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.]