amounted to four thousand. The torrent of harmony from such a concourse was most imposing, and it deserves to be remarked, that the asperities and discords of partially trained singers are found in practice to be wonderfully mollified, when the chorus is sustained by a multitude. Notwithstanding the difficulty of keeping time, and the adverse operation of the wind, the whole passed off admirably; the air rang with acclamations of delight, and a medal was struck in honour of the enterprising leader. Similar success attended his experiment at Lausanne. The whole population were animated with the same zeal, and associations were formed in the neighbouring villages. Other amusements gave place to musical entertainments, and a general harmony of feeling was produced in the whole country. If any of our readers should judge that we have given too much space to a subject belonging apparently to the mere domain of taste, we must respectfully urge a reconsideration of the sentence, as we are persuaded that it has a most near relation to our highest national interests. The wisest men in all ages have acknowledged the power of popular songs; "which," we may say in Milton's words, "if wise men and prophets be not extremely out, have a great power over dispositions and passions, to smooth and make them gentle, from rustic harshness and distempered manners." ART. II.-POETRY OF THE TROUBADOURS. 1.-Osservazioni sulla Poesia de' Trovatori, e sulle principali maniere e forme di essa. Modena, 1829. pp. 526. 2.-Choix des Poésies Originales des Troubadours. Par M. RAY NOUARD. THE annals of literature present few phenomena so well calculated to excite attention or demand investigation, as the sudden rise, extensive influence, and rapid decay of the poetry of the Troubadours. The south of Europe had scarcely recovered from the repeated shocks of invasions from the north-its institutions, its arts, and its learning, had been destroyed; and even its language had been converted into corrupt and confused jargons-when the Provençal dialect, born from a mixture of heterogeneous tongues, assumed a superiority over all its contemporaries, and in the eleventh century began to be widely cultivated, and enriched by the productions of numerous poets. Its bards, almost at once, acquired a high reputation. Their fame was spread over a great part of Europe, and the permanent supremacy of their language, would seem to have been almost assured by their success. But almost as suddenly as it had burst forth, the glory which shone around them and their works disappeared. After a brief existence of three centuries, the literature of Provence rapidly declined. The language, with all its elegance and harmony, and its thousand treasures of poetic fancy, yielding to the introduction of new dialects, gradually sunk into insignificance, leaving to modern times the only evidence of its triumphs in the obscurity of a forgotten tongue. The causes of the rapid decay of a literature, whose influence was not only so general during its own existence, but which has also affected, to a greater or less extent, that of succeeding timesthough arising in some measure from political events-may doubtless be found in its own peculiar character, and in that of its numerous cultivators. The corruption of the Latin language, by its mixture with those of the various barbarous nations which swarmed in the Roman provinces, and finally subverted the empire of the mistress of the world, gave birth, as might be expected, to different idioms, partaking indiscriminately of the characters of the dialects from which they were formed. From the fifth century to the tenth, the numerous and ever-varying races who peopled the southern part of Europe, communicated with each other in a confused and heterogeneous speech, which, changing with every popular caprice or revolution, served only to retard the progress of intellectual cultivation. It was impossible that a literature should exist at a time when its productions could not have been transmitted to a succeeding generation; and when it was deemed unsafe to entrust to the fluctuating popular dialect the chronicles of events worthy of remembrance. Thus none of the records or the histories of that period, nor even the songs composed on common occasions, which ever owe their origin to the tastes of the day, were written in the language employed for ordinary intercourse, but in Latin, which was generally understood, though much corrupted by the introduction of barbarous words. Europe at this time was sunk in the darkness of ignorance. No cheering ray appeared to dissipate the more than midnight gloom, till at length the dawn of returning light broke in from the east. The Arabians, the nation which had principally contributed to the overthrow of letters, whose conquests had destroyed civilization and intelligence in every country which they subdued, seemed now destined, by a law of compensation, to revive the reign of mind, and shed again over the earth the lustre of intellectual day. Turning from the triumphs of victory to the pursuits of voluptuous enjoyment, these conquerors enhanced and refined the delights of sense by the cultivation of higher attainments; and in the field of art and science, soon obtained a dominion scarcely less extensive and imposing than that which their arms had won. The influence of Arabian genius spread far and wide, awakening the dormant imagination of other nations, and continued to produce its effects long after the mental empire had passed from the hands of its original founders, and become separated into various and remote dynasties. The beauties of oriental poetry, the rich and brilliant images in which it abounded, were transferred into foreign tongues, and eagerly imitated, thus imparting to the new literature peculiarities as distinct as possible from a classical character. Although, in the writings of the Provençal poets, we meet not unfrequently with allusions which prove incontrovertibly that the great masterpieces of Latin, and even of Greek learning, were not wholly unknown to some, it is no less evident that none of them possessed a taste sufficiently cultivated to relish or to imitate the beauties of classic lore. The Troubadours may thus far advance a claim to originality, that in naught are they indebted to the lessons or examples of the ancients. If scholastic learning was not utterly contemned among them, they at least profited not by it. In no instance had they recourse to the treasures of mythology which were at hand, to enrich their verses. They possessed in themselves the materials for poetry, independent of aught borrowed; subjects and images derived from their own local customs, and peculiar character as a nation. Their religious ideas, their chivalrous manners, their political habits and prejudices, and their general ignorance, unfitted them for the revival of ancient letters, and rendered it more easy to create a new literature, than to imitate an old one. To this indisposition to classical attainment may be attributed the number of the Troubadours, and their near equality in point of fame. No painful course of study was requisite, to win the guerdon of distinction; no elaborate care, to frame the poems which were to charm all hearers, and confer immortality upon their author. The minstrel sang to his harp, careless of censure, and secure of success, the praises of his lady-love, or the thrilling song of victory. The crown that rewarded his labours was bestowed by the hand of beauty, and we may well conjecture that it decked the brow of him who knelt most gracefully, or sang most gallantly of her charms, rather than the head silvered in the acquirement of wisdom. The profession of the "Gay Science" was as universal as the diffusion of the chivalrous spirit which inspired it. A sort of republicanism prevailed in letters; and the knight, with no fortune but his sword, won as proud a wreath of glory in the field of poetical contest, as the sovereign on the throne; while the latter disdained not to enter the lists with the humblest competitor. The disregard of learning, among the writers of the Langue d'Oc, has been mentioned with truth as constituting one of the principal causes of the decay of Provençal literature. The resources of its votaries were easily exhausted; and having debarred themselves access to the glorious monuments of ancient genius, they were unable to supply the deficiencies of imagination. The bril liant and fantastical ideas borrowed from the Arabians, though dazzling at first, were wanting in truth and nature; and soon their universal adoption, while it deprived them of the charm of novelty, gave rise to a monotony which palled upon the mind. The Troubadours contented themselves with lyric effusions on subjects already hacknied, their want of knowledge preventing them from elevating their compositions—and attempted not the production of more lasting works, of an epic or dramatic kind. At the period of their prosperity had some great writer arisen, who, surpassing all his cotemporaries, should have furnished his successors with a single noble model for their imitation, combining all the beauties of the various compositions which now remain, with those beauties exalted by the splendour of a genius superior to that of the multitude, this exquisite language, so eminently adapted to poetry, would not have been so soon consigned to oblivion. The brilliant promise of its dawn, instead of relapsing into obscurity, would have ripened to the radiance of a perfect day. But no writer of this stamp appeared; and as it was thus impossible for Provençal poetry to possess a character more lofty than that belonging to the age in which it was cultivated, it was natural that it should decline with the spirit which produced it; and that subsequent authors who availed themselves of classic learning, should choose a language distinct from one already appropriated by the vulgar. The merit of originality, which the Troubadours certainly possessed in a remarkable degree, has scarcely been sufficiently noticed. It is in this light that, to do them full justice, we should examine and appreciate their compositions; and while we acknowledge their defects, deny them not the praise of having created an independent literature, which has been far from useless in the formation of succeeding ones. Their sentiments, their images, and expressions, constitute the language of amatory poetry in many modern nations; and though elevated and improved by modern refinement, we should not ungratefully disregard the source whence they were derived. The sensibility, the ingenuity and energy which characterize the productions of these bards, cannot be overlooked; nor the brief and brilliant period of their success cease to be a subject of interest; and if their poetry, after flourishing for a short space upon an inhospitable soil, has been destined to wither and perish from the sight of men, its influence still exists, and is perceptible in the manners and genius of remote nations. The rise of chivalry was cotemporaneous with the birth of poetry among the Troubadours; and each produced upon the other a marked effect. The high and enthusiastic notions of the passion of love derived from the eastern nations, and the equally ardent feelings of religious zeal, stimulated the warrior to deeds of enterprise and fame. The minstrel roused by his strains the ambition of knights and princes, and incited them to take up arms to avenge the profanation of infidels, and accomplish the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre; then marching himself in the train of the armies of the cross, sought renown as a warrior, and proved himself as able to vindicate Christian rights in the day of battle, as to sing of Christian heroism and triumph. On the other hand, the bold and reckless course of life pursued under the feudal system, contributed to nourish that poetical spirit which rendered the life of the warrior one of enchantment. Instructed to court dangerous adventure, and to despise death, the true knight was distinguished by a fearlessness and independence which imparted a character to the strains of the poet, who in turn celebrated and blamed as they merited the deeds passing under his observation; and never scrupled, when occasion offered, to denounce the vices of the peasantry, the excesses of the clergy, the disorders of the nobility, or the wrong and injustice of crowned oppressors. If the freedom of these chivalrous moralists approached sometimes to harshness and severity, we cannot deny them the praise of having generally espoused the cause of the injured; while they sought to chastise the vices of those who, by disregard of the courtesies or charities of life, had given their bold monitors the right to rebuke their faults. These admonitions were seldom contemned; the law of public opinion exerted an unbounded sway even over those who despised the restraints of morality; and the reckless adventurer, whom no tie of personal interest could bind, was awed into obedience by the decisions of a court at which ladies only presided. Devotion to the fair sex was the ruling passion of the Troubadour. Love was the light of his existence, the inspiration of his verse, a feeling mysterious and sacred, sharing only with religion the empire of his heart. Under the dominion of Raymond Berenger and the succeeding counts of Provence, love assumed a character of veneration before altogether unknown, and no hyperbole was too extravagant to celebrate those charms which constituted the inexhaustible theme of the Provençal bards. In illustration of their style of praise, we cite a passage from one of the chanzos of William de St. Didier, which is sufficiently comprehensive. "The model of all perfectness and grace Is she whose charms the minstrel's praises claim; All that she owns is fair; her beauteous face Her speech-her mien-her deeds-her dower-her name. Should not her beauties in my verses blend? Ah! were my lays but worthy of their theme, The songs of other bards would they transcend, The sorrows of unreturned affection were a favourite theme with many minstrels, who loved to sing of the cruelty of their mistresses, rather than seek consolation in the smiles of others. Thus Perdigon: |