> proud, and that God sends them health and +happiness, peace and liberty. The second of the poems just mentioned is +a particularly amusing story of choosing a wife according to the care +she takes of her kneading-trough, the idea being derived from an old +fablieau. There are one or two others purely humorous and capitally +told. After 1860, however, the poet abandoned these homely, simple +tales, that doubtless realized Roumanille's ideas of one aspect of the +literary revival he was seeking to bring about.</p> + +<p>The poems are not arranged chronologically, but are classified as Songs, +Romances, Sirventés, Reveries, Plaints, Sonnets, Nuptial Songs, etc.</p> + +<p>The <i>Cansoun</i> (Songs) are sung at every reunion of the Félibrige. They +are set to melodies well known in Provence, and are spirited and +vigorous indeed. The Germans who write about Provence are fond of making +known the fact that the air of the famous <i>Hymn to the Sun</i> is a melody +written by Kuecken. There is <i>Lou Bastimen</i> (The Ship), as full of dash +and go as any English sea ballad. <i>La Coutigo</i> (The Tickling) is a +dialogue between a mother and her love-sick son. <i>La<span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name="page190"></a>Pg 190</span> Coupo</i> (The Cup) +is the song of the Félibres <i>par excellence</i>; it was composed for the +reception of a silver cup, sent to the Félibres by the Catalans. The +<i>coupo felibrenco</i> is now a feature of all their banquets. The song +expresses the enthusiasm of the Félibres for their cause. The refrain +is, "Holy cup, overflowing, pour out in plenty the enthusiasms and the +energy of the strong." The most significant lines are:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Of a proud, free people<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We are perhaps the end;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, if the Félibres fall,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our nation will fall.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Of a race that germs anew<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Perhaps we are the first growth;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of our land we are perhaps<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The pillars and the chiefs.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Pour out for us hope<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dreams of youth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The memory of the past<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And faith in the coming year.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The ideas and sentiments, then, that are expressed in the shorter poems +of Mistral, written since the publication of <i>Mirèio</i>, have been, in the +main, the ancient glories and liberties of Provence, a clinging to +national traditions, to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page191" name="page191"></a>Pg 191</span> local traditions, and to the religion and ideas +of ancestors, a profound dislike of certain modern ideas of progress, +hatred of the levelling influence of Paris, love of the Provençal +speech, belief in the Latin race, in the Roman Catholic Church, unshaken +faith in the future, love of the ideal and hatred of what is servile and +sordid, an ardent love of Nature, an intense love of life and movement. +These things are reflected in every variety of word and figure. He is +not the poet of the romantic type, self-centred, filling his verse with +the echoes of his own loves and joys and woes, nor is his poetry as +large as humanity; Provence, France, the Latin race, are the limits +beyond which it has no message or interest.</p> + +<p>Possibly no poet ever wrote as many lines to laud the language he was +using. Such lines abound in each volume he has produced.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Se la lengo di moussu<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Toumbo en gargavaio<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Se tant d'escrivan coussu<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Pescon de ravaio,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nàutri, li bon Prouvençau<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Vers li serre li plus aut<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Enauren la lengo<br /></span> +<span class="i2">De nòsti valengo."<br /></span> +</div></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page192" name="page192"></a>Pg 192</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>If the language of the messieurs falls among the sweepings, if so +many comfortably well-off writers fish for small fry, we, the good +Provençals, toward the highest summits, raise the language of our +valleys.</p></div> + +<p>The Sirventés addressed to the Catalan poets begins:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Fraire de Catalougno, escoutas! Nous an di<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que fasias peralin reviéure e resplendi<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Un di rampau de nosto lengo."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Brothers from Catalonia, listen! We have heard that ye cause one of +the branches of our language to revive and flourish yonder.</p></div> + +<p>In the same poem, the poet sings of the Troubadours, whom none have +since surpassed, who in the face of the clergy raised the language of +the common people, sang in the very ears of the kings, sang with love, +and sang freely, the coming of a new world and contempt for ancient +fears, and later on he says:—</p> + +<p>"From the Alps to the Pyrenees, hand in hand, poets, let us then raise +up the old Romance speech! It is the sign of the family, the sacrament +that binds the sons to the forefathers, man to the soil! It is the +thread that holds the nest in the branches. Fearless guardians of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page193" name="page193"></a>Pg 193</span> our +beautiful speech, let us keep it free and pure, and bright as silver, +for a whole people drinks at this spring; for when, with faces on the +ground, a people falls into slavery, if it holds its language, it holds +the key that delivers it from the chains."</p> + +<p>The final stanza of the poem, written in honor of Jasmin in 1870, is as +follows:—</p> + +<p>"For our dead and our fathers, and our sacred rights as a people and as +poets, that yesterday were trampled beneath the feet of the usurper, +and, outraged, cried out, now live again in glory! Now, between the two +seas the language of Oc triumphs. O Jasmin, thou hast avenged us!"</p> + +<p>In the <i>Rock of Sisyphus</i> the poet says, "Formerly we kept the language +that Nature herself put upon our lips."</p> + +<p>In the <i>Poem to the Latin Race</i> we read:—</p> + +<p>"Thy mother tongue, the great stream that spreads abroad in seven +branches, pouring out love and light like an echo from Paradise, thy +golden speech, O Romance daughter of the King-People, is the song that +will live on human lips as long as speech shall have reason."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page194" name="page194"></a>Pg 194</span></p> + +<p>Elsewhere we find:—</p> + +<p>"Oh, maintain thy historic speech. It is the proof that always thou +carriest on high and free, thy coat of arms. In the language, a mystery, +an old treasure is found. Each year the nightingale puts on new plumage, +but keeps its song."</p> + +<p>One entire poem, <i>Espouscado</i>, is a bitterly indignant protest against +those who would suppress the dialect, against the regents and the +rectors whom "we must pay with our pennies to hear them scoff at the +language that binds us to our fathers and our soil!" And the poet cries +out, "No, no, we'll keep our rebellious <i>langue d'oc</i>, grumble who will. +We'll speak it in the stables, at harvest-time, among the silkworms, +among lovers, among neighbors, etc., etc. It shall be the language of +joy and of brotherhood. We'll joke and laugh with it;—and as for the +army, we'll take it to the barracks to keep off homesickness."</p> + +<p>And his anger rising, he exclaims:—</p> + +<p>"O the fools, the fools, who wean their children from it to stuff them +with self-sufficiency, fatuity, and hunger! Let them get drowned in the +throng! But thou, O my Provence, be<span class="pagenum"><a id="page195" name="page195"></a>Pg 195</span> not disturbed about the sons that +disown thee and repudiate thy speech. They are dead, they are still-born +children that survive, fed on bad milk."</p> + +<p>And he concludes:—</p> + +<p>"But, eldest born of Nature, you, the sun-browned boys, who speak with +the maidens in the ancient tongue, fear not; you shall remain the +masters! Like the walnuts of the plain, gnarled, stout, calm, +motionless, exploited and ill-treated as you may be, O peasants (as they +call you), you will remain masters of the land!"</p> + +<p>This was written in 1888. The quotations might be multiplied; these +suffice, however, to show the intense love of the poet for "the language +of the soil," the energy with which he has constantly struggled for its +maintenance. He is far from looking upon the multiplication of dialects +as an evil, points to the literary glory of Greece amid her many forms +of speech, and does not even seek to impose his own language upon the +rest of southern France. He sympathizes with every attempt, wherever +made, the world over, to raise up a patois into a language. Statesmen +will probably think other<span class="pagenum"><a id="page196" name="page196"></a>Pg 196</span>wise, and there are nations which would at +once take an immense stride forward if they could attain one language +and a purely national literature. The modern world does not appear to be +marching in accordance with Mistral's view.</p> + +<p>The poems inspired by the love of the ancient ideals and literature of +Provence are very beautiful. They have in general a fascinating swing +and rhythm, and are filled with charming imagery. One of the best is +<i>L'Amiradou</i> (The Belvedere), the story of a fairy imprisoned in the +castle at Tarascon, "who will doubtless love the one who shall free +her." Three knights attempt the rescue and fail. Then there comes along +a little Troubadour, and sings so sweetly of the prowess of his +forefathers, of the splendor of the Latin race, that the guard are +charmed and the bolts fly back. And the fairy goes up to the top of the +tower with the little Troubadour, and they stand mute with love, and +look out over all the beautiful landscape, and the old monuments of +Provence with their lessons. This is the kingdom of the fairy, and she +bestows it upon him. "For he who knows how to read in this radiant<span class="pagenum"><a id="page197" name="page197"></a>Pg 197</span> +book, must grow above all others, and all that his eye beholds, without +paying any tithe, is his in abundance."</p> + +<p>The lilt of this little <i>romance</i>, with its pretty repetitions, is +delightful, and the symbolism is, of course, perfectly obvious.</p> + +<p>There is the touching story of the Troubadour Catalan, slain by robbers +in the Bois de Boulogne, where the Pré de Catalan now is; there is the +tale that accounts for the great chain that hangs across the gorge at +Moustiers, a chain over six hundred feet long, bearing a star in the +centre. A knight, being prisoner among the Saracens, vows to hang the +chain before the chapel of the Virgin, if ever he returns home.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A ti pèd, vierge Mario,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ma cadeno penjarai,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Se jamai<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Tourne mai<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A Moustié, dins ma patrio!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There is the tale of the Princess Clémence, daughter of a king of +Provence. Her father was deformed, and the heir-presumptive to the +French crown sought her in marriage. In order that the prince might be +sure she had<span class="pagenum"><a id="page198" name="page198"></a>Pg 198</span> inherited none of the father's deformity, she was called +upon to show herself in the garb of Lady Godiva before his ambassadors. +This rather delicate subject is handled with consummate art.</p> + +<p>The idea of federalism is found expressed with sufficient clearness in +various parts of these poems of the Golden Isles, and the patriotism of +the poet, his love of France, is perfectly evident, in spite of all that +has been said to the contrary. In the poem addressed to the Catalans, +after numerous allusions to the dissensions and rebellions of bygone +days, we read:—</p> + +<p>"Now, however, it is clear; now, however, we know that in the divine +order all is for the best; the Provençals, a unanimous flame, are part +of great France, frankly, loyally; the Catalans, with good-will, are +part of magnanimous Spain. For the brook must flow to the sea, and the +stone must fall on the heap; the wheat is best protected from the +treacherous cold wind when planted close; and the little boats, if they +are to navigate safely, when the waves are black and the air dark, must +sail together. For it is good to be many, it is a fine thing to say, 'We +are children of France!'"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page199" name="page199"></a>Pg 199</span></p> + +<p>But in days of peace let each province develop its own life in its own +way.</p> + +<p>"And France and Spain, when they see their children warming themselves +together in the sunbeams of the fatherland, singing matins out of the +same book, will say, 'The children have sense enough, let them laugh and +play together, now they are old enough to be free.'</p> + +<p>"And we shall see, I promise you, the ancient freedom come down, O +happiness, upon the smallest city, and love alone bind the races +together; and if ever the black talon of the tyrant is seen, all the +races will bound up to drive out the bird of prey!"</p> + +<p>Of all the poems of Mistral expressing this order of ideas, the one +entitled <i>The Countess</i> made the greatest stir. It appeared in 1866, and +called forth much angry discussion and imputation of treason from the +enemies of the new movement. <i>The Countess</i> is an allegorical +representation of Provence; the fair descendant of imperial ancestors is +imprisoned in a convent by her half-sister France. Formerly she +possessed a hundred fortified towns, twenty seaports; she had olives, +fruit, and grain in abundance; a great river watered her fields;<span class="pagenum"><a id="page200" name="page200"></a>Pg 200</span> a +great wind vivified the land, and the proud noblewoman could live +without her neighbor, and she sang so sweetly that all loved her, poets +and suitors thronged about her.</p> + +<p>Now, in the convent where she is cloistered all are dressed alike, all +obey the rule of the same bell, all joy is gone. The half-sister has +broken her tambourines and taken away her vineyards, and gives out that +her sister is dead.</p> + +<p>Then the poet breaks into an appeal to the strong to break into the +great convent, to hang the abbess, and say to the Countess, "Appear +again, O splendor! Away with grief, away! Long life to joy!"</p> + +<p>Each stanza is followed by the refrain:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ah! se me sabien entèndre!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ah! se me voulien segui!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ah! if they could understand me!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ah! if they would follow me!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Mistral disdained to reply to the storm of accusations and +incriminations raised by the publication of this poem. <i>Lou Saumede la +Penitènci</i>, that appeared in 1870, set at rest all doubts concerning his +deep and sincere patriotism.</p> + +<p><i>The Psalm of Penitence</i> is possibly the finest<span class="pagenum"><a id="page201" name="page201"></a>Pg 201</span> of the short poems. It +is certainly surpassed by no other in intensity of feeling, in genuine +inspiration, in nobility and beauty of expression. It is a hymn of +sorrow over the woes of France, a prayer of humility and resignation +after the disaster of 1870. The reader must accept the idea, of course, +that the defeat of the French was a visitation of Providence in +punishment for sin.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Segnour, à la fin ta coulèro<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Largo si tron<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Sus nòsti front:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E dins la niue nosto galèro<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Pico d'a pro<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Contro li ro."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Lord, at last thy wrath hurls its thunderbolts upon our foreheads:</p> + +<p>And in the night our vessel strikes its prow against the rocks.</p></div> + +<p>France was punished for irreligion, for closing the temples, for +abandoning the sacraments and commandments, for losing faith in all +except selfish interest and so-called progress, for contempt of the +Bible and pride in science.</p> + +<p>The poet makes confession:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Segnour, sian tis enfant proudigue;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Mai nàutri sian<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Ti vièi crestian:<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="page202" name="page202"></a>Pg 202</span> +<span class="i0">Que ta Justiço nous castigue,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Mai au trepas<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Nous laisses pas!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Lord, we are thy prodigal sons; but we are thy Christians of old:</p> + +<p>Let thy justice chastise us, but give us not over unto death!</p></div> + +<p>Then the poet prays in the name of all the brave men who gave up their +lives in battle, in the name of all the mothers who will never again see +their sons, in the name of the poor, the strong, the dead, in the name +of all the defeats and tears and sorrow, the slaughter and the fires, +the affronts endured, that God disarm his justice, and he concludes:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Segnour, voulen deveni d'ome;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">En libertà<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Pos nous bouta!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sian Gau-Rouman e gentilome,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">E marchan dre<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Dins noste endré.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Segnour, dóu mau sian pas Pencauso.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Mando eiçabas<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Un rai de pas!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Segnour, ajudo nosto Causo,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">E reviéuren<br /></span> +<span class="i4">E t'amaren."<br /></span> +</div></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page203" name="page203"></a>Pg 203</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Lord, we desire to become men; thou canst set us free!</p> + +<p>We are Gallo-Romans and of noble race, and we walk upright in our +land.</p> + +<p>Lord, we are not the cause of the evil. Send down upon us a ray of +peace! Lord, aid our Cause, and we shall live again and love thee.</p></div> + +<p>The poem called <i>The Stone of Sisyphus</i> completes sufficiently the +evidence necessary to exculpate Mistral of the charge of antipatriotism +and makes clear his thought. Provence was once a nation, she consented +years ago to lose her identity in the union with France. Now it is +proposed to heap up all the old traditions, the Gai Savoir, the glory of +the Troubadours, the old language, the old customs, and burn them on a +pyre. Well, France is a great people and <i>Vive la nation</i>. But some +would go further, some would suppress the nation: "Down with the +frontiers, national glories are an abomination! Wipe out the past, man +is God! <i>Vive l'humanité</i>!" Our patrimony we repudiate. What are Joan of +Arc, Saint Louis, and Turenne? All that is old rubbish.</p> + +<p>Then the people cry with Victor Hugo, "<i>Emperaire, siegues maudi, maudi, +maudi! nous as vendu</i>" and hurl down the Vendôme column, burn Paris, +slaughter the priests, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page204" name="page204"></a>Pg 204</span> then, worn out, commence again, like +Sisyphus, to push the rock of progress.</p> + +<p>So much for the conservatism of Mistral.</p> + +<p>We shall conclude this story of the shorter poems with some that are not +polemical or essentially Provençal; three or four are especially +noteworthy. <i>The Drummer of Arcole</i>, <i>Lou Prègo-Diéu</i>, <i>Rescontre</i> +(Meeting), might properly find a place in any anthology of general +poetry, and an ode on the death of Lamartine is sincere and beautiful. +Such poems must be read in the original.</p> + +<p>The first one, <i>The Drummer of Arcole</i>, is the story of a drummer boy +who saved the day at Arcole by beating the charge; but after the wars +are over, he is forgotten, and remains a drummer as before, becomes old +and regrets his life given up to the service of his country. But one +day, passing along the streets of Paris, he chances to look up at the +Pantheon, and there in the huge pediment he reads the words, "<i>Aux +grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante</i>."</p> + +<p>"'Drummer, raise thy head!' calls out a passer-by! 'The one up there, +hast thou seen him?' Toward the temple that stood superb the old man +raised his bewildered eyes. Just<span class="pagenum"><a id="page205" name="page205"></a>Pg 205</span> then the joyous sun shook his golden +locks above enchanted Paris....</p> + +<p>"When the soldier saw the dome of the Pantheon rising toward heaven, and +with his drum hanging at his side, beating the charge, as if it were +real, he recognized himself, the boy of Arcole, away up there, right at +the side of the great Napoleon, intoxicated with his former fury, seeing +himself, so high, in full relief, above the years, the clouds, the +storms, in glory, azure, sunshine, he felt a gentle swelling in his +heart, and fell dead upon the pavement."</p> + +<p><i>Lou Prègo-Diéu</i> is a sweet poem embodying a popular belief. Prègo-diéu +is the name of a little insect, so called from the peculiar arrangement +of its legs and antennse that makes it appear to be in an attitude of +prayer. Mistral's poetic ideas have been largely suggested to him by +popular beliefs and the stories he heard at his fireside when a boy. +This poem is one of the best of the kind he has produced, and, being +eminently, characteristic, will find juster treatment in a literal +translation than in a commentary. The first half was written during the +time he was at work upon <i>Mirèio</i> in 1856, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page206" name="page206"></a>Pg 206</span> second in 1874. We quote +the first stanza in the original, for the sake of showing its rhythm.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ero un tantost d'aquel estiéu<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que ni vihave ni dourmiéu:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fasiéu miejour, tau que me plaise,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Lou cahessòu<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Toucant lou sòn<br /></span> +<span class="i6">A l'aise."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h4>I</h4> + +<p>It was one afternoon this summer, while I was neither awake nor asleep. +I was taking a noon siesta, as is my pleasure, my head at ease upon the +ground.</p> + +<p>And greenish among the stubble, upon a spear of blond barley, with a +double row of seeds, I saw a prègo-diéu.</p> + +<p>"Beautiful insect," said I, "I have heard that, as a reward for thy +ceaseless praying, God hath given thee the gift of divination.</p> + +<p>"Tell me now, good friend, if she I love hath slept well; tell what she +is thinking at this hour, and what she is doing; tell me if she is +laughing or weeping."</p> + +<p>The insect, that was kneeling, stirred upon the tube of the tiny, +leaning ear, and unfolded and waved his little wings.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page207" name="page207"></a>Pg 207</span></p> + +<p>And his speech, softer than the softest breath of a zephyr wafted in a +wood, sweet and mysterious, reached my ear.</p> + +<p>"I see a maiden," said he, "in the cool shade beneath a cherry tree; the +waving branches touch her; the boughs hang thick with cherries.</p> + +<p>"The cherries are fully ripe, fragrant, solid, red, and, amid the smooth +leaves, make one hungry, and, hanging, tempt one.</p> + +<p>"But the cherry tree offers in vain the sweetness and the pleasing color +of its bright, firm fruit, red as coral.</p> + +<p>"She sighs, trying to see if she can jump high enough to pluck them. +Would that my lover might come! He would climb up, and throw them down +into my apron."</p> + +<p>So I say to the reapers: "Reapers, leave behind you a little corner +uncut, where, during the summer, the prègo-diéu may have shelter."</p> + + +<h4>II</h4> + +<p>This autumn, going down a sunken road, I wandered off across the fields, +lost in earthly thoughts.</p> + +<p>And, once more, amid the stubble, I saw,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" name="page208"></a>Pg 208</span> clinging to a tiny ear of +grain, folded up in his double wing, the prègo-diéu.</p> + +<p>"Beautiful insect," said I then, "I have heard that, as a reward for thy +ceaseless praying, God hath given thee the gift of divination.</p> + +<p>"And that if some child, lost amid the harvest fields, asks of thee his +way, thou, little creature, showest him the way through the wheat.</p> + +<p>"In the pleasures and pains of this world, I see that I, poor child, am +astray; for, as he grows, man feels his wickedness.</p> + +<p>"In the grain and in the chaff, in fear and in pride, in budding hope, +alas for me, I see my ruin.</p> + +<p>"I love space, and I am in chains; among thorns I walk barefoot; Love is +God, and Love sins; every enthusiasm after action is disappointed.</p> + +<p>"What we accomplished is wiped out; brute instinct is satisfied, and the +ideal is not reached; we must be born amid tears, and be stung among the +flowers.</p> + +<p>"Evil is hideous, and it smiles upon me; the flesh is fair, and it rots; +the water is bitter, and I would drink; I am languishing, I want to die +and yet to live.</p> + +<p>"I am falling faint and weary; O prègo-diéu,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" name="page209"></a>Pg 209</span> cause some slight hope of +something true to shine upon me; show me the way."</p> + +<p>And straightway I saw that the insect stretched forth its slender arm +toward Heaven; mysterious, mute, earnest, it was praying.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Such reference to religious doubt is elsewhere absent from Mistral's +work. His faith is strong, and the energy of his life-work has its +source largely, not only in this religious faith, but in his firm belief +in himself, in his race, and in the mission he has felt called upon to +undertake. Reflected obviously in the above poem is the growth of the +poet in experience and in thought.</p> + +<p>Lastly, among the poems of his <i>Isclo d'Or</i>, we wish to call attention +to one that, in its theme, recalls <i>Le Lac</i>, <i>La Tristesse d'Olympio</i>, +and <i>Le Souvenir</i>. The poet comes upon the scene of his first love, and +apostrophizes the natural objects about him. All four poets intone the +strain, "Ye rocks and trees, guard the memory of our love."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"O coumbo d'Uriage<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Bos fresqueirous,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ounte aven fa lou viage<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Dis amourous,<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="page210" name="page210"></a>Pg 210</span> +<span class="i0">O vau qu'aven noumado<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Noste univers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Se perdes ta ramado<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Gardo mi vers."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>O vale of Uriage, cool wood, where we made our lovers' journey; O vale +that we called our world, if thou lose thy verdure, keep my verses.</p> + +<p>Ye flowers of the high meadows that no man knoweth, watered by Alpine +snows, ye are less pure and fresh in the month of April than the little +mouth that smiles for me.</p> + +<p>Ye thunders and stern voices of the peaks, murmurings of wild woods, +torrents from the mountains, there is a voice that dominates you all, +the clear, beautiful voice of my love.</p> + +<p>Alas! vale of Uriage, we may never return to thy leafy nooks. She, a +star, vanisheth in air, and I, folding my tent, go forth into the +wilderness.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Apart from the intrinsic worth of the thought or sentiment, there is +found in Mistral the essential gift of the poet, the power of +expression—of clothing in words that fully embody the meaning, and seem +to sing, in spontaneous musical flow, the inner inspiration. He is +superior<span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211"></a>Pg 211</span> to the other poets of the Félibrige, not only in the energy, +the vitality of his personality, and in the fertility of his ideas, but +also in this great gift of language. Even if he creates his vocabulary +as he goes along, somewhat after the fashion of Ronsard and the +<i>Pléiade</i>, he does this in strict accordance with the genius of his +dialect, fortunately for him, untrammelled by traditions, and, what is +significant, he does it acceptably. He is the master. His fellow-poets +proclaim and acclaim his supremacy. No one who has penetrated to any +degree into the genius of the Romance languages can fail to agree that +in this point exists a master of one of its forms.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page212" name="page212"></a>Pg 212</span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE TEAGEDY, LA RÈINO JANO</h3> + + +<p>The peculiar qualities and limitations of Mistral are possibly nowhere +better evidenced than in this play. Full of charming passages, +frequently eloquent, here and there very poetic, it is scarcely +dramatic, and certainly not a tragedy either of the French or the +Shakespearian type. The most striking lines, the most eloquent tirades, +arise less from the exigences of the drama than from the constant desire +of the poet to give expression to his love of Provence. The attention of +the reader is diverted at every turn from the adventures of the persons +in the play to the glories and the beauties of the lovely land in which +our poet was born. The matter of a play is certainly contained in the +subject, but the energy of the author has not been spent upon the +invention of strong situations, upon the clash of wills, upon the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page213" name="page213"></a>Pg 213</span> +psychology of his characters, upon the interplay of passions, but rather +upon strengthening in the hearts of his Provençal hearers the love of +the good Queen Joanna, whose life has some of the romance of that of +Mary, Queen of Scots, and upon letting them hear from her lips and from +the lips of her courtiers the praises of Provence.</p> + +<p>Mistral enumerates eight dramatic works treating the life of his +heroine. They are a tragedy in five acts and a verse by Magnon (Paris, +1656), called <i>Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples</i>; a tragedy in five acts and +in verse by Laharpe, produced in 1781, entitled, <i>Jeanne de Naples</i>; an +opéra-comique in three acts, the book by De Leuven and Brunswick, the +music by Monpon and Bordèse, produced in 1840; an Italian tragedy, <i>La +Regina Griovanna</i>, by the Marquis of Casanova, written about 1840; an +Italian opera, the libretto by Ghislanzoni, who is known as the +librettist of <i>Aïda</i>, the music by Petrella (Milan, 1875); a play in +verse by Brunetti, called <i>Griovanna I di Napoli</i> (Naples, 1881); a +Hungarian play by Rakosi, <i>Johanna es Endre</i>, and lastly the trilogy of +Walter Savage Landor, <i>Andrea of Hungary</i>, <i>Griovanna of Naples</i>, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214"></a>Pg 214</span> +<i>Fra Rupert</i> (London, 1853). Mistral's play is dated May, 1890.</p> + +<p>It may be said concerning the work of Landor, which is a poem in +dramatic form rather than a play, that it offers scarcely any points of +resemblance with Mistral's beyond the few essential facts in the lives +of Andrea and Joanna. Both poets take for granted the innocence of the +Queen. It is worth noting that Provence is but once referred to in the +entire work of the English poet.</p> + +<p>The introduction that precedes Mistral's play quotes the account of the +life of the Queen from the <i>Dictionnaire</i> of Moréri (Lyons, 1681), which +we here translate.</p> + +<p>"Giovanna, first of the name, Queen of Jerusalem, Naples, and Sicily, +Duchess of Apulia and Calabria, Countess of Provence, etc., was a +daughter of Charles of Sicily, Duke of Calabria, who died in 1328, +before his father Robert, and of Marie of Valois, his second wife. She +was only nineteen years of age when she assumed the government of her +dominions after her grandfather's death in 1343. She had already been +married by him to his nephew, Andrea of Hungary. This was not a happy +marriage; for<span class="pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>Pg 215</span> the inclinations of both were extremely contrary, and the +prince was controlled by a Franciscan monk named Robert, and the +princess by a washerwoman called Filippa Catenese. These indiscreet +advisers brought matters to extremes, so that Andrea was strangled in +1345. The disinterested historians state ingenuously that Joanna was not +guilty of this crime, although the others accuse her of it. She married +again, on the 2d of August, 1346. Her second husband was Louis of +Tarento, her cousin; and she was obliged to leave Naples to avoid the +armed attack of Louis, King of Hungary, who committed acts of extreme +violence in this state. Joanna, however, quieted all these things by her +prudence, and after losing this second husband, on the 25th of March, +1362, she married not long afterward a third, James of Aragon, Prince of +Majorca, who, however, tarried not long with her. So seeing herself a +widow for the third time, she made a fourth match in 1376 with Otto of +Brunswick, of the House of Saxony; and as she had no children, she +adopted a relative, Charles of Duras.... This ungrateful prince revolted +against Queen Joanna, his benefactress.... He captured<span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name="page216"></a>Pg 216</span> Naples, and laid +siege to the Castello Nuovo, where the Queen was. She surrendered. +Charles of Duras had her taken to Muro, in the Basilicata, and had her +put to death seven or eight months afterward. She was then in her +fifty-eighth year.... Some authors say that he caused her to be +smothered, others that she was strangled; but the more probable view is +that she was beheaded, in 1382, on the 5th of May. It is said that a +Provençal astrologer, doubtless a certain Anselme who lived at that +time, and who is very famous in the history of Provence, being +questioned as to the future husband of the young princess, replied, +'Maritabitur cum ALIO.' This word is composed of the initials of the +names of her four husbands, Andrea, Louis, James, and Otto. This +princess, furthermore, was exceedingly clever, fond of the sciences and +of men of learning, of whom she had a great many at her court, liberal +and beautiful, prudent, wise, and not lacking in piety. She it is that +sold Avignon to the popes. Boccaccio, Balde, and other scholars of her +time speak of her with praise."</p> + +<p>In offering an explanation of the great popularity enjoyed by Joanna of +Naples among the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>Pg 217</span> people of Provence, the poet does not hesitate to +acknowledge that along with her beauty, her personal charm, her +brilliant arrival on the gorgeous galley at the court of Clement VI, +whither she came, eloquent and proud, to exculpate herself, her long +reign and its vicissitudes, her generous efforts to reform abuses, must +be counted also the grewsome procession of her four husbands; and this +popularity, he says, is still alive, after five centuries. The poet +places her among such historic figures as Caius Marius, Ossian, King +Arthur, Count Raymond of Toulouse, the good King René, Anne of Brittany, +Roland, the Cid, to which the popular mind has attached heroic legends, +race traditions, and mysterious monuments. The people of Provence still +look back upon the days of their independence when she reigned, a sort +of good fairy, as the good old times of Queen Joanna. Countless castles, +bridges, churches, monuments, testify to her life among this +enthusiastic people. Roads and ruins, towers and aqueducts, bear her +name. Proverbs exist wherein it is preserved. "For us," says Mistral, +"the fair Joanna is what Mary Stuart is for the Scotch,—a mirage<span class="pagenum"><a id="page218" name="page218"></a>Pg 218</span> of +retrospective love, a regret of youth, of nationality, of poetry passed +away. And analogies are not lacking in the lives of the two royal, +tragic enchantresses." Petrarch, speaking of her and her young husband +surrounded by Hungarians, refers to them as two lambs among wolves. In a +letter dated from Vancluse, August, 1346, he deplores the death of the +King, but makes no allusion to the complicity of the Queen.</p> + +<p>Boccaccio proclaims her the special pride of Italy, so gracious, gentle, +and kindly, that she seemed rather the companion than the queen of her +subjects.</p> + +<p>Our author cites likewise some of her accusers, and considers most of +the current sayings against her as apocryphal. Some of these will not +bear quotation in English. Mistral evidently wishes to believe her +innocent, and he makes out a pretty good case. He approves the remark of +Scipione Ammirato, that she contracted four successive marriages through +a desire to have direct heirs. Another notices that had she been +dissolute, she would have preferred the liberty of remaining a widow. +The poet cites Pope Innocent VI, who gave<span class="pagenum"><a id="page219" name="page219"></a>Pg 219</span> her the golden rose, and sets +great store upon the expression of Saint Catherine of Siena, who calls +her "Venerabile madre in Gesù Cristo," and he concludes by saying, "We +prefer to concur in the judgment of the good Giannone (1676-1748), which +so well agrees with our traditions."</p> + +<p>The first act opens with a picture that might tempt a painter of Italian +scenes. The Queen and her gay court are seated on the lawn of the palace +garden at Naples, overlooking the bay and islands. At the very outset we +hear of the Gai Savoir, and the Queen utters the essentially Provençal +sentiment that "the chief glory the world should strive for is light, +for joy and love are the children of the sun, and art and literature the +great torches." She calls upon Anfan of Sisteron to speak to her of her +Provence, "the land of God, of song and youth, the finest jewel in her +crown," and Anfan, in long and eloquent tirades, tells of Toulouse and +Nice and the Isles of Gold, reviews the settling of the Greeks, the +domination of the Romans, and the sojourn of the Saracens; Aix and +Arles, les Baux, Toulon, are glorified again; we hear of the old +liberties of these<span class="pagenum"><a id="page220" name="page220"></a>Pg 220</span> towns where men sleep, sing, and shout, and of the +magnificence of the papal court at Avignon.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Enfin, en Avignoun, i'a lou papo! grandour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Poudé, magnificènci, e poumpo e resplendour,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que mestrejon la terro e fan, sènso messorgo,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Boufa l'alen de Diéu i ribo de la Sorgo."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Lastly, in Avignon, there's the Pope! greatness, power, +magnificence, pomp, and splendor, dominating the earth, and without +exaggeration, causing the breath of God to blow upon the banks of +the Sorgue.</p></div> + +<p>We learn that the brilliancy and animation of the court at Avignon +outshine the glories of Rome, and in language that fairly glitters with +its high-sounding, highly colored words. We hear of Petrarch and Laura, +and the associations of Vaucluse.</p> + +<p>At this juncture the Prince arrives, and is struck by the resemblance of +the scene to a court of love; he wonders if they are not discussing the +question whether love is not drowned in the nuptial holy water font, or +whether the lady inspires the lover as much with her presence as when +absent. And the Queen defends her mode of life and temperament; she +cannot brook the cold and gloomy<span class="pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>Pg 221</span> ways of the north. Were we to apply +the methods of Voltaire's strictures of Corneille to this play, it might +be interesting to see how many <i>vers de comédie</i> could be found in these +scenes of dispute between the prince consort and his light-hearted wife.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A l'avans! zóu! en fèsto arrouinas lou Tresor!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Go ahead! that's right, ruin the treasury with your feasts!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and to his objections to so many flattering courtiers, the Queen +replies:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Voulès que moun palais devèngue un mounastié?"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Do you want my palace to become a monastery?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Joanna replies nobly and eloquently to the threats of her husband to +assume mastery over her by violent means, and, in spite of the +anachronism (the poet makes her use and seemingly invent the term +<i>Renascence</i>), her defence of the arts and science of her time is +forceful and enthusiastic, and carries the reader along. That this sort +of eloquence is dramatic, appears, however, rather doubtful.</p> + +<p>The next scene interests us more directly in the characters before us. +The Prince, left alone with his confidant, Fra Rupert, gives expression +to his passionate love for the Queen, and pours<span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name="page222"></a>Pg 222</span> forth the bitterness of +his soul to see it unrequited. The fierce Hungarian monk denounces, +rather justly, it appears to us, the license and levity of the Italian +court, and incites Andrea to an appeal to the Pope, "a potentate that +has no army, whose dominion extends from pole to pole, who binds and +unbinds at his will, upholds, makes, or unmakes thrones as an almighty +master."</p> + +<p>But Andrea fears the Queen would never pardon him.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"E se noun ai en plen lou mèu si caresso,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">L'empèri universal! m'es un gourg d'amaresso!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And if I have not fully the honey of her caresses<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The empire of the world is to me a gulf of bitterness.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Finally the monk and La Catanaise stand alone before us. This woman is +the Queen's nurse, who loves her with a fierce sort of passion, and it +is she who commits the crime that causes the play to be called a +tragedy. This final scene brings out a flood of the most violent +vituperation from this veritable virago, some of it exceedingly low in +tone. The friar leaves with the threat to have a red-hot nail run +through her hellish tongue, and La Catanaise,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223"></a>Pg 223</span> standing alone, gives +vent to her fury in threats of murder.</p> + +<p>The next act reveals the Hall of Honor in the Castel-Nuovo at Naples. +Andrea in anger proclaims himself king, and in the presence of the Queen +and the Italian courtiers gives away one after another all the offices +and honors of the realm to his Hungarian followers. A conflict with +drawn swords is about to ensue, when the Queen rushes between the +would-be combatants, reminding them of the decree of the Pope; but +Andrea in fury accuses the Queen of conduct worthy a shameless +adventuress, and cites the reports that liken her to Semiramis in her +orgies. The Prince of Taranto throws down his glove to the enraged +Andrea, who replies by a threat to bring him to the executioner. The +Prince of Taranto answers that the executioner may be the supreme law +for a king,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Mai pèr un qu'a l'ounour dins lou piés e dins l'amo,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Uno escorno, cousin, se purgo emé la lamo."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But for one who has honor in his breast and his soul,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An insult, cousin, is purged with the sword.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Andrea turns to his knights, and leaving the room with them points to +the flag bearing the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" name="page224"></a>Pg 224</span> block and axe as emblems. The partisans of Joanna +remain full of indignation. La Catanaise addresses them. The Sicilians, +she says, waste no time in words, but have a speedier method of +punishing a wrong, and she reminds them of the massacre at Palermo. The +Prince of Taranto discountenances the proposed crime, for the Queen's +fair name would suffer. But the fierce woman points to the flag. "Do you +see that axe hanging from a thread? You are all cowards! Let me act +alone." And the Prince nobly replies, "Philippine, battles are fought in +the sunlight; men of our renown, men of my stamp, do not crouch down in +the dark shadow of a plot." And the Catanaise again shows the flag. "Do +you see the axe falling upon the block?"</p> + +<p>Joanna enters to offer the Prince her thanks for his chivalrous defence +of her fair name, and dismisses the other courtiers. The ensuing brief +scene between the Queen and the Prince is really very eloquent and very +beautiful. The Queen recalls the fact that she was married at nine to +Andrea, then only a child too; and she has never known love. The poorest +of the shepherdesses on the mountains of Calabria<span class="pagenum"><a id="page225" name="page225"></a>Pg 225</span> may quench her thirst +at the spring, but she, the Queen of the Sun, if to pass away the time, +or to have the appearance of happiness, she loves to listen to the echo +of song, to behold the joy and brilliancy of a noble fête, her very +smile becomes criminal. And the Prince reminds her that she is the +Provençal queen, and that in the great times of that people, if the +consort were king, love was a god, and he recalls the names of all the +ladies made famous by the Troubadours. Thereupon the Queen in an +outburst of enthusiasm truly Felibrean invokes the God of Love, the God +that slew Dido, and speaks in the spirit of the days of courtly love, "O +thou God of Love, hearken unto me. If my fatal beauty is destined sooner +or later to bring about my death, let this flame within me be, at least, +the pyre that shall kindle the song of the poet! Let my beauty be the +luminous star exalting men's hearts to lofty visions!"</p> + +<p>The chivalrous Prince is dismissed, and Joanna is alone with, her +thoughts. The little page Dragonet sings outside a plaintive song with +the refrain:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"Que regrèt!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jamai digues toun secrèt."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">What regret!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never tell thy secret.<br /></span> +</div></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page226" name="page226"></a>Pg 226</span></p> + +<p>La Catanaise endeavors to excite the fears of the Queen, insinuating +that the Pope may give the crown to Andrea. Joanna has no fear.</p> + +<p>"We shall have but to appear before the country with this splendor of +irresistible grace, and like the smoke borne away by the breeze, +suddenly my enemies shall disappear."</p> + +<p>We may ask whether such self-praise comes gracefully from the Queen +herself, whether she might not be less conscious of her own charm. La +Catanaise is again alone on the scene, threatening. "The bow is drawn, +the hen setting." This last comparison, the reader will remark, would be +simply impossible as the termination of an act in a serious English +play. This last scene, too, is wofully weak and purposeless.</p> + +<p>The conversation of three courtiers at the beginning of Act III apprises +us of the fact that the Pope has succeeded in bringing about a +reconciliation between the royal pair, and that they are both to be +crowned, and as a matter of precaution, the nurse Philippine, and the +monk Fra Rupert are to be sent upon their several ways. The scene is +next filled by the conspirators, La Catanaise directing the details of +the plots. It is made clear that the Queen is<span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name="page227"></a>Pg 227</span> utterly ignorant of these +proceedings, which are after all useless; for we fail to see what valid +motive these plotters have to urge them on to their contemptible deed. A +brilliant banquet scene ensues, wherein Anfan of Sisteron sings a song +of seven stanzas about the fairy Mélusine, and seven times Dragonet +sings the refrain, "Sian de la raço di lesert" (We are of the race of +the lizards). And there are enthusiastic tirades in praise of the Queen +and of Provence, and all is merry. But Andrea spills salt upon the +table, which evil augury seems to be taken seriously. This little +episode is foolish, and unwrorthy of a tragedy. We are on the verge of +an assassination. Either the gloomy forebodings and the terror of the +event should be impressed upon us, or the exaggerated gayety and high +spirits of the revellers should by contrast make the coming event seem +more terrible; but the spilling of salt is utterly trivial. After the +feast La Catanaise and her daughter proceed to their devilish work, in +the room now lighted only by the pale rays of the moon, while the voice +of the screech-owl is heard outside. The trap is set for the King; he is +strangled just out of sight with the silken noose. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228"></a>Pg 228</span> Queen is roused +by her nurse. The palace is in an uproar, and the act terminates with a +passionate demand for vengeance and justice on the part of Fra Rupert.</p> + +<p>And now the Fourth Act. Here Mistral is in his element; here his love of +rocky landscapes, of azure seas and golden islands, of song and +festivity, finds full play. The tragedy is forgotten, the dramatic +action completely interrupted,—never mind. We accompany the Queen on +her splendid galley all the way from Naples to Marseilles. She leaves +amid the acclamations of the Neapolitans, recounts the splendors of the +beautiful bay, and promises to return "like the star of night coming out +of the mist, laurel in hand, on the white wings of her Provençal +galley." The boat starts, the rowers sing their plaintive rhythmic +songs, the Queen is enraptured by the beauty of the fleeing shores, the +white sail glistens in the glorious blue above. She is lulled by the +motion of the boat and the waving of the hangings of purple and gold. +Midway on her journey she receives a visit from the Infante of Majorca, +James of Aragon, who seems to be wandering over that part of the sea; +then the astrologer Anselme<span class="pagenum"><a id="page229" name="page229"></a>Pg 229</span> predicts her marriage with <i>Alio</i> and her +death. She shall be visited with the sins of her ancestors; the blood +spilled by Charles of Anjou cries for vengeance. The Queen passes +through a moment of gloom. She dispels it, exclaiming: "Be it so, strike +where thou wilt, O fate, I am a queen; I shall fight, if need be, until +death, to uphold my cause and my womanly honor. If my wild planet is +destined to sink in a sea of blood and tears, the glittering trace I +shall leave on the earth will show at least that I was worthy to be thy +great queen, O brilliant Provence!"</p> + +<p>She descends into the ship, and the rowers resume their song. Later we +arrive at Nice, where the Queen is received by an exultant throng. She +forgets the awful predictions and is utterly filled with delight. She +will visit all the cities where she is loved, her ambition is to see her +flag greeted all along the Mediterranean with shouts of joy and love. +She feels herself to be a Provençale. "Come, people, here I am; breathe +me in, drink me in! It is sweet to me to be yours, and sweet to please +you; and you may gaze in love and admiration upon me, for I am your +queen!"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page230" name="page230"></a>Pg 230</span></p> + +<p>The journey is resumed. We pass the Isles of Gold, and the raptures are +renewed. At Marseilles the Queen is received by the Consuls, and swears +solemnly to respect all the rights, customs, and privileges of the land, +and the Consul exacts as the last oath that she swear to see that the +noble speech of Arles shall be maintained and spoken in the land of +Provence. The act closes with the sentiment, "May Provence triumph in +every way!"</p> + +<p>The last act brings us to the great hall of the papal palace at Avignon, +where the Pope is to pronounce judgment upon the Queen. Fra Rupert, +disguised as a pilgrim, harangues the throng, and two Hungarian knights +are beaten in duel by Galéas of Mantua. This duel, with its alternate +cries of Dau! Dau! Tè! Tè! Zóu! Zóu! is difficult to take seriously and +reminds us of Tartarin. The Queen enters in conversation with Petrarch. +The Hungarian knights utter bitter accusations against the Queen, who +gives them in place of iron chains the golden chains about her neck, +whereupon the knights gallantly declare their hearts are won forever. +The doors open at the back and we see the papal court. Bertrand des +Baux<span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name="page231"></a>Pg 231</span> gives a hideous account of the torture and death of those who had +a hand in the death of Andrea. The Queen makes a long speech, expressing +her deep grief at the calumnies and slander that beset her. The court +and people resolve themselves into a kind of opera chorus, expressing +their various sentiments in song. The Queen next reviews her life with +Andrea, and concludes:—</p> + +<p>"And it seemed to me noble and worthy of a queen to melt with a glance +the cold of the frost, to make the almond tree blossom with a smile, to +be amiable to all, affable, generous, and lead my people with a thread +of wool! Yes, all the thought of my mad youth was to be loved and to +reign by the power of love. Who could have foretold that, afterward, on +the day of the great disaster, all this should be made a reproach +against me! that I should be accused, at the age of twenty, of +instigating an awful crime!"</p> + +<p>And she breaks down weeping. The page, the people, the pilgrim, and the +astrologer again sing in a sort of operatic ensemble their various +emotions. The Pope absolves the Queen, the pilgrim denounces the verdict +furiously, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232"></a>Pg 232</span> is put to death by Galéas of Mantua. So ends the play.</p> + +<p><i>La Rèino Jano</i> is a pageant rather than a tragedy. It is full of song +and sunshine, glow and glitter. The characters all talk in the +exaggerated and exuberant style of Mistral, who is not dramatist enough +to create independent being, living before us. The central personage is +in no sense a tragic character. The fanatical Fra Rupert and the low, +vile-tongued Catanaise are not tragic characters. The psychology +throughout is decidedly upon the surface.</p> + +<p>The author in his introduction warns us that to judge this play we must +place ourselves at the point of view of the Provençals, in whom many an +expression or allusion that leaves the ordinary reader or spectator +untouched, will possibly awaken, as he hopes, some particular emotion. +This is true of all his literature; the Provençal language, the +traditions, the memories of Provence, are the web and woof of it all.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to note the impression made by the language upon a +Frenchman and a critic of the rank of Jules Lemaître. He says in +concluding his review of this play:—</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" name="page233"></a>Pg 233</span></p> + +<p>"The language is too gay, it has too much sing-song, it is too +harmonious. It does not possess the rough gravity of the Spanish, and +has too few of the <i>i</i>'s and <i>e</i>'s that soften the sonority of the +Italian. I may venture to say it is too expressive, too full of +onomatopœia. Imagine a language, in which to say, "He bursts out +laughing," one must use the word <i>s'escacalasso</i>! There are too many +<i>on</i>'s and <i>oun</i>'s and too much <i>ts</i> and <i>dz</i> in the pronunciation. So +that the Provençal language, in spite of everything, keeps a certain +patois vulgarity. It forces the poet, so to say, to perpetual +song-making. It must be very difficult, in that language, to have an +individual style, still more difficult to express abstract ideas. But it +is a merry language."</p> + +<p>The play has never yet been performed, and until a trial is made, one is +inclined to think it would not be effective, except as a spectacle. It +is curious that the Troubadours produced no dramatic literature +whatever, and that the same lack is found in the modern revival.</p> + +<p>Aubanel's <i>Lou Pan dóu Pecat</i> (The Bread of Sin), written in 1863, and +performed in 1878 at Montpellier, seems to have been successful,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page234" name="page234"></a>Pg 234</span> and +was played at Paris at the Théâtre Libre in 1888, in the +verse-translation made by Paul Arène. Aubanel wrote two other plays, +<i>Lou Pastre</i>, which is lost, and <i>Lou Raubatòn</i>, a work that must be +considered unfinished. Two plays, therefore, constitute the entire +dramatic production in the new language.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PART THIRD</h2> + + +<h2>CONCLUSIONS</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>Pg 237</span></p> +<h2>CONCLUSIONS</h2> + + +<p>It would be idle to endeavor to determine whether Mistral is to be +classed as a great poet, or whether the Félibres have produced a great +literature, and nothing is defined when the statement is made that +Mistral is or is not a great poet. His genius may be said to be limited +geographically, for if from it were eliminated all that pertains +directly to Provence, the remainder would be almost nothing. The only +human nature known to the poet is the human nature of Provence, and +while it is perfectly true that a human being in Provence could be +typical of human nature in general, and arouse interest in all men +through his humanity common to all, the fact is, that Mistral has not +sought to express what is of universal interest, but has invariably +chosen to present human life in its Provençal aspects and from one point +of view only. A second limitation is found in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238"></a>Pg 238</span> the unvarying exteriority +of his method of presenting human nature. Never does he probe deeply +into the souls of his Provençals. Very vividly indeed does he reproduce +their words and gestures; but of the deeper under-currents, the inner +conflicts, the agonies of doubt and indecision, the bitterness of +disappointments, the lofty aspirations toward a higher inner life or a +closer communion with the universe, the moral problems that shake a +human soul, not a syllable. Nor is he a poet who pours out his own soul +into verse.</p> + +<p>External nature is for him, again, nature as seen in Provence. The rocks +and trees, the fields and the streams, do not awaken in him a stir of +emotions because of their power to compel a mood in any responsive +poetic soul, but they excite him primarily as the rocks and trees, the +fields and streams of his native region. He is no mere word-painter. +Rarely do his descriptions appear to exist for their own sake. They +furnish a necessary, fitting, and delightful background to the action of +his poems. They are too often indications of what a Provençal ought to +consider admirable or wonderful, they are sometimes spoiled by the +poet's excessive par<span class="pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239"></a>Pg 239</span>tiality for his own little land. His work is ever +the work of a man with a mission.</p> + +<p>There is no profound treatment of the theme of love. Each of the long +poems and his play have a love story as the centre of interest, but the +lovers are usually children, and their love utterly without +complications. There is everywhere a lovely purity, a delightful +simplicity, a straightforward naturalness that is very charming, but in +this theme as in the others, Mistral is incapable of tragic depths and +heights. So it is as regards the religious side of man's nature. The +poet's work is filled with allusions to religion; there are countless +legends concerning saints and hermits, descriptions of churches and the +papal palace, there is the detailed history of the conversion of +Provence to Christianity, but the deepest religious spirit is not his. +Only twice in all his work do we come upon a profounder religious sense, +in the second half of <i>Lou Prègo-Diéu</i> and in <i>Lou Saume de la +Penitènci</i>. There is no doubt that Mistral is a believer, but religious +feeling has not a large place in his work; there are no other +meditations upon death and destiny.</p> + +<p>And this <i>âme du Midi, spirit of Provence</i>, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name="page240"></a>Pg 240</span> genius of his race that +he has striven to express, what is it? How shall it be defined or +formulated? Alphonse Daudet, who knew it, and loved it, whose Parisian +life and world-wide success did not destroy in him the love of his +native Provence, who loved the very food of the Midi above all others, +and jumped up in joy when a southern intonation struck his ear, and who +was continually beset with longings to return to the beloved region, has +well defined it. He was the friend of Mistral and followed the poet's +efforts and achievements with deep and affectionate interest. It is not +difficult to see that the satire in the "Tartarin" series is not unkind, +nor is it untrue. Daudet approved of the Félibrige movement, though what +he himself wrote in Provençal is insignificant. He believed that the +national literature could be best vivified by those who most loved their +homes, that the best originality could thus be attained. He has +said:<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>—</p> + +<p>"The imagination of the southerners differs from that of the northerners +in that it does not mingle the different elements and forms in +literature, and remains lucid in its outbreaks. In<span class="pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>Pg 241</span> our most complex +natures you never encounter the entanglement of directions, relations, +and figures that characterizes a Carlyle, a Browning, or a Poe. For this +reason the man of the north always finds fault with the man of the south +for his lack of depth and darkness.</p> + +<p>"If we consider the most violent of human passions, love, we see that +the southerner makes it the great affair of his life, but does not allow +himself to become disorganized. He likes the talk that goes with it, its +lightness, its change. He hates the slavery of it. It furnishes a +pretext for serenades, fine speeches, light scoffing, caresses. He finds +it difficult to comprehend the joining together of love and death, which +lies in the northern nature, and casts a shade of melancholy upon these +brief delights."</p> + +<p>Daudet notes the ease with which the southerner is carried away and +duped by the mirage of his own fancy, his semi-sincerity in excitement +and enthusiasm. He admired the natural eloquence of his Provençals. He +found a justification for their exaggerations.</p> + +<p>"Is it right to accuse a man of lying, who is intoxicated with his own +eloquence, who, without evil intent, or love of deceit, or any instinct<span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>Pg 242</span> +of scheming or false trading, seeks to embellish his own life, and other +people's, with stories he knows to be illusions, but which he wishes +were true? Is Don Quixote a liar? Are all the poets deceivers who aim to +free us from realities, to go soaring off into space? After all, among +southerners, there is no deception. Each one, within himself, restores +things to their proper proportions."</p> + +<p>Daudet had Mistral's love of the sunshine. He needed it to inspire him. +He believed it explained the southern nature.</p> + +<p>Concerning the absence of metaphysics in the race he says:—</p> + +<p>"These reasonings may culminate in a state of mind such as we see +extolled in Buddhism, a colorless state, joyless and painless, across +which the fleeting splendors of thought pass like stars. Well, the man +of the south cares naught for that sort of paradise. The vein of real +sensation is freely, perpetually open, open to life. The side that +pertains to abstraction, to logic, is lost in mist."</p> + +<p>We have referred to the power of story-telling among the Provençals and +their responsiveness as listeners. Daudet mentions<span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243"></a>Pg 243</span> the contrast to be +observed between an audience of southerners and the stolid, +self-contained attitude of a crowd in the north.</p> + +<p>The evil side of the southern temperament, the faults that accompany +these traits, are plainly stated by the great novelist. Enthusiasm turns +to hypocrisy, or brag; the love of what glitters, to a passion for +luxury at any cost; sociability, the desire to please, become weakness +and fulsome flattery. The orator beats his breast, his voice is hoarse, +choked with emotion, his tears flow conveniently, he appeals to +patriotism and the noblest sentiments. There is a legend, according to +Daudet, which says that when Mirabeau cried out, "We will not leave +unless driven out at the point of the bayonet," a voice off at one side +corrected the utterance, murmuring sarcastically, "And if the bayonets +come, we make tracks!"</p> + +<p>The southerner, when he converses, is roused to animation readily. His +eye flashes, his words are uttered with strong intonations, the +impressiveness of a quiet, earnest, self-contained manner is unknown to +him.</p> + +<p>Daudet is a novelist and a humorist. Mis<span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>Pg 244</span>tral is a poet; hence, although +he professes to aim at a full expression of the "soul of his Provence," +there are many aspects of the Provençal nature that he has not touched +upon. He has omitted all the traits that lend themselves to satirical +treatment, and, although he is in many ways a remarkable realist, he has +very little dramatic power, and seems to lack the gift of searching +analysis of individual character. It is hardly fair to reckon it as a +shortcoming in the poet and apostle of Provence that he presents only +what is most beautiful in the life about him. The novelist offers us a +faithful and vivid image of the men of his own day. The poet glorifies +the past, clings to tradition, and exhorts his countrymen to return to +it.</p> + +<p>Essentially and above all else a conservative, Mistral has the gravest +doubts about so-called modern progress. Undoubtedly honest in desiring +the well-being of his fellow Provençals, he believes that this can be +preserved or attained only by a following of tradition. There must be no +breaking with the past. Daudet, late in life, adhered to this doctrine. +His son quotes him as saying:—</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name="page245"></a>Pg 245</span></p> + +<p>"I am following, with gladness, the results of the impulse Mistral has +given. Return to tradition! that is our salvation in the present going +to pieces. I have always felt this instinctively. It came to me clearly +only a few years ago. It is a bad thing to become wholly loosened from +the soil, to forget the village church spire. Curiously enough poetry +attaches only to objects that have come down to us, that have had long +use. What is called <i>progress</i>, a vague and very doubtful term, rouses +the lower parts of our intelligence. The higher parts vibrate the better +for what has moved and inspired a long series of imaginative minds, +inheriting each from a predecessor, strengthened by the sight of the +same landscapes, by the same perfumes, by the touch of the same +furniture, polished by wear. Very ancient impressions sink into the +depth of that obscure memory which we may call the <i>race-memory</i>, out of +which is woven the mass of individual memories."</p> + +<p>Mistral is truly the poet of the Midi. One can best see how superior he +is as an artist in words by comparing him with the foremost of his +fellow-poets. He is a master of language.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page246" name="page246"></a>Pg 246</span> He has the eloquence, the +enthusiasm, the optimism of his race. His poetic earnestness saves his +tendency to exaggerate. His style, in all its superiority, is a southern +style, full of interjections, full of long, sonorous words. His thought, +his expressions, are ever lucid. His art is almost wholly objective. His +work has extraordinary unity, and therefore does not escape the monotony +that was unavoidable when the poet voluntarily limited himself to a +single purpose in life, and to treatment of the themes thereunto +pertaining. Believers in material progress, those who look for great +changes in political and social conditions, will turn from Mistral with +indifference. His contentment with present things, and his love of the +past, are likely to irritate them. Those who seek in a poet consolation +in the personal trials of life, a new message concerning human destiny, +a new note in the everlasting themes that the great poets have sung, +will be disappointed.</p> + +<p>A word must be said of him as a writer of French. In the earlier years +he felt the weight of the Academy. He did not feel that French would +allow full freedom. He was scrupulous and timid. He soon shook off this +timidity<span class="pagenum"><a id="page247" name="page247"></a>Pg 247</span> and became a really remarkable wielder of the French tongue. +His translations of his own works have doubtless reached a far wider +public than the works themselves, and are certainly characterized by +great boldness, clearness, and an astonishingly large vocabulary.</p> + +<p>His earlier work is clearly inspired by his love of Greek literature, +and those qualities in Latin literature wherein the Greek genius shines +through, possibly also by some mysterious affinity with the Greek spirit +resulting from climate or atavism. This never entirely left him. When +later he writes of Provence in the Middle Age, of the days of the +Troubadours, his manner does not change; his work offers no analogies +here with the French Romantic school.</p> + +<p>No poet, it would seem, was ever so in love with his own language; no +artist ever so loved the mere material he was using. Mistral loves the +words he uses, he loves their sound, he loves to hear them from the lips +of those about him; he loves the intonations and the cadences of his +verse; his love is for the speech itself aside from any meaning it +conveys. A beautiful instrument it is indeed. Possibly nothing is more<span class="pagenum"><a id="page248" name="page248"></a>Pg 248</span> +peculiarly striking about him than this extreme enthusiasm for his +golden speech, his <i>lengo d'or</i>.</p> + +<p>To him must be conceded the merit of originality, great originality. In +seeking the source of many of his conceptions, one is led to the +conclusion, and his own testimony bears it out, that they are the +creations of his own fancy. If there is much prosaic realism in the +<i>Poem of the Rhone</i>, the Prince and the Anglore are purely the children +of Mistral's almost naïve imagination, and Calendau and Esterello are +attached to the real world of history by the slenderest bonds. When we +seek for resemblances between his conceptions and those of other poets, +we can undoubtedly find them. Mireille now and then reminds of Daphnis +and Chloe, of Hermann and Dorothea, of Evangeline, but the differences +are far more in evidence than the resemblances. Esterello is in an +attitude toward Calendau not without analogy to that of Beatrice toward +Dante, but it would be impossible to find at any point the slightest +imitation of Dante. Some readers have been reminded of Faust in reading +<i>Nerto</i>, but beyond the scheme of the Devil to secure a woman's<span class="pagenum"><a id="page249" name="page249"></a>Pg 249</span> soul, +there is little similarity. Nothing could be more utterly without +philosophy than <i>Nerto</i>. Mistral has drawn his inspirations from within +himself; he has not worked over the poems and legends of former poets, +or sought much of his subject-matter in the productions of former ages. +He has not suffered from the deep reflection, the pondering, and the +doubt that destroy originality.</p> + +<p>If Mistral had written his poems in French, he would certainly have +stood apart from the general line of French poets. It would have been +impossible to attach him to any of the so-called "schools" of poetry +that have followed one another during this century in France. He is as +unlike the Romantics as he is unlike the Parnassians. M. Brunetière +would find no difficulty in applying to his work the general epithet of +"social" that so well characterizes French literature considered in its +main current, for Mistral always sings to his fellow-men to move them, +to persuade them, to stir their hearts. Almost all of his poems in the +lyrical form show him as the spokesman of his fellows or as the leader +urging them to action. He is therefore not of the school of "Art for +Art's<span class="pagenum"><a id="page250" name="page250"></a>Pg 250</span> sake," but his art is consecrated to the cause he represents.</p> + +<p>His thought is ever pure and high; his lessons are lessons of love, of +noble aims, of energy and enthusiasm. He is full of love for the best in +the past, love of his native soil, love of his native landscapes, love +of the men about him, love of his country. He is a poet of the "Gai +Saber," joyous and healthy, he has never felt a trace of the bitterness, +the disenchantment, the gloom and the pain of a Byron or a Leopardi. He +is eminently representative of the race he seeks to glorify in its own +eyes and in the world's, himself a type of that race at its very best, +with all its exuberance and energy, with its need of outward +manifestation, life and movement. An important place must be assigned to +him among those who have bodied forth their poetic conceptions in the +various euphonious forms of speech descended from the ancient speech of +Rome.</p> + +<p>In Provence, and far beyond its borders, he is known and loved. His +activity has not ceased. His voice is still heard, clear, strong, +hopeful, inspiring. <i>Mireille</i> is sung in the ruined Roman theatre at +Aries, museums are founded<span class="pagenum"><a id="page251" name="page251"></a>Pg 251</span> to preserve Provençal art and antiquities, +the Felibrean feasts continue with unabated enthusiasm. Mistral's life +is a successful life; he has revived a language, created a literature, +inspired a people. So potent is art to-day in the old land of the +Troubadours. All the charm and beauty of that sunny land, all that is +enchanting in its past, all the best, in the ideal sense, that may be +hoped for in its future, is expressed in his musical, limpid, lovely +verse. Such a poet and such a leader of men is rare in the annals of +literature. Such complete oneness of purpose and of achievement is rare +among men.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page253" name="page253"></a>Pg 253</span></p> +<h2>APPENDIX</h2> + + +<p>We offer here a literal prose translation of the <i>Psalm of Penitence</i>.</p> + + +<h3>THE PSALM OF PENITENCE</h3> + +<h4>I</h4> + +<p>Lord, at last thy wrath hurleth its thunderbolts upon our foreheads, and +in the night our vessel strikes its prow against the rocks.</p> + +<p>Lord, thou cuttest us down with the sword of the barbarian like fine +wheat, and not one of the cravens that we shielded comes to our defence.</p> + +<p>Lord, thou twistest us like a willow wand, thou breakest down to-day all +our pride; there is none to envy us, who but yesterday were so proud.</p> + +<p>Lord, our land goeth to ruin in war and strife; and if thou withhold thy +mercy, great and small will devour one another.</p> + +<p>Lord, thou art terrible, thou strikest us upon the back; in awful +turmoil thou breakest our power, compelling us to confess past evil.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page254" name="page254"></a>Pg 254</span></p> + + +<h4>II</h4> + +<p>Lord, we had strayed away from the austerity of the old laws and ways. +Virtues, domestic customs, we had destroyed and demolished.</p> + +<p>Lord, giving an evil example, and denying thee like the heathen, we had +one day closed up thy temples and mocked thy Holy Christ.</p> + +<p>Lord, leaving behind us thy sacraments and commandments, we had brutally +lost belief in all but self-interest and progress!</p> + +<p>Lord, in the waste heavens we have clouded thy light with our smoke, and +to-day the sons mock the nakedness and purity of their fathers.</p> + +<p>Lord, we have blown upon thy Bible with the breath of false knowledge; +and holding ourselves up like the poplar trees, we wretched beings have +declared ourselves gods.</p> + +<p>Lord, we have left the furrow, we have trampled all respect under foot; +and with the heavy wine that intoxicates us we defile the innocent.</p> + + +<h4>III</h4> + +<p>Lord, we are thy prodigal children, but we are thy Christians of old; +let thy justice chastise us, but give us not over unto death.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" name="page255"></a>Pg 255</span></p> + +<p>Lord, in the name of so many brave men, who went forth fearless, +valiant, docile, grave, and then fell in battle;</p> + +<p>Lord, in the name of so many mothers, who are about to pray to God for +their sons, and who next year, alas! and the year thereafter, shall see +them no more;</p> + +<p>Lord, in the name of so many women who have at their bosoms a little +child, and who, poor creatures, moisten the earth and the sheets of +their beds with tears;</p> + +<p>Lord, in the name of the poor, in the name of the strong, in the name of +the dead who shall die for their country, their duty, and their faith;</p> + +<p>Lord, for so many defeats, so many tears and woes, for so many towns +ravaged, for so much brave, holy blood;</p> + +<p>Lord, for so many adversities, for so much mourning throughout our +France, for so many insults upon our heads;</p> + + +<h4>IV</h4> + +<p>Lord, disarm thy justice. Cast down thine eye upon us, and heed the +cries of the bruised and wounded!</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page256" name="page256"></a>Pg 256</span></p> + +<p>Lord, if the rebellious cities, through their luxury and folly, have +overturned the scale-pan of thy balance, resisting and denying thee;</p> + +<p>Lord, before the breath of the Alps, that praiseth God winter and +summer, all the trees of the fields, obedient, bow together;</p> + +<p>Lord, France and Provence have sinned only through forgetfulness; do +thou forgive us our offences, for we repent of the evil of former days.</p> + +<p>Lord, we desire to become men, thou canst set us free. We are +Gallo-Romans, and of noble race, and we walk upright in our land.</p> + +<p>Lord, we are not the cause of the evil, send down upon us a ray of +peace. Lord, help our cause, and we shall live again and love thee.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page257" name="page257"></a>Pg 257</span></p> +<h2>THE PRESENT CAPOULIÉ OF THE FÉLIBRIGE.</h2> + + +<p>M. Pierre Devoluy, of the town of Die, was elected at Arles, in April, +1901. The Consistory was presided over by Mistral.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page259" name="page259"></a>Pg 259</span></p> +<h2>BIBLIOGRAPHY</h2> + + +<p>The following list contains the most important works that have been +published concerning Mistral and the Félibrige. Numerous articles have +appeared in nearly all the languages of Europe in various magazines. Of +these only such are mentioned as seem worthy of special notice.</p> + + +<h3>WORKS CONCERNING THE FÉLIBRIGE IN GENERAL</h3> + +<p class="center"> +<i>America</i> +</p> +<p> +JANVIER, THOMAS A., Numerous articles in the Century Magazine, New York, 1893, and following years.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>An Embassy to Provence</i>. New York, 1893.</span><br /> +<br /> +PRESTON, HARRIETT, <i>Mistral's Calendau</i>. The Atlantic Monthly, New York, 1874.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Aubanel's Miòugrano entreduberto</i>. The Atlantic Monthly, New York, 1874.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="center"> +<i>England</i> +</p> +<p> +CRAIG, DUNCAN, <i>Miéjour Provençal Legend, Life, Language, and Literature</i>. London.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Handbook of the Modern Provençal Language</i>.</span><br /> +<br /> +CROMBIE, J.W., <i>The Poets and Peoples of Foreign Lands: Frédéric Mistral</i>. Elliot, London, 1890.<br /> +<br /> +HARTOG, CECIL, <i>Poets of Provence</i>. London Contemporary Review, 1894.<br /><span class="pagenum"><a id="page260" name="page260"></a>Pg 260</span> +</p> +<p class="center"> +<i>France</i> +</p> +<p> +BOISSIN, FIRMIN, <i>Le Midi littéraire contemporain</i>. Douladoure, Toulouse, 1887.<br /> +<br /> +DE BOUCHAUD, <i>Roumanille et le Félibrige</i>. Mougin, Lyons, 1896.<br /> +<br /> +BRUN, C., <i>L'Evolution félibréenne</i>. Paquet, Lyons, 1896.<br /> +<br /> +DONNADIEU, F., <i>Les Précurseurs des Félibres</i>. Quantin, Paris, 1888.<br /> +<br /> +HENNION, C., <i>Les Fleurs félibresques</i>. Paris, 1893.<br /> +<br /> +JOURDANNE, G., <i>Histoire du Félibrige</i>. Roumanille, Avignon, 1897.<br /> +<br /> +LINTILHAC, E., <i>Les Félibres à travers leur monde et leur poésie</i>. Lemerre, Paris, 1895.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Précis de la littérature française</i>. Paris, 1890.</span><br /> +<br /> +LEGRÉ, L., <i>Le Poète Théodore Aubanel</i>. Paris, 1894.<br /> +<br /> +MARGON, A. DE, <i>Les Précurseurs des Félibres</i>. Béziers, 1891.<br /> +<br /> +MARIÉTON, PAUL, <i>La Terre provençale</i>. Lemerre, Paris, 1894.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Article <i>Félibrige</i> in the <i>Grande Encyclopédie</i>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Article <i>Mistral</i> in the <i>Grande Encyclopédie</i>.</span><br /> +<br /> +MICHEL, S., <i>La Petite Patrie</i>. Roumanille, Avignon, 1894.<br /> +<br /> +NOULET, B., <i>Essai sur l'histoire littéraire des patois du midi de la France, aux VIII<sup>e</sup> siécle</i>. Montpellier, 1877.<br /> +<br /> +PARIS, GASTON, <i>Penseurs et poètes</i>. Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1896.<br /> +<br /> +RESTORI, <i>Histoire de la littérature provençale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours</i>. Montpellier, 1895. (Translated from the Italian.)<br /><span class="pagenum"><a id="page261" name="page261"></a>Pg 261</span> +<br /> +ROQUE-FERRIER, A., <i>Mélanges de critique littéraire et de philologie</i>. Montpellier, 1892.<br /> +<br /> +SAINT-RENÉ-TAILLANDIER, V., <i>Etudes littéraires</i>. Plon et Cie, Paris, 1881.<br /> +<br /> +TAVERNIER, E., <i>La Renaissance provençale et Roumanille</i>. Gervais, Paris, 1884.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Le mouvement littéraire provençal et Lis Isclo d'Or de Frédéric Mistral</i>. Aix, 1876.</span><br /> +<br /> +DE TERRIS, J., <i>Roumanille et la littérature provençale</i>. Blond, Paris, 1894.<br /> +<br /> +DE VINAC, M., <i>Les Félibres</i>. Richaud, Gap, 1882.<br /> +</p> +<p class="center"> +<i>Germany</i> +</p> +<p> +BÖHMER, E., <i>Die provenzalische Dichtung der Gegenwart</i>. Heilbronn, 1870.<br /> +<br /> +KOSCHWITZ, E., <i>Ueber die provenzalischen Feliber und ihre Vorgänger</i>. Berlin, 1894.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Grammaire historique de la langue des Félibres</i>. Greifswald and Paris, 1894.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A study of Bertuch's translation of Nerto in the <i>Litteraturblatt für germanische und romanische Philologie</i>. 1892.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A study of Provençal phonetics with a translation of the <i>Cant dóu Soulèu. Sonderabdruck aus der Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Litteratur</i>. Berlin, 1893.</span><br /> +<br /> +SCHNEIDER, B., <i>Bemerkungen zur litterarischen Bewegung auf neuprovenzalischem Sprachgebiete</i>. Berlin, 1887.<br /> +<br /> +WELTER, N., <i>Frederi Mistral, der Dichter der Provence</i>. Marburg, 1899.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a><br /><span class="pagenum"><a id="page262" name="page262"></a>Pg 262</span> +</p> +<p class="center"> +<i>Italy</i> +</p> +<p> +LICER, MARIA, <i>I Felibri</i>, in the <i>Roma letteraria</i>. June, 1893.<br /> +<br /> +PORTAL, E., <i>Appunti letterari: Sulla poesia provenzale</i>. Pedone, Palermo, 1890.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>La Letteratura provenzale moderna</i>. Reber, Palermo, 1893.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Scritti vari di letteratura classica provenzale moderna</i>. Reber, Palermo, 1895.</span><br /> +<br /> +RESTORI, A., <i>Letteratura provenzale</i>. Hoepli, Milan, 1892.<br /> +<br /> +ZUCCARO, L., <i>Un avvenimento letterario; Mistral tragico in the Scena illustrata</i>. Florence, 1891.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Il Felibrigio, rinascimento delle lettere provenzali, Concordia</i>. Novara, 1892.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="center"> +<i>Spain</i> +</p> +<p> +TUBINO, <i>Historia del renacimiento literario contemporaneo en Cataluña, Baleares y Valencia</i>. Madrid, 1881.<br /> +</p> + + +<h3>MISTRAL'S WORKS</h3> + +<p> +Mirèio. 1859.<br /> +<br /> +Calendau. Avignon, 1867. Paris, Lemerre, 1887.<br /> +<br /> +Lis Isclo d'Or. 1876.<br /> +<br /> +Nerto. Hachette, Paris, 1884.<br /> +<br /> +Lou Tresor dóu Fébrige. Aix, 1886.<br /> +<br /> +La Rèino Jano. Lemerre, Paris, 1890.<br /> +<br /> +Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose. Lemerre, Paris, 1897.<br /> +</p> + + +<h3>TRANSLATIONS OF MISTRAL'S WORKS</h3> + +<p> +H. GRANT, <i>An English Version of F. Mistral's Mirèio from the Original Provençal</i>. London.<br /><span class="pagenum"><a id="page263" name="page263"></a>Pg 263</span> +<br /> +HARRIETT PRESTON, <i>Mistral's Mirèio. A Provençal Poem Translated</i>. Roberts Bros., Boston, 1872. Second edition, 1891.<br /> +<br /> +A. BERTUCH, <i>Der Trommler von Arcole</i>. Deutsche Dichtung, Dresden, 1890.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Nerto</i>. Trübner, Strassburg, 1890.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Mirèio</i>. Trübner, Strassburg, 1892.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Espouscado</i>. Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Litteratur, XV<sup>2</sup>, p. 267.</span><br /> +<br /> +HENNION, <i>Mireille</i>. Traduction en vers français.<br /> +<br /> +E. RIGAUD, <i>Mireille</i>. Metrical translation into French, with the original form of stanza.<br /> +<br /> +JAROSLAV VRCHLICHKY. Translation of several poems of Mistral into Bohemian, under the title, <i>Z básni Mistralovych</i>, in the Review, <i>Kvety</i>. Prague, 1886.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Hostem u Basniku</i>. Prague, 1891. Contains seven poems by Aubanel and thirteen by Mistral.</span><br /> +<br /> +DOM SIGISMOND BOUSKA, <i>Le Tambour d'Arcole</i>, in the Review, <i>Lumir</i>. Prague, 1893.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cantos IV and V of <i>Mirèio</i>, in the Review, <i>Vlast</i>. Prague, 1894.</span><br /> +<br /> +PELAY BOIZ, <i>Mirèio</i>, in Catalan.<br /> +<br /> +ROCA Y ROCA, <i>Calendau</i>. Lo Gay Saber, Barcelona, 1868.<br /> +<br /> +C. BARALLAT Y FALGUERA, <i>Mireya, poema provenzal de Frederico Mistral puesto en prosa española</i>.<br /> +<br /> +MARIA LICER, <i>L'Angelo</i> (Canto VI of <i>Nerto</i>). Italian. Iride, Casal, 1889.<br /> +<br /> +A. NAUM, <i>Traduceri</i>. Jassy, 1891. (Translation into Rumanian of Canto IV of <i>Mirèio</i>, <i>The Song of Magali</i>, and <i>The Drummer of Arcole</i>.)<br /> +<br /> +T. CANNIZZARO, <i>La Venere d'Arli</i>, in <i>Vita Intima</i>. Milan, 1891.<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page265" name="page265"></a>Pg 265</span></p> +<h2>INDEX</h2> + + +<ul> +<li>Aasen, Ivan, <a href='#page94'>94</a>.</li> +<li>Alexandrine verse, <a href='#page78'>78</a>, <a href='#page89'>89</a>.</li> +<li>Alpilles, <a href='#page11'>11</a>.</li> +<li>Amiradou, <a href='#page76'>76</a>, <a href='#page196'>196</a>.</li> +<li>Arène, Paul, <a href='#page21'>21</a>, <a href='#page234'>234</a>.</li> +<li>Ariosto, <a href='#page20'>20</a>, <a href='#page151'>151</a>.</li> +<li>Armana prouvençau, <a href='#page17'>17</a>, <a href='#page28'>28</a>.</li> +<li>Aubanel, Théodore, <a href='#page15'>15</a>, <a href='#page17'>17</a>, <a href='#page21'>21</a>, <a href='#page36'>36</a>, <a href='#page88'>88</a>, <a href='#page233'>233</a>.</li> +<li>Aucassin and Nicolette, <a href='#page170'>170</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Balageur, Victor, <a href='#page31'>31</a>, <a href='#page32'>32</a>.</li> +<li>Bello d'Avoust, <a href='#page184'>184</a>.</li> +<li>Berluc-Pérussis, <a href='#page33'>33</a>.</li> +<li>Boileau, <a href='#page102'>102</a>.</li> +<li>Bonaparte-Wyse, <a href='#page31'>31</a>, <a href='#page33'>33</a>.</li> +<li>Bornier, Henri de, <a href='#page33'>33</a>.</li> +<li>Bréal, Michel, <a href='#page34'>34</a>, <a href='#page72'>72</a>.</li> +<li>Brunet, Jean, <a href='#page16'>16</a>.</li> +<li>Brunetière, <a href='#page79'>79</a>, <a href='#page249'>249</a>.</li> +<li>Byron, <a href='#page250'>250</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Calendau, <a href='#page18'>18</a>, <a href='#page79'>79</a>, <a href='#page127'>127</a>.</li> +<li>Capoulié, <a href='#page19'>19</a>, <a href='#page35'>35</a>, <a href='#page36'>36</a>.</li> +<li>Catalans, <a href='#page31'>31</a>.</li> +<li>Cigale. Société de la, <a href='#page20'>20</a>, <a href='#page33'>33</a>.</li> +<li>Countess, the, <a href='#page199'>199</a>.</li> +<li>Cup, <a href='#page31'>31</a>, <a href='#page32'>32</a>, <a href='#page190'>190</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Dante, <a href='#page40'>40</a>, <a href='#page73'>73</a>, <a href='#page130'>130</a>, <a href='#page133'>133</a>, <a href='#page160'>160</a>, <a href='#page248'>248</a>.</li> +<li>Darmesteter, <a href='#page41'>41</a>.</li> +<li>Daudet, <a href='#page9'>9</a>, <a href='#page21'>21</a>, <a href='#page69'>69</a>, <a href='#page152'>152</a>, <a href='#page240'>240</a> <i>seq.</i></li> +<li>Dictionary of the Provençal language, <a href='#page20'>20</a>, <a href='#page92'>92</a>.</li> +<li>Drac, <a href='#page165'>165</a> <i>seq.</i></li> +<li>Drummer of Arcole, <a href='#page78'>78</a>, <a href='#page204'>204</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Espouscado, <a href='#page194'>194</a>.</li> +<li>Evangeline, <a href='#page122'>122</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Faust, <a href='#page248'>248</a>.</li> +<li>Félibre, <a href='#page5'>5</a>, <a href='#page27'>27</a>.</li> +<li>Félibrige, <a href='#page24'>24</a> <i>seq.</i></li> +<li>Félibrige de Paris, <a href='#page16'>16</a>, <a href='#page20'>20</a>, <a href='#page33'>33</a>.</li> +<li>Félibrige, foundation of, <a href='#page15'>15</a>.</li> +<li>Félibrige organized, <a href='#page19'>19</a>, <a href='#page34'>34</a>.</li> +<li>Fin dón Meissounié, <a href='#page186'>186</a>.</li> +<li>Floral games, <a href='#page20'>20</a>, <a href='#page32'>32</a>, <a href='#page35'>35</a>.</li> +<li>Font-Ségugne, <a href='#page17'>17</a>.</li> +<li>Fourès Auguste, <a href='#page37'>37</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page266" name="page266"></a>Pg 266</span></li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Garcin, Eugène, <a href='#page15'>15</a>.</li> +<li>Giéra, Paul, <a href='#page15'>15</a>.</li> +<li>Goethe, <a href='#page123'>123</a>.</li> +<li>Gounod, <a href='#page18'>18</a>.</li> +<li>Gras, Félix, <a href='#page36'>36</a>, <a href='#page37'>37</a>, <a href='#page38'>38</a>.</li> +<li>Grévy, <a href='#page20'>20</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Homer, <a href='#page13'>13</a>, <a href='#page123'>123</a>.</li> +<li>Hugo, Victor, <a href='#page79'>79</a>, <a href='#page138'>138</a>, <a href='#page181'>181</a>, <a href='#page203'>203</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Isclo d'Or, <a href='#page19'>19</a>, <a href='#page181'>181</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Janvier, Mrs. Thomas A., <a href='#page38'>38</a>.</li> +<li>Jasmin, <a href='#page6'>6</a>, <a href='#page14'>14</a>, <a href='#page29'>29</a>, <a href='#page43'>43</a>, <a href='#page73'>73</a>, <a href='#page193'>193</a>.</li> +<li>Jeanroy, <a href='#page27'>27</a>.</li> +<li>Jourdanne, <a href='#page24'>24</a>, <a href='#page37'>37</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Koschwitz, <a href='#page49'>49</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Lamartine, <a href='#page17'>17</a>, <a href='#page29'>29</a>, <a href='#page103'>103</a>, <a href='#page130'>130</a>, <a href='#page181'>181</a>, <a href='#page182'>182</a>, <a href='#page183'>183</a>, <a href='#page204'>204</a>.</li> +<li>Landor, Walter Savage, <a href='#page213'>213</a>, <a href='#page214'>214</a>.</li> +<li>Latin race, <a href='#page30'>30</a>, <a href='#page191'>191</a>, <a href='#page193'>193</a>.</li> +<li>Legouvé, <a href='#page20'>20</a>.</li> +<li>Lemaître, Jules, <a href='#page232'>232</a>.</li> +<li>Leopardi, <a href='#page250'>250</a>.</li> +<li>Lintilhac, Eugène, <a href='#page72'>72</a>.</li> +<li>Littré, <a href='#page94'>94</a>.</li> +<li>Longfellow, <a href='#page6'>6</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Maillane, <a href='#page10'>10</a>, <a href='#page12'>12</a>.</li> +<li>Marot, <a href='#page81'>81</a>.</li> +<li>Mary, Queen of Scots, <a href='#page213'>213</a>, <a href='#page217'>217</a>.</li> +<li>Mas, <a href='#page11'>11</a>.</li> +<li>Mathieu, Anselme, <a href='#page13'>13</a>, <a href='#page16'>16</a>, <a href='#page21'>21</a>, <a href='#page26'>26</a>.</li> +<li>Meissoun, <a href='#page14'>14</a>.</li> +<li>Meyer, Paul, <a href='#page33'>33</a>.</li> +<li>Mila y Fontanals, <a href='#page34'>34</a>.</li> +<li>Mirabeau, <a href='#page131'>131</a>, <a href='#page243'>243</a>.</li> +<li>Mirèio, <a href='#page12'>12</a>, <a href='#page17'>17</a>, <a href='#page28'>28</a>, <a href='#page79'>79</a>, <a href='#page99'>99</a>.</li> +<li>Mistral's marriage, <a href='#page19'>19</a>.</li> +<li>Mistral's Memoirs, <a href='#page21'>21</a>.</li> +<li>Mont-Ventoux, <a href='#page148'>148</a>.</li> +<li>Museum of Arles, <a href='#page21'>21</a>.</li> +<li>Musset, <a href='#page181'>181</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Napoleon, <a href='#page164'>164</a>.</li> +<li>Nerto, <a href='#page20'>20</a>, <a href='#page151'>151</a>.</li> +<li>Noulet, <a href='#page43'>43</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Paris, Gaston, <a href='#page34'>34</a>, <a href='#page69'>69</a>,115.</li> +<li>Petrarch, <a href='#page18'>18</a>, <a href='#page19'>19</a>, <a href='#page33'>33</a>, <a href='#page34'>34</a>, <a href='#page36'>36</a>, <a href='#page73'>73</a>, <a href='#page148'>148</a>, <a href='#page220'>220</a>.</li> +<li>Poem of the Rhone, <a href='#page21'>21</a>, <a href='#page76'>76</a>, <a href='#page89'>89</a>, <a href='#page159'>159</a>.</li> +<li>Political separatism, <a href='#page15'>15</a>.</li> +<li>Prègo-Diéu <a href='#page84'>84</a>, <a href='#page204'>204</a>, <a href='#page205'>205</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#page239'>239</a>.</li> +<li>Provençal language, <a href='#page43'>43</a>, <a href='#page191'>191</a> <i>seq.</i></li> +<li>Psalm of Penitence, <a href='#page84'>84</a>, <a href='#page182'>182</a>, <a href='#page200'>200</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#page239'>239</a>, <a href='#page253'>253</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Queens of the Félibrige, <a href='#page36'>36</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page267" name="page267"></a>Pg 267</span></li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Rèino Jano, <a href='#page21'>21</a>, <a href='#page89'>89</a>, <a href='#page212'>212</a>.</li> +<li>Rock of Sisyphus, <a href='#page193'>193</a>, <a href='#page208'>208</a>.</li> +<li>Ronsard, <a href='#page211'>211</a>.</li> +<li>Roumanille, <a href='#page7'>7</a>, <a href='#page9'>9</a>, <a href='#page14'>14</a>, <a href='#page15'>15</a>, <a href='#page17'>17</a>, <a href='#page21'>21</a>, <a href='#page26'>26</a>, <a href='#page30'>30</a>, <a href='#page36'>36</a>, <a href='#page70'>70</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Saboly, <a href='#page6'>6</a>.</li> +<li>Sainte-Beuve, <a href='#page6'>6</a>.</li> +<li>Saint-Rémy, <a href='#page7'>7</a>, <a href='#page10'>10</a>.</li> +<li>Simon de Montfort, <a href='#page37'>37</a>.</li> +<li>Songs, <a href='#page189'>189</a>.</li> +<li>Sonnets of Mistral, <a href='#page86'>86</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Tartarin, <a href='#page69'>69</a>, <a href='#page230'>230</a>, <a href='#page240'>240</a>.</li> +<li>Tavan, Alphonse, <a href='#page15'>15</a>,</li> +<li>Translation, <a href='#page87'>87</a>, <a href='#page89'>89</a>, <a href='#page178'>178</a>, <a href='#page247'>247</a>.</li> +<li>Tresor dón Felibrige, <a href='#page20'>20</a>, <a href='#page92'>92</a>.</li> +<li>Troubadours, <a href='#page40'>40</a>, <a href='#page44'>44</a>, <a href='#page87'>87</a>, <a href='#page112'>112</a>, <a href='#page132'>132</a>, <a href='#page147'>147</a>, <a href='#page225'>225</a>, <a href='#page251'>251</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Versification, <a href='#page75'>75</a>.</li> +<li>Villemain, <a href='#page29'>29</a>.</li> +<li>Virgil, <a href='#page13'>13</a>.</li> +<li>Voltaire, <a href='#page221'>221</a>.</li> +</ul> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The word <i>mas</i>, which is kin with the English <i>manse</i> and +<i>mansion</i>, signifies the home in the country with numerous outbuildings +grouped closely about it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Histoire du Félibrige, par</i> G. Jourdanne, <i>Librairie +Roumanille, Avignon, 1897</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The stem of the cup has the form of a palm tree, under +which two female figures, representing Catalonia and Provence, stand in +a graceful embrace. Below the figures are engraved the two following +inscriptions:— +</p> + +<table summary="Poetry"> + <tr> + <td>Morta la diuhen qu'es,<br /> + Mes jo la crech viva.<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">(V. Balaguer.)</span> + </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Ah! se me sabien entèndre!<br /> + Ah! se me voulien segui!<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">(F. Mistral.)</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>(They say she is dead,<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">but I believe she</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">lives.)</span></td> + <td></td> + <td>(Ah, if they could understand<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">me! Ah, if they would follow</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">me!)</span> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> In 1899, Félix Gras published a novel called <i>The White +Terror</i>. His death occurred early in 1901.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The edition of <i>Mirèio</i> published by Lemerre in 1886 +contains an <i>Avis sur la prononciation provençale</i> wherein numerous +errors are to be noted. Here the statement is made that <i>all the letters +are pronounced</i>; that <i>ch</i> is pronounced <i>ts</i>, as in the Spanish word +<i>muchacho</i>. The fact about the pronunciation of the <i>ch</i> is that it +varies in different places, having at Maillane the sound <i>ts</i>, at +Avignon, for instance, the sound in the English <i>chin</i>. It is stated +further on that <i>ferramento</i>, <i>capello</i>, <i>fèbre</i>, are pronounced exactly +like the Italian words <i>ferramento</i>, <i>capello</i>, <i>febbre</i>. The truth is +that they are each pronounced somewhat differently from the Italian +words. Provençal knows nothing of double consonants in pronunciation, +and the vowels are not precisely alike in each pair of words. +</p><p> +Later this sentence occurs: "Dans les triphthongues, comme <i>biais</i>, +<i>pièi</i>, <i>vuei</i>, <i>niue</i>, la voix doit dominer sur la voyelle +intermédiaire, tout en faisant sentir les autres." Only the first two of +these four words contain a triphthong. <i>Vuei</i> is a descending diphthong, +the <i>ue</i> representing the French <i>eu</i>. <i>Niue</i> offers the same two vowel +sounds inverted, with the stress on the second. +</p><p> +Lastly, the example is given of the name Jéuse. It is spelled without +the accent mark, and the reader is led to infer that it is pronounced as +though it were a French name. Here the <i>éu</i> is a diphthong. The first +vowel is the French <i>é</i>, the second the Italian <i>u</i>. The stress is on +the first vowel.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In the castle at Tarascon there is a queen, there is a fairy,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">In the castle of Tarascon<br /></span> +<span class="i6">There is a fairy in hiding.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The one who shall open the prison wherein she is confined,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">The one who shall open for her,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Perhaps she will love him.<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The ship comes from Majorca with a cargo of oranges: the +mainmast of the ship has been crowned with green garlands: safely the +ship arrives from Majorca.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> There blows, in this age, a proud wind, which would make a +mere hash of all herbs: we, the good Provençals, defend the old home +over which our swallows hover.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The bishop of Avignon, Monseigneur Grimoard, hath built a +tower at Barbentane, which excites the rage of the sea wind and the +northern blast, and strips the Spirit of Evil of his power. Solid upon +the rock, strong, square, freed of demons, it lifts its fierce brow +sunward; likewise upon the windows, in case the devil might wish to +enter thereby, Monseigneur Grimoard has had his mitre carved.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> John of Gonfaron, captured by corsairs in the Janissaries, +served seven years. Among the Turks a man must use his skin to chains +and rust.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Prisoner of the Saracens, accoutred like a gypsy, with a +crimson turban, dried by the white sun, turning the creaking +water-wheel, Blac prayed thus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> A son of Maillane, if I had come in the days of Queen +Joanna when she was in her springtime and a sovereign such as they were +in those days, with no other diplomacy than her bright glance, in love +with her, I should have found, lucky I, so fine a song that the fair +Joanna would have given me a mantle to appear in the castles.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> This poem will be found translated in full at the end of +the book.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">It was an afternoon of this summer,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While I neither woke nor slept,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I was taking my noonday rest, as is my pleasure,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My head touching the ground at ease.<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The ghostly moon is unwinding wool.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Afar off is heard the gurgling water shaking the clapper behind the mill.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The ghostly moon is unwinding flax.<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> When the slaughter is over, when the wolf and the buzzard +have gnawed the bones, the flaming sun scatters merrily the hurtful +vapors and the battlefield soon becomes green once more. +</p><p> +After the long trampling of the Turks and Russians, thou, too, art seen +thus reborn, O nation of Trajan, like the shining star coming forth from +the dark eclipse, with the youth of a maiden of fifteen. +</p><p> +And the Latin races, in thy silvery speech, have recognized the honor +that lay in thy blood; and calling thee sister, the Romance Provence +sends thee, Roumania, an olive branch.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> See <i>Revue de Paris</i>, 15 avril, 1898.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The present work was completed in manuscript before the +reception of Welter's book.</p></div> + + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Frédéric Mistral, by Charles Alfred Downer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL *** + +***** This file should be named 17293-h.htm or 17293-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/9/17293/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Taavi +Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Frederic Mistral + Poet and Leader in Provence + +Author: Charles Alfred Downer + +Release Date: December 12, 2005 [EBook #17293] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREDERIC MISTRAL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Taavi +Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: FREDERIC MISTRAL] + + +Columbia University + +_STUDIES IN ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LITERATURE_ + + +FREDERIC MISTRAL + +POET AND LEADER IN PROVENCE + +BY + +CHARLES ALFRED DOWNER + +ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE COLLEGE +OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK + + +NEW YORK +THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, AGENTS +66 FIFTH AVENUE +1901 + +_All rights reserved_ + + +COPYRIGHT, 1901, +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + +Norwood Press +J.S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith +Norwood Mass. U.S.A. + + + + +PREFACE + + +This study of the poetry and life-work of the leader of the modern +Provencal renaissance was submitted in partial fulfilment of the +requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Columbia +University. My interest in Mistral was first awakened by an article from +the pen of the great Romance philologist, Gaston Paris, which appeared +in the _Revue de Paris_ in October, 1894. The idea of writing the book +came to me during a visit to Provence in 1897. Two years later I visited +the south of France again, and had the pleasure of seeing Mistral in his +own home. It is my pleasant duty to express here once again my gratitude +for his kindly hospitality and for his suggestions in regard to works +upon the history of the Felibrige. Not often does he who studies the +works of a poet in a foreign tongue enjoy as I did the privilege of +hearing the verse from the poet's own lips. It was an hour not to be +forgotten, and the beauty of the language has been for me since then as +real as that of music finely rendered, and the force of the poet's +personality was impressed upon me as it scarcely could have been even +from a most sympathetic and searching perusal of his works. His great +influence in southern France and his great personal popularity are not +difficult to understand when one has seen the man. + +As the striking fact in the works of this Frenchman is that they are not +written in French, but in Provencal, a considerable portion of the +present essay is devoted to the language itself. But it did not appear +fitting that too much space should be devoted to the purely linguistic +side of the subject. There is a field here for a great deal of special +study, and the results of such investigations will be embodied in +special works by those who make philological studies their special +province. In the first division of the present work, however, along with +the life of the poet and the history of the Felibrige, a description of +the language is given, which is an account at least of its distinctive +features. A short chapter will be found devoted to the subject of the +versification of the poets who write in the new speech. This subject is +not treated in Koschwitz's admirable grammar of the language. + +The second division is devoted to the poems. The epics of Mistral, if we +may venture to use the term, are, with the exception of Lamartine's +_Jocelyn_, the most remarkable long narrative poems that have been +produced in France in modern times. At least one of them would appear to +be a work of the highest rank and destined to live. Among the short +poems that constitute the volume called _Lis Isclo d'Or_ are a number of +masterpieces. + +This book aims to present all the essential facts in the history of this +astonishing revival of a language, and to bring out the chief aspects of +Mistral's life-work. In our conclusions we have not yielded to the +temptation to prophesy. The conflicting tendencies of cosmopolitanism +and nationalism abroad in the world to-day give rise to fascinating +speculations as to the future. In the Felibrean movement we have a very +interesting problem of this kind, and no one can terminate a study of +the subject without asking himself the question, "What is going to come +out of it all?" No one can tell, and so we have not ventured beyond the +attempt to present the case as it actually exists. + +Let me here also offer an expression of gratitude to Professor Adolphe +Cohn and to Professor Henry A. Todd of Columbia University for their +advice and guidance during the past six years. Their kindness and the +inspiration of their example must be reckoned among those things that +cannot be repaid. + +NEW YORK, March, 1901. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PART FIRST + + THE REVIVAL OF THE PROVECAL LANGUAGE + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. Introduction. Life of Mistral 3 + II. The Felibrige 24 + III. The Modern Provencal, or, more accurately, + The Language of the Felibres 43 + IV. The Versification of the Felibres 75 + V. Mistral's Dictionary of the Provencal Language. + (Lou Tresor dou Felibrige) 92 + + + PART SECOND + + THE POETICAL WORKS OF MISTRAL + + I. The Four Longer Poems 99 + 1. Mireio 99 + 2. Calendau 127 + 3. Nerto 151 + 4. Lou Pouemo dou Rose 159 + II. Lis Isclo d'Or 181 + III. The Tragedy, La Reino Jano 212 + + + PART THIRD + + CONCLUSIONS 237 + + + APPENDIX. Translation of the Psalm of Penitence 253 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 259 + + INDEX 265 + + + + +PART FIRST + + +THE REVIVAL OF THE PROVENCAL LANGUAGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION + + +The present century has witnessed a remarkable literary phenomenon in +the south of France, a remarkable rebirth of local patriotism. A +language has been born again, so to speak, and once more, after a sleep +of many hundred years, the sunny land that was the cradle of modern +literature, offers us a new efflorescence of poetry, embodied in the +musical tongue that never has ceased to be spoken on the soil where the +Troubadours sang of love. Those who began this movement knew not whither +they were tending. From small beginnings, out of a kindly desire to give +the humbler folk a simple, homely literature in the language of their +firesides, there grew a higher ambition. The Provencal language put +forth claims to exist coequally with the French tongue on French soil. +Memories of the former glories of the southern regions of France began +to stir within the hearts of the modern poets and leaders. They began to +chafe under the strong political and intellectual centralization that +prevails in France, and to seek to bring about a change. The movement +has passed through numerous phases, has been frequently misinterpreted +and misunderstood, and may now, after it has attained to tangible +results, be defined as an aim, on the part of its leaders, to make the +south intellectually independent of Paris. It is an attempt to restore +among the people of the Rhone region a love of their ancient customs, +language, and traditions, an effort to raise a sort of dam against the +flood of modern tendencies that threaten to overwhelm local life. These +men seek to avoid that dead level of uniformity to which the national +life of France appears to them in danger of sinking. In the earlier +days, the leaders of this movement were often accused at Paris of a +spirit of political separatism; they were actually mistrusted as +secessionists, and certain it is that among them have been several +champions of the idea of decentralization. To-day there are found in +their ranks a few who advocate the federal idea in the political +organization of France. However, there seems never to have been a time +when the movement promised seriously to bring about practical political +changes; and whatever political significance it may have to-day goes no +farther than what may be contained in germ in the effort at an intense +local life. + +The land of the Troubadours is now the land of the Felibres; these +modern singers do not forget, nor will they allow the people of the +south to forget, that the union of France with Provence was that of an +equal with an equal, not of a principal with a subordinate. Patriots +they are, however, ardent lovers of France, and proofs of their strong +affection for their country are not wanting. To-day, amid all their +activity and demonstrations in behalf of what they often call "_la +petite patrie_," no enemies or doubters are found to question their +loyalty to the greater fatherland. + +The movement began in the revival of the Provencal language, and was at +first a very modest attempt to make it serve merely better purposes than +it had done after the eclipse that followed the Albigensian war. For a +long time the linguistic and literary aspect of all this activity was +the only one that attracted any attention in the rest of France or in +Provence itself. Not that the Provencal language had ever quite died out +even as a written language. Since the days of the Troubadours there had +been a continuous succession of writers in the various dialects of +southern France, but very few of them were men of power and talent. +Among the immediate predecessors of the Felibres must be mentioned +Saboly, whose _Noels_, or Christmas songs, are to-day known all over the +region, and Jasmin, who, however, wrote in a different dialect. Jasmin's +fame extended far beyond the limited audience for which he wrote; his +work came to the attention of the cultured through the enthusiastic +praise of Sainte-Beuve, and he is to-day very widely known. The +English-speaking world became acquainted with him chiefly through the +translations of Longfellow. Jasmin, however, looked upon himself as the +last of a line, and when, in his later years, he heard of the growing +fame of the new poets of the Rhone country, it is said he looked upon +them with disfavor, if not jealousy. Strange to say, he was, in the +early days, unknown to those whose works, like his, have now attained +well-nigh world-wide celebrity. + +The man who must justly be looked upon as the father of the present +movement was Joseph Roumanille. He was born in 1818, in the little town +of Saint-Remy, a quaint old place, proud of some remarkable Roman +remains, situated to the south of Avignon. Roumanille was far from +foreseeing the consequences of the impulse he had given in arousing +interest in the old dialect, and, until he beheld the astonishing +successes of Mistral, strongly disapproved the ambitions of a number of +his fellow-poets to seek an audience for their productions outside of +the immediate region. He had no more ambitious aim than to raise the +patois of Saint-Remy out of the veritable mire into which it had sunk; +it pained him to see that the speech of his fireside was never used in +writing except for trifles and obscenities. Of him is told the touching +story that one day, while reciting in his home before a company of +friends some poems in French that he had written, he observed tears in +his mother's eyes. She could not understand the poetry his friends so +much admired. Roumanille, much moved, resolved to write no verses that +his mother could not enjoy, and henceforth devoted himself ardently to +the task of purifying and perfecting the dialect of Saint-Remy. It has +been said, no less truthfully than poetically, that from a mother's tear +was born the new Provencal poetry, destined to so splendid a career. + +We of the English-speaking race are apt to wonder at this love of a +local dialect. This vigorous attempt to create a first-rate literature, +alongside and independent of the national literature, seems strange or +unnatural. We are accustomed to one language, spoken over immense areas, +and we rejoice to see it grow and spread, more and more perfectly +unified. With all their local color, in spite of their expression of +provincial or colonial life, the writings of a Kipling are read and +enjoyed wherever the English language has penetrated. In Italy we find +patriots and writers working with utmost energy to bring into being a +really national language. Nearly all the governments of Europe seek to +impose the language of the capital upon the schools. Unification of +language seems a most desirable thing, and, superficially considered, +the tendency would appear to be in that direction. But the truth is that +there exists all over Europe a war of tongues. The Welsh, the Basques, +the Norwegians, the Bohemians, the Finns, the Hungarians, are of one +mind with Daudet and Mistral, who both express the sentiment, "He who +holds to his language, holds the key of his prison." + +So Roumanille loved and cherished the melodious speech of the Rhone +valley. He hoped to see the _langue d'oc_ saved from destruction, he +strove against the invasion of the northern speech that threatened to +overwhelm it. He wrote sweet verses and preached the gospel of the +home-speech. One day he discovered a boy whom he calls "l'enfant +sublime," and the pupil soon carried his dreams to a realization far +beyond his fondest hopes. Not Roumanille, but Frederic Mistral has made +the new Provencal literature what it is. In him were combined all the +qualities, all the powers requisite for the task, and the task grew with +time. It became more than a question of language. Mistral soon came to +seek not only the creation of an independent literature, he aimed at +nothing less than a complete revolution, or rather a complete rebirth, +of the mental life of southern France. Provence was to save her +individuality entire. Geographically at the central point of the lands +inhabited by the so-called Latin races, she was to regain her ancient +prominence, and cause the eyes of her sisters to turn her way once more +with admiration and affection. The patois of Saint-Remy has been +developed and expanded into a beautiful literary language. The inertia +of the Provencals themselves has been overcome. There is undoubtedly a +new intellectual life in the Rhone valley, and the fame of the Felibres +and their great work has gone abroad into distant lands. + +The purpose, then, of the present dissertation, will be to give an +account of the language of the Felibres, and to examine critically the +literary work of their acknowledged chief and guiding spirit, Frederic +Mistral. + +The story of his life he himself has told most admirably in the preface +to the first edition of _Lis Isclo d'Or_, published at Avignon in 1874. +He was born in 1830, on the 8th day of September, at Maillane. Maillane +is a village, near Saint-Remy, situated in the centre of a broad plain +that lies at the foot of the Alpilles, the westernmost rocky heights of +the Alps. Here the poet is still living, and here he has passed his life +almost uninterruptedly. His father's home was a little way out of the +village, and the boy was brought up at the _mas_,[1] amid farm-hands and +shepherds. His father had married a second time at the age of +fifty-five, and our poet was the only child of this second marriage. + +The story of the first meeting of his parents is thus told by the +poet:-- + +"One year, on St. John's day, Maitre Francois Mistral was in the midst +of his wheat, which a company of harvesters were reaping. A throng of +young girls, gleaning, followed the reapers and raked up the ears that +fell. Maitre Francois (Meste Frances in Provencal), my father, noticed a +beautiful girl that remained behind as if she were ashamed to glean like +the others. He drew near and said to her:-- + +"'My child, whose daughter are you? What is your name?' + +"The young girl replied, 'I am the daughter of Etienne Poulinet, Maire +of Maillane. My name is Delaide.' + +"'What! the daughter of the Maire of Maillane gleaning!' + +"'Maitre,' she replied, 'our family is large, six girls and two boys, +and although our father is pretty well to do, as you know, when we ask +him for money to dress with, he answers, "Girls, if you want finery, +earn it!" And that is why I came to glean.' + +"Six months after this meeting, which reminds one of the ancient scene +of Ruth and Boaz, Maitre Francois asked Maitre Poulinet for the hand of +Delaide, and I was born of that marriage." + +His father's lands were extensive, and a great number of men were +required to work them. The poem, _Mireio_, is filled with pictures of +the sort of life led in the country of Maillane. Of his father he says +that he towered above them all, in stature, in wisdom, and in nobleness +of bearing. He was a handsome old man, dignified in language, firm in +command, kind to the poor about him, austere with himself alone. The +same may be said of the poet to-day. He is a strikingly handsome man, +vigorous and active, exceedingly gracious and simple in manner. His +utter lack of affectation is the more remarkable, in view of the fact +that he has been for years an object of adulation, and lives in constant +and close contact with a population of peasants. + +His schooling began at the age of nine, but the boy played truant so +frequently that he was sent to boarding-school in Avignon. Here he had a +sad time of it, and seems especially to have felt the difference of +language. Teachers and pupils alike made fun of his patois, for which he +had a strong attachment, because of the charm of the songs his mother +sung to him. Later he studied well, however, and became filled with a +love of Virgil and Homer. In them he found pictures of life that +recalled vividly the labors, the ways, and the ideas of the Maillanais. +At this time, too, he attempted a translation, in Provencal, of the +first eclogue of Virgil, and confided his efforts to a school-mate, +Anselme Mathieu, who became his life-long friend and one of the most +active among the Felibres. + +It was at this school, in 1845, that he formed his friendship with +Roumanille, who had come there as a teacher. It is not too much to say +that the revival of the Provencal language grew out of this meeting. +Roumanille had already written his poems, _Li Margarideto_ (The +Daisies). "Scarcely had he shown me," says Mistral, "in their +spring-time freshness, these lovely field-flowers, when a thrill ran +through my being and I exclaimed, 'This is the dawn my soul awaited to +awaken to the light!'" Mistral had read some Provencal, but at that time +the dialect was employed merely in derision; the writers used the speech +itself as the chief comic element in their productions. The poems of +Jasmin were as yet unknown to him. Roumanille was the first in the Rhone +country to sing the poetry of the heart. Master and pupil became firm +friends and worked together for years to raise the home-speech to the +dignity of a literary language. + +At seventeen Mistral returned home, and began a poem in four cantos, +that he has never published; though portions of it are among the poems +of _Lis Isclo d'Or_ and in the notes of _Mireio_. This poem is called +_Li Meissoun_ (Harvest). His family, seeing his intellectual +superiority, sent him to Aix to study law. Here he again met Mathieu, +and they made up for the aridity of the Civil Code by devoting +themselves to poetry in Provencal. + +In 1851 the young man returned to the _mas_, a _licencie en droit_, and +his father said to him: "Now, my dear son, I have done my duty; you know +more than ever I learned. Choose your career; I leave you free." And the +poet tells us he threw his lawyer's gown to the winds and gave himself +up to the contemplation of what he so loved,--the splendor of his native +Provence. + +Through Roumanille he came to know Aubanel, Croustillat, and others. +They met at Avignon, full of youthful enthusiasm, and during this period +Mistral, encouraged by his friends, worked upon his greatest poem, +_Mireio_. In 1854, on the 21st of May, the Felibrige was founded by the +seven poets,--Joseph Roumanille, Paul Giera, Theodore Aubanel, Eugene +Garcin, Anselme Mathieu, Frederic Mistral, Alphonse Tavan. In 1868, +Garcin published a violent attack upon the Felibres, accusing them, in +the strongest language, of seeking to bring about a political separation +of southern France from the rest of the country. This apostasy was a +cause of great grief to the others, and Garcin's name was stricken from +the official list of the founders of the Felibrige, and replaced by that +of Jean Brunet. Mistral, in the sixth canto of _Mireio_, addresses in +eloquent verse his comrades in the Provencal Pleiade, and there we still +find the name of Garcin. + + Tu' nfin, de quau un vent de flamo + Ventoulo, emporto e fouito l'amo + Garcin, o fieu ardent dou manescau d'Alen! + + (And finally, thou whose soul is stirred and swept and whipped by a + wind of flame, Garcin, ardent son of the smith of Alleins.) + +This attack upon the Felibrige was the first of the kind ever made. Many +years later, Garcin became reconciled to his former friends and in 1897 +he was vice-president of the _Felibrige de Paris_. + +The number seven and the task undertaken by these poets and literary +reformers remind us instantly of the Pleiade, whose work in the +sixteenth century in attempting to perfect the French language was of a +very similar character. It is certain, however, that the seven poets +who inaugurated their work at the Chateau of Font-Segugne, had no +thought of imitating the Pleiade either in the choice of the number +seven or in the reformation they were about to undertake. + +They began their propaganda by founding an annual publication called the +_Armana Prouvencau_, which has appeared regularly since 1855, and many +of their writings were first printed in this official magazine. Of the +seven, Aubanel alone besides Mistral has attained celebrity as a poet, +and these two with Roumanille have been usually associated in the minds +of all who have followed the movement with interest as its three +leaders. + +Mistral completed _Mireio_ in 1859. The poem was presented by Adolphe +Dumas and Jean Reboul to Lamartine, who devoted to it one of the +"Entretiens" of his _Cours familier de litterature_. This article of +Lamartine, and his personal efforts on behalf of Mistral, contributed +greatly to the success of the poem. Lamartine wrote among other things: +"A great epic poet is born! A true Homeric poet in our own time; a poet, +born like the men of Deucalion, from a stone on the Crau, a primitive +poet in our decadent age; a Greek poet at Avignon; a poet who has +created a language out of a dialect, as Petrarch created Italian; one +who, out of a vulgar _patois_, has made a language full of imagery and +harmony delighting the imagination and the ear.... We might say that, +during the night, an island of the Archipelago, a floating Delos, has +parted from its group of Greek or Ionian islands and come silently to +join the mainland of sweet-scented Provence, bringing along one of the +divine singers of the family of the Melesigenes." + +Mistral went to Paris, where for a time he was the lion of the literary +world. The French Academy crowned his poem, and Gounod composed the +opera Mireille, which was performed for the first time in 1864, in +Paris. + +The poet did not remain long in the capital. He doubtless realized that +he was not destined to join the galaxy of Parisian writers, and it is +certain that if he had remained there his life and his influence would +have been utterly different. He returned home and immediately set to +work upon a second epic; in another seven years he completed _Calendau_, +published in Avignon in 1866. The success of this poem was decidedly +less than that of _Mireio_. + +During these years he published many of the shorter poems that appeared +in one volume in 1875, under the title of _Lis Isclo d'Or_ (The Golden +Islands). Meanwhile the idea of the Felibrige made great progress. The +language of the Felibres had now a fixed orthography and definite +grammatical form. The appearance of a master-work had given a wonderful +impulse. The exuberance of the southern temperament responded quickly to +the call for a manifestation of patriotic enthusiasm. The Catalan poets +joined their brothers beyond the Pyrenees. The Floral games were +founded. The Felibrige passed westward beyond the Rhone and found +adherents in all south France. The centenary of Petrarch celebrated at +Avignon in 1874 tended to emphasize the importance and the glory of the +new literature. + +The definite organization of the Felibrige into a great society with its +hierarchy of officers took place in 1876, with Mistral as _Capoulie_ +(Chief or President). In this same year also the poet married Mdlle. +Marie Riviere of Dijon, and this lady, who was named first Queen of the +Felibrige by Albert de Quintana of Catalonia, the poet-laureate of the +year 1878 at the great Floral Games held in Montpellier, has become at +heart and in speech a Provencale. + +A third poem, _Nerto_, appeared in 1884, and showed the poet in a new +light; his admirers now compared him to Ariosto. This same year he made +a second journey to Paris, and was again the lion of the hour. The +_Societe de la Cigale_, which had been founded in 1876, as a Paris +branch of the Felibrige, and which later became the _Societe des +Felibres de Paris_, organized banquets and festivities in his honor, and +celebrated the Floral Games at Sceaux to commemorate the four hundredth +anniversary of the day when Provence became united, of her own +free-will, with France. Mistral was received with distinction by +President Grevy and by the Count of Paris, and his numerous Parisian +friends vied in bidding him welcome to the capital. His new poem was +crowned by the French Academy, receiving the Prix Vitet, the +presentation address being delivered by Legouve. Four years later, _Lou +Tresor dou Felibrige_, a great dictionary of all the dialects of the +_langue d'oc_, was completed, and in 1890 appeared his only dramatic +work, _La Reino Jano_ (Queen Joanna). In 1897 he produced his last long +poem, epic in form, _Lou Pouemo dou Rose_ (the Poem of the Rhone). At +present he is engaged upon his _Memoirs_. + +Aside from his rare journeys to Paris, a visit to Switzerland, and +another to Italy, Mistral has rarely gone beyond the borders of his +beloved region. He is still living quietly in the little village of +Maillane, in a simple but beautiful home, surrounded with works of art +inspired by the Felibrean movement. He has survived many of his +distinguished friends. Roumanille, Mathieu, Aubanel, Daudet, and Paul +Arene have all passed away; a new generation is about him. But his +activity knows no rest. The Felibrean festivities continue, the numerous +publications in the Provencal tongue still have in him a constant +contributor. In 1899 the Museon Arlaten (the Museum of Aries) was +inaugurated, and is another proof of the constant energy and enthusiasm +of the poet. He is to-day the greatest man in the south of France, +universally beloved and revered. + +His life after all has been less a literary life than one of direct and +unceasing personal action upon the population about him. The +resurrection of the language, the publication of poems, magazines, and +newspapers, are only part of a programme tending to raise the people of +the south to a conception of their individuality as a race. He has +striven untiringly to communicate to them his own glowing enthusiasm for +the past glories of Provence, to fire them with his dream of a great +rebirth of the Latin races, to lay the foundation of a great ideal Latin +union. Wonderful is his optimism. Some of the Felibres about him are +somewhat discouraged, many of them have never set their aspirations as +high as he has done, and some look upon his dreams as Utopian. Whatever +be the future of the movement he has founded, Mistral's life in its +simple oneness, and in its astonishing success, is indeed most +remarkable. Provence, the land that first gave the world a literature +after the decay of the classic tongues, has awakened again under his +magic touch to an active mental life. A second literature is in active +being on the soil of France, a second literary language is there a +reality. Whether permanent or evanescent, this glorification of poetry, +this ardent love of the beautiful and the ideal, is a noble and +inspiring spectacle amid the turmoil and strife of this age of material +progress. + +[Footnote 1: The word _mas_, which is kin with the English _manse_ and +_mansion_, signifies the home in the country with numerous outbuildings +grouped closely about it.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FELIBRIGE + + +The history of the Felibrige, from its beginning, in 1854, down to the +year 1896, has been admirably written by G. Jourdanne.[2] The work is +quite exhaustive, containing, in addition to the excellently written +narrative, an engraving of the famous cup, portraits of all the most +noted Felibres, a series of elaborately written notes that discuss or +set forth many questions relating to the general theme, a very large +bibliography of the subject, comprising long lists of works that have +been written in the dialect or that have appeared in France and in other +countries concerning the Felibres, a copy of the constitution of the +society and of various statutes relating to it. It not only contains +all the material that is necessary for the study of the Felibrige, but +it is worthy of the highest praise for the spirit in which it is +written. It is an honest attempt to explain the Felibrige, and to +present fairly and fully all the problems that so remarkable a movement +has created. A perusal of the book makes it evident that the author +believes in future political consequences, and while well aware that it +is unsafe to prophesy, he has a chapter on the future of the movement. + +His history endeavors to show that the Felibrean renaissance was not a +spontaneous springing into existence. On the purely literary side, +however, it certainly bears the character of a creation; as writers, the +Provencal poets may scarcely be said to continue any preceding school or +to be closely linked with any literary past. In its inception it was a +mere attempt to write pleasing, popular verse of a better kind in the +dialect of the fireside. But the movement developed rapidly into the +ambition to endow the whole region with a real literature, to awaken a +consciousness of _race_ in the men of the south; these aims have been +realized, and a change has come over the life of Provence and the land +of the _langue d'oc_ in general. The author believes and adduces +evidences to show that all this could not have come about had the seed +not fallen upon a soil that was ready. + +The Felibrige dates from the year 1854, but the idea that lies at the +bottom of it must be traced back to the determination of Roumanille to +write in Provencal rather than in French. He produced his _Margarideto_ +in 1847 and the _Sounjarello_ in 1851. In collaboration with Mistral and +Anselme Mathieu, he edited a collection of poems by living writers under +the title _Li Prouvencalo_. During these years, too, there were meetings +of Provencal writers for the purpose of discussing questions of grammar +and spelling. These meetings, including even the historic one of May 21, +1854, were, however, really little more than friendly, social +gatherings, where a number of enthusiastic friends sang songs and made +merry. They had none of the solemnity of a conclave, or the dignity of +literary assemblies. There was no formal organization. Those writers who +were zealously interested in the rehabilitation of the Provencal speech +and connected themselves with Mistral and his friends were the +Felibres. Not until 1876 was there a Felibrige with a formal +constitution and an elaborate organization. + +The word _Felibre_ was furnished by Mistral, who had come upon it in an +old hymn wherein occurs the expression that the Virgin met Jesus in the +temple among "the seven Felibres of the law." The origin and etymology +of this word have given rise to various explanations. The Greek +_philabros_, lover of the beautiful; _philebraios_, lover of Hebrew, +hence, among the Jews, teacher; _felibris_, nursling, according to +Ducange; the Irish _filea_, bard, and _ber_, chief, have been proposed. +Jeanroy (in _Romania_, XIII, p. 463) offers the etymology: Spanish +_feligres, filii Ecclesiae_, sons of the church, parishioners. None of +these is certain. + +Seven poets were present at this first meeting, and as the day happened +to be that of St. Estelle, the emblem of a seven-pointed star was +adopted. Very fond of the number seven are these Felibres; they tell you +of the seven chief churches of Avignon, its seven gates, seven colleges, +seven hospitals, seven popes who were there seventy years; the word +_Felibre_ has seven letters, so has Mistral's name, and he spent seven +years in writing each of his epics. + +The task that lay before these poets was twofold: they had not only to +prune and purify their dialect and produce verses, they had also to find +readers, to create a public, to begin a propaganda. The first means +adopted was the publication of the _Armana prouvencau_, already referred +to. In 1855, five hundred copies were issued, in 1894, twelve thousand. +For four years this magazine was destined for Provence alone; in 1860, +after the appearance of _Mireio_, it was addressed to all the dwellers +in southern France. The great success of _Mireio_ began a new period in +the history of the Felibrige. Mistral himself and the poets about him +now took an entirely new view of their mission. The uplifting of the +people, the creation of a literature that should be admired abroad as +well as at home, the complete expression of the life of Provence, in all +its aspects, past and present, escape from the implacable centralization +that tends to destroy all initiative and originality--such were the +higher aims toward which they now bent their efforts. The attention of +Paris was turned in their direction. Jasmin had already shown the +Parisians that real poetry of a high order could be written in a patois. +Lamartine and Villemain welcomed the new literature most cordially, and +the latter declared that "France is rich enough to have two +literatures." + +But the student of this history must not lose sight of the fact that the +Provencal poets are not first of all litterateurs; they are not men +devoting themselves to literature for a livelihood, or even primarily +for fame. They are patriots before they are poets. The choice of +subjects and the intense love of their native land that breathes through +all their writings, are ample proof of this. They meet to sing songs and +to speak; it is always of Provence that they sing and speak. Almost all +of them are men who ply some trade, hardly one lives by his pen alone. +This fact gives a very special character to their whole production. The +Felibrean movement is more than an astonishing literary phenomenon. + +The idea from this time on acquired more and more adherents. Scores of +writers appeared, and volumes whose titles filled many pages swelled the +output of Provencal verse. These new aims were due to the success of +_Mireio_; but it must not be forgotten that Mistral himself, in that +poem and in the shorter poems of the same period, gave distinct +expression to the new order of ideas, so that we are constantly led back +to him, in all our study of the matter, as the creator, the continuer, +and the ever present inspirer of the Felibrige. Whatever it is, it is +through him primarily. Roumanille must be classed as one of those +precursors who are unconscious of what they do. To him the Felibres owe +two things: first of all, the idea of writing in the dialect works of +literary merit; and, secondly, the discovery of Frederic Mistral. + +Among these new ideas, one that dominates henceforth in the story of the +Felibrige, is the idea of race. Mistral is well aware that there is no +Latin race, in the sense of blood relationship, of physical descent; he +knows that the so-called Latin race has, for the base of its unity, a +common history, a common tradition, a common religion, a common +language. + +But he believes that there is a _race meridionale_ that has been +developed into a kind of unity out of the various elements that compose +it, through their being mingled together, and accumulating during many +centuries common memories, ideas, customs, and interests. So Mistral has +devoted himself to promoting knowledge of its history, traditions, +language, and religion. As the Felibrige grew, and as Mistral felt his +power as a poet grow, he sought a larger public; he turned naturally to +the peoples most closely related to his own, and Italy and Spain were +embraced in his sympathies. The Felibrige spread beyond the limits of +France first into Spain. Victor Balaguer, exiled from his native +country, was received with open arms by the Provencals. William +Bonaparte-Wyse, an Irishman and a grand-nephew of the first Napoleon, +while on a journey through Provence, had become converted to the +Felibrean doctrines, and became an active spirit among these poets and +orators. He organized a festival in honor of Balaguer, and when, later, +the Catalan poet was permitted to return home, the Catalans sent the +famous cup to their friends in Provence. For the Felibres this cup is an +emblem of the idea of a Latin federation, and as it passes from hand to +hand and from lip to lip at the Felibrean banquets, the scene is not +unlike that wherein the Holy Graal passes about among the Knights of the +Round Table.[3] + +Celebrations of this kind have become a regular institution in southern +France. Since the day in 1862 when the town of Apt received the Felibres +officially, organizing Floral Games, in which prizes were offered for +the best poems in Provencal, the people have become accustomed to the +sight of these triumphal entries of the poets into their cities. Reports +of these brilliant festivities have gone abroad into all lands. If the +love of noise and show that characterizes the southern temperament has +caused these reunions to be somewhat unfavorably criticised as +theatrical, on the other hand the enthusiasm has been genuine, and the +results real and lasting. The _Felibrees_, so they are called, have not +all taken place in France. In 1868, Mistral, Rournieux, Bonaparte-Wyse, +and Paul Meyer went to Barcelona, where they were received with great +pomp and ceremony. Men eminent in literary and philological circles in +Paris have often accepted invitations to these festivities. In 1876, a +Felibrean club, "La Cigale," was founded in the capital; its first +president was Henri de Bornier, author of _La Fille de Roland_. +Professors and students of literature and philology in France and in +other countries began to interest themselves in the Felibres, and the +Felibrige to-day counts among its members men of science as well as men +of letters. + +In 1874 one of the most remarkable of the celebrations, due to the +initiative of M. de Berluc-Perussis, was held at Vaucluse to celebrate +the fifth centenary of the death of Petrarch. At this _Felibree_ the +Italians first became affiliated to the _idea_, and the Italian +ambassador, Nigra, the president of the Accademia della Crusca, Signor +Conti, and Professor Minich, from the University of Padua, were the +delegates. The Institute of France was represented for the first time. +This celebration was highly important and significant, and the scenes of +Petrarch's inspirations and the memories of the founder of the +Renaissance must have awakened responsive echoes in the hearts of the +poets who aimed at a second rebirth of poetry and learning in the same +region. + +The following year the _Societe des langues romanes_ at Montpellier +offered prizes for philological as well as purely literary works, and +for the first time other dialects than the Provencal proper were +admitted in the competitions. The Languedocian, the Gascon, the +Limousin, the Bearnais, and the Catalan dialects were thus included. The +members of the jury were men of the greatest note, Gaston Paris, Michel +Breal, Mila y Fontanals, being of their number. + +Finally, in 1876, on the 21st of May, the statutes of the Felibrige were +adopted. From them we quote the following:-- + +"The Felibrige is established to bring together and encourage all those +who, by their works, preserve the language of the land of _oc_, as well +as the men of science and the artists who study and work in the interest +of this country." + +"Political and religious discussions are forbidden in the Felibrean +meetings." + +The organization is interesting. The Felibres are divided into +_Majoraux_ and _Mainteneurs_. The former are limited to fifty in number, +and form the Consistory, which elects its own members; new members are +received on the feast of St. Estelle. + +The Consistory is presided over by a Capoulie, who wears as the emblem +of his office a seven-pointed golden star, the other Majoraux, a golden +grasshopper. + +The other Felibres are unlimited in number. Any seven Felibres dwelling +in the same place may ask the Maintenance to form them into a school. +The schools administer their own affairs. + +Every seven years the Floral Games are held, at which prizes are +distributed; every year, on the feast of St. Estelle, a general meeting +of the Felibrige takes place. Each Maintenance must meet once a year. + +At the Floral Games he who is crowned poet-laureate chooses the Queen, +and she crowns him with a wreath of olive leaves. + +To-day there are three Maintenances within the limits of French soil, +Provence, Languedoc, Aquitaine. + +Among other facts that should doubtless be reported here is, the list of +Capoulies. They have been Mistral (1876-1888), Roumanille (1888-1891), +and Felix Gras; the Queens have been Madame Mistral, Mlle. Therese +Roumanille, Mlle. Marie Girard, and the Comtesse Marie-Therese de +Chevigne, who is descended upon her mother's side from Laura de Sade, +generally believed to be Petrarch's Laura. + +Since the organization went into effect the Felibrige has expanded in +many ways, its influence has continually grown, new questions have +arisen. Among these last have been burning questions of religion and +politics, for although discussions of them are banished from Felibrean +meetings, opinions of the most various kind exist among the Felibres, +have found expression, and have well-nigh resulted in difficulties. +Until 1876 these questions slept. Mistral is a Catholic, but has managed +to hold more or less aloof from political matters. Aubanel was a zealous +Catholic, and had the title by inheritance of Printer to his Holiness. +Roumanille was a Catholic, and an ardent Royalist. When the Felibrige +came to extend its limits over into Languedoc, the poet Auguste Foures +and his fellows proclaimed a different doctrine, and called up memories +of the past with a different view. They affirmed their adherence to the +_Renaissance meridionale_, and claimed equal rights for the Languedocian +dialect. They asserted, however, that the true tradition was republican, +and protested vigorously against the clerical and monarchical parties, +which, in their opinion, had always been for Languedoc a cause of +disaster, servitude, and misery. The memory of the terrible crusade in +the thirteenth century inspired fiery poems among them. Hatred of Simon +de Montfort and of the invaders who followed him, free-thought, and +federalism found vigorous expression in all their productions. In +Provence, too, there have been opinions differing widely from those of +the original founders, and the third Capoulie, Felix Gras, was a +Protestant. Of him M. Jourdanne writes:-- + +"Finally, in 1891, after the death of Roumanille, the highest office in +the Felibrige was taken by a man who could rally about him the two +elements that we have seen manifested, sufficiently Republican to +satisfy the most ardent in the extreme Left, sufficiently steady not to +alarm the Royalists, a great enough poet to deserve without any dispute +the first place in an assembly of poets." + +He, like Mistral, wrote epics in twelve cantos. His first work, _Li +Carbounie_, has on its title-page three remarkable lines:-- + + "I love my village more than thy village, + I love my Provence more than thy province, + I love France more than all." + +Possibly no other three lines could express as well the whole spirit of +the Felibrige. + +Our subject being Mistral and not Felix Gras, a passing mention must +suffice. One of his remarkable works is called _Toloza_, and recounts +the crusade of the Albigenses, and his novel, _The Reds of the Midi_, +first published in New York in the English translation of Mrs. Thomas A. +Janvier, is probably the most remarkable prose work that has been +written in Provencal.[4] Only the future can tell whether the Provencal +will pass through a prose cycle after its poetic cycle, in the manner of +all literatures. To many serious thinkers the attempt to create a +complete literature seems of very doubtful success. + +The problems, then, which confront the Felibres are numerous. Can they, +with any assurance of permanence, maintain two literary languages in the +same region? It is scarcely necessary to state, of course, that no one +dreams of supplanting the French language anywhere on French soil. What +attitude shall they assume toward the "patoisants," that is, those who +insist on using the local dialect, and refuse to conform to the usage of +the Felibres? Is it not useless, after all, to hope for a more perfect +unification of the dialects of the _langue d'oc_, and, if unification is +the aim, does not logical reasoning lead to the conclusion that the +French language already exists, perfectly unified, and absolutely +necessary? In the matter of politics, the most serious questions may +arise if the desires of some find more general favor. Shall the Felibres +aim at local self-government, at a confederation something like that of +the Swiss cantons? Shall they advocate the idea of independent +universities? + +As a matter of fact, none of these problems are solved, and they will +only be solved by the natural march of events. The attitude of the +leaders toward all these differing views has become one of easy +toleration. If the language of the Felibres tends already to dominate +the other dialects, if its influence is already plainly felt far beyond +Provence itself, this is due to the sheer superiority of their literary +work. If their literature had the conventional character of that of the +Troubadours, if it were addressed exclusively to a certain elite, then +their language might have been adopted by the poets of other regions, +just as in the days of the Troubadours the masters of the art of +"trobar" preferred to use the Limousin dialect. But the popular +character of the movement has prevented this. It has preached the love +of the village, and each locality, as fast as the Felibrean idea gained +ground, has shown greater affection for its own dialect. + +Mistral's work has often been compared to Dante's. But Dante did not +impose his language upon Italy by the sole superiority of his great +poem. All sorts of events, political and social, contributed to the +result, and there is little reason to expect the same future for the +work of Mistral. This comparison is made from the linguistic point of +view; it is not likely that any one will compare the two as poets. At +most, it may be said that if Dante gave expression to the whole spirit +of his age, Mistral has given complete expression to the spirit of his +little _patrie_. Should the trend of events lead to a further +unification of the dialects of southern France, there is no doubt that +the Felibrean dialect has by far the greatest chance of success. + +The people of Provence owe a great debt to the Felibres, who have +endowed them with a literature that comes closer to their sympathies +than the classic literature of France can ever come; they have been +raised in their own esteem, and there has been undoubtedly a great +awakening in their mental life. The Felibrige has given expression to +all that is noblest and best in the race, and has invariably led onward +and upward. Its mission has been one that commands respect and +admiration, and the Felibres to-day are in a position to point with +pride to the great work accomplished among their people. Arsene +Darmesteter has well said:-- + +"A nation needs poetry; it lives not by bread alone, but in the ideal +as well. Religious beliefs are weakening; and if the sense of poetic +ideals dies along with the religious sentiment, there will remain +nothing among the lower classes but material and brutal instincts. + +"Whether the Felibres were conscious of this danger, or met this popular +need instinctively, I cannot say. At any rate, their work is a good one +and a wholesome one. There still circulates, down to the lowest stratum +of the people, a stream of poetry, often obscure, until now looked upon +with disdain by all except scholars. I mean folklore, beliefs, +traditions, legends, and popular tales. Before this source of poetry +could disappear completely, the Felibres had the happy idea of taking it +up, giving it a new literary form, thus giving back to the people, +clothed in the brilliant colors of poetry, the creation of the people +themselves." + +And again: "As for this general renovation of popular poetry, I would +give it no other name than that of the Felibrige. To the Felibres is due +the honor of the movement; it is their ardor and their faith that have +developed and strengthened it." + +[Footnote 2: _Histoire du Felibrige, par_ G. Jourdanne, _Librairie +Roumanille, Avignon, 1897_.] + +[Footnote 3: The stem of the cup has the form of a palm tree, under +which two female figures, representing Catalonia and Provence, stand in +a graceful embrace. Below the figures are engraved the two following +inscriptions:-- + +Morta la diuhen qu'es, Ah! se me sabien entendre! +Mes jo la crech viva. Ah! se me voulien segui! + (V. Balaguer.) (F. Mistral.) + +(They say she is dead, (Ah, if they could understand + but I believe she me! Ah, if they would follow + lives.) me!) +] + +[Footnote 4: In 1899, Felix Gras published a novel called _The White +Terror_. His death occurred early in 1901.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE MODERN PROVENCAL LANGUAGE + + +The language of the Felibres is based upon the dialect spoken in the +plain of Maillane, in and about the town of Saint-Remy. This dialect is +one of the numerous divisions of the _langue d'oc_, which Mistral claims +is spoken by nearly twelve millions of people. The literary history of +these patois has been written by B. Noulet, and shows that at the close +of the terrible struggles of the Albigenses the language seemed dead. In +1324 seven poets attempted to found at Toulouse the competitions of the +_Gai Savoir_, and so to revive the ancient poetry and the ancient +language. Their attempt failed. There was literary production of varying +degree of merit throughout two or three centuries; but until the time of +Jasmin no writer attracted any attention beyond his immediate vicinity; +and it is significant that the Felibres themselves were long in +ignorance of Jasmin. It is then not difficult to demonstrate that the +Felibrige revival bears more the character of a creation than of an +evolution. It is not at all an evolution of the literature of the +Troubadours; it is in no way like it. The language of the Felibres is +not even the descendant of the special dialect that dominated as a +literary language in the days of the Troubadours; for it was the speech +of Limousin that formed the basis of that language, and only two of the +greater poets among the Troubadours, Raimond de Vaqueiras and Fouquet de +Marseille, were natives of Provence proper. + +The dialect of Saint-Remy is simply one of countless ramifications of +the dialects descended from the Latin. Mistral and his associates have +made their literary language out of this dialect as they found it, and +not out of the language of the Troubadours. They have regularized the +spelling, and have deliberately eliminated as far as possible words and +forms that appeared to them to be due to French influence, substituting +older and more genuine forms--forms that appeared more in accord with +the genius of the _langue d'oc_ as contrasted with the _langue d'oil_. +Thus, _glori_, _istori_, _paire_, replace _gloaro_, _istouero_, _pero_, +which are often heard among the people. This was the first step. The +second step taken arose from the necessity of making this speech of the +illiterate capable of elevated expression. Mistral claims to have used +no word unknown to the people or unintelligible to them, with the +exception that he has used freely of the stock of learned words common +to the whole Romance family of languages. These words, too, he +transforms more or less, keeping them in harmony with the forms peculiar +to the _langue d'oc_. Hence, it is true that the language of the +Felibres is a conventional, literary language, that does not represent +exactly the speech of any section of France, and is related to the +popular speech more or less as any official language is to the dialects +that underlie it. As the Felibres themselves have received all their +instruction and literary culture in the French language, they use it +among themselves, and their prose especially shows the influence of the +French to the extent that it may be said that the Provencal sentence, in +prose, appears to be a word-for-word translation of an underlying French +sentence. + +Phonetically, the dialect offers certain marked differences when +contrasted with French. First of all is the forceful utterance of the +stressed syllable; the Provencal has post-tonic syllables, unlike the +sister-speech. Here it may be said to occupy a sort of middle position +between Italian and Spanish on the one hand, and French on the other; +for in the former languages the accent is found in all parts of the +word, in French practically only upon the final, and then it is +generally weak, so that the notion of a stress is almost lost. The +stress in Provencal is placed upon one of the last two syllables only, +and only three vowels, _e_, _i_, _o_, may follow the tonic syllable. The +language, therefore, has a cadence that affects the ear differently from +the French, and that resembles more that of the Italian or Spanish +languages. + +The nasal vowels are again unlike those of the French language. The +vowel affected by the following nasal consonant preserves its own +quality of sound, and the consonant is pronounced; at the end of a word +both _m_ and _n_ are pronounced as _ng_ in the English word _ring_. The +Provencal utterance of _matin_, _tems_, is therefore quite unlike that +of the French _matin_, _temps_. This change of the nasal consonants +into the _ng_ sound whenever they become final occurs also in the +dialects of northern Italy and northern Spain. This pronunciation of the +nasal vowels in French is, as is well known, an important factor in the +famous "accent du Midi." + +The oral vowels are in general like the French. It is curious that the +close _o_ is heard only in the infrequent diphthong _ou_, or as an +obscured, unaccented final. This absence of the close _o_ in the modern +language has led Mistral to believe that the close _o_ of Old Provencal +was pronounced like _ou_ in the modern dialect, which regularly +represents it. A second element of the "accent du Midi" just referred to +is the substitution of an open for a close _o_. The vowel sound of the +word _peur_ is not distinguished from the close sound in _peu_. In the +orthography of the Felibres the diagraph _ue_ is used as we find it in +Old French to represent this vowel. Probably the most striking feature +of the pronunciation is the unusual number of diphthongs and +triphthongs, both ascending and descending. Each vowel preserves its +proper sound, and the component vowels seem to be pronounced more slowly +and separately than in many languages. It is to be noted that _u_ in a +diphthong has the Italian sound, whereas when single it sounds as in +French. The unmarked _e_ represents the French _e_, as the _e_ mute is +unknown to the Provencal. + +The _c_ has come to sound like _s_ before _e_ and _i_, as in French. +_Ch_ and _j_ represent the sounds _ts_ and _dz_ respectively, and _g_ +before _e_ and _i_ has the latter sound. There is no aspirate _h_. The +_r_ is generally uvular. The _s_ between vowels is voiced. Only _l_, +_r_, _s_, and _n_ are pronounced as final consonants, _l_ being +extremely rare. Mistral has preserved or restored other final consonants +in order to show the etymology, but they are silent except in _liaison_ +in the elevated style of reading. + +The language is richer in vowel variety than Italian or Spanish, and the +proportion of vowel to consonant probably greater than in either. +Fortunately for the student, the spelling represents the pronunciation +very faithfully. A final consonant preceded by another is mute; among +single final consonants only _l_, _m_, _n_, _r_, _s_ are sounded; +otherwise all the letters written are pronounced. The stressed syllable +is indicated, when not normal, by the application of practically the +same principles that determine the marking of the accent in Spanish. + +The pronunciation of the Felibres is heard among the people at Maillane +and round about. Variations begin as near as Avignon.[5] + +Koschwitz' Grammar treats the language historically, and renders +unnecessary here the presentation of more than its most striking +peculiarities. Of these, one that evokes surprise upon first +acquaintance with the dialect is the fact that final _o_ marks the +feminine of nouns, adjectives, and participles. It is a close _o_, +somewhat weakly and obscurely pronounced, as compared, for instance, +with the final _o_ in Italian. In this respect Provencal is quite +anomalous among Romance languages. In some regions of the Alps, at Nice, +at Montpellier, at Le Velay, in Haute-Auvergne, in Roussillon, and in +Catalonia the Latin final _a_ is preserved, as in Italian and Spanish. + +The noun has but one form for the singular and plural. The distinction +of plural and singular depends upon the article, or upon the +demonstrative or possessive adjective accompanying the noun. In +_liaison_ adjectives take _s_ as a plural sign. So that, for the ear, +the Provencal and French languages are quite alike in regard to this +matter. The Provencal has not even the formal distinction of the nouns +in _al_, which in French make their plural in _aux_. _Cheval_ in +Provencal is _chivau_, and the plural is like the singular. A curious +fact is the use of _uni_ or _unis_, the plural of the indefinite +article, as a sign of the dual number; and this is its exclusive use. + +The subject pronoun, when unemphatic, is not expressed, but understood +from the termination of the verb. _Ieu_ (je), _tu_ (tu), and _eu_ (il) +are used as disjunctive forms, in contrast with the French. The +possessive adjective _leur_ is represented by _si_; and the reflective +_se_ is used for the first plural as well as for the third singular and +third plural. + +The moods and tenses correspond exactly to those of the French, and the +famous rule of the past participle is identical with the one that +prevails in the sister language. + +Aside from the omission of the pronoun subject, and the use of one or +two constructions not unknown to French, but not admitted to use in the +literary language, the syntax of the Provencal is identical with that of +the French. The inversions of poetry may disguise this fact a little, +but the lack of individuality in the sentence construction is obvious in +prose. Translation of Provencal prose into French prose is practically +mere word substitution. + +Instances of the constructions just mentioned are the following. The +relative object pronoun is often repeated as a personal pronoun, so that +the verb has its _object_ expressed twice. The French continually offers +redundancy of subject or complement, but not with the relative. + + "Estre, ieu, lou marran que touti L'estrangisson! + Estre, ieu, l'estrangie que touti LOU fugisson!" + + "Etre, moi, le paria, que tous rebutent! + Etre, moi, l'etranger que tout le monde fuit!" + +(_La Reino Jano_, Act I, Scene III.) + +The particle _ti_ is added to a verb to make it interrogative. + +E.g. soun-ti? sont-ils? Petrarco ignoro-ti? + ero-ti? etait-il? Petrarque ignore-t-il? + +This is the regular form of interrogative in the third person. It is, of +course, entirely due to the influence of colloquial French. + +The French indefinite statement with the pronoun _on_ may be represented +in Provencal by the third plural of the verb; _on m'a demande_ is +translated _m'an demanda_, or _on m'a demanda_. + +The negative _ne_ is often suppressed, even with the correlative _que_. + +The verb _estre_ is conjugated with itself, as in Italian. + +The Provencal speech is, therefore, not at all what it would have been +if it had had an independent literary existence since the days of the +Troubadours. The influence of the French has been overwhelming, as is +naturally to be expected. A great number of idioms, that seem to be pure +gallicisms, are found, in spite of the deliberate effort, referred to +above, to eliminate French forms. In _La Reino Jano_, Act III, Scene IV, +we find _Ie vai de nostis os_,--_Il y va de nos os_. _Vejan_, _voyons_, +is used as a sort of interjection, as in French. The partitive article +is used precisely as in French. We meet the narrative infinitive with +_de_. In short, the French reader feels at home in the Provencal +sentence; it is the same syntax and, to a great degree, the same +rhetoric. Only in the vocabulary does he feel himself in a strange +atmosphere. + +The strength, the originality, the true _raison d'etre_ of the Provencal +speech resides in its rich vocabulary. It contains a great number of +terms denoting objects known exclusively in Provence, for which there is +no corresponding term in the sister speech. Many plants have simple, +familiar names, for which the French must substitute a name that is +either only approximate, or learned and pedantic. Words of every +category exist to express usages that are exclusively Provencal. + +The study of the modern language confirms the results, as regards +etymology, reached by Diez and Fauriel and others, who have busied +themselves with the Old Provencal. The great mass of the words are +traceable to Latin etyma, as in all Romance dialects a large portion of +Germanic words are found. Greek and Arabic words are comparatively +numerous. Basque and Celtic have contributed various elements, and, as +in French, there is a long list of words the origin of which is +undetermined. + +The language shares with the other southern Romance languages a fondness +for diminutives, augmentatives, and pejoratives, and is far richer than +French in terminations of these classes. Long suffixes abound, and the +style becomes, in consequence, frequently high-sounding and exaggerated. + +One of the most evident sources of new words in the language of Mistral +is in its suffixes. Most of these are common to the other Romance +languages, and have merely undergone the phonetic changes that obtain +in this form of speech. In many instances, however, they differ in +meaning and in application from their corresponding forms in the sister +languages, and a vast number of words are found the formation of which +is peculiar to the language under consideration. These suffixes +contribute largely to give the language its external appearance; and +while a thorough and scientific study of them cannot be given here, +enough will be presented to show some of the special developments of +Mistral's language in this direction. + + +-a. + +This suffix marks the infinitive of the first conjugation, and also the +past participle. It answers to the French forms in -er and -e. As the +first conjugation is a so-called "living" conjugation, it is the +termination of many new verbs. + + +-a, -ado. + +-ado is the termination of the feminine of the past participle. This +often becomes an abstract feminine noun, answering to the French +termination -ee; _armee_ in Mistral's language is _armado_. Examples of +forms peculiar to Provencal are: + +oulivo, _an olive_. +ouliva, _to gather olives_. +oulivado, _olive gathering_. +pie, _foot_. +piado, _footprint_. + + +-age (masc.). + +This suffix is the equivalent of the French -age, and is a suffix of +frequent occurrence in forming new words. _Oulivage_ is a synonym of +_oulivado_, mentioned above. A rather curious word is the adverb arrage, +meaning _at random, haphazard_. It appears to represent a Latin adverb, +_erratice_. + +Mourtau, mourtalo, _mortal_, gives the noun mourtalage, +_a massacre_. + + +-agno (fem.). + +An interesting example of the use of this suffix is seen in the word +eigagno, _dew_, formed from aigo, _water_, as though there had been a +Latin word _aquanea_. + + +-aio (fem.). + +This ending corresponds to the French -aille. + +poulo, _a hen_. +poulaio, _a lot of hens_, _poultry_. + + +-aire (masc.). + +This represents the Latin -ator (_one who_). The corresponding feminine +in Mistral's works has always the diminutive form -arello. + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaire, toumbarello, _one who falls_ or _one who fells_. +ouliva, _to gather olives_. +oulivaire, oulivarello, _olive gatherer_. +canta, _to sing_. +cantaire, cantarello, _singer_. +panie, _basket_. +panieraire, _basket maker_. +caligna, _to court_. +calignaire, _suitor_. +paternostriaire, _one who is forever praying_. + +Like the corresponding French nouns in -eur, these nouns in -aire, as +well as those in -eire, are also used as adjectives. + + +-aire = -arium. + +The suffix sometimes represents the Latin -arium. A curious word is +_vejaire_, meaning opinion, manner of seeing, as though there had been a +Latin word _videarium_. It sometimes has the form _jaire_ or _chaire_, +through the loss of the first syllable. + + +-an, -ano. + +This suffix is common in the Romance languages. Fihan, _filial_, seems +to be peculiar to the Provencal. + + +-anci (fem.). + +This is the form corresponding to the French -ance. _Abundance_ is in +Mistral's dialect _aboundanci_. + + +-ant, -anto. + +This is the termination of the present participle and verbal adjective +derived from verbs in -a. These words sometimes have a special meaning, +as toumbant, _declivity_. + + +-ard, -ardo. + +Gaiard is Provencal for the French _gaillard_. + + +-ari. + +This represents the Latin -arius. Abouticari is Provencal for +_apothecary_. + + +-as. + +This is an augmentative suffix of very frequent use. + +porc, _hog_. +pourcas, _great hog_. +serp, _snake_. +serpatas, _great serpent_. +casteu, _fort_. +castelas, _fortress_. +rouco, _rock_. +roucas, _great rock_. + + +-asso. + +This is a pejorative suffix. + +vido, _life_. +vidasso, _wretched life_. + + +-astre. + +In French this suffix has the form -atre. + +oulivastre (Fr. olivatre), _olive in color_. + + +-at. + +Coustat is in French _cote_ (side). + +The suffix is often diminutive. + +auc, _a gander_. +aucat, _gosling_. +passero, _sparrow_. +passerat, _small sparrow_. + + +-au, -alo. + +This is the form of the widely used suffix -al. Mistral uses paternau +for _paternal_, and also the adjective formed upon paire, _father_, +peirenau, peirenalo, _fatherly_. + +bourg, _city_. +bourgau, bourgalo, _civil_. + + +-edo (fem.). + +pin, _pine_. +pinedo, _pine-grove_. +clapo, _stone_. +claparedo, _stony plain_. +oulivo, _olive_. +oulivaredo, _olive-orchard_. + + +-eire, -erello. + +This suffix corresponds to the suffix -aire, mentioned above. It is +appended to the stem of verbs not of the first conjugation. + +courre, _to run_. +courreire, courerello, _runner_. +legi, _to read_. +legeire, legerello, _reader_. + + +-eja. + +This is an exceedingly common verb-suffix, corresponding to the Italian +-eggiare. + +toumbareu, _kind of cart_. +toumbaraleja, _to cart_. +farandolo, _farandole_. +farandouleja, _to dance the farandole_. +poutoun, _kiss_. +poutouneja, _to kiss_. +poumpoun, _caress_. +poumpouneja, _to caress_. +segnour, _lord_. +segnoureja, _to lord it over_. +mistral, _wind of the Rhone valley_. +mistraleja, _to roar like the mistral_. +poudro, _powder_. +poudreja, _to fire a gun_. +clar, _bright_. +clareja, _to brighten_. + + +-en (masc.), -enco (fem.). + +This is a common adjective-suffix. + +souleu, _sun_. +souleien, souleienco, _sunny_. +mai, _May_. +maien, maienco, _relating to May_. +Madaleno, _Magdalen_. +madalenen, madalenenco, _like Magdalen_. + + +-es (masc.), -esso (fem.). + +This suffix corresponds to the French -ais, -aise. Liounes = lyonnais. + + +-et (masc.), -eto (fem.). + +This is perhaps the commonest of the diminutive suffixes. + +ome, _man_. +oumenet, _little man_. +fiho, _daughter_. +fiheto, _dear daughter_. +enfan, _child_. +enfantounet, _little child_. +vent, _wind_. +ventoulet, _breeze_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaraleto, _little leaps_. +chato, _girl_. +chatouneto, _little girl_ +malaut, _ill_. +malautounet, _sickly_. + +It will be observed that the double diminutive termination is the most +frequent. + +Sometimes the -et is not diminutive. _Ouliveto_ may mean a small olive +or a field planted with olives. + + +-eu (masc.), -ello (fem.). + +This suffix is often diminutive. + +paurin, _poor chap_. +paurineu paurinello, _poor little fellow or girl_. +pin, _pine_. +pinateu, _young pine_. +pinatello, _forest of young pines_. +sauvage, _wild_. +sauvageu, sauvagello, _somewhat wild_. + +Sometimes it is not. + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbareu, -ello, _likely to fall_. +canta, _to sing_. +cantareu, -ello, _songful_. +crese, _to believe_. +cresereu, -ello, _inclined to belief_. + + +-i. + +This is a verb-suffix, marking the infinitive of a "living" conjugation. + +bourgau, _civil_. +abourgali, _to civilize_. + + +-ie (fem.). + +Carestie, _dearness_, stands in contrast to the Italian _carestia_. + +priva, _to train_, _to tame_. +privadie, _sweet food given in training animals_. + + +-ie (masc.), -iero (fem.). + +This is the equivalent of the French -ier. + +oulivie, _olive tree_. +bouchie, _butcher_. +pinatie, } _a dwelling_ +pinatiero,} _among pines_. + + +-ieu (masc.), -ivo (fem.). + +This is the form corresponding to the French -if, -ive. + +ablatieu, _ablative_. +vieu, vivo, _lively_. + + +-ige (m.). + +According to Mistral, this represents the Latin -ities. We incline to +think rather that it corresponds to -age, being added chiefly to words +in _e_. -age fits rather upon stems in _a_. + +gounfle, _swollen_. +gounflige, _swelling_. +Felibre. +Felibrige. +paure, _poor_. +paurige, _poverty_. + + +-iho (fem.). + +This suffix makes collective nouns. + +pastre, _shepherd_. +pastriho, _company of shepherds_. +paure, _poor_. +pauriho, _the poor_. + + +-in (m.), -ino (fem.). + +This is usually diminutive or pejorative. + +paurin, _poor wretch_. + + +-ioun (fem.). + +This corresponds to the French -ion. + +nacioun, _nation_. +abdicacioun, _abdication_. +erme, _desert_. +asserma, _to dry up_. +assermacioun, _thirst_, _dryness_. + + +-is (masc.), -isso (fem.). + +Crida, _to cry_. +cridadisso, _cries of woe_. +chapla, _to slay_. +chapladis, _slaughter_. +coula, _to flow_. +couladis or couladisso, _flowing_. +abareja, _to throw pell-mell_. +abarejadis, _confusion_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbadis, -isso, _tottering_ (adj.). + +This suffix is added to the past participle stem. + + +-isoun (fem.). + +This suffix forms nouns from verbs in -i. + +abalauvi, _to make dizzy_, _to confound_. +abalauvisoun, _vertigo_. + + +-men (masc.). + +This corresponds to the French -ment; bastimen = batiment, _ship_. + +abouli, _to abolish_. +aboulimen, _abolition_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbamen, _fall_. + + +-men (adverb). + +urous, urouso, _happy_. +urousamen, _happily_. + +It is to be noted here that the adverb has the vowel of the old feminine +termination _a_, and not the modern _o_. + + +-ot (masc.), -oto (fem.). + +A diminutive suffix. + +vilo, _town_. +viloto, _little town_. + +Sometimes the stem no longer exists separately. + +mignot, mignoto, _darling_. +pichot, pichoto, _little boy_, _little girl_. + + +-oto (fem.). + +passa, _to pass_. +passaroto, _passing to and fro_. + + +-ou (masc.). + +This is a noun-suffix of very frequent use. It seems to be for Latin -or +and -orium. + +jouga, _to play_. +jougadou, _player_. +abla, _to brag_ (cf. Fr. _habler_). +abladou, _braggart_. +abausi, _to abuse, to exaggerate_. +abausidou, _braggart_. +courre, _to run_. +courredou, _corridor_. +lava, _to wash_. +lavadou, _lavatory_. +espande, _to expand_. +espandidou, _expanse, panorama_. +escourre, _to flow out_. +escourredou, _passage_, _hollow_. +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbadou, _water-fall_. +abeura, _to water_. +abeuradou, _drinking-trough_. +passa, _to sift_. +passadou, _sieve_. +mounda, _to winnow_. +moundadou, _sieve_. + + +-ouge. + +This is an adjective suffix. + +iver, _winter_. +ivernouge, _wintry_. + + +-oun (masc.), -ouno (fem.). + +A diminutive suffix. + +enfan, _child_. +enfantoun, enfantouno, _little child_. +pauriho, _the poor_. +paurihoun, _poor wretch_. + + +-ounge (masc.). + +A suffix forming nouns from adjectives. + +viei, _old_. +vieiounge, _old age_. + + +-our (fem.). + +This is like the above. + +viei, _old_. +vieiour, _old age_. + + +-ous, -ouso. + +This is the Latin -osus; French -eux, -euse. It forms many new words in +Mistral. + +urous (Fr. heureux), _happy_. +pouderous (It. and Sp. poderoso), _powerful_. +aboundous, _abundant_. +pin, _pine_. +pinous, _covered with pines_. +escalabra, _to climb_. +escalabrous, _precipitous_. + + +-ta (fem.). + +This is the equivalent of the Latin -tas, French -te. In Mistral's +language it is usually preceded by a connecting vowel _e_. + +moundaneta, _worldliness_. +soucieta, _society_. +paureta, _poverty_. + + +-u (masc.), -udo (fem.). + +This ending terminates the past participles of verbs whose infinitive +ends in _e_. It also forms many new adjectives. + +astre, _star_. +malastru, _ill-starred_. +sabe, _to know_. +saberu, _learned_. + +The feminine form often becomes a noun. + +escourre, _to run out_. +escourregudo, _excursion_. + + +-un (masc.). + +This is a very common noun-suffix. + +clar, _bright_. +clarun, _brightness_. +rat, _rat_. +ratun, _lot of rats_, _smell of rats_. +paure, _poor_. +paurun, _poverty_. +dansa, _to dance_. +dansun, _love of dancing_. +plagne, _to pity_. +plagnun, _complaining_. +viei, _old_. +vieiun, _old age_. + + +-uro (fem.). + +toumba, _to fall_. +toumbaduro, _a fall_. +escourre, _to flow away_. +escourreduro, _what flows away_. +bagna, _to wet_. +bagnaduro, _dew_. + +This partial survey of the subject of the suffixes in Mistral's dialect +will suffice to show that it is possible to create words indefinitely. +There is no academy to check abuse, no large, cultivated public to +disapprove of the new forms. The Felibres have been free. A fondness for +diminutives marks all the languages of southern Europe, and a love of +long terminations generally distinguished Spanish latinity. The language +of the Felibres is by no means free from the grandiloquence and +pomposity that results from the employment of these high-sounding and +long terminations. _Toumbarelado_, _toumbarelaire_, are rather big in +the majesty of their five syllables to denote a cart-load and its driver +respectively. The abundance of this vocabulary is at any rate manifest. +We have here not a poor dialect, but one that began with a large +vocabulary and in possession of the power of indefinite development and +recreation out of its own resources. It forms compounds with greater +readiness than French, and the learner is impressed by the unusual +number of compound adverbs, some of very peculiar formation. +_Tourna-mai_ (again) is an example. Somewhat on the model of the French +_va-et-vient_ is the word _li mounto-davalo_, the ups and downs. _Un +regardo-veni_ means a look-out. _Noun-ren_ is nothingness. _Ped-terrous_ +(earthy foot) indicates a peasant. + +Onomatopoetic words, like _zounzoun_, _vounvoun_, _dindanti_, are +common. + +Very interesting as throwing light upon the Provencal temperament are +the numerous and constantly recurring interjections. This trait in the +man of the _Midi_ is one that Daudet has brought out humorously in the +Tartarin books. It is often difficult in serious situations to take +these explosive monosyllables seriously. + +In his study of Mistral's poetry, Gaston Paris calls attention to the +fact that the Provencal vocabulary offers many words of low association, +or at least that these words suggest what is low or trivial to the +French reader; he admits that the effect upon the Provencal reader may +not be, and is likely not to be, the same; but even the latter must +occasionally experience a feeling of surprise or slight shock to find +such words used in elevated style. For the English reader it is even +worse. Many such expressions could not be rendered literally at all. +Mistral resents this criticism, and maintains that the words in question +are employed in current usage without calling up the image of the low +association. This statement, of course, must be accepted. It is true of +all languages that words rise and fall in dignity, and their origin and +association are momentarily or permanently forgotten. + +The undeniably great success of this new Provencal literature justifies +completely the revival of the dialect. As Burns speaks from his soul +only in the speech of his mother's fireside, so the Provencal nature can +only be fully expressed in the home-dialect. Roumanille wrote for +Provencals only. Mistral and his associates early became more ambitious. +His works have been invariably published with French translations, and +more readers know them through the translations than through the +originals. But they are what they are because they were conceived in the +patois, and because their author was fired with a love of the language +itself. + +As to the future of this rich and beautiful idiom, nothing can be +predicted. The Felibrige movement appears to have endowed southern +France with a literary language rivalling the French; it appears to have +given an impulse toward the unification of the dialects and subdialects +of the _langue d'oc_. But the _patoisants_ are numerous and powerful, +and will not abdicate their right to continue to speak and write their +local dialects in the face of the superiority of the Felibrige +literature. Is it to be expected that Frenchmen in the south will +hereafter know and use three languages and three literatures--the local +dialect, the language of the Felibres, and the national language and +literature? One is inclined to think not. The practical difficulties are +very great; two literatures are more than most men can become familiar +with. + +However, this much is certain: a rich, harmonious language has been +saved forever and crystallized in works of great beauty; its revival has +infused a fresh, intellectual activity into the people whose birthright +it is; it has been studied with delight by many who were not born in +sunny Provence; a very great contribution is made through it to +philological study. Enthusiasts have dreamed of its becoming an +international language, on account of its intermediary position, its +simplicity, and the fact that it is not the language of any nation. +Enthusiasm has here run pretty high, as is apt to be the case in the +south. + +In connection with the revival of all these dialects the opinion of two +men, eminent in the science of education, is of the greatest interest. +Eugene Lintilhac approves the view of a professor of Latin, member of +the Institute, who had often noticed the superiority of the peasants of +the frontier regions over those from the interior, and who said, "It is +not surprising, do they not pass their lives translating?" Michel Breal +considers the patois a great help in the study of the official language, +on the principle that a term of comparison is necessary in the study of +a language. As between Provencal and French this comparison would be +between words, rather than in syntax. Often the child's respect for his +home would be increased if he sees the antiquity of the speech of his +fireside; if, as Breal puts it, he is shown that his dialect conforms +frequently to the speech of Henri IV or St. Louis. "If the province has +authors like Jasmin, Roumanille, or Mistral, let the child read their +books from time to time along with his French books; he will feel proud +of his province, and will love France only the more. The clergy is well +aware of this power of the native dialect, and knows how to turn it to +account, and your culture is often without root and without depth, +because you have not recognized the strength of these bonds that bind to +a locality. The school must be fast to the soil and not merely seem to +be standing upon it. There need be no fear of thereby shaking the +authority of the official language; the necessity of the latter is +continually kept in sight by literature, journalism, the administration +of government." + +The revival of this speech could not fail to interest lovers of +literature. If not a lineal descendant, it is at least a descendant, of +the language that centuries ago brought an era of beauty and light to +Europe, that inspired Dante and Petrarch, and gave to modern literatures +the poetic forms that still bear their Provencal names. The modern +dialect is devoted to other uses now; it is still a language of +brightness and sunshine, graceful and artistic, but instead of giving +expression to the conventionalities of courtly love, or tending to +soften the natures of fierce feudal barons, it now sings chiefly of the +simple, genuine sentiments of the human heart, of the real beauties of +nature, of the charm of wholesome, outdoor life, of healthy toil and +simple living, of the love of home and country, and brings at least a +message of hope and cheer at a time when greater literatures are +burdened with a weight of discouragement and pessimism. + +[Footnote 5: The edition of _Mireio_ published by Lemerre in 1886 +contains an _Avis sur la prononciation provencale_ wherein numerous +errors are to be noted. Here the statement is made that _all the letters +are pronounced_; that _ch_ is pronounced _ts_, as in the Spanish word +_muchacho_. The fact about the pronunciation of the _ch_ is that it +varies in different places, having at Maillane the sound _ts_, at +Avignon, for instance, the sound in the English _chin_. It is stated +further on that _ferramento_, _capello_, _febre_, are pronounced exactly +like the Italian words _ferramento_, _capello_, _febbre_. The truth is +that they are each pronounced somewhat differently from the Italian +words. Provencal knows nothing of double consonants in pronunciation, +and the vowels are not precisely alike in each pair of words. + +Later this sentence occurs: "Dans les triphthongues, comme _biais_, +_piei_, _vuei_, _niue_, la voix doit dominer sur la voyelle +intermediaire, tout en faisant sentir les autres." Only the first two of +these four words contain a triphthong. _Vuei_ is a descending diphthong, +the _ue_ representing the French _eu_. _Niue_ offers the same two vowel +sounds inverted, with the stress on the second. + +Lastly, the example is given of the name Jeuse. It is spelled without +the accent mark, and the reader is led to infer that it is pronounced as +though it were a French name. Here the _eu_ is a diphthong. The first +vowel is the French _e_, the second the Italian _u_. The stress is on +the first vowel.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE VERSIFICATION OF THE FELIBRES + + +The versification of the Felibres follows in the main the rules observed +by the French poets. As in all the Romance languages the verse consists +of a given number of syllables, and the number of stressed syllables in +the line is not constant. The few differences to be noted between French +verse and Provencal verse arise from three differences in the languages. +The Provencal has no _e mute_, and therefore all the syllables +theoretically counted are distinctly heard, and the masculine and the +feminine rhymes are fully distinguished in pronunciation. The new +language possesses a number of diphthongs, and the unaccented part of +the diphthong, a _u_ or an _i_, constitutes a consonant either before or +after a vowel in another word, being really a _w_ or a _y_. This +prevents hiatus, which is banished from Provencal verse as it is from +French, and here again theory and practice are in accord, for the +elision of the _e mute_ where this _e_ follows a vowel readmits hiatus +into the French line, and no such phenomenon is known to the Provencal. +Thirdly, the stressed syllable of each word is strongly marked, and +verse exists as strongly and regularly accentual as in English or +German. This is seen in the numerous poems written to be sung to an air +already existing. The accents in these pieces fall with the rhythmic +beat the English ear is accustomed to and which it so misses on first +acquaintance with French verse. A second consequence of this stronger +stress is that verse is written without rhyme; the entire _Poem of the +Rhone_ is written in ten-syllable feminine verses unrhymed. + + "O tems di viei d'antico bounoumio, + Que lis oustau avien ges de sarraio + E que li gent, a Coundrieu coume au nostre, + Se gatihavon, au caleu per rire!" + +(Canto I.) + +Mistral has made use of all the varieties of verse known to the French +poets. One of the poems in the _Isclo d'Or_ offers an example of +fourteen-syllable verse; it is called _L'Amiradou_ (The Belvedere). Here +are the first two stanzas:-- + + "Au casteu de Tarascoun, i'a 'no reino, i'a 'no fado + Au casteu de Tarascoun + I'a 'no fado que s'escound. + + "Aqueu que ie durbira la presoun ounte es clavado + Aqueu que ie durbira + Beleu elo l'amara."[6] + +We may note here instances of the special features of Provencal +versification mentioned above. The _i_ in _i'a_, the equivalent of the +French _il y a_, is really a consonant. This _i_ occurs again in the +fourth of the lines quoted, so that there is no hiatus between _que_ and +_ie_. In like manner the _u_ of _beleu_, in the last line, stands with +the sound of the English _w_ between this and _elo_. The _e_ of _ounte_ +is elided. It will be observed that there is a caesura between the +seventh and eighth syllables of the long line, and that the verse has a +marked rhythmic beat, with decided trochaic movement,-- + +/_u/_u/_u/_|/_u/_u/_u/_u + +In his use of French Alexandrine, or twelve-syllable verse, Mistral +takes few liberties as to caesura. No ternary verses are found in +_Mireio_, that is, verses that fall into three equal parts. In general, +it may be said that his Alexandrines, except in the play _La Reino +Jano_, represent the classical type of the French poets. To be noted, +however, is the presence of feminine caesuras. These occur, not +theoretically or intentionally, but as a consequence of pronunciation, +and are an additional beauty in that they vary the movement of the +lines. The unstressed vowel at the hemistich, theoretically elided, is +pronounced because of the natural pause intervening between the two +parts of the verse. + + "Per ouliva tant d'aubre!--Hou, tout aco se fai!" + +(Mireio, Canto I.) + +In one of the divisions of _Lou Tambour d'Arcolo_ (The Drummer of +Arcole), the poet uses ten-syllable verse with the caesura after the +sixth syllable, an exceedingly unusual caesura, imitated from the poem +_Girard de Roussillon_. + + "Ah! lou pichot tambour | devengue flori! + Davans touto l'arma | --do en plen souleu, + Per estela soun front | d'un rai de glori," etc. + +Elsewhere he uses this verse divided after the fourth syllable, and less +frequently after the fifth. + +The stanza used by Mistral throughout _Mireio_ and _Calendau_ is his own +invention. Here is the first stanza of the second canto of _Mireio_:-- + + "Cantas, cantas, magnanarello, + Que la culido es cantarello! + Galant soun li magnan e s'endormon di tres: + Lis amourie soun plen de fiho + Que lou beu tems escarrabiho, + Coume un vou de bloundis abiho + Que raubon sa melico i roumanin dou gres." + +This certainly is a stanza of great beauty, and eminently adapted to the +language. Mistral is exceedingly skilful in the use of it, distributing +pauses effectively, breaking the monotony of the repeated feminine +verses with enjambements, and continuing the sense from one stanza to +the next. This stanza, like the language, is pretty and would scarcely +be a suitable vehicle for poetic expression requiring great depth or +stateliness. Provencal verse in general cannot be said to possess +majesty or the rich _orchestral_ quality Brunetiere finds in Victor +Hugo. Its qualities are sweetness, daintiness, rapidity, grace, a +merry, tripping flow, great smoothness, and very musical rhythm. + +_Mireio_ contains one ballad and two lyrics in a measure differing from +that of the rest of the poem. The ballad of the _Bailiff Suffren_ has +the swing and movement a sea ballad should possess. The stanza is of six +lines, of ten syllables each, with the caesura after the fifth syllable, +the rhymes being _abb, aba_. + + "Lou Baile Sufren | que sus mar coumando." + +In the third canto occurs the famous song _Magali_, so popular in +Provence. The melody is printed at the end of the volume. Mireio's +prayer in the tenth canto is in five-syllable verse with rhymes _abbab_. + +The poems of the _Isclo d'Or_ offer over eighty varieties of strophe, a +most remarkable number. This variety is produced by combining in +different manners the verse lengths, and by changes in the succession of +rhymes. Whatever ingenuity Mistral has exercised in the creation of +rhythms, the impression must not be created that inspiration has +suffered through attention to mechanism, or that he is to be classed +with the old Provencal versifiers or those who flourished in northern +France just before the time of Marot. Artifice is always strictly +subordinated, and the poet seems to sing spontaneously. No violence is +ever done to the language in order to force it into artificial moulds, +there is no punning in rhymes, there is nothing that can be charged +against the poet as beneath the real dignity of his art. + +Let us look at some of the more striking of these verse forms. The +second of _Li Cansoun, Lou Bastimen_, offers the following form:-- + + "Lou bastimen ven de Maiorco + Eme d'arange un cargamen: + An courouna de verdi torco + L'aubre-mestre don bastimen: + Urousamen + Ven de Maiorco + Lou bastimen."[7] + +This stanza reproduces in the sixth line the last word of the first, and +in the seventh the last word of the fourth. + +An excellent example of accentual verse set to an already existing +melody is seen in _Li Bon Prouvencau_. The air is:-- + + "Si le roi m'avait donne + Paris, sa grand ville." + +We quote the first stanza:-- + + "Boufo, au siecle mounte sian + Uno auro superbo + Que vou faire ren qu'un tian + De touti lis erbo: + Nautri, li bon Prouvencau + Aparan lou viei casau + Ounte fan l'aleto + Nosti dindouleto."[8] + +This poem scans itself with perfect regularity, and the rhythm of the +tune is evident to the reader who may never have heard the actual music. + +The stanza of _La Tourre de Barbentano_ is as follows:-- + + "L'Evesque d'Avignoun, Mounsen Grimau, + A fa basti 'no tourre a Barbentano + Qu' enrabio vent de mar e tremountano + E fai despoutenta l'Esprit dou mau. + Assegurado + Sus lou roucas + Forto e carrado + Escounjurado + Porto au souleu soun front bouscas: + Mememen i fenestro, dins lou cas + Que vouguesse lou Diable intra di vitro, + A fa Mounsen Grimau grava sa mitro."[9] + +Here is a stanza of _Lou Renegat_:-- + + "Jan de Gounfaroun, pres per de coursari, + Dins li Janissari + Set an a servi: + Fau, enco di Turc, ave la coudeno + Facho a la cadeno + Emai au rouvi."[10] + +The stanza employed in _La Cadeno de Moustie_ is remarkable in having +only one masculine and one feminine rhyme in its seven lines:-- + + "Presounie di Sarrasin, + Engimbra coume un caraco, + Em' un calot cremesin + Que lou blanc souleu eidraco, + En virant la pouso-raco, + Rico-raco, + Blacasset pregavo ansin."[11] + +The "roumanso" of _La Reino Jano_ offers a stanza containing only five +rhymes in fourteen lines:-- + + "Fieu de Maiano + S'ere vengu dou tems + De Dono Jano, + Quand ero a soun printems + E soubeirano + Coume eron autre-tems, + Senso autro engano + Que soun regard courous, + Aurieu, d'elo amourous, + Trouva, ieu benurous, + Tant fino cansouneto + Que la bello Janeto + M'aurie douna 'n manteu + Per pareisse i casteu."[12] + +The rhythm of the noble _Saume de la Penitenci_ is as follows:-- + + "Segnour, a la fin ta coulero + Largo si tron + Sus nosti front: + E dins la niue nosto galero + Pico d'a pro + Contro li ro."[13] + +Another peculiar stanza is exhibited in _Lou Prego-Dieu_:-- + + "Ero un tantost d'aquest estieu + Que ni vihave ni dourmieu: + Fasieu miejour, tan que me plaise, + Lou cabassou + Toucant lou sou, + A l'aise."[14] + +Perhaps the most remarkable of all in point of originality, not to say +queerness, is _Lou Blad de Luno_. The rhyme in _lin_ is repeated +throughout seventeen stanzas, and of course no word is used twice. + + "La luno barbano + Debano + De lano. + + S'entend peralin + L'aigo que lalejo + E batarelejo + Darrie lou moulin. + + La luno barbano + Debano + De lin."[15] + +The little poem, _Aubencho_, is interesting as offering two rhymes in +its nine lines. + +Mistral's sonnets offer some peculiarities. He has one composed of lines +of six syllables, others of eight, besides those considered regular in +French, consisting, namely, of twelve syllables. The following sonnet +addressed to Roumania appears to be unique in form:-- + + "Quand lou chaple a pres fin, que lou loup e la russi + An rousiga lis os, lou souleu flamejant + Esvalis gaiamen lou brumage destrussi + E lou prat bataie tourno leu verdejant. + + "Apres lou long trepe di Turc emai di Russi + T'an visto ansin renaisse, o nacioun de Trajan, + Coume l'astre lusent, que sort dou negre eslussi, + Eme lou nouvelun di chato de quinge an. + + "E li raco latino + A ta lengo argentino + An couneigu l'ounour que dins toun sang i'avie; + + "E t'apelant germano, + La Prouvenco roumano + Te mando, o Roumanio, un rampau d'oulivie."[16] + +It would be a hopeless task for an English translator to attempt +versions of these poems that should reproduce the original strophe +forms. A few such translations have been made into German, which +possesses a much greater wealth of rhyme than English. Let us repeat +that it must not be imputed to Mistral as a fault that he is too clever +a versifier. His strophes are not the artificial complications of the +Troubadours, and if these greatly varied forms cost him effort to +produce, his art is most marvellously concealed. More likely it is that +the almost inexhaustible abundance of rhymes in the Provencal, and the +ease of construction of merely syllabic verse, explain in great measure +his fertility in the production of stanzas. Some others of the Felibres, +even Aubanel, in our opinion, have produced verse that is very ordinary +in quality. Verse may be made too easily in this dialect, and fluent +rhymed language that merely expresses commonplace sentiment may readily +be mistaken for poetry. + +The wealth of rhyme in the Provencal language appears to be greater than +in any other form of Romance speech. As compared with Italian and +Spanish, it may be noted that the Provencal has no proparoxytone words, +and hence a whole class of words is brought into the two categories +possible in Provencal. Though the number of different vowels and +diphthongs is greater than in these two languages, only three consonants +are found as finals, _n_, _r_, _s_ (_l_ very rarely). The consequent +great abundance of rhymes is limited by an insistence upon the rich +rhyme to an extent scarcely attainable in French; in fact, the merely +sufficient rhyme is very rare. It is unfortunate that so many of the +feminine rhymes terminate in _o_. In the _Poem of the Rhone_, composed +entirely in feminine verses, passages occur where nine successive lines +end in this letter, and the verses in _o_ vastly out-number all others. +In this unrhymed poem, assonance is very carefully avoided. + +The play, _Queen Joanna_, is remarkable among the productions of Mistral +as being the only work of any length he has produced that makes +extensive use of the Alexandrine. In fact, the versification is +precisely that of any modern French play written in verse; and we may +note here the liberties as to caesura and enjambements which are now +usual in French verse. We remark elsewhere the lack of independence in +the dialect of Avignon, that its vocabulary alone gives it life. Not +only has it no syntax of its own, but it really has been a difficulty of +the poet in translating his own Alexandrines into French prose, not to +produce verses; nor has he always avoided them. Here, for instance, is a +distich which not only becomes French when translated word for word, but +also reproduces exactly metre and rhyme:-- + + "En un mot tout me dis que lou ceu predestino + Un revieure de glori a terro latino. + + "En un mot tout me dit que le ciel prestine + Un renouveau de gloire a terre latine." + +The effectiveness, the charm, and the beauty of this verse, for those +who understand and feel the language, cannot be denied; and if this +poetic literature did not meet a want, it could not exist and grow as it +does. The fact that the prose literature is so slight, so scanty, is +highly significant. The poetry that goes straight to the heart, that +speaks to the inner feeling, that calls forth a response, must be +composed in the home speech. It is exceedingly unlikely that a prose +literature of any importance will ever grow up in Provence. No great +historians or dramatists, and few novelists, will ever write in this +dialect. The people of Provence will acquire their knowledge and their +general higher culture in French literature. But they will doubtless +enjoy that poetry best which sings to them of themselves in the speech +of their firesides. Mistral has endowed them with a verse language that +has high artistic possibilities, some of which he has realized most +completely. The music of his verse is the music that expresses the +nature of his people. It is the music of the _gai savoir_. Brightness, +merriment, movement, quick and sudden emotion,--not often deep or +sustained,--exuberance and enthusiasm, love of light and life, are +predominant; and the verse, absolutely free from strong and heavy +combinations of consonants, ripples and glistens with its pretty +terminations, full of color, full of vivacity, full of the sunny south. + +[Footnote 6: + + In the castle at Tarascon there is a queen, there is a fairy, + In the castle of Tarascon + There is a fairy in hiding. + + The one who shall open the prison wherein she is confined, + The one who shall open for her, + Perhaps she will love him. +] + +[Footnote 7: The ship comes from Majorca with a cargo of oranges: the +mainmast of the ship has been crowned with green garlands: safely the +ship arrives from Majorca.] + +[Footnote 8: There blows, in this age, a proud wind, which would make a +mere hash of all herbs: we, the good Provencals, defend the old home +over which our swallows hover.] + +[Footnote 9: The bishop of Avignon, Monseigneur Grimoard, hath built a +tower at Barbentane, which excites the rage of the sea wind and the +northern blast, and strips the Spirit of Evil of his power. Solid upon +the rock, strong, square, freed of demons, it lifts its fierce brow +sunward; likewise upon the windows, in case the devil might wish to +enter thereby, Monseigneur Grimoard has had his mitre carved.] + +[Footnote 10: John of Gonfaron, captured by corsairs in the Janissaries, +served seven years. Among the Turks a man must use his skin to chains +and rust.] + +[Footnote 11: Prisoner of the Saracens, accoutred like a gypsy, with a +crimson turban, dried by the white sun, turning the creaking +water-wheel, Blac prayed thus.] + +[Footnote 12: A son of Maillane, if I had come in the days of Queen +Joanna when she was in her springtime and a sovereign such as they were +in those days, with no other diplomacy than her bright glance, in love +with her, I should have found, lucky I, so fine a song that the fair +Joanna would have given me a mantle to appear in the castles.] + +[Footnote 13: This poem will be found translated in full at the end of +the book.] + +[Footnote 14: + + It was an afternoon of this summer, + While I neither woke nor slept, + I was taking my noonday rest, as is my pleasure, + My head touching the ground at ease. +] + +[Footnote 15: + + The ghostly moon is unwinding wool. + Afar off is heard the gurgling water shaking the clapper behind the mill. + The ghostly moon is unwinding flax. +] + +[Footnote 16: When the slaughter is over, when the wolf and the buzzard +have gnawed the bones, the flaming sun scatters merrily the hurtful +vapors and the battlefield soon becomes green once more. + +After the long trampling of the Turks and Russians, thou, too, art seen +thus reborn, O nation of Trajan, like the shining star coming forth from +the dark eclipse, with the youth of a maiden of fifteen. + +And the Latin races, in thy silvery speech, have recognized the honor +that lay in thy blood; and calling thee sister, the Romance Provence +sends thee, Roumania, an olive branch.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MISTRAL'S DICTIONARY OF THE PROVENCAL LANGUAGE + + +AU MIEJOUR + + Sant Jan, vengue meissoun, abro si fio de joio; + Amount sus l'aigo-vers lou pastre pensatieu, + En l'ounour dou pais, enausso uno mount-joio + E marco li pasquie mounte a passa l'estieu. + + Emai ieu, en laurant--e quichant moun anchoio, + Per lou noum de Prouvenco ai fa co que poudieu; + E, Dieu de moun pres-fa m'aguent douna la voio, + Dins la rego, a geinoui, vuei rende graci a Dieu. + + En terro, fin qu'au sistre, a cava moun araire; + E lou brounze rouman e l'or dis emperaire + Treluson au souleu dintre lou blad que sort.... + + O pople dou Miejour, escouto moun arengo: + Se vos recounquista l'emperi de ta lengo, + Per t'arnesca de nou, pesco en aqueu Tresor. + +"Saint John, at harvest time, kindles his bonfires; high up on the +mountain slope the thoughtful shepherd places a pile of stones in honor +of the country, and marks the pastures where he has passed the summer. + +"I, too, tilling and living frugally, have done what I could for the +fame of Provence; and God having permitted me to complete my task, +to-day, on my knees in the furrow, I offer thanks to Him. + +"My plough has dug into the soil down to the rock; and the Roman bronze +and the gold of the emperors gleam in the sunlight among the growing +wheat. + +"Oh, people of the South, heed my saying: If you wish to win back the +empire of your language, equip yourselves anew by drawing upon this +Treasury." + +Such is the sonnet, dated October 7, 1878, which Mistral has placed at +the beginning of his vast dictionary of the dialects of southern France. +The title of the work is _Lou Tresor dou Felibrige_ or _Dictionnaire +provencal-francais_. It is published in two large quarto volumes, +offering a total of 2361 pages. This great work occupied the poet some +ten years, and is the most complete and most important work of its kind +that has been made. The statement that this work represents for the +Provencal dialect what Littre's monumental dictionary is for the +French, is not exaggerated. Nothing that Mistral has done entitles him +in a greater degree to the gratitude of students of Romance philology, +and the fact that the work has been done in so masterful a fashion by +one who is not first of all a philologist excites our wonder and +admiration. And let us not forget that it was above all else a labor of +love, such as probably never was undertaken elsewhere, unless the work +of Ivar Aasen in the Old Norse dialects be counted as such; and there is +something that appeals strongly to the imagination in the thought of +this poet's labor to render imperishable the language so dear to him. +Years were spent in journeying about among all classes of people, +questioning workmen and sailors, asking them the names they applied to +the objects they use, recording their proverbial expressions, noting +their peculiarities of pronunciation, listening to the songs of the +peasants; and then all was reduced to order and we have a work that is +really monumental. + +The dictionary professes to contain all the words used in South France, +with their meaning in French, their proper and figurative acceptations, +augmentatives, diminutives, with examples and quotations. Along with +each word we have all its various forms as they appear in the different +dialects, its forms in the older dialects, the closely related forms in +the other Romance languages, and its etymology. A special feature of the +work in view of its destination is the placing of numerous synonyms +along with each word. The dictionary almost contains a grammar, for the +conjugation of regular and of irregular verbs in all the dialects is +given, and each word is treated in its grammatical relations. Technical +terms of all arts and trades; popular terms in natural history, with +their scientific equivalents; all the geographical names of the region +in all their forms; proper historical names; family names common in the +south; explanations as to customs, manners, institutions, traditions, +and beliefs; biographical, bibliographical, and historical facts of +importance; and a complete collection of proverbs, riddles, and popular +idioms--such are the contents of this prodigious work. + +If any weakness is to be found, it is, of course, in the etymological +part. Even here we can but pay tribute to Mistral. If he can be accused, +now and then, of suggesting an etymology that is impossible or +unscientific, let it be gratefully conceded that his desire is to offer +the etymologist all possible help by placing at his disposal all the +material that can be found. The pains Mistral has taken to look up all +possibly related words in Greek, Arabic, Basque, and English, to say +nothing of the Old Provencal and Latin, would alone suffice to call +forth the deepest gratitude on the part of all students of the subject. + +This dictionary makes order out of chaos, and although the language of +the Felibres is justly said to be an artificial literary language, we +have in this work along with the form adopted or created by the poet an +orderly presentation of all the speech-forms of the _langue d'oc_ as +they really exist in the mouths of the people. + + + + +PART SECOND + + +THE POETICAL WORKS OF MISTRAL + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FOUR LONGER POEMS + + +I. MIREIO (MIREILLE) + +The publication of this poem in 1859 is an event of capital importance +in the history of modern Provencal literature. Recognized immediately as +a master-work, it fired the ambitions of the Felibres, enlarged the +horizon of possibilities for the new speech, and earned for its author +the admiration of critics in and out of France. Original in language and +in conception, full of the charm of rustic life, containing a pathetic +tale of love, a sweet human interest, and glowing with pictures of the +strange and lovely landscapes of Provence, the poem charmed all readers, +and will doubtless always rank as a work that belongs to general +literature. Of no other work written in this dialect can the same be +asserted. Mistral has not had an equal success since, and in spite of +the merit of his other productions, his literary fame will certainly +always be based upon this poem. Whatever be the destiny of this revival, +the author of _Mireio_ has probably already taken his place among the +immortals of literature. + +He has incarnated in this poem all that is sweetest and best, all that +is most typical in the life of his region. The tale is told, in general, +with complete simplicity, sobriety, and conciseness. The poet's heart +and soul are in his work from beginning to end, and it seems more +genuinely inspired than any of the long poems he has written +subsequently. + +In the first canto the author says,-- + + "Car cantan que per vautre, o pastre e gent di mas." + + For we sing for you alone, O shepherds and people of the farms, + +and when he wrote this verse, he was doubtless sincere. Later, however, +he must have become conscious that a work of great artistic beauty was +growing under his hand, and that it would find a truly appreciative +public more probably among the cultivated classes than among the +peasants of Provence. Hence the French prose translation; and hence, +furthermore, a paradox in the position Mistral assumed. Since those who +really appreciate and admire his poetry are the cultivated classes who +know French, and since the peasants who use the dialect cannot feel the +artistic worth of his literary production, or even understand the +elevated diction he is forced to employ, should he not, after all, have +written in French? The idea of Roumanille was simpler and less ambitious +than that of Mistral; he aimed to give the humble classes about him a +literature within their reach, that should give them moral lessons, and +appeal to the best within them. Mistral, developing into a poet of +genius while striving to attain the same object, could not fail to +change the object, and this contradiction becomes apparent in _Mireio_, +and constitutes a problem in any discussion of his literary work. + +The story of _Mireio_ may be told in a few words. She is a beautiful +young girl of fifteen, living at the _mas_ of her father, Ramoun. She +falls in love with a handsome, stalwart youth, Vincen, son of a poor +basket-maker. But the difference in worldly wealth is too great, her +father and mother violently oppose their union, and so, one night, the +maiden, in despair, rushes away from home, across the great plain of +the Crau, across the Rhone, across the island of Camargue, to the church +of the three Maries. Vincen had told her to seek their aid in any time +of trouble. Here she prays to the three saints to give Vincen to her, +but the poor girl has been overcome by the terrible heat of the sun in +crossing the treeless plains and is found by her parents and friends +unconscious before the altar. Vincen comes also and joins his +lamentations to theirs. The holy caskets are lowered from the chapel +above, but no prayers avail to save the maiden's life. She expires, with +words of hope upon her lips. + +This simple tale is told in twelve cantos; it aims to be an epic, and in +its external form is such. It employs freely the _merveilleux chretien_, +condemned by Boileau, and in one canto, _La Masco_ (The Witch), the +poet's desire to embody the superstitions of his ignorant landsmen has +led him entirely astray. The opening stanza begins in true epic +fashion:-- + + "Cante uno chato de Prouvenco + Dins lis amour de sa jouvenco." + + I sing a maiden of Provence + In her girlhood's love. + +The invocation is addressed to Christ:-- + + Thou, Lord God of my native land, + Who wast born among the shepherd-folk, + Fire my words and give me breath. + +The epic character of the poem is sustained further than in its mere +outward form; the manner of telling is truly epic. The art of the poet +is throughout singularly objective, his narrative is a narrative of +actions, his personages speak and move before us, without intervention +on the part of the author to analyze their thoughts and motives. He is +absent from his work even in the numerous descriptions. Everything is +presented from the outside. + +From the outset the poem enjoyed great success, and the enthusiastic +praise of Lamartine contributed greatly thereto. In gratitude for this, +Mistral dedicated the work to Lamartine in one of his most happy +inspirations, and these dedicatory lines appear in _Lis Isclo d'Or_ and +in all the subsequent editions of _Mireio_. Mistral had professed great +admiration for the author of _Jocelyn_ even before 1859, but as poets +they stand in marked contrast. We may partly define Mistral's art in +stating that it is utterly unlike that of Lamartine. Mistral's +inspiration is not that of a Romantic; his art sense is derived +directly from the study of the Greek and Roman classics. In all that +Mistral has written there is very little that springs from his personal +sorrows. The great body of his poetry is epic in character, and the best +of his work in the lyric form gives expression not to merely personal +emotion, but to the feeling of the race to which he belongs. + +The action of the poem begins one day that Vincen and his father Meste +Ambroi, the basket-makers, were wandering along the road in search of +work. Their conversation makes them known, and depicts for us the old +_Mas des Micocoules_, the home of the prosperous father of Mireio. We +learn of his wealth in lands, in olives, in almonds, and in bees. We +watch the farm-hands coming home at evening. When the basket-makers +reach the gate, they find the daughter of the house, who, having just +fed her silkworms, is now twisting a skein. The man and the youth ask to +sleep for the night upon a haystack, and stop in friendly talk with +Mireio. The poet describes Vincen, a dark, stalwart youth of sixteen, +and tells of his skill at his trade. Meste Ramoun invites them in to +supper. Mireio runs to serve them. In exquisite verse the poet depicts +her grace and beauty. + +When all have eaten, at the request of the farm-hands, to which Mireio +adds hers, Meste Ambroi sings a stirring ballad about the naval +victories of Suffren, and the gallant conduct of the Provencal sailors +who whipped the British tars. + +"And the old basket-maker finished his naval song in time, for his voice +was about to break in tears, but too soon, surely, for the farm-hands, +for, without moving, with their heads intent and lips parted, _long +after the song had ceased, they were listening still_." + +And then the men go about their affairs and leave Vincen and Mireio +alone together. Their talk is full of charm. Vincen is eloquent, like a +true southerner, and tells his experiences with flashing eye and +animated gestures. Here we learn of the belief in the three Maries, who +have their church in the Camargue. Here Vincen narrates a foot-race in +which he took part at Nimes, and Mireio listens in rapt attention. + +"It seems to me," said she to her mother, "that for a basket-maker's +child he talks wonderfully. O mother, it is a pleasure to sleep in +winter, but now the night is too bright to sleep, but let us listen +awhile yet. I could pass my evenings and my life listening to him." + +The second canto opens with the exquisite stanza beginning,-- + + "Cantas, cantas, magnanarello + Que la culido es cantarello!" + +and the poet evidently fell in love with its music, for he repeats it, +with slight variations, several times during the canto. This second +canto is a delight from beginning to end; Mistral is here in his +element; he is at his very best. The girls sing merrily in the lovely +sunshine as they gather the silkworms, Mireio among them. Vincen passes +along, and the two engage in conversation. Mistral cannot be praised too +highly for the sweetness, the naturalness, the animation of this scene. +Mireio learns of Vincen's lonely winter evenings, of his sister, who is +like Mireio but not so fair, and they forget to work. But they make good +the time lost, only now and then their fingers meet as they put the +silkworms into the bag. And then they find a nest of little birds, and +the saying goes that when two find a nest at the top of a tree a year +cannot pass but that Holy Church unite them. So says Mireio; but Vincen +adds that this is only true if the young escape before they are put into +a cage. "Jesu moun Dieu! take care," cries the young girl, "catch them +carefully, for this concerns us." So Vincen gets the young birds, and +Mireio puts them carefully into her bodice; but they dig and scratch, +and must be transferred to Vincen's cap; and then the branch breaks, and +the two fall together in close embrace upon the soft grass. The poet +breaks into song:-- + +"Fresh breezes, that stir the canopy of the woods, let your merry murmur +soften into silence over the young couple! Wandering zephyrs, breathe +softly, give time to dream, give them time at least to dream of +happiness! Thou that ripplest o'er thy bed, go slowly, slowly, little +brook! Make not so much sound among the stones, make not so much sound, +for the two souls have gone off, in the same beam of fire, like a +swarming hive--let them hover in the starry air!" + +But Mireio quickly releases herself; the young man is full of anxiety +lest she be hurt, and curses the devilish tree "planted a Friday!" But +she, with a trembling she cannot control, tells of an inner torment +that takes away hearing and sight, and keeps her heart beating. Vincen +wonders if it may not be fear of a scolding from her mother, or a +sunstroke. Then Mireio, in a sudden outburst, like a Wagnerian heroine, +confesses her love to the astonished boy, who remains dazed, and +believes for a time that she is cruelly trifling with him. She reassures +him, passionately. "Do not speak so," cries the boy, "from me to you +there is a labyrinth; you are the queen of the Mas, all bow before you; +I, peasant of Valabregue, am nothing, Mireio, but a worker in the +fields!" "Ah, what is it to me whether my beloved be a baron or a +basket-weaver, provided he is pleasing to me. Why, O Vincen, in your +rags do you appear to me so handsome?" + +And then the young man is as inspired, and in impassioned, well-nigh +extravagant language tells of his love for Mireio. He is like a fig tree +he once saw that grew thin and miserable out of a rock near Vaucluse, +and once a year the water comes and the tree quenches its thirst, and +renews its life for a year. And the youth is the fig tree and Mireio the +fountain. "And would to Heaven, would to Heaven, that I, poor boy, that +I might once a year, as now, upon my knees, sun myself in the beams of +thy countenance, and graze thy fingers with a trembling kiss." And then +her mother calls. Mireio runs to the house, while he stands motionless +as in a dream. + +No resume or even translation can give the beauty of this canto, its +brightness, its music, its vivacity, the perfect harmony between words +and sense, the graceful succession of the rhymes and the cadence of the +stanzas. Elsewhere in the chapter on versification a reference is made +to the mechanical difficulties of translation, but there are +difficulties of a deeper order. The Felibres put forth great claims for +the richness of their vocabulary, and they undoubtedly exaggerate. Yet, +how shall we render into English or French the word _embessouna_ when +describing the fall of Mireio and Vincen from the tree. Mistral +writes:-- + + "Toumbon, embessouna, sus lou souple margai." + +_Bessoun_ (in French, _besson_) means a twin, and the participle +expresses the idea, _clasped together like twins_. (Mistral translates, +"serres comme deux jumeaux.") An expression of this sort, of course, +adds little to the prose language; but this power, untrammelled by +academic traditions, of creating a word for the moment, is essential to +the freshness of poetic style. + +What is to be praised above all in these two exquisite cantos is the +pervading naturalness. The similes and metaphors, however bold and +original, are always drawn from the life of the speakers. Meste Ambroi, +declining at first to sing, says "_Li mirau soun creba!_" (The mirrors +are broken), referring to the membranes of the locust that make its +song. "Like a scythe under the hammer," "Their heads leaning together +like two marsh-flowers in bloom, blowing in the merry wind," "His words +flowed abundantly like a sudden shower on an aftermath in May," "When +your eyes beam upon me, it seems to me I drink a draught of perfumed +wine," "My sister is burned like a branch of the date tree," "You are +like the asphodel, and the tanned hand of Summer dares not caress your +white brow," "Slender as a dragon-fly," are comparisons taken at random. +Of Mireio the poet says, "The merry sun hath hatched her out," "Her +glance is like dew, her rounded bosom is a double peach not yet ripe." + +The background of the action is obtained by the simplest description, a +cart casting the shadow of its great wheels, a bell now and then +sounding afar off across the marshes, references to the owl adding its +plaint to the song of the nightingale, to the crickets who stop to +listen now and then, and the recurring verses about the "magnanarello" +reminds us now and then, like a lovely leitmotiv, of the group of +singing girls about the amorous pair. + +The next canto is called _La Descoucounado_ (The Opening of the +Cocoons), and it must be confessed that there is a slight falling off in +interest. All that describes the life of the country-folk is full of +sustained charm, but Mistral has not escaped the dangers that beset the +modern poet who aims at the epic style. Here begins the recounting of +the numerous superstitions of the ignorant peasants, and the wonders of +Provence are interpolated at every turn. The maidens, while engaged in +stripping the cocoons, make known a long list of popular beliefs, and +then branch off into a conversation about love. They are surprisingly +well acquainted with the writings of Jean de Nostradamus, to whom the +Felibres are indebted for a lot of erroneous ideas concerning the +Troubadours and the Courts of Love. This literary conversation is not +convincing, and we are pleased when Noro sings the pretty song of +Magali, which, composed to be sung to an air well known in Provence, has +become very popular. The idea is not new; the young girl sings of +successive forms she will assume, to avoid the attentions of her suitor, +and he, ingeniously, finds the transformation necessary to overcome her. +For instance, when she becomes a rose, he changes into a butterfly to +kiss her. At last the maiden becomes convinced of the love of her +pursuer, and is won. + +The fourth canto, _Li Demandaire_ (The Suitors), recalls the Homeric +style, and is among the finest of the poem. Alari, the shepherd, Veran, +the keeper of horses, and Ourrias, who has herds of bulls in the +Camargue, present themselves successively for the hand of Mireio. The +"transhumance des troupeaux" is described in verse full of vigorous +movement; the sheep are taken up into the Alps for the summer, and then +in the fall brought down to the great plain of the Crau near the Delta +of the Rhone. The whole description is made with bold, simple strokes of +the brush, offering a vivid picture not to be forgotten. Alari, too, +offers a marvellously carved wooden cup, adorned with pastoral scenes. +Veran owns a hundred white mares, whose manes, thick and flowing like +the grass of the marshes, are untouched by the shears, and float above +their necks, as they bound fiercely along, like a fairy's scarf. They +are never subdued, and often, after years of exile from the salt meadows +of the Camargue, they throw off their rider, and gallop over twenty +leagues of marshes to the land of their birth, to breathe the free salt +air of the sea. Their element is the sea; they have surely broken loose +from the chariot of Neptune; they are still white with foam; and when +the sea roars and darkens, when the ships break their cables, the +stallions of the Camargue neigh with joy. + +And Ramoun welcomes Veran, and hopes that Mireio will wed him, and calls +his daughter, who gently refuses. The third suitor, Ourrias, has no +better fortune. The account of this man's giant strength, the narrative +of his exploits in subduing the wild bulls, are quite Homeric. The +story is told of the scar he bears, how one of the fiercest bulls that +he had branded carried him along, threw him ahead on the ground, and +then hurled him high into the air. The strong, fierce man presents his +suit, describing the life the women lead in the Camargue; but before he +has her love, "his trident will bear flowers, the hills will melt away +like wax, and the journey to Les Baux will be by sea." This canto and +the next, recounting the fierce combat between Ourrias and Vincen, are +really splendid narrative poetry. The style is marvellously compressed, +and the story thrilling. The sullen anger of Ourrias, his insult that +does not spare Mireio, the indignation of Vincen, that fires him with +unwonted strength, the battle of the two men out alone in the fields +near the mighty Pont du Gard, Vincen's victory in the trial of strength, +the treachery of Ourrias, who sneaks back and strikes his enemy down +with the trident. "With a mighty groan the hapless boy rolls at full +length upon the grass, and the grass yields, bloody, and over his earthy +limbs the ants of the fields already make their way." The rapidity, the +compactness of the sentences, impressed Gaston Paris as very remarkable. +The assassin gallops away upon his mare, and seeks by night to cross the +Rhone. A singularly felicitous use of the supernatural is made here. +Ourrias is carried to the bottom of the river by the goblins and spirits +that come out and hover over it at night. There is a certain terror in +this termination, something that recalls parts of the Inferno. Ourrias's +superstitious fears are the effect of his guilty conscience. The souls +of the damned, their weird ceremonial, are but the outward rendering of +the inward terror he feels. + +A less legitimate use of the supernatural is made in the succeeding +canto, called _La Masco_ (The Witch). In fact, the canto is really a +blemish in the beautiful poem. Vincen is found unconscious and carried +to the Mas des Micocoules, and various remedies tried. He comes to +himself, but the wound is deemed too serious to be healed by natural +means, and Mireio, at the suggestion of one of her maiden friends, takes +Vincen to the abode of the witch who lives in the Fairies' Hole under +the rocks of Les Baux. Besides the obvious objection that the magic +cure could not have been made, there is the physical impossibility of +Vincen's having walked, in his dying condition, through the labyrinth of +subterranean passages, amid the wild scenes of a sort of Walpurgis +night. The poet was doubtless led into this error by his desire to +preserve all the legends and superstitious lore of Provence. Possibly he +was led astray also by his desire to create an epic poem, in which a +visit to the lower regions is a necessity. The entire episode is +impossible and uninteresting, and is a blot in the beautiful idyll. +Later on, this desire to insert the supernatural leads the poet to +interrupt the action of his poem, while the three Maries relate to the +unconscious Mireio at great length the story of their coming from +Jerusalem to Provence. Interesting as folklore, or as an evidence of the +credulity of the Provencals, this narrative of the three Maries is out +of place in the poem. It does not help us out to suppose that Mireio +dreams the narrative, for it is full of theology, history, and +traditions she could not possibly have conceived. The poem of _Mireio_ +and all Mistral's work suffer from this desire to work into his poetry +all the history, real and legendary, of his region. + +The three Maries are Mary Magdalen, Mary, the mother of James and John, +and Mary, the mother of James the Less. After the Crucifixion they +embark with Saint Trophime, and successfully battling with the storms of +the sea, they land finally in Provence, and by a series of miracles +convert the people of Arles. This canto never would have converted +Boileau from his disapproval of the "merveilleux chretien." + +The poet finds his true inspiration again in the life of the Mas, in the +home-bringing of the crops, in the gathering of the workers about the +table of Meste Ramoun. This picture of patriarchal life is like a bit +out of an ancient literature; we have a feeling of the archaic, of the +primitive, we are amid the first elements of human life, where none of +the complications of the modern man find a place. Meste Ambroi, whom +Vincen has finally persuaded with passionate entreaties to seek the hand +of Mireio for him, comes upon this evening scene. The interview of the +two old men is like a Greek play; their wisdom and experience are +uttered in stately, sententious language, and many a proverb falls from +their lips. Ramoun has inflexible ideas as to parental authority: "A +father is a father, his will must be done. The herd that leads the +herdsman, sooner or later, is crunched in the jaws of the wolf. If a son +resisted his father in our day, the father would have slain him perhaps! +Therefore the families were strong, united, sound, resisting the storm +like a line of plane trees! Doubtless they had their quarrels, as we +know, but when Christmas night, beneath its starry tent, brought +together the head of the house and his descendants, before the blessed +table, before the table where he presided, the old man, with his +wrinkled hand, washed it all away with his benediction!" + +But Mireio and not Meste Ambroi makes known to her father that it is her +hand Vincen seeks, and the mother and father break out in anger against +the maid. Ramoun's anger leads him to speak offensively to Meste Ambroi, +who nobly maintains his dignity amid his poverty, and recounts his +services to his country that have been so ill repaid. Ramoun is equally +proud of his wealth, earned by the sweat of his brow, and sternly +refuses. The other leaves, and then the harvesters continue their +merry-making, with singing and farandoles, about a great bonfire in +honor of Saint John. "All the hills were aglow as if stars had rained in +the darkness, and the mad wind carried up the incense of the hills and +the red gleam of the fires toward the saint, hovering in the blue +twilight." + +That night Mireio grieved and wept for Vincen, and, remembering what he +had told her of the three Saint Maries, rises before the dawn and flees +away. Her journey across the Crau and the island of Camargue is narrated +with numerous details and descriptions; they are never extraneous to the +action, and are a constant source of beauty and interest. The strange, +barren plain of the Crau, covered with the stones that once destroyed a +race of Giants, as the legend has it, is vividly described, as the +maiden flies across it in the ardent rays of the June sun. She stops to +pray to a saint that he send her a draught of water, and immediately she +comes upon a well. Here she meets a little Arlesian boy who tells her +"in his golden speech" of the glories of Arles. "But," says the poet, +"O soft, dark city, the child forgot to tell thy supreme wonder; O +fertile land of Arles, Heaven gives pure beauty to thy daughters, as it +gives grapes to the autumn, and perfumes to the mountains and wings to +the bird." The little fellow talks of many things and leads her to his +home. From here the fisherman ferries her over the broad Rhone, and we +accompany her over the Camargue, down to the sea. A mirage deceives her +for a time, she sees the town and church, but it soon vanishes in air, +and the maiden hurries on in the fierce heat. + +Her prayer in the chapel is written in another verse form:-- + + "O Santi Mario + Que poudes en flour + Chanja nosti plour + Clinas leu l'auriho + De-vers ma doulour!" + + O Holy Maries, who can change our tears to blossoms, incline + quickly an ear unto my grief! + +Before the prayer is ended, there begins the vision of the three Maries, +descending to her from Heaven. + +Meste Ramoun discovers the flight of the unhappy maiden, and with all +his family starts in pursuit. After the first outburst of grief, he +sends out a messenger. + +"Let the mowers and the ploughmen leave the scythes and the ploughs! Say +to the harvesters to throw down their sickles, bid the shepherds leave +their flocks, bid them come to me!" + +The boy goes out into the fields, among the mowers and gleaners, and +everywhere solemnly delivers his message in the selfsame words. He goes +down to the Crau, among the dwarf oaks, and summons the shepherds. All +these toilers gather about the head of the farm and his wife, who await +them in gloomy silence. Meste Ramoun, without making clear what +misfortune has overtaken him, entreats the men to tell him what they +have seen. And the chief of the haymakers, father of seven sons, tells +of an evil omen, how, for the first time in thirty years, at the +beginning of his day's work, he had cut himself. The parents moan the +more. Then a mower from Tarascon tells how as he began his work he had +discovered a nest wherein the young birds had been done to death by a +myriad of invading ants. Again "the tale of woe was a lance-thrust for +the father and mother." A third had been taken as with epilepsy, a +shudder had passed over him, and through his dishevelled hair as through +the heads of thistles he had felt Death pass like a wind. A fourth had +seen Mireio just before the dawn, and had heard her say, "Will none +among the shepherds come with me to the Holy Maries?" And then while the +mother laments, preparations are made to follow the maiden to the +shrines out yonder by the sea. + +This poem, then, depicts for us the rustic life of Provence in all its +outward aspects. The pretty tale and the description of the life of the +Mas and of the Provencal landscapes are inseparably woven together, +forming an harmonious whole. It is not a tragedy, all the characters are +too utterly lacking in depth. Vincen and Mireio are but a boy and a +girl, children just awakening to life. The reader may be reminded of +Hermann and Dorothea, of Gabriel and Evangeline, but the creations of +the German and the American poet are greatly superior in all that +represents study of the human mind and heart. + +Goethe's poem and Mistral's have several points of likeness. Hermann +seeks to marry against his father's wish, and the objection is the +poverty of Dorothea. The case is merely inverted. Both poems imitate the +Homeric style, Goethe's more palpably than Mistral's, since the German +poet has adopted the Homeric verse. He affects, also, certain recurring +terms of expression, "Also sprach sie" and the like, and there is a +rather artificial seeking after simplicity of expression. Goethe's poem +is more interesting because of the greater solidity of the characters, +and because of the more closely knitted plot. The curiosity of the +reader is kept roused as in a well-constructed romance. Mistral's poem +has, after all, scarcely any more real local color; the rustic life of +the two poems is similar, allowing for geographical differences, and we +carry away quite as real a picture of Hermann's home and the fields +about it as of the Mas of Meste Ramoun. Mistral's idyll terminates +tragically in that Mireio dies of sunstroke, leaving her lover to mourn, +but the tenor of the German poem is more serious and moves us more +deeply; the background of war contributes to this, but the source of +our emotion is in the deep seriousness of the characters themselves. + +Vincen and Mireio are charming in their naivete, they are unspoiled and +unreflecting. They are children, and lacking in well-defined +personality. They have no knowledge of anything beyond the customs and +superstitions of the simple folk about them. Their religion, which is so +continually before us, furnishing the very mainspring of the fatal +denouement, is of the most superficial sort, if it can be called +religion at all. Whether you are bitten by a dog, a wolf, or a snake, or +lose your eyesight, or are in danger of losing your lover, you run to +the shrine of some saint for help. The religious feeling really runs no +deeper. In his outburst of grief upon seeing Mireio prone upon the floor +of the chapel, the unhappy boy asks what he has done to merit such a +blow. "Has he lit his pipe in a church at the lamp? or dragged the +crucifix among thistles, like the Jews?" Of the deeper, nobler +consolations of religion, of the problems of human destiny, of the +relations of religious conviction to human conduct, there is no inkling. + +All the characters are equally on the surface. They are types rather +than individuals. They have in common the gift of eloquence. They have +no thought-life, no meditation. They are eminently sociable, frequently +loquacious. They make you think of Daudet's statement concerning the man +of the south, "When he is not talking, he is not thinking." But they +talk well, and have to an eminent degree the gift of narrative. Vincen's +stories of what he knows and has seen are told most beautifully, and the +poet never forgets himself by making the boy utter thoughts he could not +have conceived. The boy is merely a child of his race. In any rustic +gathering in southern France you may hear a man of the people speak +dramatically and thrillingly, with resonant voice and vivid gestures, +with a marvellous power of mimicry, and the faces of the listeners +reflect all the emotions of the speaker. The numerous scenes, therefore, +wherein a group of listeners follow with keenest interest a tale that is +told, are eminently true to life. The supreme merit of Mireio lies in +this power of narration that its author possesses. It is all action from +beginning to end, and even the digressions and episodes, which +occasionally arrest the flow of the narrative, are in themselves +admirable pieces of narrative. Most critics have found fault with these +episodes and the frequent insertion of legends. In defence of the +author, it may be said, that he must have feared while writing _Mireio_ +that it might be his last and only opportunity to address his countrymen +in their own dialect, and in his desire to bring them back to a love of +the traditions of Provence, he yielded to the temptation to crowd his +poem rather more than he would otherwise have done. + +Mireio, then, is a lovely poem, an idyll, a charming, vivid picture of +life in the rural parts of the Rhone region. It is singularly original. +Local color is its very essence. Its thought and action are strictly +circumscribed within the boundaries of the Crau and the Camargue, and +its originality consists in this limitation, in the fact that a poet of +this century has written a work that comes within the definition of an +epic, with all the primitive simplicity of Biblical or Classic writers, +without any agitation of the problems of modern life, without any new +thought or feeling concerning love or death, or man's relation to the +universe, using a dialect unknown at the time beyond the region +described. Its success could scarcely have been attained without the +poet's masterly prose translation, and yet it is evident that the poem +could not have been conceived and carried out in French verse. The +freshness, the artlessness, the lack of modernity, would have suffered +if the poet had bent his inspiration to the official language. Using a +new idiom, wherein he practically had no predecessor, he was free to +create expression as he went along, and was not compelled to cast his +thought in existing moulds. + +The poem cannot place its author among the very great poets of the +world, if only because of this limitation. It lacks the breadth and +depth, the everlasting interest. But it is a work of great beauty, of +wonderful purity, a sweet story, told in lovely, limpid language, and +will cause many eyes to turn awhile from other lands to the sunny +landscapes of southern France. + + +II. CALENDAU. (CALENDAL.) + +Mistral spent seven years in elaborating his second epic, as he did in +writing his first. The poem had not a popular success, and the reason +is not far to seek. The most striking limitation of the poet is his +failure to create beings of flesh and blood. Even in Mireio this lack of +well-defined individuality in the characters begins to be apparent, but, +in general, the action of the earlier poem is confined to the world of +realities, whereas in _Calendau_ the poet has given free play to a +brilliant and vivid imagination, launching forth into the heroic and +incredible, yet without abandoning the world of real time and real +places. Allegory and symbolism are the web and woof of _Calendau_. The +poem, again, is overburdened with minute historic details and +descriptions, which are greatly magnified in the eye of his imagination. +A poet, of course, must be pardoned for this want of a sense of +proportion, but even a Provencal reader cannot be kept in constant +illusion as to the greatness of little places that can scarcely be found +upon the map, or dazzled by the magnificence of achievements that really +have left little or no impress upon the history of the world. As we +follow the poet's work in its chronological development, we find this +trait growing more and more pronounced. He sees his beloved Provence, +its past and present, and its future, too, in a magnifying mirror that +embellishes all it reflects with splendid, glowing colors, and exalts +little figures to colossal proportions. The reader falls easily under +the spell of this exuberant enthusiasm and is charmed by the poetic +power evinced. The wealth of words, the beauty of the imagery with +which, for example, the humble, well-nigh unknown little port of Cassis +and its fishing industry are described, carry us along and hold us in +momentary illusion. We see them in the poet's magic mirror for the time. +To the traveller or the sober historian all these things appear very, +very different. + +With the Felibres the success of the poem was much greater; it is a kind +of patriotic hymn, a glorification of the past of Provence, and a song +of hope for its future. Its allegory, its learned literary allusions, +its delving into obscure historic events, preclude any hope of popular +success. + +Like _Mireio_, the poem is divided into twelve cantos, and the form of +stanza employed is the same. The heroic tone of the poem might be +thought to have required verse of greater stateliness; the recurrence of +the three feminine rhymes in the shorter verses often seems too pretty. +Like _Mireio_, the poem has the outward marks of an epic. Unlike +_Mireio_, it reminds us frequently of the _Chansons de geste_, and we +see that the author has been living in the world of the Old Provencal +poets. This is apparent not merely in the constant allusions, in the +reproductions of episodes, but in the manner in which the narrative +moves along. Lamartine would not have been reminded of the ancient Greek +poets had _Calendau_ preceded _Mireio_. The conception of courtly love, +the guiding, elevating inspiration of Beatrice, leading Dante on to +greater, higher, more spiritual things, are the sources of the chief +ideas contained in _Calendau_. Vincen and Mireio remain throughout the +simple youth and maiden they were, but Calendau, "the simple fisherman +of Cassis," develops into a great hero, performing Herculean tasks, like +a knight of the days of chivalry, and rises higher and higher until he +wins "the empire of pure love"--his lady's hand. + +Very beautiful is the invocation addressed to the "soul of his country +that radiates, manifest in its language and in its history--that through +the greatness of its memories saves hope for him." It is the spirit +that inspired the sweet Troubadours, and set the voice of Mirabeau +thundering like the mistral. The poet proclaims his belief in his race. +"For the waves of the ages and their storms and horrors mingle the +nations and wipe out frontiers in vain. Mother Earth, Nature, ever feeds +her sons with the same milk, her hard breast will ever give the fine oil +to the olive; Spirit, ever springing into life, joyous, proud, and +living spirit that neighest in the noise of the Rhone and in the wind +thereof! spirit of the harmonious woods, and of the sunny bays, pious +soul of the fatherland, I call thee! be incarnate in my Provencal +verse!" + +We are plunged in orthodox fashion _in medias res_. The young fisherman +is seated upon the rocky heights above the sea before the beautiful +woman he loves. He does not know who she is; he has performed almost +superhuman exploits to win her; but there is an obstacle to their union. +She relates that she is the last of the family of the Princes des Baux, +who had their castle and city hewn out of the solid rock in the strange +mountains that overlook the plain of Arles. She tells the marvellous +history of the family, evoking a vision of the days of courtly love when +the Troubadours sang at the feet of the fair princesses. A panorama of +the life of those days of poetry and song moves before us. The princess +even describes and defines in poetic language the forms of verse in +vogue in the ancient days, the _Tenson_, the _Pastoral_, the _Ballad_, +the _Sirventes_, the _Romance_, the _Conge_, the _Aubade_, the _Solace +of Love_. She relates her marriage with the Count Severan, who +fascinated her by some mysterious power. At the wedding-feast she learns +that he is a mere bandit, leader of a band of robbers that infests the +country. She fled away through the mountains and found the grotto where +she now lives. The fishermen, seeing her appear and vanish among the +cliffs, take her to be the fairy Esterello, who is a sort of Loreley. +Calendau determines that either Severan or he shall die, and seeks him +out. His splendid physical appearance and bold, defiant manner arouse in +the bandit a desire to get Calendau to join his company, and the women +of the band are charmed with him. They ask to hear the story of his +life, and the great body of the poem consists of the narrative by +Calendau of his exploits. After the last one Calendau has risen to the +loftiest conception of pure love through the guidance of Esterello, like +Dante inspired by Beatrice. Then the Count holds an orgy and tries to +tempt the virtue of the hero. Calendau, after witnessing the lascivious +dances, challenges the Count to mortal combat. The latter knows now who +he is, and that Esterello is none other than the bride who fled after +the marriage-feast. Calendau is overpowered and imprisoned, and the +Count and his men set off in search of Esterello. But Calendau is freed +by Fourtuneto, one of the women, and journeys by sea from Cannes to +Cassis to defend the Princess. Here a great combat takes place with the +Count, who fires the pine-woods and perishes miserably, uttering +blasphemous imprecations. The Cassidians fight the fire, and Calendau +and the blond Princess are saved. + +"The applause of two thousand souls salutes them and acclaims them. +'Calendau, Calendau, let us plant the May for the conqueror of +Esterello. He glorifies, he brings to the light our little harbor of +fishermen, let us make him Consul, Consul for life!' So saying the +multitude accompanies the generous, happy pair of lovers, and the sun +that God rules, the great sun, rises, illumines, and procreates +endlessly new enthusiasms, new lovers." + +The poem clearly symbolizes the Provencal renascence; Calendau typifies +the modern Provencal people, rising to an ideal life and great +achievements through the memory of their traditions, and this ideal, +this memory, are personified in the person of the beautiful Princess. + +The time of the action is the eighteenth century, before the Revolution. +This is a deliberate choice of the poet who has a temporal symbolism in +mind. "I shall thus combine in my picture the three aspects of Provence +on the eve of the Revolution: in the background, the noble legends of +the past; in the foreground the social corruption of the evil days; and +before us the better future, the future and the reparation personified +in the son of the working classes, guardians of the tradition of the +country." + +As regards the execution, it is masterly, and cannot be ranked below +_Mireio_. There is the same enthusiastic love of nature, the same +astonishing resources of expression, the same novelty and originality. +In place of the rustic nature of Mireio, we have the wild grandeur of +mountains and sea. There is the same, nay, even greater, eloquence of +the speakers, the same musical verse. + + "Car, d'aquesto ouro, ounto es la raro + Que di delice nous separo, + Jouine, amourous que siam, libre coume d'auceu? + Regardo: la Naturo brulo + A noste entour, e se barrulo + Dins li bras de l'Estieu, e chulo + Lou devourant alen de soun nove rousseu. + + "Li serre clar e blu, li colo + Palo de la calour e molo, + Boulegon trefouli si mourre.... Ve la mar: + Courouso e lindo coumo un veire, + Dou grand souleu i rai beveire + Enjusqu'au founs se laisso veire, + Se laisso coutiga per lou Rose e lou Var." + +"For now, where is the limit that separates us from joy, young, amorous +as we are, free as birds! Look: Nature burns around us and rolls in the +arms of Summer, and drinks in the devouring breath of her ruddy spouse. +The clear, blue peaks, the hills, pale and soft with the heat, are +thrilled and stir their rounding summits. Behold the sea, glistening and +limpid as glass; in the thirsty rays of the great sun, she allows +herself to be seen clear to the bottom, to be caressed by the Rhone and +the Var." + +These are the words of Calendau when, seeking his reward after his final +exploit, he learns that he has won the love of Esterello. The poet never +goes further in the voluptuous strain, and the mere music of the words, +especially beginning "Ve la mar" is exquisite. They are found in the +first canto. This scene wherein the Princess refuses to wed Calendau is +typical of the poet. The northern temperament is not impressed with +these long tirades, full of ejaculations and apostrophes; they are apt +to seem unnatural, insincere, and theatrical. Intense feeling is not so +verbose in the north. In this particular Mistral is true to his race. We +quote entire the words of Calendau after the refusal of Esterello, +itself full exclamation and apostrophizing:-- + +"Then I have but won the thirst, the weariness of the midshipman, when +he is about to reach the summit of the mainmast, and sees gleaming at +the limit of the liquid plain naught but water, water eternally! Well, +if thou wilt hear it, listen! and let the heath resound with it! It is +thou, false woman that thou art, it is thou that hast deceived me, +luring me on to believe that at the summit of the peaks I should find +the splendor of a sublime dawn, that after winter spring would come, +that there is nothing so good as the food earned by labor. Thou hast +deceived me, for in the wilderness I found naught but drought; and the +wind of this world and its idle noise, the embarrassment of luxury, and +the din of glory, and what is called the enjoyment of triumph, are not +worth a little hour of love beneath a pine tree! See, from my hand the +bridle escapes, my skull is bursting, and I am not sure now that the +people in their fear are not right in dreading thee like a ghost, now +that I feel, as my reward, thy burning poison streaming through my +heart. Yes, thou art the fairy Esterello, and thou art unmasked at last, +cruel creature! In the chill of thy refusal I have known the viper. Thou +art Esterello, bitter foe to man, haunting the wild places, crowned with +nettles, defending the desert against those who clear the land. Thou art +Esterello, the fairy that sends a shudder through the foliage of the +woods and the hair of the terrified hermit; that fires with the desire +of her perfumed embrace her suitors and in malevolence drives them to +despair with infernal longings. + +"My head is bursting, and since from the heights of my supernatural love +a thunderbolt thus hurls me down, since, nothing, nothing henceforth, +from this moment on, can give me joy, since, cruel woman, when thou +couldst throw me a rope, thou leavest me, in dismay, to drink the bitter +current--let death come, black hiding-place, bottomless abyss! let me +plunge down head first!" + +And when Esterello, fearing he will slay himself, clasps him about the +neck, they stand silently embraced, "the tears, in tender mingling, rain +from their eyes; despair, agitation, a spell of happiness, keep their +lips idle, and from hell, at one bound, they rise to paradise." + +Like the creations of Victor Hugo's poetry, those of Mistral speak the +language of the author. They have his eloquence, his violent energy of +figurative speech, his love of the wild, sunny landscapes about them; +they thrill as he does, at the memories of the past; they love, as he +does, enumerations of trees and plants; they have his fondness for +action. + +The poem is filled with interesting episodes. One that is very striking +in the narrative of Esterello we shall here reproduce. + +We are at the wedding feast of Count Severan and the Princess des Baux. +The merry-making begins to be riotous, and the Count has made a speech +in honor of his bride, promising to take her after the melting of the +snows to his Alpine palaces, where the walls are of steel, the doors of +silver, the locks of gold, and when the sun shines their crystal roofs +glitter like flame. + +"Scarcely from his lips had fallen these wild words, when the door of +the banquet hall opens, and we see the head of an old man, wearing a +bonnet and a garment of rough cloth; we see the dust and sweat trickling +down his tanned cheeks. The bridegroom, with a terrible glance, like the +lightning flash of a fearful storm, turns suddenly pale, and seeks to +stop him; but he, whom the glance cannot harm, calmly, impassively, like +God when he clothes himself like a poor man, to confound sometimes some +rich evil-doer, slowly advances toward the bridegroom, crosses his arms, +and scans his countenance. And he says not a word to any one, and all +are afraid; a weight of lead lies upon every heart, and from without +there seems to blow in upon the lamps an icy wind. + +"Finally, a few of them, shaking off their oppression, 'If there come +not soon a famine to wipe out this hideous tribe, we shall be eaten by +beggars within four days! To the merry bridal pair, what hast thou to +say, old scullion?' And they continue to taunt him cruelly. The outraged +peasant holds his peace. 'With his blear eyes, his white pate, his +limping leg, whither comes he trudging? Pelican, bird of ill omen, go to +thy hole and hide thy sorry face.' The stranger swallows their insults, +and casts toward the bridegroom a beseeching glance. + +"But others cry: 'Come on, old man, come on! Come on, fear not the +company, the laughing and joking of these pretty gentlemen. Hunt about +the tables for the dainties and the carcasses. Hast thou a good jaw? +Here, catch this piece of pork and toss off a glass of wine!' + +"'No,' at length comes an answer from the old man, in a tone of deep +sadness, 'gentlemen, I do not beg, and have never desired what others +leave: I seek my son.'--'His son! What is he saying--the son of this +seller of eelskins hovering about the Baroness of Aiglun?' + +"And they look at each other in doubt, in burning scorn. I listened. +Then they said: 'Where is thy son? Show thy son, come on! and beware. +If, to mock us, thou lie, wretch, at the highest gargoyle of the towers +of Aiglun, without mercy, we'll hang thee!' + +"'Well, since I am disowned, and relegated to the sweepings,' the old +man begins, draped in his _sayon_, and with a majesty that frightens us, +'you shall hear the crow sing!' Then the Count, turning the color of the +wall, cold as a bench of stone, said, 'Varlets, here, cast out this +dismal phantom!' Two tears of fire, that pierced the ground, and that I +still see shining, streamed down the countenance of the poor old man, +ah! so bitter, that we all became white as shrouds. + +"'Like Death, I come where I am forgotten, without summons. I am wrong!' +broke out the unhappy man, 'but I wished to see my daughter-in-law. +Come on, cast out this dismal phantom, who is, however, thy father, O +splendid bridegroom!' + +"I uttered a cry; all the guests rose from their chairs. But the +relentless old man went on: 'My lords, to tear from the evil fruit its +whole covering, I have but two words to say. Be seated, for I still see +on the table dishes not yet eaten.' + +"Standing like palings, silent, anxious, the guests remained with hearts +scarce beating. I trembled, my eyes in mist. We were like the dead of +the churchyard about some funeral feast, full of terror and mystery. The +Count grinned sardonically. + +"'Thou shalt run in vain, wretch,' said the venerable father, 'the +vengeance of God will surely reach thee! To-day thou makest me bow my +head; but thy bride, if she have some honor, will presently flee from +thee as from the pest, for thou shalt some day hang, accursed of God!' I +rush to the arms of my father-in-law. 'Stop, stop;' but he, leaning down +to my ear, said: 'Without knowing the vine or measuring the furrows, +thou hast bought the wine, mad girl! Go, thou didst not weep all thy +tears in thy swaddling clothes! Knowest thou whom thou hast? a +robber-chief!'" + +And the scene continues, weirdly dramatic, like some old romantic tale +of feudal days. Such scenes of gloom and terror are not frequent in +Mistral. This one is probably the best of its kind he has attempted. + +On his way to seek Count Severan in his fastness, Calendau "enters, +awestruck, into the stupendous valley, deep, frowning, cold, saturnine, +and fierce; the daylight darts into this enclosure an instant upon the +viper and the lizard, then, behind the jagged peaks, it vanishes. The +Esteron rolls below. Now, Calendau feels a shudder in his soul, and +winds his horn. The call resounds in the depths of the gorges. It seems +as though he calls to his aid the spirits of the place. And he thinks of +the paladin dying at Roncevaux." + +For the sake of greater completeness, we summarize briefly the exploits +of the hero. As has been stated, they compose the great body of the +poem, and are narrated by him to the Count and his company of thieves +and women. The narrative begins with the account of the little port of +Cassis, his native place; and one of the stanzas is a setting for the +surprising proverb:-- + + "Tau qu'a vist Paris, + Se noun a vist Cassis, + Pou dire: N'ai ren vist!" + + He who has seen Paris, and has not seen Cassis, may say, "I have + seen nothing." + +No less than forty stanzas are taken up with the wonders of Cassis, and +more than half of those are devoted to naming the fish the Cassidians +catch. It is to be feared that other than Provencal readers and students +of natural history will fail to share the enthusiasm of the poet here. +Calendau's father used to read out of an ancient book; and the hero +recounts the history of Provence, going back to the times of the +Ligurians, telling us of the coming of the Greeks, who brought the art +of sculpture for the future Puget. We hear of the founding of +Marseilles, the days of Diana and Apollo, followed by the coming of the +Romans. The victory of Caius Marius is celebrated, the conquest of +Julius Caesar deplored. We learn of the introduction of Christianity. We +come down to the glorious days of Raymond of Toulouse. + +"And enraptured to be free, young, robust, happy in the joy of living, +in those days a whole people was seen at the feet of Beauty; and singing +blame or praises a hundred Troubadours flourished; and from its cradle, +amid vicissitudes, Europe smiled upon our merry singing." + +"O flowers, ye came too soon! Nation in bloom, the sword cut down thy +blossoming! Bright sun of the south, thou shonest too powerfully, and +the thunder-storms gathered. Dethroned, made barefoot, and gagged, the +Provencal language, proud, however, as before, went off to live among +the shepherds and the sailors." + +"Language of love, if there are fools and bastards, ah! by Saint Cyr, +thou shalt have the men of the land upon thy side, and as long as the +fierce mistral shall roar in the rocks, sensitive to an insult offered +thee, we shall defend thee with red cannon-balls, for thou art the +fatherland, and thou art freedom!" + +This love of the language itself pervades all the work of our poet, but +rarely has he expressed it more energetically, not to say violently, +than here. + +Calendau reaches the point where he first catches a glimpse of the +Princess. He tells of the legends concerning the fairy Esterello, and of +the _Fada_ (Les Enfees). This last is a name given to idiots or to the +insane, who are supposed to have come under her spell. + + "E degun auso + Se trufa d'eli, car an quicon de sacra!" + + And none dares mock them, for they have in them something sacred. + +The fisherman makes many attempts to find her again, and at last +succeeds. She haughtily dismisses his suit. + + "Vai, noun sies proun famous, ni proun fort, ni proun fin." + + Go, thou art not famous enough, nor strong enough, nor fine enough. + +He realizes her great superiority, and, after a time of deep +discouragement, rouses himself and sets about to deserve and win her by +deeds of daring, by making a great name for himself. + +His first idea is to seek wealth, so he builds a great boat and captures +twelve hundred tunny fish. The fishing scenes are depicted with all the +glow of fancy and brilliant word-painting for which Mistral is so +remarkable. Calendau is now rich, and brings jewels to his lady. She +haughtily refuses them, and the fisherman throws them away. + + "--Eh! ben, ie fau, d'abord, ingrato, + Que toun cor dur ansin me trato + E que de mi present noun t'enchau mai qu' aco, + Vagon au Diable!--E li bandisse + Pataflou! dins lou precepice."... + + "Well," said I to her, "since, ungrateful woman, thy hard heart + treats me thus, and thou carest no more about my presents than + that, let them go to the devil!" and I hurled them, _pataflou_, + into the precipice.... + +Here the tone is not one that an English reader finds serious; the +sending the jewels to the Devil, in the presence of the beautiful lady, +and the interjection, seem trivial. Evidently they are not so, for the +Princess is mollified at once. + +"He was not very astute, he who made thee believe that the love of a +proud soul can be won with a few trinkets! Ah, where are the handsome +Troubadours, masters of love?" + +She tells the love-stories of Geoffroy Rudel, of Ganbert de Puy-Abot, of +Foulquet of Marseilles, of Guillaume de Balauen, of Guillaume de la +Tour, and her words fall upon Calendau's heart like a flame. He catches +a glimpse of an existence of constant ecstasy. + +His second exploit is a tournament on the water, where the combatants +stand on boats, and are rowed violently against one another, each +striking his lance against the wooden breastplate of his adversary. His +victory wins for him the hatred of the Cassidians, for his enemy accuses +him of cornering the fish. Esterello consoles him with more stories from +the _Chansons de geste_ and the songs of the Troubadours. + +In the seventh canto is described in magnificent language Calendau's +exploit on the Mont Ventoux. This is a remarkable mountain, visible all +over the southern portion of the Rhone valley, standing in solitary +grandeur, like a great pyramid dominating the plain. Its summit is +exceedingly difficult of access. It appears to be the first mountain +that literature records as having been ascended for pleasure. This +ascent is the subject of one of Petrarch's letters. + +During nine days Calendau felled the larches that grew upon the flanks +of the mighty mountain, and hurled the forest piecemeal into the +torrent below. At the Rocher du Cire he is frightfully stung by myriads +of bees, during his attempt to obtain as a trophy for his lady a +quantity of honey from this well-nigh inaccessible place. The kind of +criticism that is appropriate for realistic literature is here quite out +of place. It must be said, however, that the episode is far from +convincing. Calendau compares his sufferings to those of a soul in hell, +condemned to the cauldron of oil. Yet he makes a safe escape, and we +never hear of the physical consequences of his terrible punishment. + +The canto, in its vivid language, its movement, its life, is one of the +most astonishing that has come from the pen of its author. It offers +beautiful examples of his inspiration in depicting the lovely aspects of +nature. He finds words of liquid sweetness to describe the music of the +morning breezes breathing through the mass of trees:-- + + "La Ventoureso matiniero, + En trespirant dins la sourniero + Dis aubre, fernissie coume un pur cantadis, + Ounte di colo e di vallado, + Touti li voues en assemblado, + Mandavon sa boufaroulado. + Li mele tranquilas, li mele mescladis," etc. + + The morning breeze of the Mont Ventoux, breathing into the mass of + trees, quivered like a pure symphony of song wherein all the voices + of hill and dale sent their breathings. + +In the last line the word _tranquilas_ is meant to convey the idea "in +tranquil grandeur." + +This ruthless destruction of the forest brings down upon Calendau the +anger of his lady; he has dishonored the noble mountain. "Sacrilegious +generation, ye have the harvest of the plains, the chestnut and the +olives of the hillsides, but the beetling brows of the mountains belong +to God!" and the lady continues an eloquent defence of the trees, "the +beloved sons, the inseparable nurslings, the joy, the colossal glory of +the universal nurse!" and pictures the vengeance Nature wreaks when she +is wronged. Calendau is humbled and departs. + +His next exploit is the settling of the feud between two orders of +Masons. He displays marvellous bravery in facing the fighting crowds, +and they choose him to be umpire. He delivers a noble speech in favor of +peace, full of allusions to the architectural glories of Provence, that +grew up when "faith and union lent their torch." He tells the story of +the building of the bridge of Avignon. "Noah himself with his ark could +have passed beneath each of its arches." He touches their emotions with +his appeal for peace, and they depart reconciled. + +And now Esterello begins to love him. She bids him strive for the +noblest things, to love country and humanity, to become a knight, an +apostle; and after Calendau has performed the feat of capturing the +famous brigand Marco-Mau, after he has been crowned in the feasts at +Aix, and resisted victorious the wiles of the women that surround the +Count Severan, and saved his lady in the fearful combat on the +fire-surrounded rock, he wins her. + + +III. NERTO + +In spite of its utter unreality _Nerto_ is a charming tale, written in a +sprightly vein, with here and there a serious touch, reminding the +reader frequently of Ariosto. The Devil, the Saints, and the Angels +figure in it prominently; but the Devil is not a very terrible personage +in Provence, and the Angels are entirely lacking in Miltonic grandeur. +The scene of the story is laid in the time of Benedict XIII, who was +elected Pope at Avignon in 1394. The story offers a lively picture of +the papal court, reminding the reader forcibly of the description found +in Daudet's famous tale of the Pope's mule. It is filled throughout with +legends relating to the Devil, and with superstitious beliefs of the +Middle Age. It is not always easy to determine when the poet is serious +in his statement of religious belief, occasionally he appears to be so, +and then a line or so shows us that he has a legend in mind. In the +prologue of the poem he says:-- + + "Creire, coundus a la vitori. + Douta, vaqui l' endourmitori + E la pouisoun dins lou barrieu + E la lachuslo dins lou rieu." + + To believe leads to victory. Doubt is the narcotic, and the poison + in the barrel, and the euphorbia in the stream. + + "E, quand lou pople a perdu fe, + L'infer abrivo si boufet." + + And when the people have lost faith, + Hell sets its bellows blowing. + +Then later we read: "What is this world? A wager between Christ and the +Demon. Thousands of years ago he challenged God, and when the great game +began, they played with great loose rocks from the hills, at quoits, and +if any one is unwilling to believe this, let him go to Mount Leberon and +see the stone thrown by Satan." + +So we see that the theology was merely a means of leading up to a local +legend. + +The story is briefly as follows: Nerto, like all Mistral's heroines, is +exceedingly young, thirteen years of age. Her father, the Baron Pons, +had gambled away everything he owned in this world, when she was a very +little child, and while walking along a lonely road one night he met the +Devil, who took advantage of his despair to tempt him with the sight of +heaps of money. The wretched father sold his daughter's soul to the Evil +One. Now on his death-bed he tells his child the fearful tale; one means +of salvation lies open for her--she must go to the Pope. Benedict XIII +is besieged in the great palace at Avignon, but the Baron knows of a +secret passage from his castle leading under the river Durance to one of +the towers of the papal residence. He bids Nerto go to seek deliverance +from the bond, and to make known to the Pope the means of escape. Nerto +reaches the palace at the moment when all is in great commotion, for the +enemy have succeeded in setting it on fire. She is first seen by the +Pope's nephew Don Rodrigue, an exceedingly wicked young man, a sort of +brawling Don Juan, who seems to have been guilty of numerous +assassinations. He immediately begins to talk love to the maiden, as the +means of saving her from the Devil, "the path of love is full of flowers +and leads to Paradise." But Nerto has been taught that the road to +Heaven is full of stones and thorns, and her innocence saves her from +the passionate outburst of the licentious youth. And Nerto is taken to +the Pope, whom she finds sadly enthroned in all his splendor, and brings +him the news of a means of escape. The last Pope of Avignon bearing the +sacred elements, _pourtant soun Dieu_, follows the maiden through the +underground passage, and escapes with all his followers. At +Chateau-Renard he sets up his court with the King of Forcalquier, +Naples, and Jerusalem and Donna Iolanthe his Queen. Nerto asks the Pope +to save her soul, but he is powerless. Only a miracle can save a soul +sold to Satan. She must enter a convent, and pray to the Saints +continually. The Court is about to move to Arles, she shall enter the +convent there. On the way, Don Rodrigue makes love to her assiduously, +but the young girl's heart seems untroubled. + +At Arles we witness a great combat of animals, in which the lion of +Arles, along with four bulls, is turned loose in the arena. The lion +kills all but one of the bulls. The fourth beast, enraged, gores the +lion. The royal brute rushes among the spectators and makes for the +King's throne. Nerto and the Queen are crouching in terror before him, +when Don Rodrigue slays the animal, saving Nerto's life. Nay, he saves +more than her life, for had she died then she would have been a prey to +the flames of Hell. + +Nerto becomes a nun, but Don Rodrigue, with a band of ribald followers, +succeeds in carrying her off with all the other nuns. They are all +driven by the King's soldiers into the cemetery of the Aliscamps. Nerto +wanders away during the battle and is lost among the tombs. At dawn the +next day she strays far out to a forest, where she finds a hermit. The +old man welcomes her, and believes he can save her soul. The Angel +Gabriel visits him frequently, and he will speak to him. But the Angel +disapproves, condemns the pride of the anchorite, and soars away to the +stars without a word of hope or consolation, and so in great anxiety the +pious man bids her go back to the convent, and prays Saint Gabriel, +Saint Consortia, Saint Tullia, Saint Gent, Saint Verdeme, Saint Julien, +Saint Trophime, Saint Formin, and Saint Stephen to accompany her. + +Don Rodrigue is living in a palace built for him in one night by the +Devil, wherein are seven halls, each devoted to one of the seven mortal +sins. Hither Nerto wanders; here Rodrigue finds her, and begins his +passionate love-making afresh. But Nerto remains true to her vows, +although the germ of love has been in her heart since the day Rodrigue +saved her from the lion. On learning that she is in the Devil's castle, +she is filled with terror, believing the fatal day has arrived. She +confesses her love. The maiden cries: "Woe is me, Nerto loves you, but +if Hell should swallow us up, would there be any love for the damned? +Rodrigue, no, there is none. If you would but break the tie that binds +you, if, with one happy wing-stroke, you could soar up to the summits +where lives last forever, where hearts vanish united in the bosom of +God, I should be delivered, it seems to me, in the same upward impulse; +for, in heaven or in the abyss, I am inseparable from you." Rodrigue +replies sadly, that his past is too dreadful, that only the ocean could +wipe it out. "Rodrigue, one burst of repentance is worth a long penance. +Courage, come, only one look toward Heaven!" The Devil appears. He +swells with pride in this, his finest triumph; black souls he has in +plenty, but since the beginning of his reign over the lower regions he +has never captured an immaculate victim like this soul. Rodrigue inverts +his sword, and at the sign of the cross, a terrific hurricane sweeps +away the palace, Don Rodrigue, and the Devil, and nothing is left but a +nun of stone who is still visible in the midst of a field on the site of +the chateau. In an Epilogue we learn from the Archangel who visits the +hermit that the knight and the maiden were both saved. + +It is difficult to characterize the curious combination of levity and +seriousness that runs through this tale. There is no illusion of reality +anywhere; there is no agony of soul in Baron Pon's confession; Nerto's +terror when she learns that she is the property of the Devil is far from +impressive, because she says too much, with expressions that are too +pretty, perhaps because the rippling octosyllabic verse, in Provencal at +least, cannot be serious; it is hardly worth while to mention the +objection that if the Devil can be worsted at any time merely by +inverting a sword, especially when the sword is that of an assassin and +a rake, whose repentance is scarcely touched upon and is by no means +disinterested, it is clear that the Demon has wasted his time at a very +foolish game; a religious mind might feel a deeper sort of reverence for +the Archangels than is evinced here. Yet it cannot be said that the poem +parodies things sacred and sublime, and it appears to be utterly without +philosophical intention. Mistral really has to a surprising degree the +naivete of writers of former centuries, and as regards the tale itself +and its general treatment it could almost have been written by a +contemporary of the events it relates. + + +IV. LOU POUEMO DOU ROSE + +The _Poem of the Rhone_, the third of the poems in twelve cantos that +Mistral has written, appeared in 1897. It completes the symmetry of his +life work; the former epics extolled the life of the fields, the +mountains, and the sea, the last glorifies the beautiful river that +brings life to his native soil. More than either of the other long +poems, it is an act of affection for the past, for the Rhone of the poem +is the Rhone of his early childhood, before the steam-packets churned +its waters, or the railroads poured up their smoke along its banks. +Although the poet has interwoven in it a tale of merest fancy, it is +essentially realistic, differing notably in this respect from Calendau. +This realism descends to the merest details, and the poetic quality of +the work suffers considerably in many passages. The poet does not shrink +from minute enumeration of cargoes, or technical description of boats, +or word-for-word reproduction of the idle talk of boatwomen, or the +apparently inexhaustible profanity of the boatmen. The life on the river +is vividly portrayed, and we put down the book with a sense of really +having made the journey from Lyons to Beaucaire with the fleet of seven +boats of Master Apian. + +On opening the volume the reader is struck first of all with the novel +versification. It is blank verse, the line being precisely that of +Dante's _Divina Commedia_. Not only is there no rhyme, but assonance is +very carefully avoided. The effect of this unbroken succession of +feminine verses is slightly monotonous, though the poet shifts his +pauses skilfully. The rhythm of the lines is marked, the effect upon the +ear being quite like that of English iambic pentameters hypercatalectic. +The absence of rhyme is the more noteworthy in that rhyme offers little +difficulty in Provencal. Doubtless the poet was pleased to show an +additional claim to superiority for his speech over the French as a +vehicle for poetic thought; for while on the one hand the rules of rhyme +and hiatus give the poet writing in Provencal less trouble than when +writing in French, on the other hand this poem proves that splendid +blank verse may be written in the new language. + +The plan of the poem is briefly as follows: it describes the departure +of a fleet of boats from Lyons, accompanies them down the river to +Beaucaire, describes the fair and the return up the river, the boats +being hauled by eighty horses; narrates the collision with a steamboat +coming down the stream, which drags the animals into the water, setting +the boats adrift in the current, destroying them and their cargo, and +typifying as it were the ruin of the old traffic on the Rhone. The river +itself is described, its dangerous shoals, its beautiful banks, its +towns and castles. We learn how the boats were manoeuvred; the life on +board and the ideas of the men are set before us minutely. Legends and +stories concerning the river and the places along the shores abound, of +course; and into this general background is woven the tale of a Prince +of Orange and a little maiden called the Anglore, two of the curiously +half-real, half-unreal beings that Mistral seems to love to create. The +Prince comes on board the fleet, intending to see Orange and Provence; +some day he is to be King of Holland, but has already sickened of court +ceremonies and intrigues. + + "Uno foulie d'amour s'es mes en testo." + +This dreamy, imaginative, blond Prince is in search of a Naiade and the +mysterious "swan-flower," wherein the fair nymph is hidden. This flower +he wears as an emblem. When the boatmen see it, they recognize it as the +_fleur de Rhone_ that the Anglore is so fond of culling. The men get +Jean Roche, one of their number, to tell the Prince who this mysterious +Anglore is, and we learn that she is a little, laughing maiden, who +wanders barefoot on the sand, so charming that any of the sailors, were +she to make a sign, would spring into the water to go and print a kiss +upon her little foot. Not only is the Prince in search of a nymph and a +flower, not only does he wish to behold Orange, he wishes also to learn +the language in which the Countess of Die sang lays of love with +Raimbaud of Orange. He is full of thoughts of the olden days, he feels +regret for the lost conquests. "But why should he feel regret, if he may +recover the sunny land of his forefathers by drinking it in with eager +eyes! What need is there of gleaming swords to seize what the eye shows +us?" He cares little for royalty. + +"Strongholds crumble away, as may be seen on all these hills; +everything falls to ruin and is renewed. But on thy summits, unchanging +Nature, forever the thyme shall bloom, and the shepherds and +shepherdesses frolic on the grass at the return of spring." + +The Prince apostrophizes the "empire of the sun," bordering like a +silver hem the dazzling Rhone, the "poetic empire of Provence, that with +its name alone doth charm the world," and he calls to mind the empire of +the Bosonides, the memory of which survives in the speech of the +boatmen; they call the east shore "empire," the west shore "kingdom." + +The journey is full of episodes. The owner of the fleet, Apian, is a +sententious individual. He is devoted to his river life, full of +religious fervor, continually crossing himself or praying to Saint +Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors. This faith, however, is not +entire. If a man falls into the water, the fellows call to him, +"Recommend thyself to Saint Nicholas, but swim for dear life." As the +English expression has it, "Trust to God, but keep your powder dry." +Master Apian always says the Lord's Prayer aloud when he puts off from +shore, and solemnly utters the words, "In the name of God and the Holy +Virgin, to the Rhone!" His piety, however, does not prevent him from +interrupting his prayer to swear at the men most vigorously. Says he, +"Let whoever would learn to pray, follow the water," but his arguments +and experiences rather teach the vanity of prayer. He is full of +superstitious tales. He has views of life. + +"Life is a journey like that of the bark. It has its bad, its good days. +The wise man, when the waves smile, ought to know how to behave; in the +breakers he must go slow. But man is born for toil, for navigation. He +who rows gets his pay at the end of the month. He who is afraid of +blistering his hands takes a dive into the abyss of poverty." He tells a +story of Napoleon in flight down the Rhone, of the women who cried out +at him, reviling him, bidding him give back their sons, shaking their +fists and crying out, "Into the Rhone with him." Once when he was +changing horses at an inn, a woman, bleeding a fowl at the door, +exclaimed: "Ha, the cursed monster! If I had him here, I'd plant my +knife into his throat like that!" The emperor, unknown to her, draws +near. "What did he do to you?" said he. "I had two sons," replied the +bereaved mother wrathfully, "two handsome boys, tall as towers. He +killed them for me in his battles."--"Their names will not perish in the +stars," said Napoleon sadly. "Why could I not fall like them? for they +died for their country on the field of glory."--"But who are you?"--"I +am the emperor."--"Ah!" The good woman fell upon her knees dismayed, +kissed his hands, begged his forgiveness, and all in tears--Here the +story is interrupted. + +Wholly charming and altogether original is the tale of the little maiden +whom the boatmen name L'Anglore, and whom Jean Roche loves. The men have +named her so for fun. They knew her well, having seen her from earliest +childhood, half naked, paddling in the water along the shore, sunning +herself like the little lizard they call _anglore_. Now she had grown, +and eked out a poor living by seeking for gold in the sands brought down +by the Ardeche. + +The little maid believed in the story of the Drac, a sort of merman, +that lived in the Rhone, and had power to fascinate the women who +ventured into the water. There was once a very widespread superstition +concerning this Protean creature; and the women washing in the river +often had a figure of the Drac, in the form of a lizard, carved upon the +piece of wood with which they beat the linen, as a sort of talisman +against his seduction. The mother of the Anglore had told her of his +wiles; and one story impressed her above all--the story of the young +woman who, fascinated by the Drac, lost her footing in the water and was +carried whirling down into the depths. At the end of seven years she +returned and told her tale. She had been seized by the Drac, and for +seven years he kept her to nurse his little Drac. + +The Anglore was never afraid while seeking the specks of gold in the +sunlight. But at night it was different. A gem of poetry is the scene in +the sixth canto, full of witchery and charm, wherein the imagination of +the little maid, wandering out along the water in the mysterious +moonlight, causes her to fancy she sees the Drac in the form of a fair +youth smiling upon her, offering her a wild flower, uttering sweet, +mysterious words of love that die away in the water. She often came +again to meet him; and she noticed that if ever she crossed herself on +entering the water, as she had always done when a little girl, the Drac +would not appear. These three or four pages mark the genuine poet and +the master of language. The mysterious night, oppressively warm, the +moonlight shining on the little white figure, the deep silence, broken +only by the faint murmur of the river and the distant singing of a +nightingale, the gleam of the glowworms, compose a scene of fantastic +beauty. The slightest sounds startle her, whether it be a fish leaping +at the surface of the water to seize a fly, the gurgling of a little +eddy, or the shrill cry of a bat. There is a certain voluptuous beauty +in the very sound of the words that describe the little nymph, kissed by +the moonbeams:-- + + "alusentido + Per li rai de la luno que beisavon + Soun fin coutet, sa jouino car ambrenco, + Si bras poupin, sis esquino rabloto + E si pousseto armouniouso e fermo + Que s'amagavon coume dos tourtouro + Dins l'esparpai de sa cabeladuro." + +The last three lines fall like a caress upon the ear. Mistral often +attains a perfect melody of words with the harmonious succession of +varied vowel sounds and the well-marked cadence of his verse. + +When Apian's fleet comes down the river and passes the spot where the +little maid seeks for gold, the men see her and invite her on board. She +will go down to Beaucaire to sell her findings. Jean Roche offers +himself in marriage, but she will have none of him; she loves the vision +seen beneath the waves. When the Anglore spies the blond-haired Prince, +she turns pale and nearly swoons. "'Tis he, 'tis he!" she cries, and she +stands fascinated. William, charmed with the little maid, says to her, +"I recognize thee, O Rhone flower, blooming on the water--flower of good +omen that I saw in a dream." The little maid calls him Drac, identifies +the flower in his hand, and lives on in this hallucination. The boatmen +consider that she has lost her reason, and say she must have drunk of +the fountain of Tourne. The little maid hears them, and bids them speak +low, for their fate is written at the fountain of Tourne; and like a +Sibyl, raising her bare arm, she describes the mysterious carvings on +the rock, and the explanation given by a witch she knew. These carvings, +according to Mistral's note, were dedicated to the god Mithra. The +meaning given by the witch is that the day the Drac shall leave the +river Rhone forever, that day the boatmen shall perish. The men do not +laugh, for they have already heard of the great boats that can make +their way against the current without horses. Apian breaks out into +furious imprecations against the men who would ruin the thousands that +depend for their living upon the river. One is struck by this +introduction of a question of political economy into a poem. + +During the journey to Avignon the Prince falls more and more in love +with the little Anglore, whom no sort of evidence can shake out of her +belief that the Prince is the Drac, for the Drac can assume any form at +pleasure. Her delusion is so complete, so naive, that the prince, +romantic by nature, is entirely under the spell. + +There come on board three Venetian women, who possess the secret of a +treasure, twelve golden statues of the Apostles buried at Avignon. The +Prince leaves the boat to help them find the place, and the little maid +suffers intensely the pangs of jealousy. But he comes back to her, and +takes her all about the great fair at Beaucaire. That night, however, he +wanders out alone, and while calling to mind the story of Aucassin and +Nicolette, he is sandbagged, but not killed. The Anglore believes he has +left his human body on the ground so as to visit his caverns beneath the +Rhone. William seems unhurt, and at the last dinner before they start to +go up the river again, surrounded by the crew, he makes them a truly +Felibrean speech:-- + +"Do you know, friends, to whom I feel like consecrating our last meal in +Beaucaire? To the patriots of the Rhodanian shores, to the dauntless men +who, in olden days, maintained themselves in the strong castle that +stands before our eyes, to the dwellers along the riverbanks who +defended so valiantly their customs, their free trade, and their great +free Rhone. If the sons of those forefathers who fell bravely in the +strife, to-day have forgotten their glory, well, so much the worse for +the sons! But you, my mates, you who have preserved the call, Empire! +and who, like the brave men you are, will soon go and defend the Rhone +in its very life, fighting your last battle with me, a stranger, but +enraptured and intoxicated with the light of your Rhone, come, raise +your glasses to the cause of the vanquished!" + +The love scenes between the Prince and the Anglore continue during the +journey up the river. Her devotion to him is complete; she knows not +whither she goes, if to perish, then let it be with him. In a moment of +enthusiasm William makes a passionate declaration. + +"Trust me, Anglore, since I have freely chosen thee, since thou hast +brought me thy deep faith in the beautiful wonders of the fable, since +thou art she who, without thought, yields to her love, as wax melts in +the sun, since thou livest free of all our bonds and shams, since in thy +blood, in thy pure bosom, lies the renewal of the old sap, I, on my +faith as a Prince, I swear to thee that none but me, O my Rhone flower, +shall have the happiness to pluck thee as a flower of love and as a +wife!" + +But this promise is never kept. One day the boats meet the steamer +coming down the river. Apian, pale and silent, watches the magic bark +whose wheels beat like great paws, and, raising great waves, come down +steadily upon him. + +The captain cries, "One side!" but, obstinate and angry, Apian tries to +force the steamer to give way. The result is disastrous. The steamer +catches in the towing cables and drags the horses into the water. The +boats drift back and are hurled against a bridge. William and the +Anglore are thrown into the river and are lost. All the others escape +with their lives. Jean Roche is not sure but that he was the Drac after +all, who, foreseeing the shipwreck, had thus followed the boats, to +carry the Anglore at last down into the depths of the river. Maitre +Apian accepts his ruin philosophically. Addressing his men, he says: +"Ah, my seven boats! my splendid draught horses! All gone, all ruined! +It is the end of the business! Poor fellow-boatmen, you may well say, +'good-by to a pleasant life.' To-day the great Rhone has died, as far as +we are concerned." + +The idea of the poem is, then, to tell of the old life on the Rhone. +To-day the river flows almost as in the days when its shores were untrod +by men. Rarely is any sort of boat seen upon its swift and dangerous +current. Mistral portrays the life he knew, and he has done it with +great power and vividness. The fanciful tale of the Prince and the +Anglore, suggested by the beliefs and superstitions of the humble folk, +was introduced, doubtless, as a necessary love story. The little maid +Anglore, half mad in her illusion, is none the less a very sympathetic +creation, and surely quite original. This tale, however, running through +the poem like a thread, is not the poem, nor does it fill +proportionately a large place therein. The poem is, as its title +proclaims, the Poem of the Rhone, a poem of sincere regret for the good +old days when the muscular sons of Condrieu ruled the stream, the days +of jollity, of the curious boating tournaments of which one is described +in _Calendau_, when the children used to watch the boats go by with a +Condrillot at the helm, and the Rhone was swarming like a mighty +beehive. The poet notes in sorrow that all is dead. The river flows on, +broad and silent, and no vestige of all its past activity remains, but +here and there a trace of the cables that used to rub along the stones. + +As we said at the outset, what is most striking about this poem is its +realism. The poet revels in enumerating the good things the men had to +eat at the feast of Saint Nicholas; he describes with a wealth of +vocabulary and a flood of technical terms quite bewildering every sort +of boat, and all its parts with their uses; he reproduces the talk of +the boatmen, leaving unvarnished their ignorance and superstition, +their roughness and brutality; he describes their appearance, their +long hair and large earrings; he explains the manner of guiding the +boats down the swirling, treacherous waters, amid the dangers of shoals +and hidden rocks; he describes all the cargoes, not finding it beneath +the dignity of an epic poem to tell us of the kegs of foamy beer that is +destined for the thirsty throats of the drinkers at Beaucaire; as the +boats pass Condrieu, he reproduces the gossip of the boatmen's wives; he +does not omit the explanations of Apian addressed to the Prince +concerning fogs and currents; he is often humorous, telling us of the +heavy merchants who promenade their paunches whereon the watch-charms +rattle against their snug little money carried in a belt; he describes +the passengers, tells us their various trades and destinations, is even +cynical; tells of the bourgeois, who, once away from their wives, grow +suddenly lavish with their money, and like pigs let loose in the street, +take up the whole roadway; he does not shrink from letting us know that +the men chew a cud of tobacco while they talk; he mentions the price of +goods; he puts into the mouth of Jean Roche's mother a great many +practical and material considerations as to the matter of taking a +wife, and a very wise and practical old lady she is; he treats as +"joyeusetes" the conversation of the Venetian women who inform the +Prince that in their city the noblewoman, once married, may have quite a +number of lovers without exciting any comment, the husband being rather +relieved than otherwise; he allows his boatmen to swear and call one +another vile names, and a howling, brawling lot they frequently become; +and when at last we get to the fair at Beaucaire, there are pages of +minute enumerations that can scarcely be called Homeric. In short, a +very large part of the book is prose, animated, vigorous, often +exaggerated, but prose. Like his other long poems it is singularly +objective. Rarely does the author interrupt his narrative or description +to give an opinion, to speak in his own name, or to analyze the +situation he has created. Like the other poems, too, it is sprinkled +with tales and legends of all sorts, some of them charming. +Superstitions abound. Mistral shares the fondness of the Avignonnais for +the number seven. Apian has seven boats, the Drac keeps his victim seven +years, the woman of Condrieu has seven sons. + +The poem offers the same beauties as the others, an astonishing power of +description first of all. Mistral is always masterly, always poetic in +depicting the landscape and the life that moves thereon, and especially +in evoking the life of the past. He revives for us the princesses and +queens, the knights and troubadours, and they move before us, a +fascinating, glittering pageant. The perfume of flowers, the sunlight on +the water, the great birds flying in the air, the silent drifting of the +boats in the broad valley, the reflection of the tall poplars in the +water, the old ruins that crown the hilltops--all these things are +exquisitely woven into the verse, and more than a mere word-painting +they create a mood in the reader in unison with the mood of the person +of whom he is reading. + +In touching truly deep and serious things Mistral is often superficial, +and passes them off with a commonplace. An instance in this poem is the +episode of the convicts on their way to the galleys at Toulon. No +terrible indignation, no heartfelt pity, is expressed. Apian silences +one of his crew who attempts to mock at the unhappy wretches. "They are +miserable enough without an insult! and do not seem to recognize them, +for, branded on the shoulder, they seek the shade. Let this be an +example to you all. They are going to eat beans at Toulon, poor fellows! +All sorts of men are there,--churchmen, rascals, nobles, notaries, even +some who are innocent!" + +And the poet concludes, "Thus the world, thus the agitation, the stir of +life, good, evil, pleasure, pain, pass along swiftly, confusedly, +between day and night, on the river of time, rolling along and fleeing." + +The enthusiasm of the poet leads him into exaggeration whenever he comes +to a wonder of Provence. Things are relative in this world, and the same +words carry different meanings. Avignon is scarcely a colossal pile of +towers, and would not remind many of Venice, even at sunset, and we must +make a discount when we hear that the boats are _engulfed_ in the +_fierce_ (_sic_) arch of the _colossal_ bridge of stone that Benezet, +the shepherd, erected seven hundred years ago. A moment later he refers +daintily and accurately to the chapel of Saint Nicholas "riding on the +bridge, slender and pretty." The epithets sound larger, too, in +Provencal; the view of Avignon is "espetaclouso," the walls of the +castle are "gigantesco." + +Especially admirable in its sober, energetic expression is the account +of the _Remonte_, in the eleventh canto, wherein we see the eighty +horses, grouped in fours, tug slowly up the river. + +"The long file on the rough-paved path, dragging the weighty train of +boats, in spite of the impetuous waters, trudges steadily along. And +beneath the lofty branches of the great white poplars, in the stillness +of the Rhone valley, in the splendor of the rising sun, walking beside +the straining horses that drive a mist from their nostrils, the first +driver says the prayer." + +With each succeeding poem the vocabulary of Mistral seems to grow, along +with the boldness of expression. All his poems he has himself translated +into French, and these translations are remarkable in more than one +respect. That of the _Poem of the Rhone_ is especially full of rare +French words, and it cannot be imputed to the leader of the Provencal +poets that he is not past master of the French vocabulary. Often his +French expression is as strange as the original. Not many French +writers would express themselves as he does in the following:-- + +"Et il tressaille de jumeler le nonchaloir de sa jeunesse au renouveau +de la belle ingenue." + +In this translation, also, more than in the preceding, there is +occasionally an affectation of archaism, which rather adds to than +detracts from the poetic effect of his prose, and the number of lines in +the prose translation that are really ten-syllable verses is quite +remarkable. On one page (page 183 of the third edition, Lemerre) more +than half the lines are verses. + +Is the _Poem of the Rhone_ a great poem? Whether it is or not, it +accomplishes admirably the purpose of its author, to fix in beautiful +verse the former life of the Rhone. That much of it is prosaic was +inevitable; the nature of the subject rendered it so. It is full of +beauties, and the poet who wrote _Mireio_ and completed it before his +thirtieth year, has shown that in the last decade of his threescore +years and ten he could produce a work as full of fire, energy, life, and +enthusiasm as in the stirring days when the Felibrige was young. In this +poem there occurs a passage put into the mouth of the Prince, which +gives a view of life that we suspect is the poet's own. He here calls +the Prince a young sage, and as we look back over Mistral's life, and +review its aims, and the conditions in which he has striven, we incline +to think that here, in a few words, he has condensed his thought. + +"For what is life but a dream, a distant appearance, an illusion gliding +on the water, which, fleeing ever before our eyes, dazzles us like a +mirror flashing, entices and lures us on! Ah, how good it is to sail on +ceaselessly toward one's desire, even though it is but a dream! The time +will come, it is near, perhaps, when men will have everything within +their reach, when they will possess everything, when they will know and +have proved everything; and, regretting the old mirages, who knows but +what they will not grow weary of living!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +LIS ISCLO D'OR + + +The lover of poetry will probably find more to admire and cherish in +this volume than in any other that has come from the pen of its author, +excepting, possibly, the best passages of _Mireio_. It is the collection +of his short poems that appeared from time to time in different +Provencal publications, the earliest dating as far back as 1848, the +latest written in 1888. They are a very complete expression of his +poetic ideas, and contain among their number gems of purest poesy. The +poet's lyre has not many strings, and the strains of sadness, of pensive +melancholy, are almost absent. Mistral has once, and very successfully, +tried the theme of Lainartine's _Lac_, of Musset's _Souvenir_, of Hugo's +_Tristesse d'Olympio_; but his poem is not an elegy, it has not the +intensity, the passion, the deep undertone of any of the three great +Romanticists. _La Fin dou Meissounie_ is a beautiful, pathetic, and +touching tale, that easily brings a tear, and _Lou Saume de la +Penitenci_ is without doubt one of the noblest poems inspired in the +heart of any Frenchman by the disaster of 1870. But these poems, though +among the best according to the feeling for poetry of a reader from +northern lands, are not characteristic of the volume in general. The +dominant strain is energy, a clarion-call of life and light, an appeal +to his fellow-countrymen to be strong and independent; the sun of +Provence, the language of Provence, the ideals of Provence, the memories +of Provence, these are his themes. His poetry is not personal, but +social. Of his own joys and sorrows scarce a word, unless we say what is +doubtless the truth, that his joys and sorrows, his regrets and hopes, +are identical with those of his native land, and that he has blended his +being completely with the life about him. The volume contains a great +number of pieces written for special occasions, for the gatherings of +the Felibres, for their weddings. Many of them are addressed to persons +in France and out, who have been in various ways connected with the +Felibrige. Of these the greeting to Lamartine is especially felicitous +in expression, and the following stanza from it forms the dedication of +_Mireio_:-- + + "Te counsacre Mireio: eo moun cor e moun amo, + Es la flour de mis an; + Es un rasin de Crau qu' eme touto sa ramo + Te porge un paisan." + +The entire poem, literally translated, is as follows:-- + + If I have the good fortune to see my bark early upon the waves, + Without fear of winter, + Blessings upon thee, O divine Lamartine, + Who hast taken the helm! + + If my prow bears a bouquet of blooming laurel, + It is thou hast made it for me; + If my sail swelleth, it is the breath of thy glory + That bloweth it. + + Therefore, like a pilot who of a fair church + Climbeth the hill + And upon the altar of the saint that hath saved him at sea + Hangeth a miniature ship. + + I consecrate Mireio to thee; 'tis my heart and my soul, + 'Tis the flower of my years; + 'Tis a cluster of grapes from the Crau that with all its leaves + A peasant offers thee. + + Generous as a king, when thou broughtest me fame + In the midst of Paris, + Thou knowest that, in thy home, the day thou saidst to me, + "Tu Marcellus eris!" + + Like the pomegranate in the ripening sunbeam, + My heart opened, + And, unable to find more tender speech, + Broke out in tears. + +It is interesting to notice that the earliest poem of our author, _La +Bella d'Avoust_, is a tale of the supernatural, a poem of mystery; it is +an order of poetic inspiration rather rare in his work, and this first +poem is quite as good as anything of its kind to be found in _Mireio_ or +_Nerto_. It has the form of a song with the refrain:-- + + Ye little nightingales, ye grasshoppers, be still! + Hear the song of the beauty of August! + +Margai of Val-Mairane, intoxicated with love, goes down into the plain +two hours before the day. Descending the hill, she is wild. "In vain," +she says, "I seek him, I have missed him. Ah, my heart trembles." + +The poem is full of imagery, delicate and pretty. Margai is so lovely +that in the clouds the moon, enshrouded, says to the cloud very softly, +"Cloud, beautiful cloud, pass away, my face would let fall a ray on +Margai, thy shadow hinders me." And the bird offers to console her, and +the glow-worm offers his light to guide her to her lover. Margai comes +and goes until she meets her lover in the shadow of the trees. She tells +of her weeping, of the moon, the birdling, and the glow-worm. "But thy +brow is dark, art thou ill? Shall I return to my father's house?" + +"If my face is sad, on my faith, it is because a black moth hovering +about hath alarmed me." + +And Margai says, "Thy voice, once so sweet, to-day seems a trembling +sound beneath the earth; I shudder at it." + +"If my voice is so hoarse, it is because while waiting for thee I lay +upon my back in the grass." + +"I was dying with longing, but now it is with fear. For the day of our +elopement, beloved, thou wearest mourning!" + +"If my cloak be sombre and black, so is the night, and yet the night +also glimmers." + +When the star of the shepherds began to pale, and when the king of +stars was about to appear, suddenly off they went, upon a black horse. +And the horse flew on the stony road, and the ground shook beneath the +lovers, and 'tis said fantastic witches danced about them until day, +laughing loudly. + +Then the white moon wrapped herself again, the birdling on the branch +flew off in fright, even the glow-worm, poor little thing, put out his +lamp, and quickly crept away under the grass. And it is said that at the +wedding of poor Margai there was little feasting, little laughing, and +the betrothal and the dancing took place in a spot where fire was seen +through the crevices. + +"Vale of Val-Mairane, road to the Baux, never again o'er hill or plain +did ye see Margai. Her mother prays and weeps, and will not have enough +of speaking of her lovely shepherdess." + +This weird, legendary tale was composed in 1848. The next effort of the +poet is one of his masterpieces, wherein his inspiration is truest and +most poetical. _La Fin dou Meissounie_ (The Reaper's Death) is a noble, +genuinely pathetic tale, told in beautifully varied verse, full of the +love of field work, and aglow with sympathy for the toilers. The figure +of the old man, stricken down suddenly by an accidental blow from the +scythe of a young man mowing behind him, as he lies dying on the rough +ground, urging the gleaners to go on and not mind him, praying to Saint +John,--the patron of the harvesters,--is one not to be forgotten. The +description of the mowing, the long line of toilers with their scythes, +the fierce sun making their blood boil, the sheaves falling by hundreds, +the ruddy grain waving in the breath of the mistral, the old chief +leading the band, "the strong affection that urged the men on to cut +down the harvest,"--all is vividly pictured, and foretells the future +poet of _Mireio_. The words of the old man are full of his energy and +faith: "The wheat, swollen and ripe, is scattering in the summer wind; +do not leave to the birds and ants, O binders, the wheat that comes from +God!" "What good is your weeping? better sing with the young fellows, +for I, before you all, have finished my task. Perhaps, in the land where +I shall be presently, it will be hard for me, when evening comes, to +hear no more, stretched out upon the grass, as I used to, the strong, +clear singing of the youth rising up amid the trees; but it appears, +friends, that it was my star, or perhaps the Master, the One above, +seeing the ripe grain, gathers it in. Come, come, good-by, I am going +gently. Then, children, when you carry off the sheaves upon the cart, +take away your chief on the load of wheat." + +And he begs Saint John to remember his olive trees, his family, who will +sup at Christmas-tide without him. "If sometimes I have murmured, +forgive me! The sickle, meeting a stone, cries out, O master Saint John, +the friend of God, patron of the reapers, father of the poor, up there +in Paradise, remember me." + +And after the old man's death "the reapers, silent, sickle in hand, go +on with the work in haste, for the hot mistral was shaking the ears." + +Among these earlier poems are found some cleverly told, homely tales, +with a pointed moral. Such are _La Plueio_ (The Rain), _La Rascladuro de +Petrin_ (The Scraping from the Kneading-trough). They are really +excellent, and teach the lesson that the tillers of the soil have a holy +calling, of which they may be proud, and that God sends them health and +happiness, peace and liberty. The second of the poems just mentioned is +a particularly amusing story of choosing a wife according to the care +she takes of her kneading-trough, the idea being derived from an old +fablieau. There are one or two others purely humorous and capitally +told. After 1860, however, the poet abandoned these homely, simple +tales, that doubtless realized Roumanille's ideas of one aspect of the +literary revival he was seeking to bring about. + +The poems are not arranged chronologically, but are classified as Songs, +Romances, Sirventes, Reveries, Plaints, Sonnets, Nuptial Songs, etc. + +The _Cansoun_ (Songs) are sung at every reunion of the Felibrige. They +are set to melodies well known in Provence, and are spirited and +vigorous indeed. The Germans who write about Provence are fond of making +known the fact that the air of the famous _Hymn to the Sun_ is a melody +written by Kuecken. There is _Lou Bastimen_ (The Ship), as full of dash +and go as any English sea ballad. _La Coutigo_ (The Tickling) is a +dialogue between a mother and her love-sick son. _La Coupo_ (The Cup) +is the song of the Felibres _par excellence_; it was composed for the +reception of a silver cup, sent to the Felibres by the Catalans. The +_coupo felibrenco_ is now a feature of all their banquets. The song +expresses the enthusiasm of the Felibres for their cause. The refrain +is, "Holy cup, overflowing, pour out in plenty the enthusiasms and the +energy of the strong." The most significant lines are:-- + + Of a proud, free people + We are perhaps the end; + And, if the Felibres fall, + Our nation will fall. + + Of a race that germs anew + Perhaps we are the first growth; + Of our land we are perhaps + The pillars and the chiefs. + + Pour out for us hope + And dreams of youth, + The memory of the past + And faith in the coming year. + +The ideas and sentiments, then, that are expressed in the shorter poems +of Mistral, written since the publication of _Mireio_, have been, in the +main, the ancient glories and liberties of Provence, a clinging to +national traditions, to local traditions, and to the religion and ideas +of ancestors, a profound dislike of certain modern ideas of progress, +hatred of the levelling influence of Paris, love of the Provencal +speech, belief in the Latin race, in the Roman Catholic Church, unshaken +faith in the future, love of the ideal and hatred of what is servile and +sordid, an ardent love of Nature, an intense love of life and movement. +These things are reflected in every variety of word and figure. He is +not the poet of the romantic type, self-centred, filling his verse with +the echoes of his own loves and joys and woes, nor is his poetry as +large as humanity; Provence, France, the Latin race, are the limits +beyond which it has no message or interest. + +Possibly no poet ever wrote as many lines to laud the language he was +using. Such lines abound in each volume he has produced. + + "Se la lengo di moussu + Toumbo en gargavaio + Se tant d'escrivan coussu + Pescon de ravaio, + Nautri, li bon Prouvencau + Vers li serre li plus aut + Enauren la lengo + De nosti valengo." + + If the language of the messieurs falls among the sweepings, if so + many comfortably well-off writers fish for small fry, we, the good + Provencals, toward the highest summits, raise the language of our + valleys. + +The Sirventes addressed to the Catalan poets begins:-- + + "Fraire de Catalougno, escoutas! Nous an di + Que fasias peralin revieure e resplendi + Un di rampau de nosto lengo." + + Brothers from Catalonia, listen! We have heard that ye cause one of + the branches of our language to revive and flourish yonder. + +In the same poem, the poet sings of the Troubadours, whom none have +since surpassed, who in the face of the clergy raised the language of +the common people, sang in the very ears of the kings, sang with love, +and sang freely, the coming of a new world and contempt for ancient +fears, and later on he says:-- + +"From the Alps to the Pyrenees, hand in hand, poets, let us then raise +up the old Romance speech! It is the sign of the family, the sacrament +that binds the sons to the forefathers, man to the soil! It is the +thread that holds the nest in the branches. Fearless guardians of our +beautiful speech, let us keep it free and pure, and bright as silver, +for a whole people drinks at this spring; for when, with faces on the +ground, a people falls into slavery, if it holds its language, it holds +the key that delivers it from the chains." + +The final stanza of the poem, written in honor of Jasmin in 1870, is as +follows:-- + +"For our dead and our fathers, and our sacred rights as a people and as +poets, that yesterday were trampled beneath the feet of the usurper, +and, outraged, cried out, now live again in glory! Now, between the two +seas the language of Oc triumphs. O Jasmin, thou hast avenged us!" + +In the _Rock of Sisyphus_ the poet says, "Formerly we kept the language +that Nature herself put upon our lips." + +In the _Poem to the Latin Race_ we read:-- + +"Thy mother tongue, the great stream that spreads abroad in seven +branches, pouring out love and light like an echo from Paradise, thy +golden speech, O Romance daughter of the King-People, is the song that +will live on human lips as long as speech shall have reason." + +Elsewhere we find:-- + +"Oh, maintain thy historic speech. It is the proof that always thou +carriest on high and free, thy coat of arms. In the language, a mystery, +an old treasure is found. Each year the nightingale puts on new plumage, +but keeps its song." + +One entire poem, _Espouscado_, is a bitterly indignant protest against +those who would suppress the dialect, against the regents and the +rectors whom "we must pay with our pennies to hear them scoff at the +language that binds us to our fathers and our soil!" And the poet cries +out, "No, no, we'll keep our rebellious _langue d'oc_, grumble who will. +We'll speak it in the stables, at harvest-time, among the silkworms, +among lovers, among neighbors, etc., etc. It shall be the language of +joy and of brotherhood. We'll joke and laugh with it;--and as for the +army, we'll take it to the barracks to keep off homesickness." + +And his anger rising, he exclaims:-- + +"O the fools, the fools, who wean their children from it to stuff them +with self-sufficiency, fatuity, and hunger! Let them get drowned in the +throng! But thou, O my Provence, be not disturbed about the sons that +disown thee and repudiate thy speech. They are dead, they are still-born +children that survive, fed on bad milk." + +And he concludes:-- + +"But, eldest born of Nature, you, the sun-browned boys, who speak with +the maidens in the ancient tongue, fear not; you shall remain the +masters! Like the walnuts of the plain, gnarled, stout, calm, +motionless, exploited and ill-treated as you may be, O peasants (as they +call you), you will remain masters of the land!" + +This was written in 1888. The quotations might be multiplied; these +suffice, however, to show the intense love of the poet for "the language +of the soil," the energy with which he has constantly struggled for its +maintenance. He is far from looking upon the multiplication of dialects +as an evil, points to the literary glory of Greece amid her many forms +of speech, and does not even seek to impose his own language upon the +rest of southern France. He sympathizes with every attempt, wherever +made, the world over, to raise up a patois into a language. Statesmen +will probably think otherwise, and there are nations which would at +once take an immense stride forward if they could attain one language +and a purely national literature. The modern world does not appear to be +marching in accordance with Mistral's view. + +The poems inspired by the love of the ancient ideals and literature of +Provence are very beautiful. They have in general a fascinating swing +and rhythm, and are filled with charming imagery. One of the best is +_L'Amiradou_ (The Belvedere), the story of a fairy imprisoned in the +castle at Tarascon, "who will doubtless love the one who shall free +her." Three knights attempt the rescue and fail. Then there comes along +a little Troubadour, and sings so sweetly of the prowess of his +forefathers, of the splendor of the Latin race, that the guard are +charmed and the bolts fly back. And the fairy goes up to the top of the +tower with the little Troubadour, and they stand mute with love, and +look out over all the beautiful landscape, and the old monuments of +Provence with their lessons. This is the kingdom of the fairy, and she +bestows it upon him. "For he who knows how to read in this radiant +book, must grow above all others, and all that his eye beholds, without +paying any tithe, is his in abundance." + +The lilt of this little _romance_, with its pretty repetitions, is +delightful, and the symbolism is, of course, perfectly obvious. + +There is the touching story of the Troubadour Catalan, slain by robbers +in the Bois de Boulogne, where the Pre de Catalan now is; there is the +tale that accounts for the great chain that hangs across the gorge at +Moustiers, a chain over six hundred feet long, bearing a star in the +centre. A knight, being prisoner among the Saracens, vows to hang the +chain before the chapel of the Virgin, if ever he returns home. + + "A ti ped, vierge Mario, + Ma cadeno penjarai, + Se jamai + Tourne mai + A Moustie, dins ma patrio!" + +There is the tale of the Princess Clemence, daughter of a king of +Provence. Her father was deformed, and the heir-presumptive to the +French crown sought her in marriage. In order that the prince might be +sure she had inherited none of the father's deformity, she was called +upon to show herself in the garb of Lady Godiva before his ambassadors. +This rather delicate subject is handled with consummate art. + +The idea of federalism is found expressed with sufficient clearness in +various parts of these poems of the Golden Isles, and the patriotism of +the poet, his love of France, is perfectly evident, in spite of all that +has been said to the contrary. In the poem addressed to the Catalans, +after numerous allusions to the dissensions and rebellions of bygone +days, we read:-- + +"Now, however, it is clear; now, however, we know that in the divine +order all is for the best; the Provencals, a unanimous flame, are part +of great France, frankly, loyally; the Catalans, with good-will, are +part of magnanimous Spain. For the brook must flow to the sea, and the +stone must fall on the heap; the wheat is best protected from the +treacherous cold wind when planted close; and the little boats, if they +are to navigate safely, when the waves are black and the air dark, must +sail together. For it is good to be many, it is a fine thing to say, 'We +are children of France!'" + +But in days of peace let each province develop its own life in its own +way. + +"And France and Spain, when they see their children warming themselves +together in the sunbeams of the fatherland, singing matins out of the +same book, will say, 'The children have sense enough, let them laugh and +play together, now they are old enough to be free.' + +"And we shall see, I promise you, the ancient freedom come down, O +happiness, upon the smallest city, and love alone bind the races +together; and if ever the black talon of the tyrant is seen, all the +races will bound up to drive out the bird of prey!" + +Of all the poems of Mistral expressing this order of ideas, the one +entitled _The Countess_ made the greatest stir. It appeared in 1866, and +called forth much angry discussion and imputation of treason from the +enemies of the new movement. _The Countess_ is an allegorical +representation of Provence; the fair descendant of imperial ancestors is +imprisoned in a convent by her half-sister France. Formerly she +possessed a hundred fortified towns, twenty seaports; she had olives, +fruit, and grain in abundance; a great river watered her fields; a +great wind vivified the land, and the proud noblewoman could live +without her neighbor, and she sang so sweetly that all loved her, poets +and suitors thronged about her. + +Now, in the convent where she is cloistered all are dressed alike, all +obey the rule of the same bell, all joy is gone. The half-sister has +broken her tambourines and taken away her vineyards, and gives out that +her sister is dead. + +Then the poet breaks into an appeal to the strong to break into the +great convent, to hang the abbess, and say to the Countess, "Appear +again, O splendor! Away with grief, away! Long life to joy!" + +Each stanza is followed by the refrain:-- + + "Ah! se me sabien entendre! + Ah! se me voulien segui!" + + Ah! if they could understand me! + Ah! if they would follow me! + +Mistral disdained to reply to the storm of accusations and +incriminations raised by the publication of this poem. _Lou Saumede la +Penitenci_, that appeared in 1870, set at rest all doubts concerning his +deep and sincere patriotism. + +_The Psalm of Penitence_ is possibly the finest of the short poems. It +is certainly surpassed by no other in intensity of feeling, in genuine +inspiration, in nobility and beauty of expression. It is a hymn of +sorrow over the woes of France, a prayer of humility and resignation +after the disaster of 1870. The reader must accept the idea, of course, +that the defeat of the French was a visitation of Providence in +punishment for sin. + + "Segnour, a la fin ta coulero + Largo si tron + Sus nosti front: + E dins la niue nosto galero + Pico d'a pro + Contro li ro." + + Lord, at last thy wrath hurls its thunderbolts upon our foreheads: + + And in the night our vessel strikes its prow against the rocks. + +France was punished for irreligion, for closing the temples, for +abandoning the sacraments and commandments, for losing faith in all +except selfish interest and so-called progress, for contempt of the +Bible and pride in science. + +The poet makes confession:-- + + "Segnour, sian tis enfant proudigue; + Mai nautri sian + Ti viei crestian: + Que ta Justico nous castigue, + Mai au trepas + Nous laisses pas!" + + Lord, we are thy prodigal sons; but we are thy Christians of old: + + Let thy justice chastise us, but give us not over unto death! + +Then the poet prays in the name of all the brave men who gave up their +lives in battle, in the name of all the mothers who will never again see +their sons, in the name of the poor, the strong, the dead, in the name +of all the defeats and tears and sorrow, the slaughter and the fires, +the affronts endured, that God disarm his justice, and he concludes:-- + + "Segnour, voulen deveni d'ome; + En liberta + Pos nous bouta! + Sian Gau-Rouman e gentilome, + E marchan dre + Dins noste endre. + + "Segnour, dou mau sian pas Pencauso. + Mando eicabas + Un rai de pas! + Segnour, ajudo nosto Causo, + E revieuren + E t'amaren." + + Lord, we desire to become men; thou canst set us free! + + We are Gallo-Romans and of noble race, and we walk upright in our + land. + + Lord, we are not the cause of the evil. Send down upon us a ray of + peace! Lord, aid our Cause, and we shall live again and love thee. + +The poem called _The Stone of Sisyphus_ completes sufficiently the +evidence necessary to exculpate Mistral of the charge of antipatriotism +and makes clear his thought. Provence was once a nation, she consented +years ago to lose her identity in the union with France. Now it is +proposed to heap up all the old traditions, the Gai Savoir, the glory of +the Troubadours, the old language, the old customs, and burn them on a +pyre. Well, France is a great people and _Vive la nation_. But some +would go further, some would suppress the nation: "Down with the +frontiers, national glories are an abomination! Wipe out the past, man +is God! _Vive l'humanite_!" Our patrimony we repudiate. What are Joan of +Arc, Saint Louis, and Turenne? All that is old rubbish. + +Then the people cry with Victor Hugo, "_Emperaire, siegues maudi, maudi, +maudi! nous as vendu_" and hurl down the Vendome column, burn Paris, +slaughter the priests, and then, worn out, commence again, like +Sisyphus, to push the rock of progress. + +So much for the conservatism of Mistral. + +We shall conclude this story of the shorter poems with some that are not +polemical or essentially Provencal; three or four are especially +noteworthy. _The Drummer of Arcole_, _Lou Prego-Dieu_, _Rescontre_ +(Meeting), might properly find a place in any anthology of general +poetry, and an ode on the death of Lamartine is sincere and beautiful. +Such poems must be read in the original. + +The first one, _The Drummer of Arcole_, is the story of a drummer boy +who saved the day at Arcole by beating the charge; but after the wars +are over, he is forgotten, and remains a drummer as before, becomes old +and regrets his life given up to the service of his country. But one +day, passing along the streets of Paris, he chances to look up at the +Pantheon, and there in the huge pediment he reads the words, "_Aux +grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante_." + +"'Drummer, raise thy head!' calls out a passer-by! 'The one up there, +hast thou seen him?' Toward the temple that stood superb the old man +raised his bewildered eyes. Just then the joyous sun shook his golden +locks above enchanted Paris.... + +"When the soldier saw the dome of the Pantheon rising toward heaven, and +with his drum hanging at his side, beating the charge, as if it were +real, he recognized himself, the boy of Arcole, away up there, right at +the side of the great Napoleon, intoxicated with his former fury, seeing +himself, so high, in full relief, above the years, the clouds, the +storms, in glory, azure, sunshine, he felt a gentle swelling in his +heart, and fell dead upon the pavement." + +_Lou Prego-Dieu_ is a sweet poem embodying a popular belief. Prego-dieu +is the name of a little insect, so called from the peculiar arrangement +of its legs and antennse that makes it appear to be in an attitude of +prayer. Mistral's poetic ideas have been largely suggested to him by +popular beliefs and the stories he heard at his fireside when a boy. +This poem is one of the best of the kind he has produced, and, being +eminently, characteristic, will find juster treatment in a literal +translation than in a commentary. The first half was written during the +time he was at work upon _Mireio_ in 1856, the second in 1874. We quote +the first stanza in the original, for the sake of showing its rhythm. + + "Ero un tantost d'aquel estieu + Que ni vihave ni dourmieu: + Fasieu miejour, tau que me plaise, + Lou cahessou + Toucant lou son + A l'aise." + + +I + +It was one afternoon this summer, while I was neither awake nor asleep. +I was taking a noon siesta, as is my pleasure, my head at ease upon the +ground. + +And greenish among the stubble, upon a spear of blond barley, with a +double row of seeds, I saw a prego-dieu. + +"Beautiful insect," said I, "I have heard that, as a reward for thy +ceaseless praying, God hath given thee the gift of divination. + +"Tell me now, good friend, if she I love hath slept well; tell what she +is thinking at this hour, and what she is doing; tell me if she is +laughing or weeping." + +The insect, that was kneeling, stirred upon the tube of the tiny, +leaning ear, and unfolded and waved his little wings. + +And his speech, softer than the softest breath of a zephyr wafted in a +wood, sweet and mysterious, reached my ear. + +"I see a maiden," said he, "in the cool shade beneath a cherry tree; the +waving branches touch her; the boughs hang thick with cherries. + +"The cherries are fully ripe, fragrant, solid, red, and, amid the smooth +leaves, make one hungry, and, hanging, tempt one. + +"But the cherry tree offers in vain the sweetness and the pleasing color +of its bright, firm fruit, red as coral. + +"She sighs, trying to see if she can jump high enough to pluck them. +Would that my lover might come! He would climb up, and throw them down +into my apron." + +So I say to the reapers: "Reapers, leave behind you a little corner +uncut, where, during the summer, the prego-dieu may have shelter." + + +II + +This autumn, going down a sunken road, I wandered off across the fields, +lost in earthly thoughts. + +And, once more, amid the stubble, I saw, clinging to a tiny ear of +grain, folded up in his double wing, the prego-dieu. + +"Beautiful insect," said I then, "I have heard that, as a reward for thy +ceaseless praying, God hath given thee the gift of divination. + +"And that if some child, lost amid the harvest fields, asks of thee his +way, thou, little creature, showest him the way through the wheat. + +"In the pleasures and pains of this world, I see that I, poor child, am +astray; for, as he grows, man feels his wickedness. + +"In the grain and in the chaff, in fear and in pride, in budding hope, +alas for me, I see my ruin. + +"I love space, and I am in chains; among thorns I walk barefoot; Love is +God, and Love sins; every enthusiasm after action is disappointed. + +"What we accomplished is wiped out; brute instinct is satisfied, and the +ideal is not reached; we must be born amid tears, and be stung among the +flowers. + +"Evil is hideous, and it smiles upon me; the flesh is fair, and it rots; +the water is bitter, and I would drink; I am languishing, I want to die +and yet to live. + +"I am falling faint and weary; O prego-dieu, cause some slight hope of +something true to shine upon me; show me the way." + +And straightway I saw that the insect stretched forth its slender arm +toward Heaven; mysterious, mute, earnest, it was praying. + + * * * * * + +Such reference to religious doubt is elsewhere absent from Mistral's +work. His faith is strong, and the energy of his life-work has its +source largely, not only in this religious faith, but in his firm belief +in himself, in his race, and in the mission he has felt called upon to +undertake. Reflected obviously in the above poem is the growth of the +poet in experience and in thought. + +Lastly, among the poems of his _Isclo d'Or_, we wish to call attention +to one that, in its theme, recalls _Le Lac_, _La Tristesse d'Olympio_, +and _Le Souvenir_. The poet comes upon the scene of his first love, and +apostrophizes the natural objects about him. All four poets intone the +strain, "Ye rocks and trees, guard the memory of our love." + + "O coumbo d'Uriage + Bos fresqueirous, + Ounte aven fa lou viage + Dis amourous, + O vau qu'aven noumado + Noste univers, + Se perdes ta ramado + Gardo mi vers." + +O vale of Uriage, cool wood, where we made our lovers' journey; O vale +that we called our world, if thou lose thy verdure, keep my verses. + +Ye flowers of the high meadows that no man knoweth, watered by Alpine +snows, ye are less pure and fresh in the month of April than the little +mouth that smiles for me. + +Ye thunders and stern voices of the peaks, murmurings of wild woods, +torrents from the mountains, there is a voice that dominates you all, +the clear, beautiful voice of my love. + +Alas! vale of Uriage, we may never return to thy leafy nooks. She, a +star, vanisheth in air, and I, folding my tent, go forth into the +wilderness. + + * * * * * + +Apart from the intrinsic worth of the thought or sentiment, there is +found in Mistral the essential gift of the poet, the power of +expression--of clothing in words that fully embody the meaning, and seem +to sing, in spontaneous musical flow, the inner inspiration. He is +superior to the other poets of the Felibrige, not only in the energy, +the vitality of his personality, and in the fertility of his ideas, but +also in this great gift of language. Even if he creates his vocabulary +as he goes along, somewhat after the fashion of Ronsard and the +_Pleiade_, he does this in strict accordance with the genius of his +dialect, fortunately for him, untrammelled by traditions, and, what is +significant, he does it acceptably. He is the master. His fellow-poets +proclaim and acclaim his supremacy. No one who has penetrated to any +degree into the genius of the Romance languages can fail to agree that +in this point exists a master of one of its forms. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TEAGEDY, LA REINO JANO + + +The peculiar qualities and limitations of Mistral are possibly nowhere +better evidenced than in this play. Full of charming passages, +frequently eloquent, here and there very poetic, it is scarcely +dramatic, and certainly not a tragedy either of the French or the +Shakespearian type. The most striking lines, the most eloquent tirades, +arise less from the exigences of the drama than from the constant desire +of the poet to give expression to his love of Provence. The attention of +the reader is diverted at every turn from the adventures of the persons +in the play to the glories and the beauties of the lovely land in which +our poet was born. The matter of a play is certainly contained in the +subject, but the energy of the author has not been spent upon the +invention of strong situations, upon the clash of wills, upon the +psychology of his characters, upon the interplay of passions, but rather +upon strengthening in the hearts of his Provencal hearers the love of +the good Queen Joanna, whose life has some of the romance of that of +Mary, Queen of Scots, and upon letting them hear from her lips and from +the lips of her courtiers the praises of Provence. + +Mistral enumerates eight dramatic works treating the life of his +heroine. They are a tragedy in five acts and a verse by Magnon (Paris, +1656), called _Jeanne Ire, reine de Naples_; a tragedy in five acts and +in verse by Laharpe, produced in 1781, entitled, _Jeanne de Naples_; an +opera-comique in three acts, the book by De Leuven and Brunswick, the +music by Monpon and Bordese, produced in 1840; an Italian tragedy, _La +Regina Griovanna_, by the Marquis of Casanova, written about 1840; an +Italian opera, the libretto by Ghislanzoni, who is known as the +librettist of _Aida_, the music by Petrella (Milan, 1875); a play in +verse by Brunetti, called _Griovanna I di Napoli_ (Naples, 1881); a +Hungarian play by Rakosi, _Johanna es Endre_, and lastly the trilogy of +Walter Savage Landor, _Andrea of Hungary_, _Griovanna of Naples_, and +_Fra Rupert_ (London, 1853). Mistral's play is dated May, 1890. + +It may be said concerning the work of Landor, which is a poem in +dramatic form rather than a play, that it offers scarcely any points of +resemblance with Mistral's beyond the few essential facts in the lives +of Andrea and Joanna. Both poets take for granted the innocence of the +Queen. It is worth noting that Provence is but once referred to in the +entire work of the English poet. + +The introduction that precedes Mistral's play quotes the account of the +life of the Queen from the _Dictionnaire_ of Moreri (Lyons, 1681), which +we here translate. + +"Giovanna, first of the name, Queen of Jerusalem, Naples, and Sicily, +Duchess of Apulia and Calabria, Countess of Provence, etc., was a +daughter of Charles of Sicily, Duke of Calabria, who died in 1328, +before his father Robert, and of Marie of Valois, his second wife. She +was only nineteen years of age when she assumed the government of her +dominions after her grandfather's death in 1343. She had already been +married by him to his nephew, Andrea of Hungary. This was not a happy +marriage; for the inclinations of both were extremely contrary, and the +prince was controlled by a Franciscan monk named Robert, and the +princess by a washerwoman called Filippa Catenese. These indiscreet +advisers brought matters to extremes, so that Andrea was strangled in +1345. The disinterested historians state ingenuously that Joanna was not +guilty of this crime, although the others accuse her of it. She married +again, on the 2d of August, 1346. Her second husband was Louis of +Tarento, her cousin; and she was obliged to leave Naples to avoid the +armed attack of Louis, King of Hungary, who committed acts of extreme +violence in this state. Joanna, however, quieted all these things by her +prudence, and after losing this second husband, on the 25th of March, +1362, she married not long afterward a third, James of Aragon, Prince of +Majorca, who, however, tarried not long with her. So seeing herself a +widow for the third time, she made a fourth match in 1376 with Otto of +Brunswick, of the House of Saxony; and as she had no children, she +adopted a relative, Charles of Duras.... This ungrateful prince revolted +against Queen Joanna, his benefactress.... He captured Naples, and laid +siege to the Castello Nuovo, where the Queen was. She surrendered. +Charles of Duras had her taken to Muro, in the Basilicata, and had her +put to death seven or eight months afterward. She was then in her +fifty-eighth year.... Some authors say that he caused her to be +smothered, others that she was strangled; but the more probable view is +that she was beheaded, in 1382, on the 5th of May. It is said that a +Provencal astrologer, doubtless a certain Anselme who lived at that +time, and who is very famous in the history of Provence, being +questioned as to the future husband of the young princess, replied, +'Maritabitur cum ALIO.' This word is composed of the initials of the +names of her four husbands, Andrea, Louis, James, and Otto. This +princess, furthermore, was exceedingly clever, fond of the sciences and +of men of learning, of whom she had a great many at her court, liberal +and beautiful, prudent, wise, and not lacking in piety. She it is that +sold Avignon to the popes. Boccaccio, Balde, and other scholars of her +time speak of her with praise." + +In offering an explanation of the great popularity enjoyed by Joanna of +Naples among the people of Provence, the poet does not hesitate to +acknowledge that along with her beauty, her personal charm, her +brilliant arrival on the gorgeous galley at the court of Clement VI, +whither she came, eloquent and proud, to exculpate herself, her long +reign and its vicissitudes, her generous efforts to reform abuses, must +be counted also the grewsome procession of her four husbands; and this +popularity, he says, is still alive, after five centuries. The poet +places her among such historic figures as Caius Marius, Ossian, King +Arthur, Count Raymond of Toulouse, the good King Rene, Anne of Brittany, +Roland, the Cid, to which the popular mind has attached heroic legends, +race traditions, and mysterious monuments. The people of Provence still +look back upon the days of their independence when she reigned, a sort +of good fairy, as the good old times of Queen Joanna. Countless castles, +bridges, churches, monuments, testify to her life among this +enthusiastic people. Roads and ruins, towers and aqueducts, bear her +name. Proverbs exist wherein it is preserved. "For us," says Mistral, +"the fair Joanna is what Mary Stuart is for the Scotch,--a mirage of +retrospective love, a regret of youth, of nationality, of poetry passed +away. And analogies are not lacking in the lives of the two royal, +tragic enchantresses." Petrarch, speaking of her and her young husband +surrounded by Hungarians, refers to them as two lambs among wolves. In a +letter dated from Vancluse, August, 1346, he deplores the death of the +King, but makes no allusion to the complicity of the Queen. + +Boccaccio proclaims her the special pride of Italy, so gracious, gentle, +and kindly, that she seemed rather the companion than the queen of her +subjects. + +Our author cites likewise some of her accusers, and considers most of +the current sayings against her as apocryphal. Some of these will not +bear quotation in English. Mistral evidently wishes to believe her +innocent, and he makes out a pretty good case. He approves the remark of +Scipione Ammirato, that she contracted four successive marriages through +a desire to have direct heirs. Another notices that had she been +dissolute, she would have preferred the liberty of remaining a widow. +The poet cites Pope Innocent VI, who gave her the golden rose, and sets +great store upon the expression of Saint Catherine of Siena, who calls +her "Venerabile madre in Gesu Cristo," and he concludes by saying, "We +prefer to concur in the judgment of the good Giannone (1676-1748), which +so well agrees with our traditions." + +The first act opens with a picture that might tempt a painter of Italian +scenes. The Queen and her gay court are seated on the lawn of the palace +garden at Naples, overlooking the bay and islands. At the very outset we +hear of the Gai Savoir, and the Queen utters the essentially Provencal +sentiment that "the chief glory the world should strive for is light, +for joy and love are the children of the sun, and art and literature the +great torches." She calls upon Anfan of Sisteron to speak to her of her +Provence, "the land of God, of song and youth, the finest jewel in her +crown," and Anfan, in long and eloquent tirades, tells of Toulouse and +Nice and the Isles of Gold, reviews the settling of the Greeks, the +domination of the Romans, and the sojourn of the Saracens; Aix and +Arles, les Baux, Toulon, are glorified again; we hear of the old +liberties of these towns where men sleep, sing, and shout, and of the +magnificence of the papal court at Avignon. + + "Enfin, en Avignoun, i'a lou papo! grandour + Poude, magnificenci, e poumpo e resplendour, + Que mestrejon la terro e fan, senso messorgo, + Boufa l'alen de Dieu i ribo de la Sorgo." + + Lastly, in Avignon, there's the Pope! greatness, power, + magnificence, pomp, and splendor, dominating the earth, and without + exaggeration, causing the breath of God to blow upon the banks of + the Sorgue. + +We learn that the brilliancy and animation of the court at Avignon +outshine the glories of Rome, and in language that fairly glitters with +its high-sounding, highly colored words. We hear of Petrarch and Laura, +and the associations of Vaucluse. + +At this juncture the Prince arrives, and is struck by the resemblance of +the scene to a court of love; he wonders if they are not discussing the +question whether love is not drowned in the nuptial holy water font, or +whether the lady inspires the lover as much with her presence as when +absent. And the Queen defends her mode of life and temperament; she +cannot brook the cold and gloomy ways of the north. Were we to apply +the methods of Voltaire's strictures of Corneille to this play, it might +be interesting to see how many _vers de comedie_ could be found in these +scenes of dispute between the prince consort and his light-hearted wife. + + "A l'avans! zou! en festo arrouinas lou Tresor!" + + Go ahead! that's right, ruin the treasury with your feasts! + +and to his objections to so many flattering courtiers, the Queen +replies:-- + + "Voules que moun palais devengue un mounastie?" + + Do you want my palace to become a monastery? + +Joanna replies nobly and eloquently to the threats of her husband to +assume mastery over her by violent means, and, in spite of the +anachronism (the poet makes her use and seemingly invent the term +_Renascence_), her defence of the arts and science of her time is +forceful and enthusiastic, and carries the reader along. That this sort +of eloquence is dramatic, appears, however, rather doubtful. + +The next scene interests us more directly in the characters before us. +The Prince, left alone with his confidant, Fra Rupert, gives expression +to his passionate love for the Queen, and pours forth the bitterness of +his soul to see it unrequited. The fierce Hungarian monk denounces, +rather justly, it appears to us, the license and levity of the Italian +court, and incites Andrea to an appeal to the Pope, "a potentate that +has no army, whose dominion extends from pole to pole, who binds and +unbinds at his will, upholds, makes, or unmakes thrones as an almighty +master." + +But Andrea fears the Queen would never pardon him. + + "E se noun ai en plen lou meu si caresso, + L'emperi universal! m'es un gourg d'amaresso!" + + And if I have not fully the honey of her caresses + The empire of the world is to me a gulf of bitterness. + +Finally the monk and La Catanaise stand alone before us. This woman is +the Queen's nurse, who loves her with a fierce sort of passion, and it +is she who commits the crime that causes the play to be called a +tragedy. This final scene brings out a flood of the most violent +vituperation from this veritable virago, some of it exceedingly low in +tone. The friar leaves with the threat to have a red-hot nail run +through her hellish tongue, and La Catanaise, standing alone, gives +vent to her fury in threats of murder. + +The next act reveals the Hall of Honor in the Castel-Nuovo at Naples. +Andrea in anger proclaims himself king, and in the presence of the Queen +and the Italian courtiers gives away one after another all the offices +and honors of the realm to his Hungarian followers. A conflict with +drawn swords is about to ensue, when the Queen rushes between the +would-be combatants, reminding them of the decree of the Pope; but +Andrea in fury accuses the Queen of conduct worthy a shameless +adventuress, and cites the reports that liken her to Semiramis in her +orgies. The Prince of Taranto throws down his glove to the enraged +Andrea, who replies by a threat to bring him to the executioner. The +Prince of Taranto answers that the executioner may be the supreme law +for a king, + + "Mai per un qu'a l'ounour dins lou pies e dins l'amo, + Uno escorno, cousin, se purgo eme la lamo." + + But for one who has honor in his breast and his soul, + An insult, cousin, is purged with the sword. + +Andrea turns to his knights, and leaving the room with them points to +the flag bearing the block and axe as emblems. The partisans of Joanna +remain full of indignation. La Catanaise addresses them. The Sicilians, +she says, waste no time in words, but have a speedier method of +punishing a wrong, and she reminds them of the massacre at Palermo. The +Prince of Taranto discountenances the proposed crime, for the Queen's +fair name would suffer. But the fierce woman points to the flag. "Do you +see that axe hanging from a thread? You are all cowards! Let me act +alone." And the Prince nobly replies, "Philippine, battles are fought in +the sunlight; men of our renown, men of my stamp, do not crouch down in +the dark shadow of a plot." And the Catanaise again shows the flag. "Do +you see the axe falling upon the block?" + +Joanna enters to offer the Prince her thanks for his chivalrous defence +of her fair name, and dismisses the other courtiers. The ensuing brief +scene between the Queen and the Prince is really very eloquent and very +beautiful. The Queen recalls the fact that she was married at nine to +Andrea, then only a child too; and she has never known love. The poorest +of the shepherdesses on the mountains of Calabria may quench her thirst +at the spring, but she, the Queen of the Sun, if to pass away the time, +or to have the appearance of happiness, she loves to listen to the echo +of song, to behold the joy and brilliancy of a noble fete, her very +smile becomes criminal. And the Prince reminds her that she is the +Provencal queen, and that in the great times of that people, if the +consort were king, love was a god, and he recalls the names of all the +ladies made famous by the Troubadours. Thereupon the Queen in an +outburst of enthusiasm truly Felibrean invokes the God of Love, the God +that slew Dido, and speaks in the spirit of the days of courtly love, "O +thou God of Love, hearken unto me. If my fatal beauty is destined sooner +or later to bring about my death, let this flame within me be, at least, +the pyre that shall kindle the song of the poet! Let my beauty be the +luminous star exalting men's hearts to lofty visions!" + +The chivalrous Prince is dismissed, and Joanna is alone with, her +thoughts. The little page Dragonet sings outside a plaintive song with +the refrain:-- + + "Que regret! + Jamai digues toun secret." + + What regret! + Never tell thy secret. + +La Catanaise endeavors to excite the fears of the Queen, insinuating +that the Pope may give the crown to Andrea. Joanna has no fear. + +"We shall have but to appear before the country with this splendor of +irresistible grace, and like the smoke borne away by the breeze, +suddenly my enemies shall disappear." + +We may ask whether such self-praise comes gracefully from the Queen +herself, whether she might not be less conscious of her own charm. La +Catanaise is again alone on the scene, threatening. "The bow is drawn, +the hen setting." This last comparison, the reader will remark, would be +simply impossible as the termination of an act in a serious English +play. This last scene, too, is wofully weak and purposeless. + +The conversation of three courtiers at the beginning of Act III apprises +us of the fact that the Pope has succeeded in bringing about a +reconciliation between the royal pair, and that they are both to be +crowned, and as a matter of precaution, the nurse Philippine, and the +monk Fra Rupert are to be sent upon their several ways. The scene is +next filled by the conspirators, La Catanaise directing the details of +the plots. It is made clear that the Queen is utterly ignorant of these +proceedings, which are after all useless; for we fail to see what valid +motive these plotters have to urge them on to their contemptible deed. A +brilliant banquet scene ensues, wherein Anfan of Sisteron sings a song +of seven stanzas about the fairy Melusine, and seven times Dragonet +sings the refrain, "Sian de la raco di lesert" (We are of the race of +the lizards). And there are enthusiastic tirades in praise of the Queen +and of Provence, and all is merry. But Andrea spills salt upon the +table, which evil augury seems to be taken seriously. This little +episode is foolish, and unwrorthy of a tragedy. We are on the verge of +an assassination. Either the gloomy forebodings and the terror of the +event should be impressed upon us, or the exaggerated gayety and high +spirits of the revellers should by contrast make the coming event seem +more terrible; but the spilling of salt is utterly trivial. After the +feast La Catanaise and her daughter proceed to their devilish work, in +the room now lighted only by the pale rays of the moon, while the voice +of the screech-owl is heard outside. The trap is set for the King; he is +strangled just out of sight with the silken noose. The Queen is roused +by her nurse. The palace is in an uproar, and the act terminates with a +passionate demand for vengeance and justice on the part of Fra Rupert. + +And now the Fourth Act. Here Mistral is in his element; here his love of +rocky landscapes, of azure seas and golden islands, of song and +festivity, finds full play. The tragedy is forgotten, the dramatic +action completely interrupted,--never mind. We accompany the Queen on +her splendid galley all the way from Naples to Marseilles. She leaves +amid the acclamations of the Neapolitans, recounts the splendors of the +beautiful bay, and promises to return "like the star of night coming out +of the mist, laurel in hand, on the white wings of her Provencal +galley." The boat starts, the rowers sing their plaintive rhythmic +songs, the Queen is enraptured by the beauty of the fleeing shores, the +white sail glistens in the glorious blue above. She is lulled by the +motion of the boat and the waving of the hangings of purple and gold. +Midway on her journey she receives a visit from the Infante of Majorca, +James of Aragon, who seems to be wandering over that part of the sea; +then the astrologer Anselme predicts her marriage with _Alio_ and her +death. She shall be visited with the sins of her ancestors; the blood +spilled by Charles of Anjou cries for vengeance. The Queen passes +through a moment of gloom. She dispels it, exclaiming: "Be it so, strike +where thou wilt, O fate, I am a queen; I shall fight, if need be, until +death, to uphold my cause and my womanly honor. If my wild planet is +destined to sink in a sea of blood and tears, the glittering trace I +shall leave on the earth will show at least that I was worthy to be thy +great queen, O brilliant Provence!" + +She descends into the ship, and the rowers resume their song. Later we +arrive at Nice, where the Queen is received by an exultant throng. She +forgets the awful predictions and is utterly filled with delight. She +will visit all the cities where she is loved, her ambition is to see her +flag greeted all along the Mediterranean with shouts of joy and love. +She feels herself to be a Provencale. "Come, people, here I am; breathe +me in, drink me in! It is sweet to me to be yours, and sweet to please +you; and you may gaze in love and admiration upon me, for I am your +queen!" + +The journey is resumed. We pass the Isles of Gold, and the raptures are +renewed. At Marseilles the Queen is received by the Consuls, and swears +solemnly to respect all the rights, customs, and privileges of the land, +and the Consul exacts as the last oath that she swear to see that the +noble speech of Arles shall be maintained and spoken in the land of +Provence. The act closes with the sentiment, "May Provence triumph in +every way!" + +The last act brings us to the great hall of the papal palace at Avignon, +where the Pope is to pronounce judgment upon the Queen. Fra Rupert, +disguised as a pilgrim, harangues the throng, and two Hungarian knights +are beaten in duel by Galeas of Mantua. This duel, with its alternate +cries of Dau! Dau! Te! Te! Zou! Zou! is difficult to take seriously and +reminds us of Tartarin. The Queen enters in conversation with Petrarch. +The Hungarian knights utter bitter accusations against the Queen, who +gives them in place of iron chains the golden chains about her neck, +whereupon the knights gallantly declare their hearts are won forever. +The doors open at the back and we see the papal court. Bertrand des +Baux gives a hideous account of the torture and death of those who had +a hand in the death of Andrea. The Queen makes a long speech, expressing +her deep grief at the calumnies and slander that beset her. The court +and people resolve themselves into a kind of opera chorus, expressing +their various sentiments in song. The Queen next reviews her life with +Andrea, and concludes:-- + +"And it seemed to me noble and worthy of a queen to melt with a glance +the cold of the frost, to make the almond tree blossom with a smile, to +be amiable to all, affable, generous, and lead my people with a thread +of wool! Yes, all the thought of my mad youth was to be loved and to +reign by the power of love. Who could have foretold that, afterward, on +the day of the great disaster, all this should be made a reproach +against me! that I should be accused, at the age of twenty, of +instigating an awful crime!" + +And she breaks down weeping. The page, the people, the pilgrim, and the +astrologer again sing in a sort of operatic ensemble their various +emotions. The Pope absolves the Queen, the pilgrim denounces the verdict +furiously, and is put to death by Galeas of Mantua. So ends the play. + +_La Reino Jano_ is a pageant rather than a tragedy. It is full of song +and sunshine, glow and glitter. The characters all talk in the +exaggerated and exuberant style of Mistral, who is not dramatist enough +to create independent being, living before us. The central personage is +in no sense a tragic character. The fanatical Fra Rupert and the low, +vile-tongued Catanaise are not tragic characters. The psychology +throughout is decidedly upon the surface. + +The author in his introduction warns us that to judge this play we must +place ourselves at the point of view of the Provencals, in whom many an +expression or allusion that leaves the ordinary reader or spectator +untouched, will possibly awaken, as he hopes, some particular emotion. +This is true of all his literature; the Provencal language, the +traditions, the memories of Provence, are the web and woof of it all. + +It is interesting to note the impression made by the language upon a +Frenchman and a critic of the rank of Jules Lemaitre. He says in +concluding his review of this play:-- + +"The language is too gay, it has too much sing-song, it is too +harmonious. It does not possess the rough gravity of the Spanish, and +has too few of the _i_'s and _e_'s that soften the sonority of the +Italian. I may venture to say it is too expressive, too full of +onomatopoeia. Imagine a language, in which to say, "He bursts out +laughing," one must use the word _s'escacalasso_! There are too many +_on_'s and _oun_'s and too much _ts_ and _dz_ in the pronunciation. So +that the Provencal language, in spite of everything, keeps a certain +patois vulgarity. It forces the poet, so to say, to perpetual +song-making. It must be very difficult, in that language, to have an +individual style, still more difficult to express abstract ideas. But it +is a merry language." + +The play has never yet been performed, and until a trial is made, one is +inclined to think it would not be effective, except as a spectacle. It +is curious that the Troubadours produced no dramatic literature +whatever, and that the same lack is found in the modern revival. + +Aubanel's _Lou Pan dou Pecat_ (The Bread of Sin), written in 1863, and +performed in 1878 at Montpellier, seems to have been successful, and +was played at Paris at the Theatre Libre in 1888, in the +verse-translation made by Paul Arene. Aubanel wrote two other plays, +_Lou Pastre_, which is lost, and _Lou Raubaton_, a work that must be +considered unfinished. Two plays, therefore, constitute the entire +dramatic production in the new language. + + + + +PART THIRD + + +CONCLUSIONS + + + + +CONCLUSIONS + + +It would be idle to endeavor to determine whether Mistral is to be +classed as a great poet, or whether the Felibres have produced a great +literature, and nothing is defined when the statement is made that +Mistral is or is not a great poet. His genius may be said to be limited +geographically, for if from it were eliminated all that pertains +directly to Provence, the remainder would be almost nothing. The only +human nature known to the poet is the human nature of Provence, and +while it is perfectly true that a human being in Provence could be +typical of human nature in general, and arouse interest in all men +through his humanity common to all, the fact is, that Mistral has not +sought to express what is of universal interest, but has invariably +chosen to present human life in its Provencal aspects and from one point +of view only. A second limitation is found in the unvarying exteriority +of his method of presenting human nature. Never does he probe deeply +into the souls of his Provencals. Very vividly indeed does he reproduce +their words and gestures; but of the deeper under-currents, the inner +conflicts, the agonies of doubt and indecision, the bitterness of +disappointments, the lofty aspirations toward a higher inner life or a +closer communion with the universe, the moral problems that shake a +human soul, not a syllable. Nor is he a poet who pours out his own soul +into verse. + +External nature is for him, again, nature as seen in Provence. The rocks +and trees, the fields and the streams, do not awaken in him a stir of +emotions because of their power to compel a mood in any responsive +poetic soul, but they excite him primarily as the rocks and trees, the +fields and streams of his native region. He is no mere word-painter. +Rarely do his descriptions appear to exist for their own sake. They +furnish a necessary, fitting, and delightful background to the action of +his poems. They are too often indications of what a Provencal ought to +consider admirable or wonderful, they are sometimes spoiled by the +poet's excessive partiality for his own little land. His work is ever +the work of a man with a mission. + +There is no profound treatment of the theme of love. Each of the long +poems and his play have a love story as the centre of interest, but the +lovers are usually children, and their love utterly without +complications. There is everywhere a lovely purity, a delightful +simplicity, a straightforward naturalness that is very charming, but in +this theme as in the others, Mistral is incapable of tragic depths and +heights. So it is as regards the religious side of man's nature. The +poet's work is filled with allusions to religion; there are countless +legends concerning saints and hermits, descriptions of churches and the +papal palace, there is the detailed history of the conversion of +Provence to Christianity, but the deepest religious spirit is not his. +Only twice in all his work do we come upon a profounder religious sense, +in the second half of _Lou Prego-Dieu_ and in _Lou Saume de la +Penitenci_. There is no doubt that Mistral is a believer, but religious +feeling has not a large place in his work; there are no other +meditations upon death and destiny. + +And this _ame du Midi, spirit of Provence_, the genius of his race that +he has striven to express, what is it? How shall it be defined or +formulated? Alphonse Daudet, who knew it, and loved it, whose Parisian +life and world-wide success did not destroy in him the love of his +native Provence, who loved the very food of the Midi above all others, +and jumped up in joy when a southern intonation struck his ear, and who +was continually beset with longings to return to the beloved region, has +well defined it. He was the friend of Mistral and followed the poet's +efforts and achievements with deep and affectionate interest. It is not +difficult to see that the satire in the "Tartarin" series is not unkind, +nor is it untrue. Daudet approved of the Felibrige movement, though what +he himself wrote in Provencal is insignificant. He believed that the +national literature could be best vivified by those who most loved their +homes, that the best originality could thus be attained. He has +said:[17]-- + +"The imagination of the southerners differs from that of the northerners +in that it does not mingle the different elements and forms in +literature, and remains lucid in its outbreaks. In our most complex +natures you never encounter the entanglement of directions, relations, +and figures that characterizes a Carlyle, a Browning, or a Poe. For this +reason the man of the north always finds fault with the man of the south +for his lack of depth and darkness. + +"If we consider the most violent of human passions, love, we see that +the southerner makes it the great affair of his life, but does not allow +himself to become disorganized. He likes the talk that goes with it, its +lightness, its change. He hates the slavery of it. It furnishes a +pretext for serenades, fine speeches, light scoffing, caresses. He finds +it difficult to comprehend the joining together of love and death, which +lies in the northern nature, and casts a shade of melancholy upon these +brief delights." + +Daudet notes the ease with which the southerner is carried away and +duped by the mirage of his own fancy, his semi-sincerity in excitement +and enthusiasm. He admired the natural eloquence of his Provencals. He +found a justification for their exaggerations. + +"Is it right to accuse a man of lying, who is intoxicated with his own +eloquence, who, without evil intent, or love of deceit, or any instinct +of scheming or false trading, seeks to embellish his own life, and other +people's, with stories he knows to be illusions, but which he wishes +were true? Is Don Quixote a liar? Are all the poets deceivers who aim to +free us from realities, to go soaring off into space? After all, among +southerners, there is no deception. Each one, within himself, restores +things to their proper proportions." + +Daudet had Mistral's love of the sunshine. He needed it to inspire him. +He believed it explained the southern nature. + +Concerning the absence of metaphysics in the race he says:-- + +"These reasonings may culminate in a state of mind such as we see +extolled in Buddhism, a colorless state, joyless and painless, across +which the fleeting splendors of thought pass like stars. Well, the man +of the south cares naught for that sort of paradise. The vein of real +sensation is freely, perpetually open, open to life. The side that +pertains to abstraction, to logic, is lost in mist." + +We have referred to the power of story-telling among the Provencals and +their responsiveness as listeners. Daudet mentions the contrast to be +observed between an audience of southerners and the stolid, +self-contained attitude of a crowd in the north. + +The evil side of the southern temperament, the faults that accompany +these traits, are plainly stated by the great novelist. Enthusiasm turns +to hypocrisy, or brag; the love of what glitters, to a passion for +luxury at any cost; sociability, the desire to please, become weakness +and fulsome flattery. The orator beats his breast, his voice is hoarse, +choked with emotion, his tears flow conveniently, he appeals to +patriotism and the noblest sentiments. There is a legend, according to +Daudet, which says that when Mirabeau cried out, "We will not leave +unless driven out at the point of the bayonet," a voice off at one side +corrected the utterance, murmuring sarcastically, "And if the bayonets +come, we make tracks!" + +The southerner, when he converses, is roused to animation readily. His +eye flashes, his words are uttered with strong intonations, the +impressiveness of a quiet, earnest, self-contained manner is unknown to +him. + +Daudet is a novelist and a humorist. Mistral is a poet; hence, although +he professes to aim at a full expression of the "soul of his Provence," +there are many aspects of the Provencal nature that he has not touched +upon. He has omitted all the traits that lend themselves to satirical +treatment, and, although he is in many ways a remarkable realist, he has +very little dramatic power, and seems to lack the gift of searching +analysis of individual character. It is hardly fair to reckon it as a +shortcoming in the poet and apostle of Provence that he presents only +what is most beautiful in the life about him. The novelist offers us a +faithful and vivid image of the men of his own day. The poet glorifies +the past, clings to tradition, and exhorts his countrymen to return to +it. + +Essentially and above all else a conservative, Mistral has the gravest +doubts about so-called modern progress. Undoubtedly honest in desiring +the well-being of his fellow Provencals, he believes that this can be +preserved or attained only by a following of tradition. There must be no +breaking with the past. Daudet, late in life, adhered to this doctrine. +His son quotes him as saying:-- + +"I am following, with gladness, the results of the impulse Mistral has +given. Return to tradition! that is our salvation in the present going +to pieces. I have always felt this instinctively. It came to me clearly +only a few years ago. It is a bad thing to become wholly loosened from +the soil, to forget the village church spire. Curiously enough poetry +attaches only to objects that have come down to us, that have had long +use. What is called _progress_, a vague and very doubtful term, rouses +the lower parts of our intelligence. The higher parts vibrate the better +for what has moved and inspired a long series of imaginative minds, +inheriting each from a predecessor, strengthened by the sight of the +same landscapes, by the same perfumes, by the touch of the same +furniture, polished by wear. Very ancient impressions sink into the +depth of that obscure memory which we may call the _race-memory_, out of +which is woven the mass of individual memories." + +Mistral is truly the poet of the Midi. One can best see how superior he +is as an artist in words by comparing him with the foremost of his +fellow-poets. He is a master of language. He has the eloquence, the +enthusiasm, the optimism of his race. His poetic earnestness saves his +tendency to exaggerate. His style, in all its superiority, is a southern +style, full of interjections, full of long, sonorous words. His thought, +his expressions, are ever lucid. His art is almost wholly objective. His +work has extraordinary unity, and therefore does not escape the monotony +that was unavoidable when the poet voluntarily limited himself to a +single purpose in life, and to treatment of the themes thereunto +pertaining. Believers in material progress, those who look for great +changes in political and social conditions, will turn from Mistral with +indifference. His contentment with present things, and his love of the +past, are likely to irritate them. Those who seek in a poet consolation +in the personal trials of life, a new message concerning human destiny, +a new note in the everlasting themes that the great poets have sung, +will be disappointed. + +A word must be said of him as a writer of French. In the earlier years +he felt the weight of the Academy. He did not feel that French would +allow full freedom. He was scrupulous and timid. He soon shook off this +timidity and became a really remarkable wielder of the French tongue. +His translations of his own works have doubtless reached a far wider +public than the works themselves, and are certainly characterized by +great boldness, clearness, and an astonishingly large vocabulary. + +His earlier work is clearly inspired by his love of Greek literature, +and those qualities in Latin literature wherein the Greek genius shines +through, possibly also by some mysterious affinity with the Greek spirit +resulting from climate or atavism. This never entirely left him. When +later he writes of Provence in the Middle Age, of the days of the +Troubadours, his manner does not change; his work offers no analogies +here with the French Romantic school. + +No poet, it would seem, was ever so in love with his own language; no +artist ever so loved the mere material he was using. Mistral loves the +words he uses, he loves their sound, he loves to hear them from the lips +of those about him; he loves the intonations and the cadences of his +verse; his love is for the speech itself aside from any meaning it +conveys. A beautiful instrument it is indeed. Possibly nothing is more +peculiarly striking about him than this extreme enthusiasm for his +golden speech, his _lengo d'or_. + +To him must be conceded the merit of originality, great originality. In +seeking the source of many of his conceptions, one is led to the +conclusion, and his own testimony bears it out, that they are the +creations of his own fancy. If there is much prosaic realism in the +_Poem of the Rhone_, the Prince and the Anglore are purely the children +of Mistral's almost naive imagination, and Calendau and Esterello are +attached to the real world of history by the slenderest bonds. When we +seek for resemblances between his conceptions and those of other poets, +we can undoubtedly find them. Mireille now and then reminds of Daphnis +and Chloe, of Hermann and Dorothea, of Evangeline, but the differences +are far more in evidence than the resemblances. Esterello is in an +attitude toward Calendau not without analogy to that of Beatrice toward +Dante, but it would be impossible to find at any point the slightest +imitation of Dante. Some readers have been reminded of Faust in reading +_Nerto_, but beyond the scheme of the Devil to secure a woman's soul, +there is little similarity. Nothing could be more utterly without +philosophy than _Nerto_. Mistral has drawn his inspirations from within +himself; he has not worked over the poems and legends of former poets, +or sought much of his subject-matter in the productions of former ages. +He has not suffered from the deep reflection, the pondering, and the +doubt that destroy originality. + +If Mistral had written his poems in French, he would certainly have +stood apart from the general line of French poets. It would have been +impossible to attach him to any of the so-called "schools" of poetry +that have followed one another during this century in France. He is as +unlike the Romantics as he is unlike the Parnassians. M. Brunetiere +would find no difficulty in applying to his work the general epithet of +"social" that so well characterizes French literature considered in its +main current, for Mistral always sings to his fellow-men to move them, +to persuade them, to stir their hearts. Almost all of his poems in the +lyrical form show him as the spokesman of his fellows or as the leader +urging them to action. He is therefore not of the school of "Art for +Art's sake," but his art is consecrated to the cause he represents. + +His thought is ever pure and high; his lessons are lessons of love, of +noble aims, of energy and enthusiasm. He is full of love for the best in +the past, love of his native soil, love of his native landscapes, love +of the men about him, love of his country. He is a poet of the "Gai +Saber," joyous and healthy, he has never felt a trace of the bitterness, +the disenchantment, the gloom and the pain of a Byron or a Leopardi. He +is eminently representative of the race he seeks to glorify in its own +eyes and in the world's, himself a type of that race at its very best, +with all its exuberance and energy, with its need of outward +manifestation, life and movement. An important place must be assigned to +him among those who have bodied forth their poetic conceptions in the +various euphonious forms of speech descended from the ancient speech of +Rome. + +In Provence, and far beyond its borders, he is known and loved. His +activity has not ceased. His voice is still heard, clear, strong, +hopeful, inspiring. _Mireille_ is sung in the ruined Roman theatre at +Aries, museums are founded to preserve Provencal art and antiquities, +the Felibrean feasts continue with unabated enthusiasm. Mistral's life +is a successful life; he has revived a language, created a literature, +inspired a people. So potent is art to-day in the old land of the +Troubadours. All the charm and beauty of that sunny land, all that is +enchanting in its past, all the best, in the ideal sense, that may be +hoped for in its future, is expressed in his musical, limpid, lovely +verse. Such a poet and such a leader of men is rare in the annals of +literature. Such complete oneness of purpose and of achievement is rare +among men. + +[Footnote 17: See _Revue de Paris_, 15 avril, 1898.] + + + + +APPENDIX + + +We offer here a literal prose translation of the _Psalm of Penitence_. + + +THE PSALM OF PENITENCE + +I + +Lord, at last thy wrath hurleth its thunderbolts upon our foreheads, and +in the night our vessel strikes its prow against the rocks. + +Lord, thou cuttest us down with the sword of the barbarian like fine +wheat, and not one of the cravens that we shielded comes to our defence. + +Lord, thou twistest us like a willow wand, thou breakest down to-day all +our pride; there is none to envy us, who but yesterday were so proud. + +Lord, our land goeth to ruin in war and strife; and if thou withhold thy +mercy, great and small will devour one another. + +Lord, thou art terrible, thou strikest us upon the back; in awful +turmoil thou breakest our power, compelling us to confess past evil. + + +II + +Lord, we had strayed away from the austerity of the old laws and ways. +Virtues, domestic customs, we had destroyed and demolished. + +Lord, giving an evil example, and denying thee like the heathen, we had +one day closed up thy temples and mocked thy Holy Christ. + +Lord, leaving behind us thy sacraments and commandments, we had brutally +lost belief in all but self-interest and progress! + +Lord, in the waste heavens we have clouded thy light with our smoke, and +to-day the sons mock the nakedness and purity of their fathers. + +Lord, we have blown upon thy Bible with the breath of false knowledge; +and holding ourselves up like the poplar trees, we wretched beings have +declared ourselves gods. + +Lord, we have left the furrow, we have trampled all respect under foot; +and with the heavy wine that intoxicates us we defile the innocent. + + +III + +Lord, we are thy prodigal children, but we are thy Christians of old; +let thy justice chastise us, but give us not over unto death. + +Lord, in the name of so many brave men, who went forth fearless, +valiant, docile, grave, and then fell in battle; + +Lord, in the name of so many mothers, who are about to pray to God for +their sons, and who next year, alas! and the year thereafter, shall see +them no more; + +Lord, in the name of so many women who have at their bosoms a little +child, and who, poor creatures, moisten the earth and the sheets of +their beds with tears; + +Lord, in the name of the poor, in the name of the strong, in the name of +the dead who shall die for their country, their duty, and their faith; + +Lord, for so many defeats, so many tears and woes, for so many towns +ravaged, for so much brave, holy blood; + +Lord, for so many adversities, for so much mourning throughout our +France, for so many insults upon our heads; + + +IV + +Lord, disarm thy justice. Cast down thine eye upon us, and heed the +cries of the bruised and wounded! + +Lord, if the rebellious cities, through their luxury and folly, have +overturned the scale-pan of thy balance, resisting and denying thee; + +Lord, before the breath of the Alps, that praiseth God winter and +summer, all the trees of the fields, obedient, bow together; + +Lord, France and Provence have sinned only through forgetfulness; do +thou forgive us our offences, for we repent of the evil of former days. + +Lord, we desire to become men, thou canst set us free. We are +Gallo-Romans, and of noble race, and we walk upright in our land. + +Lord, we are not the cause of the evil, send down upon us a ray of +peace. Lord, help our cause, and we shall live again and love thee. + + + + +THE PRESENT CAPOULIE OF THE FELIBRIGE. + + +M. Pierre Devoluy, of the town of Die, was elected at Arles, in April, +1901. The Consistory was presided over by Mistral. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +The following list contains the most important works that have been +published concerning Mistral and the Felibrige. Numerous articles have +appeared in nearly all the languages of Europe in various magazines. Of +these only such are mentioned as seem worthy of special notice. + + +WORKS CONCERNING THE FELIBRIGE IN GENERAL + +_America_ + +JANVIER, THOMAS A., Numerous articles in the Century Magazine, New York, + 1893, and following years. + + _An Embassy to Provence_. New York, 1893. + +PRESTON, HARRIETT, _Mistral's Calendau_. The Atlantic Monthly, New + York, 1874. + + _Aubanel's Miougrano entreduberto_. The Atlantic Monthly, New + York, 1874. + + +_England_ + +CRAIG, DUNCAN, _Miejour Provencal Legend, Life, Language, and + Literature_. London. + + _The Handbook of the Modern Provencal Language_. + +CROMBIE, J.W., _The Poets and Peoples of Foreign Lands: Frederic + Mistral_. Elliot, London, 1890. + +HARTOG, CECIL, _Poets of Provence_. London Contemporary Review, 1894. + + +_France_ + +BOISSIN, FIRMIN, _Le Midi litteraire contemporain_. Douladoure, + Toulouse, 1887. + +DE BOUCHAUD, _Roumanille et le Felibrige_. Mougin, Lyons, 1896. + +BRUN, C., _L'Evolution felibreenne_. Paquet, Lyons, 1896. + +DONNADIEU, F., _Les Precurseurs des Felibres_. Quantin, Paris, 1888. + +HENNION, C., _Les Fleurs felibresques_. Paris, 1893. + +JOURDANNE, G., _Histoire du Felibrige_. Roumanille, Avignon, 1897. + +LINTILHAC, E., _Les Felibres a travers leur monde et leur poesie_. + Lemerre, Paris, 1895. + + _Precis de la litterature francaise_. Paris, 1890. + +LEGRE, L., _Le Poete Theodore Aubanel_. Paris, 1894. + +MARGON, A. DE, _Les Precurseurs des Felibres_. Beziers, 1891. + +MARIETON, PAUL, _La Terre provencale_. Lemerre, Paris, 1894. + + Article _Felibrige_ in the _Grande Encyclopedie_. + + Article _Mistral_ in the _Grande Encyclopedie_. + +MICHEL, S., _La Petite Patrie_. Roumanille, Avignon, 1894. + +NOULET, B., _Essai sur l'histoire litteraire des patois du midi de la + France, aux VIIIe siecle_. Montpellier, 1877. + +PARIS, GASTON, _Penseurs et poetes_. Calmann-Levy, Paris, 1896. + +RESTORI, _Histoire de la litterature provencale depuis les temps les + plus recules jusqu'a nos jours_. Montpellier, 1895. (Translated + from the Italian.) + +ROQUE-FERRIER, A., _Melanges de critique litteraire et de philologie_. + Montpellier, 1892. + +SAINT-RENE-TAILLANDIER, V., _Etudes litteraires_. Plon et Cie, + Paris, 1881. + +TAVERNIER, E., _La Renaissance provencale et Roumanille_. Gervais, + Paris, 1884. + + _Le mouvement litteraire provencal et Lis Isclo d'Or de Frederic + Mistral_. Aix, 1876. + +DE TERRIS, J., _Roumanille et la litterature provencale_. Blond, + Paris, 1894. + +DE VINAC, M., _Les Felibres_. Richaud, Gap, 1882. + + +_Germany_ + +BOeHMER, E., _Die provenzalische Dichtung der Gegenwart_. + Heilbronn, 1870. + +KOSCHWITZ, E., _Ueber die provenzalischen Feliber und ihre Vorgaenger_. + Berlin, 1894. + + _Grammaire historique de la langue des Felibres_. Greifswald and + Paris, 1894. + + A study of Bertuch's translation of Nerto in the _Litteraturblatt fuer + germanische und romanische Philologie_. 1892. + + A study of Provencal phonetics with a translation of the _Cant dou + Souleu. Sonderabdruck aus der Zeitschrift fuer franzoesische Sprache + und Litteratur_. Berlin, 1893. + +SCHNEIDER, B., _Bemerkungen zur litterarischen Bewegung auf + neuprovenzalischem Sprachgebiete_. Berlin, 1887. + +WELTER, N., _Frederi Mistral, der Dichter der Provence_. + Marburg, 1899.[18] + + +_Italy_ + +LICER, MARIA, _I Felibri_, in the _Roma letteraria_. June, 1893. + +PORTAL, E., _Appunti letterari: Sulla poesia provenzale_. Pedone, + Palermo, 1890. + + _La Letteratura provenzale moderna_. Reber, Palermo, 1893. + + _Scritti vari di letteratura classica provenzale moderna_. Reber, + Palermo, 1895. + +RESTORI, A., _Letteratura provenzale_. Hoepli, Milan, 1892. + +ZUCCARO, L., _Un avvenimento letterario; Mistral tragico in the Scena + illustrata_. Florence, 1891. + + _Il Felibrigio, rinascimento delle lettere provenzali, Concordia_. + Novara, 1892. + + +_Spain_ + +TUBINO, _Historia del renacimiento literario contemporaneo en Cataluna, + Baleares y Valencia_. Madrid, 1881. + + +MISTRAL'S WORKS + +Mireio. 1859. + +Calendau. Avignon, 1867. Paris, Lemerre, 1887. + +Lis Isclo d'Or. 1876. + +Nerto. Hachette, Paris, 1884. + +Lou Tresor dou Febrige. Aix, 1886. + +La Reino Jano. Lemerre, Paris, 1890. + +Lou Pouemo dou Rose. Lemerre, Paris, 1897. + + +TRANSLATIONS OF MISTRAL'S WORKS + +H. GRANT, _An English Version of F. Mistral's Mireio from the Original + Provencal_. London. + +HARRIETT PRESTON, _Mistral's Mireio. A Provencal Poem Translated_. + Roberts Bros., Boston, 1872. Second edition, 1891. + +A. BERTUCH, _Der Trommler von Arcole_. Deutsche Dichtung, Dresden, 1890. + + _Nerto_. Truebner, Strassburg, 1890. + + _Mireio_. Truebner, Strassburg, 1892. + + _Espouscado_. Zeitschrift fuer franzoesische Sprache und Litteratur, + XV2, p. 267. + +HENNION, _Mireille_. Traduction en vers francais. + +E. RIGAUD, _Mireille_. Metrical translation into French, with the + original form of stanza. + +JAROSLAV VRCHLICHKY. Translation of several poems of Mistral into + Bohemian, under the title, _Z basni Mistralovych_, in the Review, + _Kvety_. Prague, 1886. + + _Hostem u Basniku_. Prague, 1891. Contains seven poems by Aubanel and + thirteen by Mistral. + +DOM SIGISMOND BOUSKA, _Le Tambour d'Arcole_, in the Review, _Lumir_. + Prague, 1893. + + Cantos IV and V of _Mireio_, in the Review, _Vlast_. Prague, 1894. + +PELAY BOIZ, _Mireio_, in Catalan. + +ROCA Y ROCA, _Calendau_. Lo Gay Saber, Barcelona, 1868. + +C. BARALLAT Y FALGUERA, _Mireya, poema provenzal de Frederico Mistral + puesto en prosa espanola_. + +MARIA LICER, _L'Angelo_ (Canto VI of _Nerto_). Italian. Iride, + Casal, 1889. + +A. NAUM, _Traduceri_. Jassy, 1891. (Translation into Rumanian of + Canto IV of _Mireio_, _The Song of Magali_, and _The Drummer + of Arcole_.) + +T. CANNIZZARO, _La Venere d'Arli_, in _Vita Intima_. Milan, 1891. + +[Footnote 18: The present work was completed in manuscript before the +reception of Welter's book.] + + + + +INDEX + + +Aasen, Ivan, 94. +Alexandrine verse, 78, 89. +Alpilles, 11. +Amiradou, 76, 196. +Arene, Paul, 21, 234. +Ariosto, 20, 151. +Armana prouvencau, 17, 28. +Aubanel, Theodore, 15, 17, 21, 36, 88, 233. +Aucassin and Nicolette, 170. + +Balageur, Victor, 31, 32. +Bello d'Avoust, 184. +Berluc-Perussis, 33. +Boileau, 102. +Bonaparte-Wyse, 31, 33. +Bornier, Henri de, 33. +Breal, Michel, 34, 72. +Brunet, Jean, 16. +Brunetiere, 79, 249. +Byron, 250. + +Calendau, 18, 79, 127. +Capoulie, 19, 35, 36. +Catalans, 31. +Cigale. Societe de la, 20, 33. +Countess, the, 199. +Cup, 31, 32, 190. + +Dante, 40, 73, 130, 133, 160, 248. +Darmesteter, 41. +Daudet, 9, 21, 69, 152, 240 _seq._ +Dictionary of the Provencal language, 20, 92. +Drac, 165 _seq._ +Drummer of Arcole, 78, 204. + +Espouscado, 194. +Evangeline, 122. + +Faust, 248. +Felibre, 5, 27. +Felibrige, 24 _seq._ +Felibrige de Paris, 16, 20, 33. +Felibrige, foundation of, 15. +Felibrige organized, 19, 34. +Fin don Meissounie, 186. +Floral games, 20, 32, 35. +Font-Segugne, 17. +Foures Auguste, 37. + +Garcin, Eugene, 15. +Giera, Paul, 15. +Goethe, 123. +Gounod, 18. +Gras, Felix, 36, 37, 38. +Grevy, 20. + +Homer, 13, 123. +Hugo, Victor, 79, 138, 181, 203. + +Isclo d'Or, 19, 181. + +Janvier, Mrs. Thomas A., 38. +Jasmin, 6, 14, 29, 43, 73, 193. +Jeanroy, 27. +Jourdanne, 24, 37. + +Koschwitz, 49. + +Lamartine, 17, 29, 103, 130, 181, 182, 183, 204. +Landor, Walter Savage, 213, 214. +Latin race, 30, 191, 193. +Legouve, 20. +Lemaitre, Jules, 232. +Leopardi, 250. +Lintilhac, Eugene, 72. +Littre, 94. +Longfellow, 6. + +Maillane, 10, 12. +Marot, 81. +Mary, Queen of Scots, 213, 217. +Mas, 11. +Mathieu, Anselme, 13, 16, 21, 26. +Meissoun, 14. +Meyer, Paul, 33. +Mila y Fontanals, 34. +Mirabeau, 131, 243. +Mireio, 12, 17, 28, 79, 99. +Mistral's marriage, 19. +Mistral's Memoirs, 21. +Mont-Ventoux, 148. +Museum of Arles, 21. +Musset, 181. + +Napoleon, 164. +Nerto, 20, 151. +Noulet, 43. + +Paris, Gaston, 34, 69,115. +Petrarch, 18, 19, 33, 34, 36, 73, 148, 220. +Poem of the Rhone, 21, 76, 89, 159. +Political separatism, 15. +Prego-Dieu 84, 204, 205 _seq._, 239. +Provencal language, 43, 191 _seq._ +Psalm of Penitence, 84, 182, 200 _seq._, 239, 253. + +Queens of the Felibrige, 36. + +Reino Jano, 21, 89, 212. +Rock of Sisyphus, 193, 208. +Ronsard, 211. +Roumanille, 7, 9, 14, 15, 17, 21, 26, 30, 36, 70. + +Saboly, 6. +Sainte-Beuve, 6. +Saint-Remy, 7, 10. +Simon de Montfort, 37. +Songs, 189. +Sonnets of Mistral, 86. + +Tartarin, 69, 230, 240. +Tavan, Alphonse, 15, +Translation, 87, 89, 178, 247. +Tresor don Felibrige, 20, 92. +Troubadours, 40, 44, 87, 112, 132, 147, 225, 251. + +Versification, 75. +Villemain, 29. +Virgil, 13. +Voltaire, 221. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Frederic Mistral, by Charles Alfred Downer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREDERIC MISTRAL *** + +***** This file should be named 17293.txt or 17293.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/9/17293/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Taavi +Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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