New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-17


round Of causeless regrets. vain sorrows ana DIS
gust If life mo literature has produced a great
or number OF discOnsolate poems Nor was the
.enor Of Anglo-Sax0n poetry changed by Chris
tianity and the study Of Latin. The same I'M
patuosity passion and lyricism. says NJ Jussa-
rand. The same magnificent apostrophes when
gave it's character to the oil pagan poetry are
found again in Christian songs. as well as the
,a,no recurring alternatives Of deep melancholy
and noisy exultaton." But, after all, this is only
one side Of the case. Observe that most OF TINS
r,atrv WAS meant for feast days and for nights
,har the cun went around 1t could only repre-
sent partially the aspirations Of the people. IL
spoke Of their moods Of struggle and conquest anu
the reactions of both from effort ana from lnloAl-
cation. But somewhere between ale and 'katz-
entammer" there must have been room for lighter
thoughts. for flowers for spring, for warm sun
lights and the beauty of birds and Of women OtneT-
wise there are things hard to account for Again
NJ Jusserand finds no trace Of the conversational
STYLE in dialogue 50 early developed in Celtic
tales The poets are epica or rhetorical. but they
have not the semblance of dramatic contrast. the
vague hint of that which was to be. Here again
if the literature of the Anglo-SaXon tongue Is
taken alone IL leaves some things 10 be accounted
for. All these points are illustrated IN single
poem which belongs TO time very near the hf''
intellectual movement of the Anglo-SaNons ava!
from their primitive savagery For the sake OF
comnarison. one should call to mind that little
song the earliest utterance # English speech
about which there be 10 dispute as -
whether il is English or not II celebrates the
delights Of spring. and. above all, the song OF the
cuckoo. In 1t lies the potency of all that nature
worship which has been always the most beautl-
full element OF English literature. But 1t was not
Itch md h1f
cuckoo with the happiness Of spring. One must
60 back to Bede for that.
Now. nobody would praise Bede as a poet or as
a man of original genius His merit was to thinN
the thoughts Of his people. and 70 love the songs
that they loved. 1t was his good fortune per
haps. to have in Latin more flexible instrument
of expression for some of his thoughts than n
could have found in his native tongue. When
such a man wrote a poem in praise Of spring ana
the cuckoo. he not drawing on his own fahc!
but upon that Of others Like the thirteenth
century poe; who knew the cuckoo as harbinger
of summer and Shakespeare who. In Loves
Labor's Lost" represented the merry bird as com
ing with the daisies and the viocts. SO Bede saw
in him tEe favorite Of spring ana the hated ehe"!
Of winter He pictured the shepherds gathered
beneath trees that were just beginning 10 pu'
out their foliage. spring griled and crowned with
flower and Winter with frost on his beard These
two quarrelled about the cuckoo. The one "ouia
hasten the cuckoo's coming the other would keep
him asleep in dark caverns The dispute wiiens
to a comparison Of the joys Of the seasons
Spring exults in seed-time and green fields. ana
flowers and honey and the activity Of men; WIN
Ter mourns the passing away OF his feast times
of his long quiet. Plenty Of gold, plenty Of g'od
things plenty Of rest. these are his Joys. ana
Sorlng replies that Winter would even star'e -
death were not the cuckoo his almoner Al inns
all the shepherds break out in triumphant S'nE'
Come cuckoo. come and welcome. Ia spl'' 'I
the classic names Of the shepherds ana the PLAIN
imitation Of Virgi. there Is surely new note IN
this rude poem Of the Northumbrian monk, a note
that has not yet ceased to sound IN English ntera-
ture One might guess from ii that what the
Saxon needed was not an impulse toward excel
lence but dexterity and readiness He was NOT
really sad but he needed that some one should
ehov him how Ia look as cheerful he was in
his heart If II could be shown that there was a
native inspiration for Bede's pastoral. perhaps III
2 song like that OF a later time which has been
alluded To- then the cas-. for the AnglO-SaXon
against the partial estimate Of NJ. JuSserand
would be quite complete. Meanwhile he has his
tory on his side The Normans dd conquer
England. They came not in their old guise as
bloodthrsty Vikings. but as Frenchmen. with
considerable knowledge OF the world with buoy
ant confidence in themselves. with the sef-pos-
session to meet hard fate with a smile. They
were superior to the Coarsest pleasures. Th"re
was a variety In their manner Of life and In their
pleasures which had its influence on those be-
meath them. NJ Jusserand skilfully the
actual doubt as 10 the destiny Of England on the
eve Of the Battle Of Hastings TO mark sharp
Of
mandy was approaching the coast, the Danes had
already landed in the north For a moment II
might have been question whether England
would Weld to the south or to the north. should
the North triumph" he writes Stimulating an air
Of prophecy. England will be bound for cen
turies to the Germanic nations. whose growth VIII
be tardy and whose literary development VIII be
slow Should the South carry the day, the growth
will be speedy and the preparation rapid Like
France Italy and Spain. England will have at
the Renaissance a complete literature OF her own
and be able to produce a Shakespeare as ltaiy
produced an Ariosto, Spain Ceramics ana
France a Montague "a Ronsard and Radicals.
From this point the problem Of evolution Is
simpler OF course. hard questions might be
raised about the Arthur legends, for example
But as a matter Of fact. these start FOR literary
purposes from the writings Of those two jokers
| Walter Mapes and Godfrey IF Monmouth.
/ Jusserand gives due praise to the Latin OF the
/ Norman and Angevin periods though he is mis-
| leading on one or two points. For example, he
/ makes il appear that the phrase, "Flos regum
/ Arthurus' the motto OF TennysOn's "1dyls OF
/ the King" IL taken from the poem Of Joseph OF
/ Exeter on the Trojan War II should be credited
! to -he only fragment left of the poem which
| Joseph wrote the siege Of Antioch. Again.
/ those who really anxious to read the "Ota
| Imperialia" Of Gcrvase Of Tibury need not be
| alarmed by the authors statement that this work
| has never been published Liebrecht extracted
! all the folklore from II and published the ex
| tracts and Liebnitz long before included the
! complete work in the first volume OF his
| hnl