The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-08 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Memoirs of Beranger. Written by himself. 1
vol. Hurst and Blackett.
The zuomoirs of one so eminent in the literary
world—one who first raised the nuuable profession
of chanson:nice to the dignity of the poet—who has
had the honour of endurieg persecution for his
advocacy of the popular cause, and who has so
lady exchanged the bay
tree for the cypress, can-
not fail to attract immediate avid interested atten-
tion. The memoir,, as they are called, are in
reality little more than an outline, rather indicating
the chief points of. his career and character than
affording U 3 any minute or satisfactory knowledge
of them. Nevertheless, as the autobiography
written by his own hand, and as showing us a pic-
ture rather of what he was than of what he did,
it is full of interest. The pictures of his early life
and its vicissitudes—of his steadfast refusal to com-
promise his independence by accepting the favours
offered to him by wealthy or powerful friends—of
his persistence in setting forth his opinions when
most dangerous to himself, so long as he deemed
it to the public advantage, all tend to prove the
elevation of his character, and the purity of his
patriotism. English readers will find something
to forgive in the few remarks that are introduced
about England, but it must be remembered that
he belonged to the generation that naturally felt
embittered ; and Beranger himself, notwithstand-
ing his democracy, was not too wise to be
dazzled by the glory of the first Empire. Many
of those who admire the ease and grace of
Beranger's verses will be surptised to learn that
he composed them very slowly, "having never,"
he says, " composed more than fifteen or sixteen
songs in the year, some of them in a few hours,
but the greatest number with deliberation and
care. But many years were far from being so
abundant. The time of their composition was a
matter of caprice ; and I have known eight or
nine months to pass without the production of a
single verse, even at the time when I was most
diligent." Though disclaiming the praises lavished
on his genius, &ranger evidently felt the effect,
of his songs on the people, and cuerished his
chosen path. " I was born in a greater or less
degree a poet, fitted to excel in a peculiar style,
and I did not at first perceive that that element
of poetry which was in me could find scope in
this species of composition, which was much less
studied than practised. Reflection at lenght
taught me its capabilities. Song, moreover,
opened up to me a path in which my
genius could develop itself at ease. I escaped by
it from academical requirements, and I had at my
disposal the whole dictionary—of which, according
to La Harpe, four-fifths are excluded from our
poetry." Devoting himself to his favourite pur-
suit, and surrounded by congenial spirits, the life
of Berauger, as drawn by himself, shows a picture
of content and freedom from care rarely accorded
to those who mingle in the literary and political
worlds. The simplicity of his tastes, and his habit
of saying " I am poor" among the wealthy, pre-
vented his limited income from being a source of
annoyance to him, and the strict economy he exer-
cised, left him the means of benefitting others. It
seemed as if he had started in life with the opinion
men usually form at its conclusion, of the futility of
a search for happiness, which he himself expresses
in his chanson of Le Bonheur, after pursuing the
chimera through both hem;spheres—

"Le vois to bien, la-baa, la-Sas.
La-bas, dans cea nuages,
Helas dit l'bomme, enfin vieax et las.
C'est trot) d'inutiles voyages."
The translation is faithful and elegant, and the
appendix, with the letters it contains, is a valuable
addition. It is a work which will probably obtain
a large circulation here, where the French chanson-
nier is held in more esteem than more ambitious
poets among his countrymen,