Carmen Sylva.
The kingdom of Roumania, composed of the principalities of Moldavia and
Wallachia, united in 1859, has few literary monuments. The language is
Wallachian, in which the Latin predominates, with a mixture of Slavic,
Turkish, and Tartar, and has only of late been classed with the Romance
languages, by the side of Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. There are some
historical fragments of the fifteenth century remaining; the literature
that followed was mostly theological. In recent times a great number of
learned and poetical works have been produced, and political movements
have led to many political writings and to the establishment of many
newspapers.
The most distinguished name in Roumanian literature is that of "Carmen
Sylva," the _nom de plume_ of the beautiful and gifted queen of that
country, whose writings in prose and verse are remarkable for passionate
feeling, grace, and finished execution.