12 SEPTEMBER 1925, Page 21

LECONTE DE LISLE AND DR. BROWN

DR. IRVING BROWN writes of Leconte de Lisle as if he were revealing an extraordinary discovery, with an unbounded, uncritical enthusiasm which is almost disarming in its naivete. Immense claims for Leconte de Lisle's genius ; critical plati- tudes advanced as startling discoveries ; a glib use of the jargon of modern psychology ; a scale of literary values which leads the critic to immolate the greatest poetical reputations of Europe to his chosen idol ; a series of analyses of separate poems where fantastic judgments elbow platitudinous expo- sitions ; patient and quite commendable verse renderings of some of Leconte de Lisle's poems, and an almost complete insensibility to the developments of French poetry since 1885. These are the main features of Dr. Brown's book. He has a notable way of letting a platitude sink gravely in. " I doubt," says he, " if any animal has stirred the imagination of man more than the elephant. He gives us "—but this is almost in Micawber's vein—" He gives us an impression of quiet strength, of tremendous power lying dormant, in reserve." (Here one of the guinea pigs cheered, and was suppressed.)

Dr. Brown has not written in vain. Read with the seeing eye and a sense of humour he (as he would say) " richly repays study." He has unconsciously added something to the gaiety of nations. There are no cracks and crevices in which the destructive critics could set their teeth." This is a painful metaphor ; a metaphor to give one the toothache. What, one muses, would the destructive critics have done if they had found a crack or a crevice—hung from it by their teeth ?

Let us sample Dr. Brown in another mood, the psycho- logical. Here is a masterly exposition in masterly English :-

" The eagle, or better perhaps St. John and the eagle together, symbolize the self-regarding sentiment seeking expression in poetic flights that are misunderstood by those around him [Query : the eagle, St. John or Leconte ?] but rising scornfully above its sur- poundings, finally achieves immortality, in other words literary fame."

This is a portion of what Dr. Brown calls " a dynamic portrayal of the inner man."

There are numerous epigrammatic sallies in this work which will be eagerly seized on by collectors of the solemnly inane. Here are a few specimens :— " In art as in life, man cannot stand alone."

" One of the chief methods of expression of our poet is that of describing nature."

" The word ' glove,' which is prosaic enough when compared to the skies, is much more so when placed as a rhyme."

It would be easy to multiply quotations from these exercises in the art of platitude ; as a change, let us sample some of Dr. Brown's judgments :—

" I doubt if there is a more musical poem in the French language than Leconte de Lisle's ' La Verandah.' "

" The poem [' Epiphanie '] is unique in modern French literature." " It [beginning of Nurmalial is one of the most sumptuous descriptions in all poetry."

" The end of the prophecy [in 4Quain '] is extremely significant, and places the poem among the great philosophical poems of the world. . . . The description of the flood which follows is one of the most vivid and gigantic pieces of imagining in literature."

" The poem L`Tristesse du Diable '1 is Miltenic in its cosmic grandeur." • " Its [` La Ravine Saint-Gilles'] vividness is unsurpassed." " La Most de Valmiki' is one of the noblest poems to be found in any language." " He [Leconte de Lisle] has a definite place in the literature of the world. He is closer to the Greeks than any poet since Antiquity."

Dr. Brown need detain us no longer, except for a passing wonder that the University of Columbia is not a little more exacting in the choice of works it makes public. Still, we must not allow a justifiable annoyance with Dr. Brown's unhappy work to cloud the fame of Leconte de Lisle.. There can be no doubt of the loftiness of Leconte de Lisle's poetic aims, the breadth of his culture, the integrity of his literary character, his patience, his hauteur. But his ideal was linked and less splendid than he supposed. He is certainly unworthy to be compared with Dante, as Dr. Brown compares him. At best, Leconte de Lisle is a very good descriptive poet of almost impeccable technique ; and Dr. Brown is not the first to mistake impeccability' of method for poetic perfection.

Making the necessary adjustments, one might think of Leconte de Lisle as a sort of French Tennyson. He had not Tennyson's immense popular appeal, nor his lyric gift, nor his exquisite phrasing, but Leconte de Lisle has something of the English poet's slow stateliness and dignified way of treatment. Leconte de Lisle's interests were perhaps wider, his temperament more sensuous ; but both poets are alike in their devotion to the exterior artistry of verse and their lack of interest in the subtler realms of psychology. Leconte's influence in France is much like that of Tennyson in England —respected but not followed. The most distinguished pupils of Leconte de Lisle were Verlaine, Heredia, Villiers and Alallarme. Heredia led Parnassianism into a cul-de-sac from which not even Banville's virtuosity could rescue it. Villiers turned to ironic prose ; Verlaine was entirely dominated by the extraordinary genius of Rimbaud, a mind entirely hostile to Leconte de Lisle ; Mallarme, in turn, succumbed to the • influence of Baudelaire. The real inspirers, forerunners, masters of contemporary French poetry are not Hugo and Lamartine, but Baudelaire and Rimbaud. There is no sign of any return to the views of Parnassianism, except the occa- sional insignificant imitator. For good or ill, French poetry has mainly followed the line struck out by Rimbaud, Mallarme and Baudelaire. And for obvious reasons : they discovered a new spiritual realm where others, as daring, might adventure ; the Parnassian left nothing but an impeccable artistry which almost anyone with patience could copy. It is the difference between Ingres and Cizanne—indeed, several of Leconte's descriptive nudes might have been copied from Ingres.

Leconte de Lisle, like Tennyson, is respected, admired even, but has no considerable literary posterity. Probably the most appreciated part of Leconte's work is the admirable series of poetic., prose translations of the classics ; the versions of Theocritus and the Anacreontea are particularly successful and charming.