FRANCE. (LITERATURE.) 



293 



destitute of feeling, and ran out into endless subtle- 

 ties and an empty pomp of phrases. Of the other 

 pleiadcs, Du Bellay and Bait' had the greatest re- 

 putation. Another reform soon became neces- 

 sary to abolish the Latinizing school of poetry. Ber- 

 trand and Desportes became the reformers of 

 taste, and predecessors of the celebrated Malherbe. 

 This writer, who is considered by the French, 

 as their first classical lyric poet, discovered the 

 true nature of French prosody. He was without 

 poetical fancy or boldness of imagination, but he 

 was an able critic, and a powerful tyrant of words 

 and syllables. The classic dignity of language, for 

 which the French are indebted to him, is particularly 

 exhibited in his odes and stanzas. He died in 1627. 

 Regnier distinguished himself by his classical satires 

 and pictures ot manners. Theophile Viaud rivalled 

 Malherbe, and possessed the rare talent of improvi- 

 sation. The pastorals, or bergeries, then came into 

 vogue. Racan and Mairet distinguished themselves 

 in this species of poetry. As epigrammatists, Gom- 

 baud and Brebeuf were celebrated. The influence 

 of Aristotle on French poetry was already apparent 

 in the sixteenth century. The lyrical poems of 

 Racine have more elegance of language than poeti- 

 cal merit. Jean la Fontaine, born in 1621, died in 

 1694, was a popular favourite. An inimitable sim- 

 plicity of description, which sprang from a truly 

 child-like heart, is the characteristic of his fables and 

 centes. The latter are chiefly imitations of Boccac- 

 cio, and are sometimes tainted by obscenities. Boi- 

 leau-Despreaux heartily hated all affectation and ex- 

 travagance. He had very little imagination, but great 

 clearness of observation. His critical rules had the 

 more influence as he himself followed them minutely. 

 His satires and his Art of Poetry are well known. The 

 writers of his school prided themselves on the severity 

 of their taste. Benserade's songs were popular. At 

 the head of the comic poets of that period were Lul- 

 lier (Chapelle),Bachaumont, Chaulieu, and La Fare. 

 J. B. Rousseau, born in 1669, became celebrated as 

 a lyric writer, who treated every subject with ease. 

 The poesies fugitives now came more and more into 

 favour. Pavilion, St Pavin, &c., recommended them- 

 selves by elegant trifles. Segrais's eclogues were 

 esteemed. Still more pleasing are those of Madame 

 Deshoulieres, who lived from 1634 to 1694, and wrote 

 with feminine tenderness. The idyls of Fontenelle 

 are written with a cold elegance. Louis Racine, the 

 son of the famous tragedian, is distinguished for the 

 earnest piety of his poetry. The sacred odes of Pom- 

 pignan, who lived from 1709 to 1784, are noble and 

 full of feeling. Berquin, Leonard of Gaudeloupe, 

 and Mademoiselle Rose Levesque, distinguished 

 themselves by lovely idyls, in which they imitated 

 Gessner. Among the modern poets, Lebrun's odes 

 rise to a higher flight than most of the French poems. 

 The Epitres of Ducis'and De Fontanes are excellent. 

 Legouve is distinguished for elegance of style and 

 melody of versification. Three of his poems, Les 

 Souvenirs, La Melancolie, and Le Merite des Femmes, 

 met with great success. The fables of Florian, Ar- 

 nault, ind Ginguene are happy imitations of Lafon- 

 taine's ; and Andrieux, in his Meunier sans Souci, 

 reminds us of the manner of that celebrated writer. 

 The early death of Millevoye, whose Amour Mater- 

 nel and Belzunce are characterized by a pure and 

 deep feeling, was a loss to poetry. The writings of 

 De Boufflers and De Parny prove that no calamities 

 are able to change the propensity of the nation to 

 frivolous subjects. Berlin (died in 1790) is the most 

 distinguished elegiac poet. Chenier excelled in 

 idyllic poetry. Of the late lyric writers, Lamartine 

 is the best. 



In epicj)o?try of merit, French literature is very 



poor. The first epic attempt of any consequence 

 was made by Desmarets-de-St-Sorlin, a protege ot 

 Richelieu. He died in 1676. Boileau ridiculed him 

 with much severity. Desmarets was indeed destitute 

 of what Boileau himself possessed in so high a degree 

 critical judgment and a chastened taste but his 

 invention was rich. The plan of his Clovis, though 

 not judicious, displays a rich poetical conception. 

 The machinery was borrowed partly from the Chris- 

 tian heaven, partly from the romantic world of en- 

 chantment. Far below him was Jean Chapelain, 

 whose Joan of Arc is equalled in length and tedious- 

 ness only by Scudery's Alaric, or Rome Delivered. 

 Le Moine's St Louis, ou la sainte Couronne reconquise, 

 is monotonous and without taste. Limojon-cle-St- 

 Didier sacrificed Clovis anew. Ronsard's Franciad 

 must not be forgotten in this catalogue of unfortunate 

 epics. Fenelon's Telemaque is considered, in France, 

 as a masterpiece of epic composition ; but, although 

 the noblest tone of reason and morality pervades that 

 work, it is far from being a true epopee. The Hen- 

 riade of Voltaire is undoubtedly the principal French 

 poem in this department. The plan is well con- 

 ceived, and the characters well drawn, the descrip- 

 tions happy, and the language pure and noble ; but 

 the total want of poetical illusion is severely felt 

 throughout the poem. The allegorical person- 

 ages are particularly unpleasing. Voltaire stained 

 his fame by his Pucelle, to which, however, the rank 

 of the first mock heroic poem in French literature 

 must be given. Madame du Boccage's Colombiade, 

 ou la Foi portee au Nouveau Monde, contains, at least, 

 some beautiful descriptions. Masson's Helvetiens is 

 historical rather than epic. Chateaubriand's Mar- 

 tyrs is ranked by some critics, and perhaps more 

 justly than Telemaque, among the epics. In the mock 

 heroic, besides Voltaire, Boileau stands distinguished 

 by his Lutrin, which the excellence of its invention, 

 and the elaboration of its finish, render classical. 

 Parny's La Guerre des Dieux, Les Rosecroix, and 

 Le Paradis perdu, prove the talents of the author, 

 however offensive to good morals. Les Amours 

 Epiques are only episodes, which Parceval de Grand- 

 maison borrowed from other poets. The Achille a 

 Scyros of Luce de Lancival contains fine passages, 

 though the plan is very defective. Baour Lonnian, 

 in his Poemes Galliques, imitates Ossian. Creuze de 

 Lesser's Chevaliers de la Table Ronde (1811) received 

 great and well deserved applause. Less successful 

 were his Amadis de Gaule, and Pairs de Charlemagne, 

 which were intended, according to the original plan 

 of the author, to comprise, with the Table Ronde, a 

 complete picture of the whole period of chivalry. 



Brebeuf, who lived from 1618 to 1661, first distin- 

 guished himself in didactic poetry by his Entretiens 

 Solitaires. Boileau's Art Poetique has been already 

 mentioned. Two didactic poems of the younger 

 Racine, La Religion and La Grace, as also Voltaire's 

 Discours sur I'Homme, La Religion Nature'/e, and 

 Le Desastre de Lisbonne, and Dulard's La Grandeur 

 de Dieu dans les Merveilles de la Nature, deserve to 

 be mentioned. VVatelet wrote a poem on the art of 

 painting, and Dorat attempted to sketch the theory 

 of the drama. The descriptive poems of the English, 

 particularly Thomson's Seasons, have found imitators 

 in France. Of the class of these imitations are Les 

 Saisons, by St Lambert, and Les Mots, by Roucher. 

 Bernard's and Lemierre's didactic poems, VArt 

 d'Aimer and Les Pastes, are imitations of Ovid. 

 Delille rendered this department a favourite by his 

 Les Jardins, L'Homme des Champs, in which he 

 imitated Virgil, his La Malheur et la Pitie, and La 

 Conversation. His larger poem, L Imagination, is 

 particularly rich in beautiful descriptions and epi- 

 sodes. Of the valuable work of Lebiun, La Nature, 



