more particular question, that of actual poetic redaction, de Banville says: Il faut cependant savoir tout. . . . Tu ne connaîtras jamais trop bien l'histoire, les théologiens, la philosophie, l'esthétique, les beaux-arts, les arts somptuaires et de décoration et les termes techniques de tous les métiers . . . .13 ... We do not wish to try to simplify in rather crude fashion a problem which is really tremendously complex. While it is true that in 1855 the greater wealth and economic power of the bourgeois gave the poets a new angle of attack, it must not be forgotten that the enmity was of long date and that the bourgeois of 1830 was fully as much an object of anathema. We have, furthermore, indicated that the escape-philosophy of the early Romanticists was essentially personal. But it is none the less true that it was partly a reaction against material progress. Musset did not fail to say so: Tout est bien balayé sur vos chemins de fer. Tout est grand, tout est beau,—mais on meurt dans votre air.14 Alfred de Vigny made a similar protest in La Maison du Berger and even reproaches science itself in a gloomy generalization: La science Trace autour de la terre un chemin triste et droit; later, however-and it is perhaps worth noting that Leconte de Lisle's Preface to the Poèmes Antiques had then appeared-Vigny affirmed his belief in science: Le vrai Dieu, le Dieu fort, c'est le Dieu des idées. In spite of these seeming contraductions, however, we feel that our general contention is correct, that the development of the economic background is in part responsible for the change of tone in French poetry between, let us say, 1830 and 1860. In this evolution the poetry of Théodore de Banville stands midway. He protested vigorously against the materialism of society. For this reason-as well as others his work appears to us different from that of the poets of 1830. By 1852, Leconte de Lisle was able pretty much to ignore this purely negative aspect of the problem, and to insist upon a constructive program. A recent critic has pointed out that "gains for humanity are, 13 Petit Traité de Versification, 1872. 14 Rolla, 1833. 15 La Bouteille à la Mer, 1858. 9916 pari passu, gains for the expression of humanity that we call literature. Industrialism had been a loss of ground for the one, and romanticism a loss of ground for the other. But he finds consolation in the fact that science has produced more legitimate offspring than industrialism, that science in its purest aspects has contributed to the enlargement of the human spirit and therefore to the enrichment of literature. Such a thesis finds support in the literary theories so eloquently expressed by Leconte de Lisle, whose poetry is certainly an addition to the wealth of classical literature that has at once charmed, consoled, and enriched humanity. In the development of French poetry in the nineteenth century Théodore de Banville played a transition rôle. The individual dreamworld that had dominated the work of his predecessors, still his contemporaries, was largely abandoned by him and reality became in great measure his inspiration. 16 N. Arvin "Romanticism and the Modern Mind," The Freeman, Feb. 20, 27, 1924. BOOK REVIEWS Gottfried Kellers Leben, Briefe und Tagebücher. Auf Grund der Biographie Jakob Baechtolds dargestellt und herausgegeben von Emil Ermatinger. Stuttgart and Berlin, Cotta. 3 volumes. Sixth to eighth edition, 1923. The most important external change, as compared to the obsolete biographie by Baechtold, is a complete rearrangement of the material. Aside from the selfevident elimination of the poems, sketches, and fragments found after Keller's death, which belong properly in the critical edition of the poet's works, it was necessary to separate the letters and diaries from the biography proper. The latter doubtless would be of greater value if Ermatinger had re-written it entirely instead of taking over long passages-including many errors-from Baechtold's work, though it can not be denied that the new editor has almost succeeded in obliterating the fact that the text is the joint work of two men. Still more deplorable is Ermatinger's polemic against Baechtold's opinion that Keller showed certain inconsistent traits of character. If it had been necessary to start this controversy again it should have been placed in the notes. But the shortcomings amount to little if we consider the excellent work Ermatinger has done. Baechtold had considered it his duty to disregard much material as unfit for discussion. Ermatinger, on the other hand, has treated the subject historically and critically, as permitted by a lapse of twenty-five years. He has been able to disclose new episodes of the poet's life, as the engagement to Luise Scheidegger which was ended by the suicide of the girl; or the friendship with Marie Melos, who renewed in the seventies her former friendly relation to the poet, thus furnishing the motif for the re-appearance of Judith in the second version of Der Grüne Heinrich; or the violent though vain love to Betty Tendering, the Dortchen Schönfund in the fourth volume of the novel. But still more valuable is the excellent exposition of Keller's development as a poet. Ermatinger's tracing of the influence of Feuerbach's philosophy upon the poet shows an admirable capacity for psychological analysis. Keller's youthful poetical attempts and his vain efforts in the field of drama are no longer treated as isolated instances but as organic parts in his poetical development. The treatment of the poet's works in regard to origin, motifs, technique, etc., is a masterpiece of philological research and criticism. Baechtold had once suggested that a complete unabridged collection of Keller's letters would give an unfavorable picture of the poet's character. In the new edition almost all passages omitted by Baechtold are supplied and the collection is practically complete. Yet hardly anyone will have to reverse his opinion of the man. How little does occasional swearing or a hard unjust judgment count in our estimation of the poet's character if we take into consideration the rich storehouse of human thoughts and ideas which those letters contain! ERWIN GUSTAV GUDDE University of California William Mason. A Study in Eighteenth Century Culture, by John W. Draper. The New York University Press, 1924. Dr. Draper's biography is a substantial addition to that long list of studies recently undertaken with the view of rescuing minor authors from sometimes undeserved obscurity. In this instance the passion for facts results in a rather harsh and boyish condemnation of preceding biographers, the most of whom had the misfortune to be born before the failure to copy a date correctly had become an indictable offence. Dr. Draper has, however, gone far beyond his predecessors in filling in the story of Mason, and making him a real person. The evidence collected indicates that the famous friendship with Gray was more one of equals than has sometimes been realized. We are also reminded that contemporaries of Mason valued him, not, it is true, with the blind idolatry shown formerly toward Cowley, but with a high degree of respect. The analyses of the works of Mason are useful, especially in the case of The English Garden where the author traces clearly the mingling of classic and romantic in a matter outside literature. Most valuable, perhaps, is his dissection of the works and mind of Mason and his conclusion that Mason was forever confusing classic and romantic without realizing that he was guilty of logical inconsistency, and indeed without giving any evidence that he knew any significant struggle to be in progress. In his final estimate Dr. Draper finds Mason just about what he has been painted. No important alteration is necessary; time has done him no substantial injustice. Mason was a minor man and Dr. Draper says so. The work before us does, however, throw interesting light on the times and on the relationships of Mason to men greater than he,-to Walpole, and to Gray, whose Memoirs by Mason have preserved their author to posterity. BARTHOLOW V. CRAWFORD University of Iowa Gay's Beggar's Opera. Its Content, History, and Influence, by William Eben Schultz. XXIII + 407 pp. The Yale University Press, New Haven, 1923. The recent revival of the Beggar's Opera, with its unprecedented London run, gives timeliness to the present creditable, if not highly significant, volume. Rather more than his predecessor, C. E. Pearce (Polly Peachum, 1913), Dr. Schultz has considered the opera as a whole, its setting, purpose, and history. Where Pearce writes gracefully of the human figures connected with the opera, and particularly of Lavinia Fenton, our present author utilizes liberally excerpts from letters and periodicals for various purposes, particularly in demonstrating Gay's satirical aims and in discussing the contemporary disturbance over the alleged immorality of the opera. As distinctive scholarly contributions Dr. Schulz offers three things: (1) a stage history of the opera, year by year, down to the present; (2) a list of the originals of the tunes used in the opera; (3) a list of over one hundred ballad operas written after the Beggar's Opera and largely in imitation of it. In questions of fact he has often been able to set his predecessors right. In weighing arguments as to Gay's purposes, he is invariably cautious and conservative. Wherever proof to the contrary is lacking, he accepts the author's statements at their face value. As a whole, the book is well planned; and, although its new contributions are limited to those noted above, it assembles in convenient form much valuable information. BARTHOLOW V. CRAWFORD University of Iowa Changing Ireland. Literary Backgrounds of the Irish Free State, by Norreys J. O'Conor. Harvard University Press, 1924. The essays that make up this volume are gathered in two groups, the first consisting of independent papers and the second of reviews of such books as Gilbert Chesterton's Irish Impressions. The essays are the more interesting of the two; for the reviews are too short to have much significance. The second paper, "The Gaelic Background of Ireland's Literary Revival" is interesting; and in two other essays, "Modern Anglo-Irish Poetry" and "Some Poets of the Allied Cause in the World War," some of the best specimens of contemporary Irish verse are given. A reader may wish that these three essays could have been lengthened by the inclusion of more poems and by a fuller and more critical estimate of the authors. The more general viewpoint, however, may be better, since the book gives ample guidance, if one is interested, for a more detailed examination of these Irish poems. University of Iowa E. N. S. THOMPSON M. Tulli Ciceronis de divinatione libri, with Commentary, by Arthur Stanley Pease. University of Illinois, Studies in Language and Literature, Vol. VI, 2, 3, VIII, 2, 3, 1920-23. In saying that Pease's exegetical edition of the De Divinatione takes its place with the few really notable commentaries on classical authors produced in the United States I have said all that is essential in a review of this kind. The edition is particularly welcome because there is no really modern commentary available. The notes reveal an encyclopedic knowledge and perfect control of the literature. The text is not a critical one, being based mainly on that of Mueller. As the editor states, it is a pity that Plasberg's promised critical edition was not yet available. The introduction gives a careful digest of the literature on such matters as date of writing, sources, and later history of the work. It is shown that not until the time of the deists did it come into its own. The inconsistency of its attack on divination as mere superstition, with Cicero's attitude in the political treatise De Legibus, makes one wonder whether certain people of the present day are denouncing evolution publicly for political reasons while holding private opinions of another sort. That at least would be the more charitable view. In a bibliographical appendix we find useful lists of manuscripts and printed editions. The manuscripts number ninety-six, but it is likely that others are to be found in libraries which have no published catalogues or whose catalogues are incomplete. On the other hand, the list includes some manuscripts listed in old catalogues, which are no longer in the places indicated. I can add one manuscript to this list: a fifteenth century copy of the De Natura and the De Divinatione owned by Mr. E. D. Balken of Pittsburgh, Pa. A full index furnishes the dessert for the sumptuous philological feast which Pease has given us. B. L. ULLMAN University of Chicago |