New-York tribune., 1879-03-29
LONDON LITERARY EVENTS.
WILLOWS poEMs-rHE SHAKESPEARE KEY.

WORK.
iFRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
LONDON, Feb. 2O.-A certain stir has been made
by the recent appearance of book described ON the
ttle-page as "The Poems of Master Francis Vlilon'
of Paris. now first done into English Verse IN the
Original Forms. by John Payne, Author of The
Mssoue of Shadows etc" 1t has not been
published 1t is printed for the Nillon
Society. for private distrbuton." From the day
of its birth it was scarce. The printer
J. c. Wilkins signs certificate, on the leaf De1ore
the hy-tite that the issue of this book Is lmlIeu
70 one hundred and ifty-seven copies two OF when
are on veIlum. All are numbered in MS, this being
No 1882 1t has never been on sale In the DOCK
shops heard of it as a photographed CURIOSITY
and Ihave copy before me; but am not going 10
sav how I got it, nor should know how to get
another 1t is an excellent piece of printing, on
handmade paper, in form a small quarto. OF loo
naces issued with uncut edges decorated vellum
covers On the upper cover is gilt impression OF
Obastlv woOd-cut from an edition of the fifteenth
century representing three mon hanging
by the neck quadrangular Rallows Ims Illus
tratOn seems TO have accompanied in the hrst place.
Villon's epitaph in ballad form. written whist
awaiting execution (which he finally escaped) for
the burglary committed on the College de Navarro
In 1856.
ITntil saw this book had never heard Of the
be said in praise of Vllon. it remains odd that he
sbould have admirers and disciples enough here IN
England in the nineteenth century to organize them
selves in this formal way and to put their imprint
ON books-for this is probably not their only publi-
ration. Mr. John Payne is well known to certain
literary aud artistic circles. The cOmmoton
occasoned by his translation arises from the hdety
of the translation. VIlOn is a dissolute WINTER
even for his time, and there are people who have
st
translation of his being printed, albeit privately.
Whether the vIrtuous Mr.. Collette, the paid legal
AGENT for the suppression of vice, has taken the
matter up don't know. He did, if remember
rightly endeavor some time since to lay his ban on
m English Rabeais but has not vet succeeded III
tuppressng the sale of unexpurgated Bibles, or OF
nou-Bowdlerzed Shakespeares. If MIR. PayneS
translation were purchasable book am not sure
that | should venture to say anything about 1t.
But as it cannot be bought don't see how brle1
account of 1t can do much harm.
1t may be admitted at once that VillOn is not the
,ort of poet suitable for Sundsy-schoo library,
or to lie about in drawing-roOm. He is, neverthe-
less. a classic Marot edited him, by the Kings
prder-by order of that Francis l. from whose ac-
sesson TO the throne the Renaissance, with its dawn
pf sudden splendOr, must be dated. Marot did more
than edit Villon he initiated him. Rabelals dis
rOursed on him, saying, among other things ana
mite wrongly, that he once visited Eng
land. Bojleau. arch-formast and pedant as
be was, with little bent toward recognition of
excellence in Villons kind, praised him. Regnier
was his disciple, La FOntaIEe his admlrer. Voltare
himselffollowed MlrOt in copying Nnlon; Inc
ophile Gautcr has written pages OF ferveut pane
pvric on him, aud Sante-Beuve. the most accom-
plished and austere OF modern critics, has pro-
nounced his eulogy. What Boileau affirmed in his
Art of Poetry was that VillOn had been the
first TO bring art out of the cOniu-
sion TO which the old rOmdncier, had reduced
it, Saws Sante-Beuve His talent was original,
and in his soul gowed the sacred spark. Some of
his pieces will always be read. For some Of those
natural regrets which continually return-reGrets
for faded beauty for the flight OF years-Vllon mas
found the best and final expressiOn-true, charming
and light of tOuch-which echoes forever in the
heart and in the ear of him who has once heard it."
Auatole de Montagon one of Yillons latest editors,
and critic of rcpute, remarks that VillOn Is not
only the superior poet Of the fifteenth century, but
Is also the first poet, in the true sense OF the word.
whom modern France possessed. For century
before him and for century after him down
TO Marot, Villon stands alone. 1t is with mm
and with him only that modern French poetry
begins He owed little to predecessors and nothing
TO circumstances. He sprang from the lowest
ranks his father and all his family were of the peo-
kind no longer conceivable. All his life long he
was miserably poor. HIS very name, be II his own
or not (which is disputod signifies worthless tel-
low He was. in fact. one of the least respectable
men who ever lived. HIS life was crowded with
(ollies and crimes But he had the supreme gift of
pOetical feeling and the power of poetcal express
SION and he will live whether the Phlstines like
1t or not. He has viRor and charm, clearness and
pendor variety and unity, seriousness and wit,
terse brcvty of style and fulness of sense, way
ward lexibty and furious passion, the quality OF
his own time and the human sympathy
which belongs to all time. You must
20 to Rabelias TO find master who can be COM
pared with him. and who writes French with the
knowledge and instinct, with the purity and sweet
ness Of fancy. with the delicate grace and the
freedom of genius which we admire in VillOn."
Perhaps Mr.. Payne would have done well to con-
eiliate a little Phllistne goodwill for his author by
citing in his behalf some of the eminenty respecta
bic authorities whom l have quoted above. But
he was not writing for the public, nor for men who
needed instruction as to VilOn's merits And sup
nose he would no more think such a pro-
ceedlng needful or dignifed than would the
Chaucer Society think it needfnl or dlgnlhed
10 preface their editions and commentaries with GER
tfcates of the great Euglishman's character. Yet
on the moral side Chaucer stands as much in need
of them as ViilOn. Aud do not see why Mr.. PAYNE
should not do for Villon what Dryden and Pope and
Wordsworth did for Chaucer-make him more
accessible that is each to his own generation. If
he has gone step further than Wordsworth ven-
tured he has done il in the spirit of defiance to III
original which was unknown to WOrdsworths time,
but which is in these days the canon Of all criticism.
Assuredly he has not gone further or wrought more
freely than Dryden in his rendering of Juvenal, OF
u, i'm tygn