New-York tribune., 1891-05-22
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
POPULAR SONGS OF FRANCE.
CnANsoNs PoPULAIREs DE LA FRANCE

with Introduction and Notes by Thomas Frederick
Crane. PIP. xxXix, 2s2. G. p Putnam's Sons.
Between the English or Scottish ballad and its French
counterpart there is this diierenccthst, while in the
former an effort is shown to present narrative or
less complete in the latter the most important incident
or the involving potentially all the rest has been
developed into a song, the remainder being thro"h
aside tradition weary OF its burden IN this
way the French popular song betrays the fao' 'ha'
at some time in the past 1t was affected by move
ment analogous to that which keeps literature properly
so-caled in perpetual flow. one may infer from tnis
that at the supposed date in the past the FRENCH
peasanry was nearer the culture of the Glasses a
were the masses of the northern nations' ana .h''
would be good and useful inference but not u hooOs
to be ridden recklessly
The difference between these forms OF popular song
can be illustrated from that /" baseborn' ballad-as
Professor Child calls it" The iva Magcians" Under
this title the Scottish singers told complete tae'
lady as straight as a willow wand beautiful, proud
and richly dressed, stood in the door OF her DOVER
A blacksmith with his hammer In his hand stopped
not far away entranced by her beauty. he oeciareu
that IN spite of pride and her fine dress she shouu
vet he his wife she despised the coal-black smith
and said she would rather die than marry him. 10
escape him she became successfully a turtle dove
an eel a duck a hare, gay gray mare, hot grldoie
(girde) ship, a silken plaid-but all In VAN .e
blacksmith matched her every time, and at last se
yielded because her magical transformations were OUT
done All this Is related II the series OF lncdehtS
could actually have taken place. But with the French
the ncrediby Of the tale Ii stood was 100 OBVIOUS
and so II was turned into lively, banterfng dialogue
between an unwilling girl and her too eager lover
There was no need OF story. Here were phe loVers
and what more necessary3 To escape MS I'M
porunities she will 90 into convent, but II she does
that he will be monk and become her oonfessor
Then she will become fish and he replies
Je fersi pecbe
Pecheur pechsnt
Et pecherai Ia cari
Dams letang.
she viii become a rose; he gardener. sac VIII
be a star; be- cloud to mufhe her. Then' because
she can think OF no wiles, she gives up the con-
test The fancifuness OF the ancient tale is retained
but II Is kept wholly within the bounds OF probability
Tn. girl is only feigning to see what the boy Will say
Other contrasts varying in detail and subject
matter might be drawn from selections IN PROFESSOR
Cranes handsome volume and the corresponding
peces In Professor Child's English and Scotush
Popular Ballads; but they would only serve TO EN-
phasize the predomnance OF the lyrical clement III
the French popular Chanson against the eplcad OF
narrative spirit Characteristic Of the northern olao
Sometimes the form Of the lyric or It's phsseolosy IN
dcates without exterior aid the nature OF the stoy
10 which 1t once belonged; but in many cases any
effort 70 restore the original scheme of the narrative
would be vain Thus. in this book there are twenty
four pieces which may be called narrative, epic
legendary or historical chansons. The rest OF the
eighty three titles comprise anecdotal sailncad ana
military songs love dites verses for the uance ana
songs of the various trades. They are oil charming
and it must be delightful to hear them sung IN the
places to which they are native
Another thing which indicates tiat tlese poems
occupy a position intermediate between the genuine
foIk-sons and the studied efforts of literary self
consciousness is the fact that they are In language
much nearer to the literary standard than to the
patois used by the peasant as the ordinary speech of
his daily life. The extremely few, speak
ing relatively in which the editor has found 1t nece
sary TO note a vulgarsm. From this the argument is
plain that the singers Of these traditional rhythms
have done exactly what the poet Of culture does
They have searched their memories for delicate and
poetic phrases as far removed possible from the
familiar and prosac words Of common lfe fct the
popular character of these songs their truly rustic
origin, Is 300 well marked to be open 20 serious
dispute. These facts point to the utility Of sub
divisions In both literature and tradition that shall
show how the qualities Of culture on the one hand
and of instructive effort by the unframed Imagination
on the other really mingle that every line drawn
between them must be artificial not natural AS
with the species and genera Of natural science in
literary science the divisions are points Of meeting
rather than of separation.
In the notes to his selections Professor Crane has
cited the places to be consulted for a comparative
study Of the various poems An introduction presents
in brief form "a history Of the movement which led to
the collection Of popular songs in France; suggests
points of contact ln the popular teratures of various
European nations; and discusses the formulas OF
metre and rhyme and the spirit of which these
the outward expression. There is only expires
sion that seems too emphatic. The writer aludes TO
the fact that the popular songs II they existed in the
Middle Ages, would not have been admitted into the
collections of poems made by rouveres and trouba-
dours TO be sung at court and adds. The gulf which
always exists between the literature OF the people and
that of the learned only wdened by the Renais-
sance" Now gulf" is strong word for what
really only an hiatus In the mental equipment of
scholars and srisbOcrats generally. The popular ele
mcnt in the court poetry of those times shows that
sprang from the soil that in which the folk
tale founshed. Contempt for the songs of the
peasants due, not to real gap between
taures but to artificial division between classes
The book, which is one Of the "Knckerbocker
Nugget" series, is dedcaed to Professor J. Cnd of
Harvard University, and Is dantly Illustrated