New-York tribune., 1922-06-25
Paris News Letter
By Lewis Galantierc

Fleurs du Mal"7 Put BsudelAire's VOL
ume beside the work OF Verlaine (also
a great poeD and note 20 whst a de-
gree they are incompsrable-the force,
the intellect, the character OF Baude-
laire. Il is as II one were 10 match
Marlowe with Keats.
Need defend Baudelaire's poetry
Alas. ! am an amateur Of letters, not a
professional critic. Literature IS the
solace Of my existence in this worst OF
possible worlds: ! do not live b. writ
ing. Ny literary judgments DO not
happily, involve responsibility, nor do
they provoke the respect OF an obedient
following. As | recall these truths my
spIrt Is humble, my mind IS open
carrying no impulse 70 instruct; IN
Quire only that | may know.
Where, Oh, Mr.. Wilson. shall | read
opening lines 10 match the glorious
elan, the coup d'archet so clean and
true, Of Baudelaires poetry? Rsseoe
saws that the delieaey Of several OF
his poems cannot be denied. Barring
perhaps. Villon and Ronsard. where IN
French lyrical poetry shall look for the
equal in beauty and strength OF
"Woesta ct Errahunda." Harmonic du
Soirr "Corrcspondanccs. "Ir.stesses
de Lune." "L'lnvitation au voyage
"Le L6,h6." LYNNE 10 Bsaute,
"LAlbatros." the second "Femme,
pam,Ks." lesbos" LES Vieilles' and
IN. noems which have already named
No, you are no. going 10 dispose o.,
Baudelaire for al ltime. You nave reAo
widely, you own an alert inteihssnese
and a sensitivoness 10 beauty "hisn
are uncommon. You will turn tne
light Of your critical talent upon Ger,
tain minor facts in the history OF
Baudelaire the poet and you VIII give
us. am certain. an essay which II !,
falls under my eye. shall read WIN
pleasure. But IL is idle 10 SPEAK o'
finishing of Baudslaire..
DY WAY Of footnote TO the above and
ID with no reference TO my quarrel
with Raseoe's paragraph, II occurs 70
me that there is here point IN
criticism 20 be examined. | mean the
Judgment OF foreign literature. Inc
subject deserves a book for It's treat.
mert: shall give II three lines OF
commonplace observation.
First. then. the judgment OF poet
who writes IN language other than
our own is precarious venture. IL
may be said categorieally that most
bilineual critics are incompetent Tor ~
Thus. I have never read non-Frenen
writer who rave any except damnaoly
faint prAise 10 Corneille or Racine.
Yet -Evromond, an excellent ana
widely cultured seventeenth century
critic W. lived IN England and knew
fte Flizahefhan dramstists. ranked
Correiilc higher than the Greeks. while
Anatole france puts Racine at the top
of the list.
Secondly. one cannot Judge BY Eng
Fsh for American) standards the
music. the cadence or The vocabulary
~ French poet Trivial. common
place words have an enormous impor-
.ance in the writing of verse. Inc
quality OF versifcstion depends pri-
marily upon the juxtaposition OF such
words. ard unless one has them, 50 20
say. in the blood, their beauty VIII
slsos. certainly 90 unpeTceileo'
Naturally comparisons are possible be
tween poets Of different tongues We
may say, FOR example, that Herr'ek
ia an English Ronsard. or vice versa.
Haudelairo's Tout cntiere" might oe
made into an Elizabethsn lyric. In
deed. among his notes, he left the FOL
lowing:
"No,e sur les plsgiats Thomas Gray.
Edgar Poe 1.-TWO passags0 Longtello~
two passages). STAGE. Virgile ltout le
morceau d'Andromaquc). t'ehy!e'
Victor Hugo"
Finally. my principal objection 20
foreign criticism Is simple one.
Critics are content (unless they arc
Rrrkiasl % feel. rather than 20 under
stand literally. a native poet. Measur-
ing the quality o. foreign poet, they
are often not equipped 70 feel MS
beauty. and their judgment IS foreecly
limited % their comprehend ion OF his
text. do not need 10 emphasiIe the
absurdity land the lamentable ire
quency) Of such criticism.
~. Galsn.iere is apparently uu'
Acquainted with the hign praise sc.
corded Racine By Lytton straehey and
Edmund Gofse.-B. z.