"Two naked highroads cross. They never saw the garnering of harvests; "There are three cottages, In the same corner cowering, all the three; "The third one is this inn with heart so sad. Symbolism has made relatively little headway in French drama, the only Symbolist writer of note in this field being Edmond Rostand (1868-1918). He came into popular favor with his first play, "Les Romanesques" ("The Romancers"), and his later dramas have added steadily to his reputation. Most of his plays are in Alexandrine verse form and reveal a glowing and richly colored poetic imagery. "La Princesse Lointaine" ("The Far-Away Princess"), "Cyrano de Bergerac," "L'Aiglon" ("The Eaglet"), and "Chanticler" are among his most important plays. The "new drama" in France has followed largely in the wake of the Naturalistic novel. Henri Becque led the way in "Les Corbeaux" ("The Crows") and other plays-penetrating studies in character and social forces. His work was followed by the somber psychological studies of François de Curel, such as "The Fossils," his best play; by the trenchant onslaughts of Eugène Brieux upon various aspects of social maladjustment, best known to American playgoers by "La Robe Rouge" ("The Red Robe") and "Les Avariés" ("Damaged Goods"); and by the fine technique and intense moral impact of certain plays of Paul Hervieu, such as "La Course du Flambeau" ("The Trail of the Torch"). In the field of fiction the writers are legion. The novels of Paul Bourget include a number of conscientious character studies, such as "The Disciple" and "Cosmopolis." Maurice Barrès, a writer of 1 Translation by Jethro Bithell. serious purpose and admirable national spirit, has given us some fine work in "The Enemy of the Laws" and "The Friendships of France." Marcel Prévost is a less intense Maupassant, revealing something of the same pessimism in his short stories and novels. Jacques Anatole Thibaut (1844-1924), writing under the assumed name of "Anatole France," at the time of his death regarded as the greatest contemporary man of letters in his country, was a critic and novelist of rare excellence and a friend and counselor of his people in the troublous times when doubt was heavy upon their hearts. He insists upon no theory or system, is not hasty to denounce, and reveals a seasoned judgment that goes deep into the heart of things. He produced a considerable number of novels. One of the earliest and most popular is "The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard," the story of a kind-hearted savant and his unselfish befriending of the daughter of an old sweetheart. Among France's other novels are "Thaïs," "Les Dieux ont Soif" ("The Gods are Athirst"), "The Opinions of Jerome Coignard," and "L'Anneau d'Améthyste" ("The Amethyst Ring"). He has succeeded, in his happy, quiet, whimsical, gently ironical way, in capturing the spirit of past times, especially of the Middle Ages, to a higher degree of artistic perfection than almost any other of his countrymen. France's irony, says Mr. Gosse, is a "tender and consolatory raillery, based upon compassion." Romain Rolland (1866- ) stands, in these days of national hostility and suspicion, for a broad and deep internationalism and a devotion to spiritual rather than material values as the hope of the human race. It is as the author of the huge novel "JeanChristophe" that he has made his strongest appeal. Published the year before the outbreak of the World War, it presents the life history of a German idealist, whose lot is cast largely in Paris; and through that experience are reflected the spiritual life and hope of Europe and, indeed, of the modern world. The same high and generous insistence upon spiritual values is the inspiration of his later volume of essays, "Au-dessus de la Mêlée" ("Above the Battle"). "There is but one heroism in the world," says Rolland, "—to see the world as it is, and to love it." Although not Frenchmen, Maeterlinck and Verhaeren have employed the French language in all their writings and may therefore stand as a sort of Belgian postscript to this survey of French literature. Maurice Maeterlinck (1862- ) is one of the most significant figures in the Symbolist movement. His Symbolist plays present a minimum of action and a maximum of atmospherestrange cadences of dialogue, movement, grouping-presentments of hope deferred, of faith decayed, of death the near neighbor, of fate in the corridor and at the door. This series includes eleven plays, the most important being "Pelléas and Mélisande," "L'Intruse" ("The Intruder"), "Les Aveugles" ("The Blind"), and "Sister Beatrice." Maeterlinck turned later to the conventional drama and produced three plays,—"Monna Vanna," "Mary Magdalene," and "The Blue Bird,”—which, although they have met with considerable popularity on the stage, hardly rise to the level of his earlier work either in form or substance. Émile Verhaeren (1855-1916) is the greatest of recent Belgian poets, as Maeterlinck is of writers of rhythmical prose. In the volumes entitled "Toute la Flandre" ("All Flanders") he presents a series of vivid pictures of the Belgian landscape and aspects of Belgian life. In "Les Campagnes Hallucinées" ("The Transformed Countrysides") and "Les Villes Tentaculaires" ("The Tentacled Cities") he reflects in intense, virile, impetuous free verse the significance of the evolution from a quiet agricultural régime in Belgium to a grinding, clashing, industrial one. He rises perhaps to his climax of enthusiastic acceptance of the fullness of life, with all its joy and grief, in the wonderful volumes entitled "Tumultuous Forces," "The Multiple Splendor," and "Sovereign Rhythms." "Belgium's Agony" is his cry of pain at the desolation of his country wrought by the war; and yet, in the very midst of the conflict, he reveals in "Parmi les Cendres" ("Among the Ashes") a renewal of faith in human life and in the restoration of his beloved land. Verhaeren's poetry stands for the insistent courage of a man among men, of one who refuses to be disheartened and who believes that the forces of life have a rightful claim upon our loyalty. Reference List ROBINSON. Medieval and Modern Times. Ginn and Company. SAINTSBURY. Short History of French Literature. Oxford University Press. BRUNETIÈRE. Manual of the History of French Literature. Thomas Y. Crowell Company. HARPER. Masters of French Literature. Charles Scribner's Sons. FAGUET. Literary History of France. Charles Scribner's Sons. HENRY JAMES. French Poets and Novelists. The Macmillan Company. STRACHEY. Landmarks in French Literature (Home University Library). Henry Holt and Company. WRIGHT. History of French Literature. Oxford University Press. SAINTSBURY. History of the French Novel. The Macmillan Company. MATTHEWS. French Dramatists. Charles Scribner's Sons. MATTHEWS. Molière. Charles Scribner's Sons. WYNDHAM. Ronsard and La Pléiade. The Macmillan Company. BABBITT. Masters of Modern French Criticism. Houghton Mifflin Company. THOMPSON. French Portraits (deals with modern writers.) Mitchell Kennerley. DUCLAUX. Twentieth Century French Writers. William Collins Sons & Company, London. LEWISOHN. Poets of Modern France. B. W. Huebsch. LEWISOHN. The Modern Drama. B. W. Huebsch. CHANDLER. The Contemporary Drama of France. Little, Brown and Company. Oxford Book of French Verse (French text only). Oxford University Press. Translations: Everyman's Library contains many French classics in English. E. P. Dutton & Company; send for list. Foreign Classics for English Readers includes ten French authors. Modern Library includes certain French authors. Boni & Liveright. Thorley's "Fleur-de-Lys, An Anthology of French Poetry." Houghton Modern Book of French Verse. Boni & Liveright. Carrington's "Anthology of French Poetry," 10th to 19th centuries. Little French Masterpieces (6 vols.) includes six French short-story writers. G. P. Putnam's Sons. Butler's "Tales from the Old French." Houghton Mifflin Company. Song of Roland (Butler). Houghton Mifflin Company. Aucassin and Nicolette and other French medieval romances (several editions obtainable). Rabelais. J. B. Lippincott Company; and others. Montaigne. Houghton Mifflin Company; and others. Molière. The Macmillan Company; G. P. Putnam's Sons; and others. Hugo. Thomas Y. Crowell Company; and others. Zola. The Macmillan Company; and others. Apatole France. John Lane Company. Maeterlinck. Dodd, Mead & Company. Suggested Topics Aspects of life in medieval France. The "Song of Roland." A study of French medieval romances. The French and the English conceptions of chivalry—a comparison. Beginnings of the drama in France. Essence of the Classical ideal. French Classical tragedy. Molière as man and writer. A study of Molière's "Tartuffe." Voltaire's contribution to the world. The "Confessions" of Rousseau. The Revolution and its bearing on literature. A character study of Jean Valjean in "Les Misérables." Hugo and other masters of French verse. The Romantic movement-its meaning and its effect. The Naturalistic school of fiction. Some French short-story writers and their work. French literature of the World War. |