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London
HENRY FROWDE
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE
AMEN CORNER, E.C.
New York
112 FOURTH AVENUE
Clarendon Press Series
A SHORT HISTORY
OF
FRENCH LITERATURE
BY
GEORGE SAINTSBURY
FOURTH EDITION
Oxford
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1892
Oxford
HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
PREFACE.
An attempt to present to students a succinct history of the course of
French literature compiled from an examination of that literature
itself, and not merely from previous accounts of it is, I believe, a new
one in English. There will be observed in the parts of this Short
History a considerable difference of method; and as such a difference is
not usual in works of the kind, it may be well to state the reasons
which have induced me to adopt it. Early French literature is to a great
extent anonymous. Moreover, even where it is not, the authors were
usually more influenced by certain prevalent styles or forms than by
anything else. Into these forms they threw without considerations of
congruity whatever they had to say. Nothing, for instance, can be less
suitable for historical or scientific disquisition than the octosyllabic
metre of a satiric poem. But Jean de Meung and one at least of the
authors of _Renart le Contrefait_[1] do not think of composing prose
diatribes. At one moment and place the form of the Chanson de Geste is
all-absorbing, at another the form of the Roman d'Aventures, at another
the form of the Fabliau. In Book I. I shall therefore proceed by these
forms, giving an account of each separately.
After Villon the case changes. Instead of classes of chroniclers,
trouveres, jongleurs, we get individual authors of eminence and
individuality striking out their own way and saying their own say in
the manner not that is fashionable but that seems best to them. During
this time, therefore, and especially during that brilliant age of French
literature, the sixteenth century, I shall proceed by authors, taking
the most remarkable individually, and grouping their followers around
them.
From the time of Malherbe the system of schools begins, divided
according to subjects. The poet, the dramatist, the historian, have
their predecessors, and either intentionally copy them or intentionally
innovate upon them. Malherbe and Delille, Corneille and Lemercier,
Sarrasin and Rulhiere, whatever the difference of merit, stand to one
another in a definite relation, and the later writers represent more or
less the accepted traditions each of his school. In this part,
therefore, I shall proceed by subjects, taking historians, poets,
dramatists, etc., together. One difference will be noticed between the
third and fourth Books, dealing respectively with the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. It has seemed unnecessary to allot a special
chapter to theological and ecclesiastical writing in the latter, or to
scientific writing in the former.
Almost all writers who have attempted literary histories in a small
compass have recognised the difficulty, or rather impossibility, of
treating contemporary or recent work on the same scale as older authors.
In treating, therefore, of literature subsequent to the appearance of
the Romantic movement, I shall content myself with giving a rapid sketch
of the principal literary developments and their exponents.
There are doubtless objections to this quadripartite arrangement; but it
appears to me better suited for the purpose of laying the foundations of
an acquaintance with French literature than a more uniform plan.
The space at my disposal does not admit of combining full information as
to the literature with elaborate literary comment upon its
characteristics, and there can be no doubt that in such a book as this,
destined for purposes of education chiefly, the latter must be
sacrificed to the former. As an instance of the sacrifice I may refer
to Bk. I. Ch. II. There are some forty or fifty Chansons de Gestes in
print, all of which save two or three I have read, and almost every one
of which presents points on which it would be most interesting to me to
comment. But to do this in the limits would be impossible. Nor is it
easy to enter upon disputed literary questions, however tempting they
may be. On such points as the relations of Northern to Provencal poetry,
the origin of the Chansons and the Arthurian romances, the successive
versions of Froissart, the authenticity of the last book of Rabelais, it
is only possible here to indicate the most probable conclusions.
Generally speaking, the scale of treatment will be found to be adjusted
to the system of division already stated. In the middle ages, where the
importance of the general form surpasses that of the individual
practitioners, comparatively small space is given to these individuals,
and little attempt is made to follow up the scanty and often conjectural
particulars of their lives. In the later books I have endeavoured
(departing in this respect from the system of my two former sketches of
the subject, the article on 'French Literature' in the ninth edition of
the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ and the _Primer_ which has preceded this
work in the Clarendon Press Series) to deal more fully with the greater
names whose work is most instructive, and as to whom most curiosity is
likely to be felt.
If, as seems very likely, these explanations should not content some of
my critics, I can only say that the passages which they may miss here
would have been far easier and far pleasanter for me to write than the
passages which they will here find. This volume attempts to be, not a
series of _causeries_ on the literary history of France, but a Short
History of French Literature. Two things only I have uniformly aimed at,
accuracy as absolute as I could secure, and completeness as thorough as
space would allow. In the pursuit of the former object I have thought it
well to take no fact or opinion at second-hand where the originals were
accessible to me. Manuscript sources I do not pretend to have
consulted; but any judgment which is passed in this book may be taken
as founded on personal acquaintance with the book or author unless the
contrary be stated. Some familiarity with the subject has convinced me
that nowhere are opinions of doubtful accuracy more frequently adopted
and handed on without enquiry than in the history of literature.
Those who read this book for purposes of study will, it is hoped, be
already acquainted with the _Primer_, which is, in effect, an
introduction to it, and which contains what may be called a bird's-eye
view of the subject. But, lest the wood should be lost sight of for the
trees, notes or interchapters have been inserted between the several
books, indicating the general lines of development followed by the great
literature which I have attempted to survey. To these I have for the
most part confined generalisations as distinct from facts.
I have, I believe, given in the notes a sufficient list of authorities
which those who desire to follow up the subject may consult. I have not
been indiscriminately lavish in indicating editions of authors, though I
believe that full information will be found as to those necessary for a
scholarly working knowledge of French literature. I had originally hoped
to illustrate the whole book with extracts; but I discovered that such a
course would either swell it to an undesirable bulk, or else would
provide passages too short and too few to be of much use. I have
therefore confined the extracts to the mediaeval period, which can be
illustrated by selections of moderate length, and in which such
illustration, from the general resemblance between the individuals of
each class, and the comparative rarity of the original texts, is
specially desirable. To avoid the serious drawback of the difference of
principle on which old French reprints have been constructed, as many of
these extracts as possible have been printed from Herr Karl Bartsch's
admirable _Chrestomathie_. But in cases where extracts were either not
to be found there, or were not, in my judgment, sufficiently
characteristic, I have departed from this plan. The illustration, by
extracts, of the later literature, which requires more space, has been
reserved for a separate volume.
I had also intended to subjoin some tabular views of the chief literary
forms, authors, and books of the successive centuries. But when I formed
this intention I was not aware that such tables already existed in a
book very likely to be in the hands of those who use this work, M.
Gustave Masson's _French Dictionary_. Although the plan I had formed was
not quite identical with his, and though the execution might have
differed in detail, it seemed both unnecessary and to a certain extent
ungracious to trespass on the same field. With regard to dates the Index
will, it is believed, be found to contain the date of the birth and
death, or, if these be not obtainable, the _floruit_ of every deceased
author of any importance who is mentioned in the book. It has not seemed
necessary invariably to duplicate this information in the text. I have
also availed myself of this Index (for the compilation of which I owe
many thanks to Miss S. A. Ingham) to insert a very few particulars,
which seemed to find a better place there than in the body of the
volume, as being not strictly literary.
In conclusion, I think it well to say that the composition of this book
has, owing to the constant pressure of unavoidable occupations, been
spread over a considerable period, and has sometimes been interrupted
for many weeks or even months. This being the case, I fear that there
may be some omissions, perhaps some inconsistencies, not improbably some
downright errors. I do not ask indulgence for these, because that no
author who voluntarily publishes a book has a right to ask, nor,
perhaps, have critics a right to give it. But if any critic will point
out to me any errors of fact, I can promise repentance, as speedy
amendment as may be, and what is more, gratitude.
(1882.)
_Preface to the Second Edition._--In the second edition the text has
been very carefully revised. All corrections of fact indicated by
critics and private correspondents, both English and French (among whom
I owe especial thanks to M. A. Beljame), have, after verification, been
made. A considerable number of additional dates of the publication of
important books have been inserted in the text, and the Index has
undergone a strict examination, resulting in the correction of some
faults which were due not to the original compiler but to myself. On the
suggestion of several competent authorities a Conclusion, following the
lines of the Interchapters, is now added. If less deference is shown to
some strictures which have been passed on the plan of the work and the
author's literary views, it is due merely to the conviction that a
writer must write his own book in his own way if it is to be of any good
to anybody. But in a few places modifications of phrases which seemed to
have been misconceived or to be capable of misconception have been made.
I have only to add sincere thanks to my critics for the very general
and, I fear, scarcely deserved approval with which this Short History of
a long subject has been received, and to my readers for the promptness
with which a second edition of it has been demanded.
(1884.)
_Preface to the Third Edition._--In making, once more, an examination of
this book for the purposes of a third edition I have again done my best
to correct such mistakes as must (I think I may say inevitably) occur in
a very large number of compressed statements about matter often in
itself of great minuteness and complexity. I have found some such
mistakes, and I make no doubt that I have left some.
In the process of examination I have had the assistance of two detailed
reviews of parts of the book by two French critics, each of very high
repute in his way. The first of these, by M. Gaston Paris, in _Romania_
(XII, 602 _sqq._), devoted to the mediaeval section only, actually
appeared before my second edition: but accident prevented my availing
myself of it fully, though some important corrections suggested by it
were made on a slip inserted in most of the copies of that issue. The
assistance thus given by M. Paris (whose forbearance in using his great
learning as a specialist I have most cordially to acknowledge) has been
supplemented by the appearance, quite recently, of an admirable
condensed sketch of his own[2], which, compact as it is, is a very
storehouse of information on the subject. If in this book I have not
invariably accepted M. Paris' views or embodied his corrections, it is
merely because in points of opinion and inference as opposed to
ascertained fact, the use of independent judgment seems to me always
advisable.
The other criticism (in this case of the later part of my book), by M.
Edmond Scherer, would not seem to have been written in the same spirit.
M. Scherer holds very different views from mine on literature in general
and French literature in particular; he seems (which is perhaps natural)
not to be able to forgive me the difference, and to imagine (which if
not unnatural is perhaps a little unreasonable, a little uncharitable,
and even, considering an express statement in my preface, a little
impolite) that I cannot have read the works on which we differ. I am
however grateful to him for showing that a decidedly hostile
examination, conducted with great minuteness and carefully confined to
those parts of the subject with which the critic is best acquainted,
resulted in nothing but the discovery of about half a dozen or a dozen
misprints and slips of fact[3]. One only of these (the very unpardonable
blunder of letting Madame de Stael's _Considerations_ appear as an
early work, which I do not know how I came either to commit or to
overlook) is of real importance. Such slips I have corrected with due
gratitude. But I have not altered passages where M. Scherer mistakes
facts or mistakes me. I need hardly say that I have made no alterations
in criticism, and that the passage referring to M. Scherer himself (with
the exception of a superfluous accent) stands precisely as it did.
Some additions have been made to the latter part of the book, but not
very many: for the attempt to 'write up' such a history to date every
few years can only lead to confusion and disproportion. I have had,
during the decade which has passed since the book was first planned,
rather unusual opportunities of acquainting myself with all new French
books of any importance, but a history is not a periodical, and I have
thought it best to give rather grudging than free admittance to
new-comers. On the other hand, I have endeavoured, as far as possible,
to obliterate chronological references which the effluxion of time has
rendered, or may render, misleading. The notes to which it seemed most
important to attract attention, as modifying or enlarging some statement
in the text, are specially headed 'Notes to Third Edition': but they
represent only a small part of the labour which has been expended on the
text. I have also again overhauled and very considerably enlarged the
index; while the amplification of the 'Contents' by subjoining to each
chapter-heading a list of the side-headings of the paragraphs it
contains, will, I think, be found an advantage. And so I commend the
book once more to readers and to students[4].
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Note to Third Edition._--M. Gaston Paris expresses some surprise at
my saying 'one of the authors,' and attributes both versions to the
Troyes clerk (see pp. 52, 53). I can only say that so long as _Renart le
Contrefait_ is unpublished, if not longer, such a question is difficult
to decide: and that the accepted monograph on the subject (that of Wolf)
left on my mind the impression of plural authorship as probable.
[2] _La Litterature Francaise du Moyen Age_ (Paris, 1888).
[3] A preface is but an ill place for controversy. As however M.
Scherer, thanks chiefly to the late Mr. Matthew Arnold, enjoys some
repute in England, I may give an example of his censure. He accuses me
roundly of giving in my thirty dates of Corneille's plays 'une dizaine
de fausses,' and he quotes (as I do) M. Marty-Laveaux. As since the
beginning, years ago, of my Cornelian studies, I have constantly used
that excellent edition, though, now as always, reserving my own judgment
on points of opinion, I verified M. Scherer's appeal with some alarm at
first, and more amusement afterwards. The eminent critic of the _Temps_
had apparently contented himself with turning to the half-titles of the
plays and noting the dates given, which in ten instances do differ from
mine. Had his patience been equal to consulting the learned editor's
_Notices_, he would have found in every case but one the reasons which
prevailed and prevail with me given by M. Marty-Laveaux himself. The one
exception I admit. I was guilty of the iniquity of confusing the date of
the publication of _Othon_ with the date of its production, and printing
1665 instead of 1664. So dangerous is it to digest and weigh an editor's
arguments, instead of simply copying his dates. Had I done the latter, I
had 'scaped M. Scherer's tooth.
[4] The remarks on M. Scherer in this preface (and I need hardly say
still more those which occur in the body of the book with reference to a
few others of his criticisms) were written long before his fatal
illness, and had been sent finally to press some time before the
announcement of his death. I had at first thought of endeavouring to
suppress those which could be recalled. But it seemed to me on
reflection that the best compliment to the memory of a man who was
himself nothing if not uncompromising, and towards whom, whether alive
or dead, I am not conscious of having entertained any ill-feeling, would
be to print them exactly as they stood, with the brief addition that I
have not known a critic more acute within his range, or more honest
according to what he saw, than M. Edmond Scherer. (March 20, 1889.)
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE v
BOOK I.
MEDIAEVAL LITERATURE.
CHAP. I. THE ORIGINS 1
Relation of French to Latin. Influence of Latin Literature.
Early Monuments. Dialects and Provincial Literatures.
Beginning of Literature proper. Cantilenae. Trouveres
and Jongleurs.
II. CHANSONS DE GESTES 10
Origin of Chansons de Gestes. Definition. Period of
Composition. Chanson de Roland. Amis et Amiles.
Other principal Chansons. Social and Literary Characteristics.
Authorship. Style and Language. Later
History.
III. PROVENCAL LITERATURE 26
Langue d'Oc. Range and characteristics. Periods of
Provencal Literature. First Period. Second Period.
Forms of Troubadour Poetry. Third Period. Literary
Relation of Provencal and French. Defects of Provencal
Literature.
IV. ROMANCES OF ARTHUR AND OF ANTIQUITY 34
The Tale of Arthur. Its Origin. Order of French Arthurian
Cycle. Chrestien de Troyes. Spirit and Literary
value of Arthurian Romances. Romances of Antiquity.
Chanson d'Alixandre. Roman de Troie. Other Romances
on Classical subjects.
V. FABLIAUX. THE ROMAN DU RENART 47
Foreign Elements in Early French Literature. The Esprit
Gaulois makes its appearance. Definition of Fabliaux.
Subjects and character of Fabliaux. Sources of Fabliaux.
The Roman du Renart. The Ancien Renart. Le Couronnement
Renart. Renart le Nouvel. Renart le Contrefait.
Fauvel.
VI. EARLY LYRICS 62
Early and Later Lyrics. Origins of Lyric. Romances
and Pastourelles. Thirteenth Century. Changes in Lyric.
Traces of Lyric in the Thirteenth Century. Quesnes de
Bethune. Thibaut de Champagne. Minor Singers. Adam
de la Halle. Ruteboeuf. Lais. Marie de France.
VII. SERIOUS AND ALLEGORICAL POETRY 75
Verse Chronicles. Miscellaneous Satirical Verse. Didactic
verse. Philippe de Thaun. Moral and Theological verse.
Allegorical verse. The Roman de la Rose. Popularity
of the Roman de la Rose. Imitations.
VIII. ROMANS D'AVENTURES 91
Distinguishing features of Romans d'Aventures. Looser
application of the term. Classes of Romans d'Aventures.
Adenes le Roi. Raoul de Houdenc. Chief Romans
d'Aventures. General Character. Last Chansons. Baudouin
de Sebourc.
IX. LATER SONGS AND POEMS 100
The Artificial Forms of Northern France. General Character.
Varieties. Jehannot de Lescurel. Guillaume de
Machault. Eustache Deschamps. Froissart. Christine
de Pisan. Alain Chartier.
X. THE DRAMA 110
Origins of the Drama. Earliest Vernacular Dramatic
Forms. Mysteries and Miracles. Miracles de la Vierge.
Heterogeneous Character of Mysteries. Argument of a
Miracle Play. Profane Drama. Adam de la Halle.
Monologues. Farces. Moralities. Soties. Profane
Mysteries. Societies of Actors.
XI. PROSE CHRONICLES 127
Beginning of Prose Chronicles. Grandes Chroniques de
France. Villehardouin. Minor Chroniclers between Villehardouin
and Joinville. Joinville. Froissart. Fifteenth-Century
Chroniclers.
XII. MISCELLANEOUS PROSE 140
General use of Prose. Prose Sermons. St. Bernard.
Maurice de Sully. Later Preachers. Gerson. Moral and
Devotional Treatises. Translators. Political and Polemical
Works. Codes and Legal Treatises. Miscellanies
and Didactic Works. Fiction. Antoine de la Salle.
INTERCHAPTER I. SUMMARY OF MEDIAEVAL LITERATURE 151
BOOK II.
THE RENAISSANCE.
CHAP. I. VILLON, COMINES, AND THE LATER FIFTEENTH CENTURY 155
The Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Characteristics
of Fifteenth-century Literature. Villon. Comines. Coquillart.
Baude. Martial d'Auvergne. The Rhetoriqueurs.
Chansons du xv'eme Siecle. Preachers.
II. MAROT AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES 168
Hybrid School of Poetry. Jean le Maire. Jehan du
Pontalais. Roger de Collerye. Minor Predecessors of Marot.
Clement Marot. The School of Marot. Mellin de Saint-Gelais.
Miscellaneous Verse. Anciennes Poesies Francaises.
III. RABELAIS AND HIS FOLLOWERS 183
Fiction at the beginning of the Sixteenth Century. Rabelais.
Bonaventure des Periers. The Heptameron. Noel du
Fail. G. Bouchet. Cholieres. Apologie pour Herodote.
Moyen de Parvenir.
IV. THE PLEIADE 196
Character and Effects of the Pleiade Movement. Ronsard.
The Defense et Illustration de la Langue Francaise. Du
Bellay. Belleau. Baif. Daurat, Jodelle, Pontus de
Tyard. Magny. Tahureau. Minor Ronsardists. Du
Bartas. D'Aubigne. Desportes. Bertaut.
V. THE THEATRE FROM GRINGORE TO GARNIER 216
Gringore. The last Age of the Mediaeval Theatre. Beginnings
of the Classical Drama. Jodelle. Minor Pleiade
Dramatists. Garnier. Defects of the Pleiade Tragedy.
Pleiade Comedy. Larivey.
VI. CALVIN AND AMYOT 228
Prose Writers of the Renaissance. Calvin. Minor Reformers
and Controversialists. Preachers of the League.
Amyot. Minor Translators. Dolet. Fauchet. Pasquier.
Henri Estienne. Herberay. Palissy. Pare. Olivier de Serres.
VII. MONTAIGNE AND BRANTOME 241
Disenchantment of the late Renaissance. Montaigne.
Charron. Du Vair. Bodin and other Political Writers.
Brantome. Montluc. La Noue. Agrippa d'Aubigne.
Marguerite de Valois. Vieilleville. Palma-Cayet. Pierre
de l'Estoile. D'Ossat. Sully. Jeannin. Minor Memoir-writers.
General Historians.
VIII. THE SATYRE MENIPPEE. REGNIER 259
Satyre Menippee. Regnier.
INTERCHAPTER II. SUMMARY OF RENAISSANCE LITERATURE 270
BOOK III.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
CHAP. I. POETS 274
Malherbe. The School of Malherbe. Vers de Societe.
Voiture. Epic School. Chapelain. Bacchanalian School.
Saint Amant. La Fontaine. Boileau. Minor Poets of the
Seventeenth Century.
II. DRAMATISTS 290
Montchrestien. Hardy. Minor predecessors of Corneille.
Rotrou. Corneille. Racine. Minor Tragedians. Development
of Comedy. Moliere. Contemporaries of
Moliere. The School of Moliere. Regnard. Characteristics
of Molieresque Comedy.
III. NOVELISTS 319
D'Urfe. The Heroic Romances. Scarron. Cyrano de
Bergerac. Furetiere. Madame de la Fayette. Fairy
Tales. Perrault.
IV. HISTORIANS, MEMOIR-WRITERS, LETTER-WRITERS 332
General Historians. Mezeray. Historical Essayists.
St. Real. Memoir-writers. Rohan. Bassompierre.
Madame de Motteville. Cardinal de Retz. Mademoiselle.
La Rochefoucauld. Saint Simon. Madame de Sevigne.
Tallemant des Reaux. Historical Antiquaries. Du Cange.
V. ESSAYISTS, MINOR MORALISTS, CRITICS 354
Balzac. Pascal. La Rochefoucauld. La Bruyere.
VI. PHILOSOPHERS 368
Descartes. Port Royal. Bayle. Malebranche.
VII. THEOLOGIANS AND PREACHERS 379
St. Francois de Sales. Bossuet. Fenelon. Massillon.
Bourdaloue. Minor Preachers.
INTERCHAPTER III. SUMMARY OF SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE 391
BOOK IV.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
CHAP. I. POETS 395
Literary Degeneracy of the Eighteenth Century, especially
manifest in Poetry. J. B. Rousseau. Voltaire. Descriptive
Poets. Delille. Lebrun. Parny. Chenier. Minor
Poets. Light Verse. Piron. Desaugiers.
CHAP. II. DRAMATISTS 406
Divisions of Drama. La Motte. Crebillon the Elder.
Voltaire and his followers. Lesage. Comedie Larmoyante.
La Chaussee. Diderot. Marivaux. Beaumarchais. Characteristics
of Eighteenth-century Drama.
III. NOVELISTS 416
Lesage. Marivaux. Prevost. Voltaire. Diderot. Rousseau.
Crebillon the Younger. Bernardin de St. Pierre. Restif
de la Bretonne. Chateaubriand. Madame de Stael.
Xavier de Maistre. Benjamin Constant.
IV. HISTORIANS, MEMOIR-WRITERS, LETTER-WRITERS 436
Characteristics and Divisions of Eighteenth-century History.
Rollin. Dubos. Boulainvilliers. Voltaire. Mably.
Rulhiere. Memoirs. Mme. de Staal-Delaunay. Duclos.
Besenval. Madame d'Epinay. Minor Memoirs. Memoirs
of the Revolutionary Period. Abundance of Letter-writers.
Mademoiselle Aisse. Madame du Deffand. Mademoiselle
de Lespinasse. Voltaire. Diderot. Galiani.
V. ESSAYISTS, MINOR MORALISTS, CRITICS 452
Occasional Writing in the Eighteenth-century. Periodicals.
Fontenelle. La Motte. Vauvenargues. D'Aguesseau.
Duclos. Marmontel. La Harpe. Thomas. Orthodox
Apologists. Freron. Philosophe Criticism. D'Alembert.
Diderot. Les Feuilles de Grimm. Diderot's Salons. His
General Criticism. Newspapers of the Revolution. The
Influence of Journalism. Chamfort. Rivarol. Joubert.
Courier. Senancour.
VI. PHILOSOPHERS 473
The philosophe movement. Montesquieu. Lettres Persanes.
Grandeur et Decadence des Romains. Esprit des
Lois. Voltaire. The Encyclopaedia. Diderot. D'Alembert.
Rousseau. Political Economists. Vauban, Quesnay,
etc. Turgot. Condorcet. Volney. La Mettrie. Helvetius.
Systeme de la Nature. Condillac. Joseph de
Maistre. Bonald.
VII. SCIENTIFIC WRITERS 499
Buffon. Lesser Scientific Writers. Voyages and Travels.
Linguistic and Literary Study.
INTERCHAPTER IV. SUMMARY OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE 504
BOOK V.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 510
The Romantic Movement. Writers of the later Transition.
Beranger. Lamartine. Lamennais. Victor Cousin. Beyle.
Nodier. Delavigne. Soumet. The Romantic Propaganda
in Periodicals. Victor Hugo. Sainte-Beuve. His Method.
Dangers of the Method. Dumas the Elder. Honore de
Balzac. George Sand. Merimee. Theophile Gautier.
Alfred de Musset. Influence of the Romantic Leaders.
Minor Poets of 1830. Alfred de Vigny. Auguste Barbier.
Gerard de Nerval. Curiosites Romantiques. Petrus Borel.
Louis Bertrand. Second Group of Romantic Poets.
Theodore de Banville. Leconte de Lisle. Charles Baudelaire.
Minor Poets of the Second Romantic Group.
Dupont. The Parnasse. Minor and later Dramatists.
Scribe. Ponsard. Emile Augier. Eugene Labiche. Dumas
the Younger. Victorien Sardou. Classes of Nineteenth-century
Fiction. Minor and later Novelists. Jules Janin.
Charles de Bernard. Jules Sandeau. Octave Feuillet.
Murger. Edmond About. Feydeau. Gustave Droz.
Flaubert. The Naturalists. Emile Zola. Journalists
and Critics. Paul de St. Victor. Hippolyte Taine.
Academic Critics. Linguistic and Literary Study of
French. Philosophical Writers. Comte. Theological
Writers. Montalembert. Ozanam. Lacordaire. Ernest
Renan. Historians. Thierry. Thiers. Guizot. Mignet.
Michelet. Quinet. Tocqueville. Minor Historians.
CONCLUSION 579
INDEX 591
BOOK I.
MEDIAEVAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGINS.
[Sidenote: Relation of French to Latin.]
Of all European literatures the French is, by general consent, that
which possesses the most uniformly fertile, brilliant, and unbroken
history. In actual age it may possibly yield to others, but the
connection between the language of the oldest and the language of the
newest French literature is far closer than in these other cases, and
the fecundity of mediaeval writers in France far exceeds that of their
rivals elsewhere. For something like three centuries England, Germany,
Italy, and more doubtfully and to a smaller extent, Spain, were content
for the most part to borrow the matter and the manner of their literary
work from France. This brilliant literature was however long before it
assumed a regularly organized form, and in order that it might do so a
previous literature and a previous language had to be dissolved and
precipitated anew. With a few exceptions, to be presently noticed,
French literature is not to be found till after the year 1000, that is
to say until a greater lapse of time had passed since Caesar's campaigns
than has passed from the later date to the present day. Taking the
earliest of all monuments, the Strasburg Oaths, as starting-point, we
may say that French language and French literature were nine hundred
years in process of formation. The result was a remarkable one in
linguistic history. French is unquestionably a daughter of Latin, yet it
is not such a daughter as Italian or Spanish. A knowledge of the older
language would enable a reader who knew no other to spell out, more or
less painfully, the meaning of most pages of the two Peninsular
languages; it would hardly enable him to do more than guess at the
meaning of a page of French. The long process of gestation transformed
the appearance of the new tongue completely, though its grammatical
forms and the bulk of its vocabulary are beyond all question Latin. The
history of this process belongs to the head of language, not of
literature, and must be sought elsewhere. It is sufficient to say that
the first mention of a _lingua romana rustica_ is found in the seventh
century, while allusions in Latin documents show us its gradual use in
pulpit and market-place, and even as a vehicle for the rude songs of the
minstrel, long before any trace of written French can be found.
[Sidenote: Influence of Latin Literature.]
Meanwhile, however, Latin was doing more than merely furnishing the
materials of the new language. The literary faculty of the Gauls was
early noticed, and before their subjection had long been completed they
were adepts at using the language of the conquerors. It does not fall
within our plan to notice in detail the Latin literature of Gaul and
early France, but the later varieties of that literature deserve some
little attention, because of the influence which they undoubtedly
exercised on the literary forms of the new language. In early French
there is little trace of the influence of the Latin forms which we call
classical. It was the forms of the language which has been said to have
'dived under ground with Naevius and come up again with Prudentius' that
really influenced the youthful tongue. Ecclesiastical Latin, and
especially the wonderful melody of the early Latin hymn-writers, had by
far the greatest effect upon it. Ingenious and not wholly groundless
efforts have been made to trace the principal forms of early French
writing to the services and service-books of the church, the chronicle
to the sacred histories, the lyric to the psalm and the hymn, the
mystery to the elaborate and dramatic ritual of the church. The _Chanson
de Geste_, indeed, displays in its matter and style many traces of
Germanic origin, but the metre with its regular iambic cadence and its
rigid caesura testifies to Latin influence. The service thus performed
to the literature was not unlike the service performed to the language.
In the one case the scaffolding, or rather the skeleton, was furnished
in the shape of grammar; in the other a similar skeleton, in the shape
of prosody, was supplied. Important additions were indeed made by the
fresh elements introduced. Rhyme Latin had itself acquired. But of the
musical refrains which are among the most charming features of early
French lyric poetry we find no vestige in the older tongue.
[Sidenote: Early Monuments.]
The history of the French language, as far as concerns literature, from
the seventh to the eleventh century, can be rapidly given. The earliest
mention of the Romance tongue as distinguished from Latin and from
German dialect refers to 659, and occurs in the life of St. Mummolinus
or Momolenus, bishop of Noyon, who was chosen for that office because of
his knowledge of the two languages, Teutonic and Romanic[5]. We may
therefore assume that Mummolinus preached in the _lingua Romana_. To the
same century is referred the song of St. Faron, bishop of Meaux[6], but
this only exists in Latin, and a Romance original is inferred rather
than proved. In the eighth century the Romance eloquence of St. Adalbert
is commended[7], and to the same period are referred the glossaries of
Reichenau and Cassel, lists containing in the first case Latin and
Romance equivalents, in the second Teutonic and Romance[8]. By the
beginning of the ninth century it was compulsory for bishops to preach
in Romance, and to translate such Latin homilies as they read[9]; and to
this same era has been referred a fragmentary commentary on the Book of
Jonah[10], included in the latest collection of 'Monuments[11].' In 842
we have the Strasburg Oaths, celebrated alike in French history and
French literature. The text of the MS. of Nithard which contains them is
of the tenth century.
We now come to documents less shapeless. The tenth century itself gives
us the song of St. Eulalie, a poem on the Passion, a life of St. Leger,
and perhaps a poem on Boethius. These four documents are of the highest
interest. Not merely has the language assumed a tolerably regular form,
but its great division into Langue d'Oc and Langue d'Oil is already
made, and grammar, prosody, and other necessities or ornaments of
bookwriting, are present. The following extracts will illustrate this
part of French literature. The Romance oaths and the 'St. Eulalie' are
given in full, the 'Passion' and the 'St. Leger' in extract; it will be
observed that the interval between the first and the others is of very
considerable width. This interval probably represents a century of
active change, and of this unfortunately we have no monuments to mark
the progress accurately.
LES SERMENTS DE STRASBOURG DE 842.
Pro deo amur et pro christian poblo et nostro commun
salvament, d'ist di in avant, in quant deus savir et podir
me dunat, si salvarai eo cist meon fradre Karlo et in aiudha
et in cadhuna cosa, si cum on per dreit son fradra salvar
dist, in o quid il mi altresi fazet, et ab Ludher nul plaid
nunqua prindrai, qui meon vol cist meon fradre Karle in
damno sit.
Si Lodhuvigs sagrament, quae son fradre Karlo jurat,
conservat, et Karlus meos sendra de sua part nun los tanit,
si io returnar nun l'int pois, ne io ne neuls, cui eo
returnar int pois, in nulla aiudha contra Lodhuwig nun li iv
er.
CANTILENE DE SAINTE EULALIE.
Buona pulcella fut Eulalia,
bel auret corps, bellezour anima.
Voldrent la veintre li deo inimi,
voldrent la faire diaule servir.
Elle non eskoltet les mals conselliers,
qu'elle deo raneiet, chi maent sus en ciel,
Ne por or ned argent ne paramenz,
por manatce regiel ne preiement.
Niule cose non la pouret omque pleier,
la polle sempre non amast lo deo menestier.
E poro fut presentede Maximiien,
chi rex eret a cels dis sovre pagiens
El li enortet, dont lei nonque chielt.
qued elle fuiet lo nom christiien.
Ell' ent adunet lo suon element,
melz sostendreiet les empedementz,
Qu'elle perdesse sa virginitet:
poros furet morte a grand honestet.
Enz enl fou la getterent, com arde tost.
elle colpes non auret, poro nos coist.
A ezo nos voldret concreidre li rex pagiens;
ad une spede li roveret tolir lo chief.
La domnizelle celle kose non contredist,
volt lo seule lazsier, si ruovet Krist.
In figure de colomb volat a ciel.
tuit orem, que por nos deguet preier,
Qued auuisset de nos Christus mercit
post la mort et a lui nos laist venir
Par souue clementia.
LA PASSION DU CHRIST.
Christus Jhesus den s'en leved,
Gehsesmani vil' es n'anez.
toz sos fidels seder rovet,
avan orar sols en anet.
Grant fu li dois, fort marrimenz.
si condormirent tuit ades.
Jhesus cum veg los esveled,
trestoz orar ben los manded.
E dunc orar cum el anned,
si fort sudor dunques suded,
que cum lo sangs a terra curren
de sa sudor las sanctas gutas.
Als sos fidels cum repadred,
tam benlement los conforted
li fel Judas ja s'aproismed
ab gran cumpannie dels judeus.
Jhesus cum vidra los judeus,
zo lor demandet que querent.
il li respondent tuit adun
'Jhesum querem _Nazarenum_.'
'Eu soi aquel,' zo dis Jhesus.
tuit li felun cadegren jos.
terce ves lor o demanded,
a totas treis chedent envers.
VIE DE SAINT LEGER.
Domine deu devemps lauder
et a sus sancz honor porter;
in su' amor cantomps dels sanz
quae por lui augrent granz aanz;
et or es temps et si est biens
quae nos cantumps de sant Lethgier.
Primos didrai vos dels honors
quie il auuret ab duos seniors;
apres ditrai vos dels aanz
que li suos corps susting si granz,
et Evvruins, cil deumentiz,
qui lui a grand torment occist.
Quant infans fud, donc a ciels temps
al rei lo duistrent soi parent,
qui donc regnevet a ciel di:
cio fud Lothiers fils Baldequi.
il le amat; deu lo covit;
rovat que _litteras_ apresist.
[Sidenote: Dialects and Provincial Literatures.]
Considering the great extent and the political divisions of the country
called France, it is not surprising that the language which was so
slowly formed should have shown considerable dialectic variations. The
characteristics of these dialects, Norman, Picard, Walloon, Champenois,
Angevin, and so forth, have been much debated by philologists. But it so
happens that the different provinces displayed in point of literature
considerable idiosyncrasy, which it is scarcely possible to dispute.
Hardly a district of France but contributed something special to her
wide and varied literature. The South, though its direct influence was
not great, undoubtedly set the example of attention to lyrical form and
cadence. Britanny contributed the wonderfully suggestive Arthurian
legends, and the peculiar music and style of the _lai_. The border
districts of Flanders seem to deserve the credit of originating the
great beast-epic of Reynard the Fox; Picardy, Eastern Normandy, and the
Isle of France were peculiarly rich in the _fabliau_; Champagne was the
special home of the lighter lyric poetry, while almost all northern
France had a share in the Chansons de Gestes, many districts, such as
Lorraine and the Cambresis, having a special _geste_ of their own.
[Sidenote: Beginning of Literature proper.]
It is however with the eleventh century that the history of French
literature properly so called begins. We have indeed few Romance
manuscripts so early as this, the date of most of them not being earlier
than the twelfth. But by the eleventh century not merely were laws
written in French (charters and other formal documents were somewhat
later), not merely were sermons constantly composed and preached in that
tongue, but also works of definite literature were produced in it. The
_Chanson de Roland_ is our only instance of its epic literature, but is
not likely to have stood alone: the mystery of _The Ten Virgins_, a
medley of French and Latin, has been (but perhaps falsely) ascribed to
the same date; and lyric poetry, even putting aside the obscure and
doubtful _Cantilenes_, was certainly indulged in to a considerable
extent. From this date it is therefore possible to abandon generalities,
and taking the successive forms and developments of literature, to deal
with them in detail.
Before however we attempt a systematic account of French literature as
it has been actually handed down to us, it is necessary to deal very
briefly with two questions, one of which concerns the antecedence of
possible ballad literature to the existing Chansons de Gestes, the other
the machinery of diffusion to which this and all the early historical
developments of the written French language owed much.
[Sidenote: Cantilenae.]
It has been held by many scholars, whose opinions deserve respect, that
an extensive literature of _Cantilenae_[12], or short historical
ballads, preceded the lengthy epics which we now possess, and was to a
certain extent worked up in these compositions. It is hardly necessary
to say that this depends in part upon a much larger question--the
question, namely, of the general origins of epic poetry. There are
indeed certain references[13] to these Cantilenae upon which the
theories alluded to have been built. But the Cantilenae themselves have,
as one of the best of French literary historians, the late M. Paulin
Paris, remarks of another debated product, the Provencal epic, only one
defect, 'le defaut d'etre perdu,' and investigation on the subject is
therefore more curious than profitable. No remnant of them survives save
the already-mentioned Latin prose canticle of St. Faron, in which
vestiges of a French and versified original are thought to be visible,
and the ballad of Saucourt, a rough song in a Teutonic dialect[14]. In
default of direct evidence an argument has been sought to be founded on
the constant transitions, repetitions, and other peculiarities of the
Chansons, some of which (and especially _Roland_, the most famous of
all) present traces of repeated handlings of the same subject, such as
might be expected in work which was merely that of a _diaskeuast_[15] of
existing lays.
[Sidenote: Trouveres and Jongleurs.]
It is however probable that the explanation of this phenomenon need not
be sought further than in the circumstances of the composition and
publication of these poems, circumstances which also had a very
considerable influence on the whole course and character of early French
literature. We know nothing of the rise or origin of the two classes of
_Trouveurs_ and _Jongleurs_. The former (which it is needless to say is
the same word as _Troubadour_, and _Trobador_, and _Trovatore_) is the
term for the composing class, the latter for the performing one. But the
separation was not sharp or absolute, and there are abundant instances
of Trouveres[16] who performed their own works, and of Jongleurs who
aspired to the glories if not of original authorship, at any rate of
alteration and revision of the legends they sang or recited. The natural
consequence of this irregular form of publication was a good deal of
repetition in the works published. Different versions of the legends
easily enough got mixed together by the copyist, who it must be
remembered was frequently a mere mechanical reproducer, and neither
Trouvere nor Jongleur; nor should it be forgotten that, so long as
recitation was general, repetitions of this kind were almost inevitable
as a rest to the reciter's memory, and were scarcely likely to attract
unfavourable remark or criticism from the audience. We may therefore
conclude, without entering further into the details of a debate
unsuitable to the plan of this history, that, while but scanty evidence
has been shown of the existence previous to the _Chansons de Gestes_ of
a ballad literature identical in subject with those compositions, at the
same time the existence of such a literature is neither impossible nor
improbable. It is otherwise with the hypothesis of the existence of
prose chronicles, from which the early epics (and _Roland_ in
particular) are also held to have derived their origin. But this subject
will be better handled when we come to treat of the beginnings of French
prose. For the present it is sufficient to say that, with the exception
of the scattered fragments already commented upon, there is no
department of French literature before the eleventh century and the
_Chansons de Gestes_, which possesses historical existence proved by
actual monuments, and thus demands or deserves treatment here.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] 'Fama bonorum operum, quia praevalebat non tantum in Teutonica sed
in Romana lingua, Lotharii regis ad aures usque perveniente,' says his
life. The chronicler Sigebert confirms the statement that he was made
bishop 'quod Romanam non minus quam Teutonicam calleret linguam.'
_Lingua Latina_ and _Lingua Romana_ are from this time distinguished.
[6] The Latin form of the song is given by Helgaire, Bishop of Meaux,
who wrote a life of St. Faron, his predecessor, towards the end of the
ninth century. Helgaire uses the words 'juxta rusticitatem,' 'carmen
rusticum;' and _Lingua Rustica_ is usually if not universally synonymous
with _Lingua Romana_.
[7] 'Si vulgari id est romana lingua loqueretur omnium aliarum putares
inscium.'
[8] The Reichenau Glossary is at Carlsruhe. It was published in 1863 by
Holtzmann. The Cassel Glossary, which came from Fulda, was published in
the last century (1729).
[9] Ordered by the Councils of Tours, Rheims, and Arles (813-851).
[10] In the Library at Valenciennes.
[11] _Les plus anciens Monuments de la Langue Francaise._ Paris, 1875.
[12] The subject of the Cantilenae is discussed at great length by M.
Leon Gautier, _Les Epopees Francaises_, Ed. 2, vol. i. caps. 8-13.
Paris, 1878.
[13] These, which are for the most part very vague and not very early,
will be found fully quoted and discussed in Gautier, l. c.
[14] Published by Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1837).
[15] This word (= arranger or putter-in-order) is familiar in Homeric
discussion, and therefore seems appropriate. M. Gaston Paris speaks with
apparent confidence of the pre-existing _chants_, and, in matter of
authority, no one speaks with more than he: but it can hardly be said
that there is proof of the fact.
[16] The older and in this case more usual form.