A Short History of French Literature

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.'