14 Professor D. L. Savory on 



gladly hear him than the one he had chosen. He was'quite sure 

 they would follow his address with the greatest possible interest 

 and with the highest possible appreciation. He had much 

 pleasure in asking Professor Savory to proceed with his lecture, 



Professor Savory, who was received with applause, speaking 

 in French, said Maeterlinck was born at Ghent in 1862, and was 

 the descendant of an old bourgeois family. He studied at the 

 Jesuit College, and started reading for the Bar, but he soon found 

 that he was unfitted for that profession, and left his native town 

 for Paris, whither he was accompanied by his former schoolfellow, 

 Gregoire Le Roi. The young poet spent a great part of the year 

 1886 in the French capital, and made the acquaintance of the 

 leaders of the Symbolistes. After his return to Ghent he devoted 

 himself to study, and produced some of his early poems. In 1890 

 he suddenly became famous owing to an article by Octave 

 Mirbeau in the "Figaro" of the 24th August. The next five or 

 six years were a most fruitful period in the poet's life. While 

 writing his first plays he at the same time devoted himself to the 

 study of Shakespeare, Shelley, and Browning. In 1896 he left 

 for France, where he definitely took up his abode. But Flemish 

 influence was still very marked in all his early works. The re- 

 collection of the endless plains, the sleepy canals, and the sluggish 

 Scheldt appeared constantly in those first volumes. But his 

 mystical studies were the principal factor in his intellectual 

 formation. Their influence was shown in his two early volumesj 

 " Les Serres Chaudes " and " Les Chansons." " Les Serres 

 Chaudes " was principally interesting from the point of view of the 

 poet's historical development. He was still under the influence of 

 Verlaine. The " Chansons," on the other hand, were attempts to 

 imitate the old folk song, and recall to a certain extent the 

 " Erlkonig " of Goethe, while the early dramas were inspired by 

 Maeterlinck's studies ot Shakespeare. Pelleas and Melisande was 

 a masterpiece of lyrical drama, and " La Mort de Tintagiles " and 

 " Interieur " were extremely characteristic of that early period in 



