A Short History of French Literature Part 13

Vous n'y avez chose vostre nes-une, Fors les beaulx dons de grace et de nature.

Se Fortune donc, par cas d'adventur Vous toult les biens que vostres vous tenez, Tort ne vous fait, aincois vous fait droicture, Car vous n'aviez riens quant vous fustes nez.

Ne laissez plus le dormir a grans sommes En vostre lict, par nuict obscure et brune, Pour acquester richesses a grans sommes.

Ne convoitez chose des...o...b.. la lune, Ne de Paris jusques a Pampelune, Fors ce qui fault, sans plus, a creature Pour recouvrer sa simple nourriture.

Souffise vous d'estre bien renommez, Et d'emporter bon loz en sepulture: Car vous n'aviez riens quant vous fustes nez.

Les joyeulx fruictz des arbres, et les pommes, Au temps que fut toute chose commune, Le beau miel, les glandes et les gommes Souffisoient bien a chascun et chascune: Et pour ce fut sans noise et sans rancune.

Soyez contens des chaulx et des froidures, Et me prenez Fortune doulce et seure.

Pour vos pertes, griefve dueil n'en menez, Fors a raison, a point, et a mesure, Car vous n'aviez riens quant vous fustes nez.

Se Fortune vous fait aucune injure, C'est de son droit, ja ne l'en reprenez, Et perdissiez jusques a la vesture: Car vous n'aviez riens quant vous fustes nez.

CHARLES D'ORLeANS.

Le temps a laissie son manteau De vent, de froidure et de pluye, Et s'est vestu de brouderie, De soleil luyant, cler et beau.

Il n'y a beste, ne oyseau, Qu'en son jargon ne chante ou crie: Le temps a laissie son manteau De vent, de froidure et de pluye.

Riviere, fontaine et ruisseau Portent, en livree jolie, Gouttes d'argent d'orfavrerie, Chascun s'abille de nouveau: Le temps a laissie son manteau.

FOOTNOTES:

[110] The following is an account of these forms, in their more important developments. The _ballade_ consists of three stanzas, and an _envoy_, or final half-stanza, which is sometimes omitted. The number of the lines in each stanza is optional, but it should not usually be more than eleven or less than eight. The peculiarity of the poem is that the last line of every stanza is identical, and that the rhymes are the same throughout and repeated in the same order. The examples printed at the end of this chapter from Lescurel and Chartier will ill.u.s.trate this sufficiently. There is no need to enter into the absurdity of _ballades equivoquees_, _emperieres_, etc., further than to say that their main principle is the repet.i.tion of the same rhyming word, in a different sense, it may be twice or thrice at the end of the line, it may be at the end and in the middle, it may be at the end of one line and the beginning of the next. The _chant royal_ is a kind of major ballade having five of the longest (eleven-lined) stanzas and an envoy of five lines. The _rondel_ is a poem of thirteen lines (sometimes made into fourteen by an extra repet.i.tion), consisting of two quatrains and a five-lined stanza, the first two lines of the first quatrain being repeated as the last two of the second, and the first line of all being added once more at the end. The _rondeau_, a poem of thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen lines, is arranged in stanzas of five, four, and four, five, or six lines, the last line of the second and third stanzas consisting of the first words of the first line of the poem. The _triolet_ is a sort of rondel of eight lines only, repeating the first line at the fourth, and the first and second at the seventh and eighth. Lastly, the _villanelle_ alternates one of two refrain lines at the end of each three-lined stanza. These are the princ.i.p.al forms, though there are many others.

[111] Ed. Montaiglon. Paris, 1855.

[112] The Rondeau is not in Lescurel systematised into any regular form.

[113] Ed. L. de Mas Latrie. Societe de l'Orient Latin, Geneva, 1877.

This is a poem not much shorter than the _Voir Dit_, but continuously octosyllabic and very spirited. The final account of the murder of Pierre (which he provoked by the most brutal oppression of his va.s.sals) is full of power.

[114] Ed. P. Paris. Societe des Bibliophiles, Paris, 1875. This is a very interesting poem consisting of more than 9000 lines, mostly octosyllabic couplets, with ballades, etc. interspersed, one of which is given at the end of this chapter. It is addressed either to Agnes of Navarre, or, as M. P. Paris thought, to Peronelle d'Armentieres, and was written in 1362, when the author was probably very old.

[115] Deschamps is said to have been also named Morel. A complete edition of his works has been undertaken for the Old French Text Society by the Marquis de Queux de Saint Hilaire.

[116] Ballades, 147, 149. Ed. Queux de St. Hilaire.

[117] Ed. Scheler. 3 vols. Brussels, 1870-1872.

[118] Ed. Hericault. 2 vols. Paris, 1874. Charles d'Orleans was the son of the Duke of Orleans, who was murdered by the Burgundians, and of Valentina of Milan. He was born in 1391, taken prisoner at Agincourt, ransomed in 1449, and he died in 1465. His son was Louis XII.

[119] Ed. Queux de St. Hilaire. Paris, 1868.

CHAPTER X.

THE DRAMA.

[Sidenote: Origins of Drama.]

The origins of the drama in France, like most other points affecting mediaeval literature, have been made the subject of a good deal of dispute. It has been attempted, on the one hand, to father the mysteries and miracle-plays of the twelfth and later centuries on the cla.s.sical drama, traditions of which are supposed to have been preserved in the monasteries and other homes of learning. On the other hand, a more probable and historical source has been found in the ceremonies and liturgies of the Church, which in themselves possess a considerable dramatic element, and which, as we shall see, were early adapted to still more definitely dramatic purposes. Disputes of this kind, if not exactly otiose, are not suited to these pages; and it is sufficient to say that while Plautus and Terence at least retained a considerable hold on mediaeval students, the natural tendencies to dramatic representation which exist in almost every people, a.s.sisted by the stimulus of ecclesiastical traditions, ceremonies, and festivals, are probably sufficient to account for the beginnings of dramatic literature in France.

[Sidenote: Earliest Vernacular Dramatic Forms.]

[Sidenote: Mysteries and Miracles.]

[Sidenote: Miracles de la Vierge.]

It so happens too that such historical evidence as we have entirely bears out this supposition. The earliest compositions of a dramatic kind that we possess in French, are arguments and sc.r.a.ps interpolated in Latin liturgies of a dramatic character. Earlier still these works had been wholly in Latin. The production called 'The Prophets of Christ' is held to date from the eleventh century, and consists of a series of utterances of the prophets and patriarchs, who are called upon in turn to bear testimony in reference to the Messiah, according to a common patristic habit. By degrees other portions of Old Testament history were thrown into the dramatic or at least dialogic form. In the drama or dramatic liturgy of _Daniel_, fragments of French make their appearance, and the Mystery of _Adam_ is entirely in the vulgar tongue. Both these belong to the twelfth century, and the latter appears to have been not merely a part of the church services, but to have been independently performed outside the church walls. It is accompanied by full directions in Latin for the decoration and arrangement of stage and scenes. Another important instance, already mentioned, of somewhat dubious age, but certainly very early, is the Mystery of _The Ten Virgins_. This is not wholly in French, but contains some speeches in a Romance dialect. These three dramas, _Daniel_, _Adam_, and _The Ten Virgins_, are the most ancient specimens of their kind, which, from the thirteenth century onward, becomes very numerous and important. By degrees a distinction was established between mystery and miracle-plays, the former being for the most part taken from the sacred Scriptures, the latter from legends and lives of the Saints and of the Virgin. Early and interesting specimens of the miracle are to be found in the _Theophile_ of Ruteboeuf and in the _Saint Nicholas_ of Jean Bodel d'Arras, both belonging to the same (thirteenth) century[120]. But the most remarkable examples of the miracle-play are to be found in a ma.n.u.script which contains forty miracles of the Virgin, dating from the fourteenth century. Selections from these have been published at different times, and the whole is now in course of publication by the Old French Text Society[121]. As the miracles were mostly concerned with isolated legends, they did not lend themselves to great prolixity, and it is rare to find them exceed 2000 lines. Their versification is at first somewhat licentious, but by degrees they settled down into more or less regular employment of the octosyllabic couplet. Both in them and in the mysteries the curious mixture of pathos and solemnity on the one side, with farcical ribaldry on the other, which is characteristic of mediaeval times, early becomes apparent. The mysteries, however, as they became more and more a favourite employment of the time, increased and grew in length. The narrative of the Scriptures being more or less continuous, it was natural that the small dramas on separate subjects should by degrees be attracted to one another and be merged in larger wholes. It was another marked characteristic of mediaeval times that all literary work should be constantly subject to _remaniement_, the facile scribes of each day writing up the work of their predecessors to the taste and demands of their own audience. In the case of the mysteries, as in that of the _Chansons de Gestes_, each _remaniement_ resulted in a lengthening of the original. It became an understood thing that a mystery lasted several days in the representation; and in many provincial towns regular theatres were constructed for the performances, which remained ready for use between the various festival times. In the form which these representations finally a.s.sumed in the fifteenth century, they not only required elaborate scenery and properties, but also in many cases a very large troop of performers. It is from this century that most of the mysteries we possess date, and they are all characterised by enormous length. The two most famous of these are the _Pa.s.sion_[122] of Arnould Greban, and the _Viel Testament_[123], due to no certain author. The _Pa.s.sion_, as originally written in the middle of the fifteenth century, consisted of some 25,000 lines, and thirty or forty years later it was nearly doubled in length by the alterations of Jean Michel. The _Mystere du Viel Testament_, of which no ma.n.u.script is now known, but which was printed in the last year of the fifteenth century, is now being reprinted, and extends to nearly 50,000 verses.

Additions even to this are spoken of; and Michel's _Pa.s.sion_, supplemented by a _Resurrection_, extended to nearly 70,000 lines, which vast total is believed to have been frequently acted as a whole. In such a case the s.p.a.ce of weeks rather than days, which is said to have been sometimes occupied in the performance of a mystery, cannot be thought excessive.

[Sidenote: Heterogeneous Character of Mysteries.]

The enormous length of the larger mysteries makes a.n.a.lysis of any one of them impossible; but as an instance of the curious comedy which is intermixed with their most serious portions, and which shocked critics even up to our own time, we may take the scene of the Tower of Babel in the _Mystere du Viel Testament_[124]. Here the author is not content with describing Nimrod's act in general terms, or by the aid of the convenient messenger; he brings the actual masons and carpenters on the stage. _Gaste-Bois_ (Spoilwood), _Ca.s.se-Tuileau_ (Breaktile), and their mates talk before us for nearly 200 lines, while Nimrod and others come in from time to time and hasten on the work. The workmen are quite outspoken on the matter. They do not altogether like the job; and one of them says,

On ne peut en fin que faillir.

Besongnons; mais qu'on nous paie bien.

A little further on and they are actually at work. One calls for a hod of mortar, another for his hammer. The labourers supply their wants, or make jokes to the effect that they would rather bring them something to drink. So it goes on, till suddenly the confusion of tongues falls upon them, and they issue their orders in what is probably pure jargon, though fragments of something like Italian can be made out. In the very middle of this scene occurs a really fine and reverently written dialogue between Justice and Mercy pleading respectively to the Divinity for vengeance and pardon. Instances such as this abound in the mysteries, which are sometimes avowedly interrupted in order that the audience may be diverted by a farcical interlude.

[Sidenote: Argument of a Miracle Play.]

Of the miracles, that of _St. Guillaume du Desert_ will serve as a fair example. It is but 1500 lines in length, yet the list of _dramatis personae_ extends to nearly thirty, and there are at least as many distinct scenes. William, count of Poitiers and duke of Aquitaine, has rendered himself in many ways obnoxious to the Holy See. He has recognised an anti-pope, has driven a bishop from his diocese for refusing to do likewise, and has offended against morality. An emba.s.sy, including St. Bernard, is therefore sent from Rome to warn and correct him. William is not proof against their eloquence, and soon becomes deeply penitent. He quits his palaces, and retires to the society of hermits in the wilderness. These enjoin penances upon him. He is to have a heavy hauberk immovably riveted on his bare flesh, and with sackcloth for an overcoat to visit Rome and beg the Pope's forgiveness. He does this, and the Pope sends him to the patriarch of Jerusalem, William taking the additional penance as a proof of the heinousness of his sin.

After this he retires by himself into a solitary place. Here, however, a knight of his country seeks him out, represents the anarchy into which it has fallen in his absence, and implores him to return. But this is not William's notion of duty. He refuses, and to be free from such importunities in future, retires to the island of Rhodes, and there lives in solitude. Irritated at the idea of his escaping them, Satan and Beelzebub attack him and beat him severely; but he recovers by the Virgin's intervention, and serves as a model to young devotees who seek his cell, and like him become hermits. At last a chorus of saints descends to see his G.o.dly end, which takes place in the presence of the neophytes. The events, of which this is a very brief abstract, are all clearly indicated in the short s.p.a.ce of 1500 verses, many of which are only of four syllables[125]. There is of course no attempt at drawing any figure, except that of the saint, at full length, and this is characteristic of the cla.s.s. But as dramatised legends, for they are little more, these miracles possess no slight merit.

The general literary peculiarities of the miracle and mystery plays do not differ greatly from those of other compositions in verse of the same time which have been already described. Their great fault is prolixity.

In the collection of the _Miracles de la Vierge_, the comparative brevity of the pieces renders them easier to read than the long compositions of the fifteenth century, and the poetical beauty of some of the legends which they tell is sufficient to furnish them with interest. Even in these, however, the absence of point and of dignity in the expression frequently mars the effect; and this is still more the case with the longer mysteries. Of these latter, however, the work of the brothers Greban--for there were two, Arnould and Simon, concerned--contains pa.s.sages superior to the general run, and in others lines and even scenes of merit occur.

[Sidenote: Profane Drama.]

[Sidenote: Adam de la Halle.]

Although the existence of the drama as an actual fact was for a long time due to the performance and popularity of the mysteries and miracles, specimens of dramatic work with purely profane subjects are to be found at a comparatively early date. Adam de la Halle, so far as our present information goes, has the credit of inventing two separate styles of such composition[126]. In _Li Jus de la Feuillie_ he has left us the earliest comedy in the vulgar tongue known; in the pastoral drama of _Robin et Marion_ the earliest specimen of comic opera. Independently of the improbability that the drama, once in full practice, should be arbitrarily confined to a single cla.s.s of subject, there were many germs of dramatic composition in mediaeval literature which wanted but a little encouragement to develop themselves. The verse dialogues and _debats_, which both troubadours and trouveres had favoured, were in themselves incompletely dramatic. The _pastourelles_, an extremely favourite and fas.h.i.+onable cla.s.s of composition, must have suggested to others besides the Hunchback of Arras the idea of dramatising them; and the early and strongly-marked partiality of the middle ages for pageants and shows of all kinds could hardly fail to induce those who planned them to intersperse dialogue.

The plot of _Robin et Marion_ is simple and in a way regular. The ordinary incidents of a _pastourelle_, the meeting of a fair shepherdess and a pa.s.sing knight, the wooing (in this case an unsuccessful one) and the riding away, are all there. The piece is completed by a kind of rustic picnic, in which the neighbouring shepherds and shepherdesses join and disport themselves. Marion is a very graceful and amiable figure; Robin a sheepish coward, who is not in the least worthy of her.

In Adam's other and earlier drama he is by no means so partial to the feminine s.e.x, and his work, though equally fresh and vigorous, is more complex and less artistically finished. It is in part autobiographic, and introduces Adam confessing to friends with sufficient effrontery his intention of going to Paris and deserting his wife. This part contains a very pretty though curiously unsuitable description of the wooing, which has such an unlucky termination. Suddenly, however, the author introduces his father, an old citizen, who is quite ready to encourage his son in his evil ways provided it costs him nothing, and the piece loses all regularity of plot. Divers citizens of Arras, male and female, are introduced with a more or less satiric intention, and the last episode brings in the personages of Morgue la Fee and of the _mesnie_ (attendants) of a certain shadowy King h.e.l.lequin. There is a doctor, too, whose revelations of his patients' affairs are sufficiently comic, not to say farcical. Dest.i.tute as it is of method, and approaching more nearly to the Fabliau than to any other division of mediaeval literature in the coa.r.s.eness of its language, the piece has great interest, not merely because of its date and its apparent originality, but because of numerous pa.s.sages of distinct literary merit. The picture of the neglected wife in her girlhood is inferior to nothing of the kind even in the thirteenth century, that fertile epoch of early French poetry.

The father, too, Maitre Henri, the earliest of his kind on the modern stage, has traits which the great comic masters would not disown.

The cla.s.ses of later secular drama may be thus divided,--the monologue, the farce, the morality, the _sotie_, the profane mystery. The first four of these const.i.tute one of the most interesting divisions of early French literature; and it is to be hoped that before long easy access will be afforded to the whole of it. The last is only interesting from the point of view of literary history.

[Sidenote: Monologues.]

The monologue is the simplest form of dramatic composition and needs but little notice, though it seems to have met with some favour from playgoers of the time. By dint also of adroit changes of costume and a.s.sistance from scenery, etc., the monologue was sometimes made more complicated than appears at first sight possible, as for instance, in the _Monologue du Bien et du Mal des Dames_, where the speaker plays successively the parts of two advocates and of a judge. The monologue, however, more often consisted in a dramatisation of the earlier _dit_, in which some person or thing is made to declare its own attributes. Of very similar character is the so-called _sermon joyeux_, which, however, preserves more or less the form of an address from the pulpit, of course travestied and applied to ludicrous subjects.

[Sidenote: Farces.]

The farce, on the other hand, is one of the most important of all dramatic kinds in reference to French literature. It is a genuine product of the soil, and proved the ancestor of all the best comedy of France, on which foreign models had very little influence. Until the discovery and acquisition by the British Museum of a unique collection of farces the number of these compositions known to exist was not large, and such as had been printed were difficult of access. It is still not easy to get together a complete collection, but the reimpression of the British Museum pieces in the _Bibliotheque Elzevirienne_[127] with M.