The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-05-12
CONCERNING BOOKS.
BY E. cAvAzzA.

Ballades and Rondeaus, Chants Royal, Ses-
tinas. Villanelles, Triolets, etc.-the array of
fanciful and exacting forms of verse evolved
by the early French authors from the metri-
cal experiments of the Troubadours ARE
represented by large collection of modern
examples by English and American writers,
included in an elegant little volume edited
| by Mr.. Gleeson White. an English critic.
| His very intelligent and sympathetic chap
ter upon the origin, rules and uses of the
various forms will be found an indispensa-
BILE guide to those not already acquainted
with the technical laws which it expounds.
The modern English revival of these old
forms of verse dates back perhaps fifteen
years. when by consent of common percep-
ton that poetry was running wild las in the
verse of Sidney Dobell, or tame-as in the
utterances of Martin Upper, several poets
began to experiment upon ballades, rondels,
triolets, sestinas ETC., Of which models were
afforded by the work of the tuneful Prince
| Charles d. Orleans; of Francois Villon, poet
and housebreaker; of the chronicler Frois-
sart; of Chaucer's friends Eustache Des-
champs and others. Arnaut Daniel, the
famous troubadour, invented the sestina
but, adopted by Dante and by Petrarca, it
became almost exclusively ItaliaI, having
received naturalization atsuch kingly hands.
The rules of these various forms are ex-
tremely elaborate, and would be tiresome to
the general reader if set forth in the space Of
a newspaper review. Careful examination
of good ballade or rondeau will repay the
trouble taken and the understanding of the
order and recurrence of the rhymes, ETC.,
will greatly enhance the pleasure produced
by the more apparent beauties of the poem.
At present it is literary fashion to imi-
tate these elaborate early forms of verse;
but it is also fashion among writers not
inclined to them, to depreciate the practice
of ballades and rondeaus as frivolous and
curious waste Of time and palms. This latter
half of the nineteenth century has come to
be considered an age of little faith and few
works, so far as Poetry is concerned. But
there are good signs of the times; and of
these, it is to be hoped, may be considered
this examination and experiment of the
early laws of rhythm and rhyme the canon
and counterpoint of Poetry. The balades
of Villon and Eustache Deschamps are as use
1UA obuoAco AOl PONtigs do ID tut w ell ltlup-
cred Clavchord of Bach in the department
of music. The rondeaus and triolets, with
their gaily recurrent refrains and strict ar
rangement of rhymes. are the parallels of
the gavotte, minnet. gigue, of the suites of
Handel and Haydn; and there is more than
one Air Varie of those masters which, with
its rich contrapuntal meditations upon the
theme, recalls the intricate modulaticns of
the sestina.
Curiously enough, music in this expert
mental century, seems to have elected diff
ferent mode of development; for the most,
its leaders not emphasize the strict forms,
but tend to c0,or of orchestra and dramatic
effect. Since the laws of harmony, however,
are fully established and recognized in
musical composition, this modern phase is
not much to be feared. But in poetry, popu-
larly imagined to come haphazard by rule of
thumb, the Importance of the study of its
laws can hardly be overrated. Had the
lamented Mr.. Sidney Lanier-to whom
America should have looked for her coming
poet-cared for his studies of counterpoint
as much as for his orchestral practice, with
its enchanting effects of tone and color, he
would not have made the mistakes which led
the public to reckon wrongly his exquisite
genius What Wagner in words is capable
of doing may be seen in some of Mr.. Brown
ing's work at its worst. SO we may be glad
that the younger poets turn their attention
to the counterpart of verse; certain that
when the occasion comes, they will sing an
ode or handle the difficult instrument of
blank verse all the better for their practice
of the ascending scale of the chant royal and
the trills of the triolet.
There is no danger, either, that writer
who knows the difference between verse
making and poetry will be led by Mr.. Glee-
son Whites manual to think that rondeaus,
ballades and their kindred are mechanical
products to be turned out Of the factory like
SO many strawberry-boxes or pairs of shoes.
They claim the best that one can give of
fancy, sentiment, grace; they must appear to
lead, not follow, their difficult scheme of
rhyme and refrain. In brief, they must be
such complete poems that the non-technioal
reader will not be inclined to wonder why
they We're written thus-or at all-but will
absorb as a part of the general charm the
exquisite details of order and symmetry,
even if ignoring the careful workmanship of
which they are the result.
This is not to say that the ballade rondeau
and their kindred forms are applicable to all
subjects or moods which belong to Poetry.
None but master of the rondel and rondeau
can make their repettions flexible and free
enough to express much beyond dainty
imagery or pointed satire. The trioet-al-
though Mr.. Edmund Gosse, in his mastery
Plea for Certain Exotic Forms of Verse
(Cornhill Magazine) declares it his favorite,
"this tiny trill of epigramatic melody turn
ing so simply upon its own innocent axis;
although Adenez-le- Roi wrote very serious
triolets in the 18th century; and in funeral
poem, Sarazin made ''the poor little Triolet
all in tears" trot beside the bier of the poet
Voiture-n notwithstanding these grave testi-
monies the little triolet is of about the mate
rial and tonnage of Dresden tea-cup, ana
Mr.. Austin Dobson knew its capabilities
when he wrote this dainty specimen:
intended an Ode
And it turned into Triolets.
1t began q Ia mode
/ intended an Ode,
But Rose crossed the road
With a bunch of fresh viOlets;
intended an ODE,
And IL turned into Triolets
The ballade lends itself readily enough to
serious themes-rarely to dramatic ana impul-
sive expression, although this is not impossi-
bic. Admirable is the delicate beauty of this
aNroN In hxFA Tr I