FRENCH EPIC POETRY. 62(3 



league, Dr. John Clark, who is one of our authorities on epic poetry, 

 1 beg to quote a few passages from his History of Epic Poetry* 

 First, where giving the term epic its most comprehensive meaning, 

 l;e says : " I define an epic as a tale of dignity about individuals," 

 and a little further on : 



An epic, as we understand the term, should have a lengthy and 

 satisfying story. Without length it is impossible to have the long vistas 

 of action and the variety of character that such a poem requires. And 

 the story cannot be commonplace, but must satisfy the grand emotions of 

 the soul. The traditional reputation and the internal necessaries of this 

 class of poem unite in tying the story down to the description ofl big; 

 if not momentous, action. We have only to interrogate our memories. 

 All our recollections of epics are recollections of actions that vitally 

 concerned a section of humanity; and the names of the great heroes of 

 epic are synonymous for brave and noble actors. 



It is impossible to exhibit the character play of the high personages, 

 typical of epic, in, a petty action. Such actions enshrine nothing but 

 commonplace actors in earthly mould and paltry behaviour. A lofty 

 action lifts actors, it lifts a poet's manner and sustains his spirit at the 

 high general level of epic. An epic is not likely to be simple,' for 

 its interlacing of conflicting energies demands a modicum of complexity. 



This is a sound definition of what, in main outline, an epic 

 ought to be. With regard to the Chanson de Roland, which, with 

 the Henriade, constitutes the chapter on the French epic in his 

 book. Dr. Clark gives us the following statement. I hope I shall 

 be able to show that it is much to be regretted that he did not 

 draw the Legendc des Siecles within the circle of his critical con- 

 siderations. He says : "The poet of the Chanson created out of his 

 material a noble argument, and he has treated this argument not 

 unworthily. He has power, he has fire, he has pathos, he can 

 enlist the sympathy, fire the feeling, and pierce the hearts of his 

 readers. France has reason to be proud of her epic. If anyone 

 has a desire to read something of virginal freshness, to drink for a 

 season of the integri fontes of the nobly simple and the intensely 

 human, to such a one I commend the perusal of the Chanson de 

 Roland." And with regard to the scathing dictum of "Voltaire, he 

 adds : 



Luckily for France, her epic was produced in a far-away pre-Voltairian 

 time, when this assumed incapacity of the brilliant Gallic genius was not 

 ret discernible; for the song of Roland has much of the matter, and 

 store of the spirit of genuine epic. 



On the strength of statements like these, we need not hesitate 

 in admitting that the Chanson de Roland is a good, sound epic 

 ■which, if not worthy of ranking with the greatest, amply deserves 

 a good second class. 



I should here like to say a good deal more about the French 

 mediaeval epic, about the Chansons de qeste, which have Charle- 

 magne, about the Romans courtois, which have King Arthur for 

 their central hero ; in short, about the whole of the outcome of 

 what Gaston Paris characterises as " la grande fermentation 

 epique " ; but my allotted space being limited, I will proceed at 

 once and try to give a brief synoptic view of what more or less 



♦Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh (1900). 

 1) 



