Representative French Lyrics Of The Nineteenth Century

REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH LYRICS of the Nineteenth Century - 1913 - PREFACE - The object and the field of the present book are indicated by its title. Intended to steer a middle course between those anthologies that endeavor to cover the whole vast ground of French lyric poetry and those that confine themselves to two or three authors, it tries to convey, by fairly copious selections, a clear idea of the best work of the really distinguished and really representative poets of the period covered. This period is the nineteenth century, the golden age of lyric poetry. The ten poets of the volume are chosen chiefly on account of their intrinsic merit, partly on account of their position as typical representatives of certain phases of poetry during the century. The exclusion of one or two well-known poets is due to the belief - a belief held by many French critics - that their fame is ephemeral, and to the fact that they stand for nothing not better represented by some other poet. The eight thousand six hundred lines of text in this volume - the distribution among authors ranging from a minimum of about four hundred lines to a maximum of about eighteen hundred - will, it is thought, suffice to give the student a fairly clear and adequate idea of the genius of the greatest poets of the century, an idea unencumbered by vague memories of brief passages from a host of minor writers. The selection of the poems is based on the reading and rereading of the poetical works of all the authors included. Evident masterpieces, on the one hand, have not been rejected simply because they are to be found in existing anthologies on the other hand, some hackneyed pieces have been replaced by poems less well-knownbut equally excellent. Whenever possible, poems have been given entire but this principle has been waived when its rigid application would cause the exclusion of beautiful passages complete in themselves, or the inclusion of passages of doubtful value in the classroom. All excisions have been indicated. The text follows the best editions, the first mentioned under each poet in the Bibliography. In some few cases, all of which are indicated in the Notes, the text has been emended by reference to other editions. In the matter of punctuation, it has been found impossible, except in the case of Hugo, to follow any one edition unreservedly. The Notes, while endeavoring to give necessary information on references to history, etc., and on genuine linguistic difficulties, aim primarily at aiding the student to comprehend and appreciate the poems as poetry. For teachers, the date of the composition or of the original publication has been given whenever ascertainable. The critical matter usually given in an introduction is here presented in divided form just before the text of each author, where it is believed that it is more likely to be read by the average student. The significant facts - and only the significant facts - of each poets life are there told his philosophical and zsthetic theories and achievements are stated his literary rank, sources, and influence are set forth. No attempt has been made to trace out any systematic evolution of poetry but the several critiques, if read consecutively, will, it is hoped, give a tolerably consistent account of the interrelations of the writers that really count in the history of nineteenth-century French lyric poetry, and of their connections withthe various literary schools of the century...