COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN ENGLISH AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE THE BALLADE COLUMBU UNIVERSITY PRESS SALES AGENTS New York : LEMCKE & BUECHNER 30-32 West 27th Street London : HUMPHREY MILFORD Amen Corner, E.G. Toronto : HUMPHREY MILFORD 25 Richmond Street, W. THE BALLADE BY HELEN LOUISE COHEN ^ Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements FOR THE Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia University COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 1915 953 C611 Copyright, 1915 By Columbia University Press Printed from type April, 1915 Qjv- Press or Thc New Era printino Company Lancaster. Pa. This Monograph has been approved by the Depart- ment of English and Comparative Literature in Columbia University as a contribution to knowledge worthy of publication. A. H. THORNDIKE, Executive Officer Q^ A A A /i Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/balladebOpcoherich PREFACE This work, begun as a study of the ballade in English and eventually outgrowing its narrower limits, undertakes to give the history of that verse form from its origins in Romance lands through its career in France and England up to the present day. An attempt is made to show what modifications the form underwent at the hands of the trou- veres; how, in the course of poetic competitions, the env^^ came to be added, and how the formal ballade, in the end, became unalterably reduced to three stanzas with identical rime scheme and refrain. The account given of the course of this lyric in France illustrates the typical ideas that per- vaded ballade literature and calls attention also to the func- tion of the ballade in the drama. A minute examination of the Middle English ballade is made possible by the com- paratively small number of specimens in that language. The selections in Chapter III, brought together for the first time from rhetorical and critical treatises of the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, will be found useful for the detailed study of this fixed form and as a means of gauging its changing popularity as reflected in current literary criticism. The last chapter deals with the ballade in the nineteenth century and after. My obliga- tions to previous research I have made plain in the foot- notes and in the Bibliographies. The latter contain lists of all the manuscripts and of most of the books which I have consulted. There is little that is original in my account of the begin- nings of French poetry, except as the various theories of the origin of the Romance lyric are applied to the ballade. Neither do the sections in Chapter IV, devoted to Chaucer and to Quixley, pretend to be more than a summary of the results of recent scholarship. Where I have copied ballades vii VIU PREFACE from manuscripts, I have sought to make a faithful tran- scription rather than a critical text, and have rarely sup- plied more than punctuation. The following material is, I believe, printed for the first time : Chapter ii. ''Ave douce dame de paradis,'* British Museum Ms. AddiUotwl 15224. Ballade en la Personne de la Vierge, Bihliotheque Nationale Ms. Fr, 24408. "Ma mere ou ma face est empraincte," same manu- script. "Les payens versificateurs, ' ' same manuscript. ''Le grant yver par sa froidure," Bihliotheque Na- tionale Ms. Fr. 19369. *'Au verger de dieu ordonee,*' Bihliotheque Na- tionale Ms. 24408. Oraison par Maniere de Ballade, same manuscript. Sur la Peche Borgueil, Bihliotheque Nationale Ms. Fr. 2306. * * Pecheur qui scez qui morir doiz, ' * British Museum Ms. Harley 4397. Ballade de la Mort, Bihliotheque Nationale Ms. Fr. 1707, Chapter iv. Balade upon the Chaunce of the Dyse, Bodleian Ms. Fairfax 16. Balade Coloured and Reuersid, British Museum Ms. Arundel 26.^ Triple Ballade, Cambridge University Library Ms, Fg. 1.6. and Bodleian Ms. Tanner 246. 1 This was printed by H. N. MacCracken a year after I had tran- scribed it. Cf. p. 286 below. PREFACE IX Balade fet de la Beygne Katerine Bussel, Trinity College Ms. B 14,5. Appendix i. ''Gentilz gallans faictes armee" and "Les dames ont vue la requeste," Bodleian Ms. Douce 479. With printed material I have followed the text given except in the case of early printed books, where I have occasionally supplied punctuation. The following selec- tions are reprinted from books in no case later than the seventeenth century : Chapter ii. Ormson a la Vierge Marie, Les Faictz et Dictz de Sieur Jehan Molinet (Paris, 1531). Balade de la Morte, Jehan Bouchet, XIII Bondeaulx Avec XXV Balades Differentes (Paris, 1536). La Morte Parle a Lhomme Humain, Les Lunettes des Princes (Paris, 1539). Balade contre Folles Amours, Jehan Bouchet, same title and date as above. Le Sexe Masculin, two hallades with this title, Gracien Dupont, Les Controverses des Sexes Masculin et Feminin (Toulouse, 1584). Balade de Mazarin Grand Joueur de Hoc (Paris, 1649). Chapter ni. On the theory of the ballade from : Gracien Dupont. Art et Science de Bhetoricque Metriffiee (Toulouse, 1539). Francoise de Pierre Delaudun Daigaliers, L^Art Poetique Frangois (Paris, 1598). Pierre de Deimier, L' Academic de L'Art Poetique (Paris, 1610). Francois Colletet, L'Escole des Muses (Paris, 1656). X PREFACE Envoy, Court of Sapyence (printed by Wynkyn de Worde, 1510). Outside the faculty of Colmnbia University, I wish espe- cially to thank M. Joseph Bedier, M. Pierre Champion, Pro- fessor H. N. MacCracken of Smith College, Professor K. C. M. Sills of Bowdoin College, and Professor John M. Bur- nam of the University of Cincinnati for their kindly advice ; and M. Alfred Jeanroy, Mr. Austin Dobson, Mr. Edmund Gosse, and Andrew Lang — ^though in his case it is now too late — for their generous letters, now incorporated in the text. I am glad to acknowledge the courtesy of the authorities of the British Museum and of the Bihliotheque Nationale, and to record the help received from Mr. Falconer Madan and Mr. R. A. Abrams of the Bodleian Library, from M. Georges Ritter of the library at Rouen, Mr. T. J. Kiernan of the Harvard Library, and Miss P. V. Fullerton of the New York Public Library. I am also under obligations to Mr, Frederick W. Erb and Miss A. M. Erb of the Columbia Library for their most expert and painstaking services. To my friend and former fellow student. Professor Frank H. Ristine of Hamilton College, I am indebted for the assistance he has given me in preparing my manuscript for the press and in reading the proof. Professor Raymond "Weeks, Professor C. S. Baldwin, Professor H. M. Ayres, Professor F. A. Patterson, all of Columbia University, have read my manuscript and have made many valuable sug- gestions. I take this opportunity of expressing my grati- tude to them for their cooperation. To Professor William W. Lawrence, who suggested the subject of this study, and who has throughout my work acted as counselor and critic, I owe most. H. L. C. Washington Irving High School, New York, 1 February, 1914. INTRODUCTION Several contemporary critics, notably Benedetto Croce, condemn those scholars who try to separate and identify literary types as if they were so many labeled and distinct specimens in a museum of literary history. It is the con- tention of Croce and his followers that the terms, ** trag- edy,'' "romance," "lyric," and the like, are employed merely as a rough attempt at classification and not in con- formity to genuine definitions.^ Every piece of litera- ture is thus to be looked upon as a law unto itself. This conception of criticism would, for example, put the ban on any consideration of the technique of poetry as distinct from its substance. The ballade, however, by its very nature, is regulated by laws outside itself. Its construc- tion is determined by arbitrary requirements. Though a tragedy is a tragedy, whether it observe the unities or ignore them, whether it be Samson Agonistes or King Lear, a hallade depends upon its three stanzas, its identical rimes, and its refrain for its very being. The similarity in sounds between the terms, ballade and ballad, has sometimes led English-speaking people to mis- conceive the character of the former. The fixed verse form, now known as the ballade, is as great a contrast as could well be imagined to the traditional narrative or lyric poems of uncertain dimensions, or in fact to any verse forms not fixed, that go under the name of ballad. But antithetical as a popular ballad like The Twa Sisters o' Binnorye and 1 Benedetto Croce, Estetica, translated as Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic, by Douglas Ainslee (London, 1909), p. 63. Xll INTRODUCTION any ballade are in length, in subject matter, and in purpose, they have, nevertheless, two features in common, repetition and refrain, both of which point to a popular origin in the choral song of early times. At least some of the refrains in the hallettes, which were in all probability the immediate progenitors of the French ballade, are fragments of early popular lyrics, though transmitted through an aristocratic medium. The ballade in its most highly developed artistic form, is defined in Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, in a familiar scene between Cyrano and the Yicomte de Valvert. The nobleman contemptuously salutes the ' * cadet de Gascogne ' ' as *'Poete!" and an altercation follows: Cyrano " Oui, monsieur, poete ! et tellement, Qu^en ferraillant je vais — hop! — a I'improvisade, Vous composer une ballade. Le Vicomte Une ballade? Cyrano Vous ne vous doutez pas de ce que c'est, je crois? Lb Vicomte Mais. . . . Cyrano, r^citant comme une legon. La ballade, done, se compose de trois Couplets de huit vers . . . Le Vicomte, pi^tinant. Oh! Cyrano, continuant. Et d'un envoi de quatre . . . INTRODUCTION ^iii Le Vicomte Vous . . Cyrano Je vaia tout ensemble en faire una et me battre, Et vous toucher, monsieur, au dernier vers. Le Vicomte Non! Cyrano Non? (D^clamant.) ^^ Ballade du duel qu'en Vhotel hourquignon Monsieur de Bergerac eut avec un helitre!" Le Vicomte Qu'est-ce que c'est que ga, s'il vous plait? Cyrano C'est le titre. Cyrano, f ermant une seconde les yeux. Attendez! . . . je choisis mes rimes . . . La, j'y suis. (n fait ce qu'il dit, ^ mesure.) Je jette avec grace mon feutre, Je fais lentement I'abandon Du grand manteau qui me calfeutre, Et je tire mon espadon; Elegant comme Celadon, Agile comme Scaramouche, Je vous previens, cher Mirmydon, Qu'a la fin de I'envoi je touche ! (Premiers engagements de far.) Vous auriez bien du rester neutre; Ou vais-je vous larder, dindon? . . . XIV INTRODUCTION Dans le flanc, sous votre maheutre? . . . Au coBur, sous votre bleu cordon? . . . . . . Les coquilles tintent, ding-don! Ma pointe voltige : une mouche ! Deeidement . . . c^est au bedon, Qu'a la fin de Penvoi, je louche. II me manque une rime en eutre . . . Vous rompez, plus blane qu'amidon? C^est pour me f oumir le mot pleutre ! . . . Tac! je pare la pointe dont Vous esperiez me faire don; — J'ouvre la ligne, — ^je la bouche . . . Tiens bien ta broche, Laridon ! A la fin de I'envoi, je louche. (II annonce solennellement : ) Envoi Prince, demande a Dieu pardon ! Je quarte du pied, j^escarmouche, Je coupe, je feinle . . . (Se fendant.) He! la done, (Le vicomte chancelle; Cyrano salue.) A la fin de I'envoi, je louche.^ 2 With this masterpiece of Eostand's should be compared Lafon- taine's '* Ballade pour le second Terme," written in 1659 and dedi- cated to Foucquet in return for financial assistance. (See H. Eegnier, CEuvres de J. de La Fontaine, Paris, 1883, Vol. I, p. Ix). ** Trois /ois dix vers, et puis cinq d'ajont^, ^ Sans point d *abus, c 'est ma tache complMe ; M^ Mais le mal est qu 'ils ne sont pas compt^s. ^ Par quelque bout il faut que je m'y mette; Puis, que jamais ballade je promette, Dus86-je entrer au fin fond d'une tour, Nenni, ma fois, car je suis d6ja court, INTRODUCTION XV Here we have, at one and the same time, a definition and an example of the ballade. It was this fixed form which, in the late Middle Ages, captured the taste of France and even had a certain vogue in England. In the former Si que je crains que n'ayez rien du notre. Quand il s 'agit de mettre une oeuvre au Jour, Promettre est un, et tenir est un autre. Sur ce refrain, de grace, permettez Que je vous conte en vers une sornette. Colin, venant des universites, Promit un jour cent francs a Guillemette. De quatre-vingts il trompa la fillette. Qui, de d6pit, lui dit pour faire court: Vous y viendrez cuire dans notre four I Colin repond, faisant le bon apotre: Ne vous fachez, belle; car, en amour, Promettre est un, et tenir est un autre. Sans y penser j 'ai vingt vers ajustes, Et la besogne est plus d'^ demi faite. Cherchons-en treize de tous cotes, Puis ma ballade est enti^re et parf aite. Pour faire tant que I'ayez, toute nette, Je suis en eau, tant que j ^ai 1 'esprit lourd, Et n 'ai rien fait se par quelque bon tour Je ne fabrique encore un vers en otre; Car vous pourriez me dire k votre tour: Promettre est un, et tenir est un autre. Envoi O vous, Phonneur de ce mortel s^jour, ^ Ce n 'est pas d 'hui que ce proverbe court ; ^ On ne I'a fait de mon temps ni du votre: dL_ Trop bien savez qu 'en language de cour (1, Promettre est un, et tenir est un autre. '* d J. de la Fontaine, (Euvres Computes (Paris, 1820), Vol. XIII, p. 215. Cf. also, Brander Matthews, Becreations of an Anthologist (New York, 1904), p. 35. XVI INTRODUCTION country, from the end of the fourteenth to the beginning of the sixteenth century, it attained incredible popularity. Eustache Deschamps (1320-1415), for example, alone wrote at least eleven hundred and seventy-five hallades.^ More- over, the ballade like the sonnet, its successor in favor, came to be written in more or less closely connected sequences.* With the importation into France in the six- teenth century of new ideas derived ultimately from the literature of classical antiquity, the vogue of the hdllade grew less pronounced, so that we find it a matter of indif- ference, if not of positive contempt, to the members of the Pleiade.^ French poets, however, unlike the English, never altogether discontinued the use of this lyric, although it was more or less sporadic in French literature until the nineteenth century.® Then Banville and his followers' cul- tivated the form once more ; but the number composed by them is insignificant compared with the thousands of hal- lades written by the fifteenth century poets. In England, the ballade vanished with the generation after Chaucer, not to reappear there until the closing years of the century just past. When once the poetic guilds of Northern France had pre- scribed a ballade like Cyrano's improvisation, the essential features of that form were no longer a matter of choice. 3 Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, CEuvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps, Society des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1891), Vol. I, p. X. 4 See Chapter II, below. 6 Cf . Du Bellay 's characterization of the "ballade, cited in Chapter III, below. « Voiture, Sarrazin, Mme. Deshouli^res, and La Fontaine wrote bal- lades in the first half of the seventeenth century. Cf. Chapter II, below. 7 Musset, Copp^e, Rollinat, Verlaine, Tailhade, etc. Cf . Chapter V, below. INTRODUCTION XVll A poet who set out to write a ballade had to find a subject which could be treated in a kind of verse distinguished for its rigid and repetitious rime scheme. He deliberately limited his range of ideas by his decision to conform to elaborate restrictions. Technique was distinctly the poet's problem. The success of his ballade depended upon his ability to temper his inspiration to a type of poetry that had been definitely described. If we are charmed by the great ballades of Chaucer and of Villon, of Banville and of Swinburne, it is because these poets found in the ballade a form uniquely harmonious with certain ideas that they wished to express. CONTENTS Page Preface vii Introduction xi CHAPTER I Origins op the Ballade 1 CHAPTER II The Ballade in France from the end of the Four- teenth Century to the middle of the Seven- teenth Century 47 CHAPTER III The Theory op the Ballade from Deschamps to BOILEAU 154 CHAPTER IV The Middle English Ballade 222 CHAPTER V The Ballade in the Nineteenth Century 300 APPENDIX I Poetry composed in the Puy 340 APPENDIX II The Serventois 346 APPENDIX III The Chant Royal 352 Bibliography 359 Index 382 xix THE BALLADE CHAPTER I ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE Until the nineteenth century, the words ballad and bal- lade were used more or less interchangeably in English. The New English Dictionary^ discussing the history of halade, ballat, ballad, ballade, and cognate forms, refers them to the late Latin ballare (to dance) and to the Pro- vencal balada. In our current usage, both ballad and bal- lade are used consistently as -technical terms; the first is usually applied to traditional narrative and lyric poetry, the second to the fixed verse form which is the subject of the present inquiry. The earliest example given in the New English Dictionary of the use of the word balade in Eng- lish is in the Prologue to Chaucer's Legend of Good Women (1394), where it is employed to describe the three-stanza poem imitated from the French. The passage in question reads : " And after that they wenten in compas, Daunsinge aboute this flour an esy pas, And songen, as it were in carole-wyse, This balade, which that I shal yow devyse."^ Up to the end of the eighteenth century, the word, whether 1 W. W. Skeat, The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. Ill, p. 82: Prologue AG, 11. 199-202. 2 1 2 THE BALLADE it be spelled halade, hallat, hallad, or hcdlade, is associated by English writers generally with song. In England, in the nineteenth century, poets who used the fixed French verse form have for the most part called their poems bal- lades. In Gleeson White's collection^ that spelling is used. But a glance at the table of contents in a volume of Swin- burne's poems will show that even at the present day hal- lad is used as a title for the short fixed verse form derived from the French. The word balade,^ then, appeared in England at the end of the fourteenth century, and was originally used to de- scribe the imitation of the French lyric with fixed form. Chaucer, of course, is likely to have been familiar with the Italian word hallata, but since he was adapting the French art form he naturally took over the native term. Balade continued to be definitely associated with songs or with lyric poetry in England until the nineteenth century, when one variant, ballade, came to be generally connected with a specific kind of lyric poetry and another variant, ballad, with traditional narrative and lyric poetry. In France, at the present time, the same word ballade serves for the English or Scottish popular ballad and for a certain kind of narrative poem, written in imitation of Ger- man authors like Uhland, as well as for the artificially fixed lyric poem. It is plain, however, that until the nineteenth century there was no necessity in France for pressing the word into service to distinguish any kind of verse but the three-stanza poem with fixed rime-scheme and refrain. The history of the word, therefore, involves the history of the form of poetry it designates, and throws some light on the origin of the form. The New English Dictionary, as we have seen, derived 2 Gleeson White, Ballades and Bondeaus (London, 1887). 8 For further discussion of the use of halade, see Chapter IV. ORIGINS OP THE BALLADE 3 the French word halade* now naturalized in England in several forms, from the Provencal halada. The earliest known French use of the word halade is to be found in a poem of the trouvere Hubert Kaukesel, who flourished shortly after the middle of the thirteenth century, in the lines of the envoy : " A ma dame, harade presenter Te voil; di li par moi sans celer, Ke de sa cose empirier et grever N'est ee pas cortoisie. Diex! ki a hoine amor, SHI s'en repent nul jor, II fait grant villonie."^ This form harade is curious. Paul Meyer has told us that the scribe wrote it as two words, hara-de, as though he were not clear in his own mind just what the term was. The question is, did he transcribe the original correctly, or did he mistake an ''1" for an ^'r"?^ Another early example of the use of the word, the next in point of time, indeed, is supplied by a character in the Jeu du Pelerin, composed shortly before 1300, in which Adan de la Hale is mentioned : * The modern spelling in both English and French is with two 1 's. ^'Balade" is the usual spelling in the Middle Ages. 5 P. Meyer, Bes Bapports de la Poesie des Trouveres avec celle des Troubadours (Romania, 1890), p. 30. 6 See P. Meyer, Opus Cit., p. 31 : Barade, as Meyer points out, may be a Gascon form. But since MS fr. 844, where the same piece occurs, is mutilated on fol. 155 just at the critical point in the envoy, we cannot be sure. Speaking of the poem from which the envoy is quoted, he says : ' ' C 'est bien en effet une ballade, qui toute- f ois a cinq couplets et non trois. ' ' 4 THE BALLADE "... savoit canehons f aire, Partures et motes entes; De che fist-il a grans plantes. Et halades, je ne sai quantes."^ And at least one of Adan's chansons has every character- istic of the ballade before the envoy was added and the refi'ain reduced.^ In the Dit de la Panthere, written sometime between 1290 and 1328,^ the author, Nicole de Margival, makes use of the terms halade and baladele to name three-stanza poems with common rimes and refrains. Two other illus- trations of the early use of the word appear, one in the Roman de Faiivel (c. 1313), in the lines: " Et tout autour i avoit pointes Motez, chansons, halades, maintes " ;^** the other in the Comte d' Anjou (1316) : " Li auquant chantent pastourelles, Li autre dient en vielles Changons royaus et esterapies, Danses, noctes et baleries. Lais d'amours, descors et halades, Pour esbatre ces genz malades."^*^ Before the middle of the thirteenth century, a three- stanza poem with refrain and with common rimes was de- scribed in northern France as hallete, if we may rely on 7 E. de Coussemaker, (Euvres Completes du Trouvere Adam de la Halle (Paris, 1872), p. 418. 8 See below. 9 H. A. Todd, Le Dit de la Panthdre par Nicole de Margival (Paris, 1883), p. xxvii. 10 p. Meyer, Opus Cit., p. 31. ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE the writer of MS. Douce 308. The opinion has been ad- vanced that in this MS. hallete is a deliberate formation on- the part of a scribe or of an author. The word seems to have been a compromise between hallade, of Provencal origin,^^ and the French hallet, a diminutive of hal meaning dance. ^^ Nothing is to be gained, in considering the origin of the hallade, by a study of the various theories advanced con- cerning the obscure beginnings of the Romance lyric^^The hallade has no mark of a popular origin, if we except its name — borrowed probably from the Provencal halada, which was itself an artistic and not a folk dance song — and the refrain, which is associated with the procedure of choral song. It has been conjectured that a primitive Ro- mance hallade, "^^ a dance song in three stanzas, may have 11 6. Eckert, Dher die hei AltfranzosiscJien Dichtern V orkommenden Bezeichnungen der Eimelnen Dichtungsarten (Heidelberg, 1895), p. 15. Cf. E. Stengel, Der Strophenausgang in den Altesten Franzosi- schen Balladen und sein Verhdltnis zum Befrain und Strophengrund- stocJc, Zeitschrift fiir fr. Sprache u. Literatur, XVIII, p. 86 : " Dazu kommt nun noch dass die dritte Strophe eines der Lieder (Nr. 14) unserer Abteilung beginnt ' Bcdaide, sans demoreir Vai ou je t'envoie,' also die sonst iibliche Bezeiehnung verwendet. SoUte die Form 'ballete daher etwa nur eine schlechte Schreibung fiir halaide sein?'' 12 Examples of the use of halader are given in Godefroy, Biction- naire de I'Ancienne Langue Frangoise (Paris, 1902), Vol. I, p. 559. 13 E. Stengel, AMeitung der Provenzalisch-franzosischen Dansa- und Virelay-Formen, Zeitschrift fiir Bomanische Sprache und Litera- tur, XVI, p. 100. Cf. L. Biadene, La Leggenda dello Sclavo Dal- masino (Bologna, 1894), p. 24, note: "Cosieche anehe senza es- tendere le ricerche parra lecito eonchiudere ehe lo schema XX-AAAX di versi alessandrini e uno degli schemi fondamentali, se pur non 6 lo schema fondamentale della Ballata italiana, anzi si dovra forse dire, della Ballata romanza." Cf. also, F. Flamini, Studi di Storia Let- teraria Italiana e Straniera (Livorno, 1895), pp. 148-149. Analogues of the hallade are found in other Romance languages. Cf. A. Jeanroy, Les Origines de la Poesie Lyrique en France au 6 THE BALLADE been the archetype from which the Provencal halada and dansa, and the French ballete and ballade sprang. The theory is that this primitive dance song^* was probably composed of single lines of text alternating with a re- Moyeii Age (Paris, 1904), pp. 403-405: ''Cette forme de la ballette [cf. Bartsch, ChrestomatMe, 546] a eu beaucoup de succes a I'etranger: les trois quarts des pieces portuguaises du recueil du Vatican, tant les chansons purement courtoises que les pieces semi-populaires, sont des ballettes assez librement traitees. ' * C 'est elle aussi qu 'a employee la lyrique semi-populaire de 1 'Italic de la fin du xiii* au xv* siecle : seulement le nombre des couplets n 'est pas limite, le refrain ne correspond presque jamais exactement k la fin du couplet ; il n 'y correspond pas du moins par les rimes, dont une seule I'y rattache, et ce n'est que peu k peu qu'on s'astreignit a donner a ses vers la meme dimension qu ' aux derniers du couplet. La denom- ination fran^aise elle-meme a passe les Alpes. Ces pieces reQoivent souvent les noms de hallata, tallatetta, hallatina, canzonetta ballatella (Cardueei, [Cantilene e Ballate] pp. 211, 213, 215, 219, 222, et passim). . . . En somme, ces pieces italiennes se relient, du moins par leur forme, aux ballettes f rangaises du xii^ et xiii® siecles. ' ' Consult A. Jeanroy, Opus Cit., pp. 432-433, for the dansa in Italy, Portugal, and Spain. An early word on these relationships is spoken on p. vi of the Intro- duction in K. Bartsch, DenJcmdler der ProvemaliscJien Litteratur (Stuttgart, 1856). 14 Cf. E. Stengel in G. Groeber, Grundriss der Eomanischen PMlo- logie (Strassburg, 1902), II Band, 1. Abteilung, p. 91: "Die italien- ische ballata, welcher Dante (De vulg. eloq. II, 3) den Vorzug vor dem Sonett zuerkennt, zeigt zumeist denselben Bau, wie die analogen provenzalischen und altfranzosischen volkstiimlichen Dichtungen. Doch zerfiillt der erste, bedeutend entwickeltere Strophenteil zumeist in zwei gleichartige Absatze von je zwei, drei oder vier Zeilen. Darin ist offenbar eine Einwirkung der Canzonenstrophe zu erkennen. Die vorweg geschickte Bipresa wird bei den weiteren Coblen nicht wieder- holt. Meist sind die ballate uberhaupt nur einstrophig. Petrarca hat im ganzen sieben, Dante zehn (darunter aber drei unregelmjissige) verfasst. . . . Auch in Spanien zeigen schon zwei Bettellieder des Erzpriesters von Hita genau denselben Bau: aa ab BB (Vgl. F. Wolf, Studien, 8. 129 Anm.).'* ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 7 frain. In course of time, the number of lines was, in all likelihood, increased, and one or more of them made to rime with the refrain. This process went on no doubt because verses that went hand in hand with the dance would naturally be adapted to the music. The repetition of a favorite tune would compel those supplying the words to furnish successive line groups necessarily alike in struc- ture. The building up of a dance song may be thus de- scribed. To provide variety, the refrain was gradually in- troduced into the stanza itself. But at first, there were no rules governing either the form of the refrain or its place in the stanza; only the exigencies of the rime in any way affected its position. In the end, however, a fixed stanza was developed, a stanza of eight lines in which the first line was repeated three times and the second line twice :^^ SOLISTE, puis Chceur: " Hareu! li maus d'amer M'ochist! SousTE : 11 me fait desirer, Chceur : Hareu, li maus d'amer; SOLISTE : Par un douch regarder Me prist. Chceur : Hareu! li maus d'amer M'ochist."^^ It can not be definitely said that the ballade, any more than several other verse forms, owes its origin to the archetypal dance song ^ f pom whioh the e ta nza quo^ed-a/bove-'m-ay- -hare beeB- evol¥e4r But when we examine the development of the halada of Provence and the hallete of northern France, the evolution of a stanza like that employed in the early 15 A. Jeanroy in Petit de Julleville, Histoire de la Langue et la Litterature Fran^aise (Paris, 1896), Tome I, p. 360. 16 A. Jeanroj, Les Origin^s de la Foesie Lyrique en France au Moyen Age (Paris, 1904), p. 406. 8 THE BALLADE ballades is reasonaMy accounted for by means of this hy- pothesis, of J e angoy . In Provencal, the halada and the dansa, in all prob- ability analogues of the ballade, must be taken into con- sideration. Bartsch says : * ' Both consisted, generally speak- ing, of three stanzas preceded by a verse unit which was repeated in the manner of a refrain at the end of every stanza. "^^ At least seven Provencal lyrics, all anonymous, are given the designation balada in the manuscripts.^^ The fact that the word balade appears to be derived from the Provencal balada does not imply that there is any direct connection between the lyric of the south, the surviving examples of which show only slight resemblances to one another, and the fixed form developed in northern France, with its three stanzas, persistent rime-scheme, and refrain. An examina- tion of the balada furnishes conclusive proof that in Provence 17 K. Bartsch, Grundriss zur GeschicMe der Provenzalischen Literatur (Elberfeldt, 1872), p. 35. But cf. E. Stengel, Ableitung der Pro- vinzalisch-Franzosischen Dansa- und der Franzosischen Virelay- Formen, Zeitschrift fiir Franzosische Sprache und Literature, XVI, p. 97: "keinen zweifel clariiber dass die Dansa als eine Abart der Ballada anzusehen ist und zwar der Hauptsache nach jiingeres Ge- prage und gekiinsteltere Formen als diese aufweist. Nur in einem Punkte, darin namlieh, dass sie die Angleichung des Strophenab- schlusses an den Strophenanfang unterlasst, stellt sie sich als Ab- kommling gerade der alteaten Balladenf orm dar. ' ' 18 K. Bartsch, Die Provenzalische Liederhandschnft Q, Zeitschrift fiir Romanische Philologie, IV, p. 503. The following list gives the location of certain examples of the halada in the manuscripts : Codex Eiccardi 2909, fol. 46, ' ' Qvant escaualcai 1 'autrer " ; fol 5a, ' ' Morte man li semblan q ma donam"; fol. 5f, '^Damor mestera ben e gent"; fol. 6d, ''Qvant gilos er fora bels ami"; BiJ)liothdque Nationale Ms. fr. 20050, fol. 79, ''A I'entrada del tems clar"; Ms. Vatican, 3206, fol. 105a, "Pres soi ses faillencha." Codex Eiccardi 2909 and Ms. Vatican 3206 are of the fourteenth century; Ms. fr. 20050 is of the thirteenth century. ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 9 the term was in general used to describe almost any kind of artistic dance song, irrespective of form, and was not ap- plied to any one variety. The most primitive form of the halada is thought to be gopc fl contod bj ^^ Moit m ' ftB"li ' oomblwa . ' '^® J*4» a three-stanza poem, riming A A a a a a,^^ in which the two-line refrain should, according to Bartsch, be re- peated after the first and second lines of each stanza. The most primitive feature is the recurrence of the same rime throughout^^The best known halada is the one which be- gins "A l^trada del tens clar.''^^ This spring song, re- frain apart, exhibits very little that is characteristic of the ballade stanza, though the refrain was at first perhaps of two lines only. According to Stengel, the 'ballade stanza was first plainly indicated in "D'amor m'estera,"^^ a poem whose rime-scheme is a a b B B, with the refrain repeated in part after the first line of all six stanzas. The fundamental popular ballade scheme may have been, according to the same authority, B B a a b B B. The second a-line would, under the influence of the opening of the stanza, be modi- fied from a b-line, so that originally the form may have been B B a b b B B, from which it would appear that the stanza was composed of what the Germans call a stanza nucleus (Strophengrundstock) , a, and a stanza conclusion {Strophen- ausgang), h, which was built on the analogy of the refrain.^^ 19 C. Bartsch, Chrestomathie Provengale (Elberfeldt, 1880), 243. 20 In the indications of rime schemes, capitals are used to designate the rimes of the refrain. 21 V. Crescini, Manualetto Provenzale (Verona-Padua, 1905), p. 243. 22 K. Bartsch, Chrestomathie Provengale (Elberfeld, 1880), 245. 23 E. Stengel in G. Groeber 's Grundriss der Bomanischen Philologie, II, 1, p. 89; Stengel, discussing the halada, further analyzes the structure of ''Quant lo gilos" and ''Coindeta sui'' {B. Chr. 245-6) : ''Ebenso verhalt es sich bei der weit volkstumlicheren 5-strophigen Ballade Coindeta sui (B. ChrA 245-6) mit dem Strophenschema : 10 THE BALLADE y^i»Hhere are two views of the development of the ballette stanza, Jeanroy's and Stengel's. Jeanroy, though he be- lieves in the existence of Romance lyrics, sets up no arche- typal ballade as progenitor alike of halade and ballette. His theory is that the ballette stanza borrowed its sophisti- cated form from the clumson savante and added thereto a refrain which was joined to the body of the stanza by means of another line riming with a single line of the refrain or a a ah und Eef rain B B, Die Wiederholung der ersten Eef rainzeile naeh der ersten Zeile jeder Strophe halte ich auch hier fur sekundar. Die Strophenform wird hier urspriinglich B B]aal)b B B gelautet haben. Charakteristisch fur die spateren Balladen der Provenzalen wie Italiener, und aueh fiir die ihnen entsprechenden altfranzosischen haletes, ist eben die konstante Gewohnheit den Strophenabschluss an den Strophengrundstoek derart anzugleichen, dass der Anfang des ersteren mit dem Schluss des letzteren in tJbereinstimmung gebracht wird. Jeanroy, der die Balladenform iiberhaupt nicht scharf genug von der des Rondel u. Virelai sondert, hat diesen Sachverhalt ver- kannt. Er spricht (S. 402) von einer Verlangerung der Strophe 'd'un vers ay ant la meme rime que le refrain tout entier ou que I 'un de ses vers. * Dass meine Auff assung die riehtige ist, ergibt schon der analoge Bau der italienschen Balladen, ergibt aber auch die volks- tiimliche 3-Strophische Ballade Quant lo gilos (B, Gr. 461, 201, gedr. Zs. IV., 503), deren Schema lautet ae ag as bs bj-f- Refrain Bio B3. Scheinbar lasst sich hier die Abweiehung des Strophenabschlusses vom Refrain bef riedigend nur auf Jeanroy 'sche Weise erklaren, die zweite B-Zeile ware einfach angefiigt, wegen B5 des Refrains. (Sonderbar genug f asst Jeanroy aber dies Schema ganz anders auf, namlich als a« a, ao bg B,o B5 und will, indeni er auf die Wiederholung der ersten Re- frainzeile nach der ersten und zweiten Zeile jeder Strophe Wert legt, dieses wie die beiden letztgenaunteu Gedichte, als frei behandelte Rondels auffassen, obwohl gerade diese drei sich im Texte ausdruck- lich selbst also Balladen bezeichnen; Vgl. Abschn. 202, 203). Aber wie ware dann die erste b-Zeile zu erklaren? Das Ratsel lost sich, wenn wir sie mit der dritten d-Zeile zu einen 10-Silbner mit schwach- em archaischen Reihenschluss kombinieren. Durch Binnenreim wurde dieser zerlegt um so die erforderliche Angleichung des Strophen- abschlusses an den Strophengrundstoek nich nur hinsichtlich des ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 11 with the whole refrain. He believes that the number of syllables in the line that joined the refrain with the rest of the stanza was not necessarily altered to conform to the number in the refrain. On the contrary, the connection Reimes, sondern auch hinsichtlich der Versart zu ermoglichen. ae as b( bs Bio Bg ist also abgeandert aus a^ sl^ bio \ Bw Bb. Der Text der ersten Strophe mag das veransehaulichen : *'Ballada cointa e gaia Faz cui pes ne cui plaia Pel doez cant qui m'apaia;| Queus audi Seir e de mati. Quant lo gilos er fora, bels ami, Venes vos a mi. '^ Jeanroy's theory, in part challenged by Stengel, should be here given. It is found in Les Origines, pp. 397-402 passim: *'La forme la plus simple et la plus ancienne de toutes etait composee de couplets que chantait un soliste et que suivait un refrain repris par le choeur . . . le couplet y est de trois, quatre ou cinq vers sur une meme assonance, et ces differentes dimensions correspondent probablement a des epoques differentes. Quand au refrain il a pu se composer a 1 'origine d 'onomatopees ou de syllabes imitant le son d 'un instrument de musique . . . Mais on eut de bonne heure, I'idee de rattaeher le refrain au couplet par la rime: pour cela on enleva au refrain son premier vers rimant avec le second, et on le fit rimer avec le couplet: le chceur etait ainsi averti du moment ou son role allait commencer. (aaabB) . . . Un perfectionnement de cette forme consiste a couper le refrain en deux parties qui riment respective- ment avec les premiers et le dernier vers du couplet (aaabAB) . . . Mais dans le chanson a danser proprement dite, il n'en est point comme dans la strophe dont il vient d'etre question: le refrain y subsiste toujours, et n'est jamais remplace par deux vers ordinaires. Sa forme la plus habituelle etait done un couplet monorime suivi d'un refrain qui y etait r attache d'une fagon quelconque. . . . Elle [la ballette] ne s'en tint pas non plus aux strophes monorimes, qui paru- rent sans doubt monotones: elle emprunta aux chanson leur formes savantes, et fit suivre les couplets d'un refrain qu'elle y rattacha ordinairement en allongeant ceux-ci d 'un vers ayant la meme rime que le refrain tout entier ou que I'un de ses vers." 12 THE BALLADE between the stanza and the refrain was often made in an exceedingly loose way. Stengel, on the other hand, postu- lates the archetypal ballade, which he describes as a three- stanza form in which the stanzas show plainly the three- fold division of stanza nucleus, stanza conclusion, and re- frain. He holds, moreover, that in the hallade stanza, that is, the stanza of the halade or ballet e, there was a sharp separation alike between the stanza nucleus { Strophen - gxumhtoek) and the end of the ^J-^-nv^ /!^^^^pi^^^nhonhi'^i<^^j Originally, he believes, the end of the stanza corresponded exactly to the refrain, but was, in the majority of cases, made similar to the stanza nucleus. Then the stanza nucleus was itself divided into two parts, each of which at first consisted of one line. As these lines became longer, the tendency was for them to break into shorter lines, and thus the two halves of the stanza nucleus became longer. In the same way the number of lines in the end of the stanza ( Sirophonaus^ng ) and in the refrain multiplied. Briefly, where Jeanroy sees a deliberate attempt to con- nect an isolated refrain, sung originally by a chorus, with a line or with several lines, sung by soloists, Stengel recog- nizes a stanza nucleus and a stanza conclusion, the latter corresponding in form with the refrain and tending to be- come less like the refrain and more like the stanza nucleus.-"* 24 E. Stengel, Der Strophenausgang in den Altesten Franzosischen Balladen und sein Verhdltniss zum JRefraiji und Strophengrundstoclc, in Zeitschrift fiir Franzosische Sprache u. Litteratur, XVIII, p. 113. See this article passim for evidence with which Stengel supports his theory. Ph. Aug, Becker, in a review of F. Noack's Der Strophen- ausgang, etc., in LitteraUirblatt fiir Germanisclie u. EomaniscTie Phi- lologie (1902), p. 143, summarizing the theories of Stengel and of Noack, who follows him, writes: '^Diese Eigenart der Ballette, die auch den Eeigen der anderen romanischen Nationen nicht fremd gewesen zu sein scheint, begreift sich leicht aus dem Umstand das der Chor auf dem Sologesang mit einem Eundtanz antwortete, wobei ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 13 The date of the various specimens of the hcddda, in con- nection with which the subject of the general ballade stanza has been examined, cannot definitely be assigned ; their form and language point to the end of the twelfth and the be- ginning of the thirteenth century^r As to the dansa, an- other Provencal form of three stanzas connected with the ballade, examples are given in Las Joy as del Gay Saber. ^^ They had been presented at the Poets' Court at Toulouse from 1451-1471. In every stanza there is a group of lines that do not rime with the refrain and a group of lines that do. In the collection there are only two specimens where the last line of the refrain is repeated at the close of each stanza and of the tornada. One of these is as follows : 1*1 Dansa d' Amors am Refranh ^ ^X>- - ' " Neyt et jom, dins en la pessa Ne m puesc tenir d^alegrar, er den Schlusstheil der vorgesungenen Melodie wiederholte; sein Re- frain musste demgemass mit dem Strophenausgang in der Lange und Disposition der Verszeilen genau iibereinstimmen. Der Eeim hingegen hatte im Grunde nun mnemonischen Wert; eine teilweise Aufgabe der Gleiehheit war also von geringerem Belang, so lange sie das Reim- geschlecht nicht beriihrte; ein Gleichklang reichte am Ende aus. Die Aenderung der Versform bedeutet hingegen den Verzicht auf die gleiche Melodie und lasst sicher auf einer Verliterarisierung des Tanzliedes schliessen. ' ' 25 The rules for the dansa given in the Leys d' Amors (1356) are: *'La danse est un ditie gracieux qui contient un refrain, c'est k dire un repons, seulement, et trois couplets semblables k la fin, pour la mesure comme pour les rimes, au repons; et la tornada doit etre pareille au repons; et le commencement de chaque couplet doit etre ie meme mesure, et au choix, sur les memes rimes ou sur des rimes differentes; mais ces rimes doivent etre enti^rement diff^rentes de eelles du repons. . . . Le repons doit etre de la mesure d'un demi- couplet, a deux vers prds en plus ou en moins. Les vers de la danse ne doivent pas depasser huit syllabes. " [Translation from Provencal found in P. Meyer, Les Derniers Troubadours de la Provence (Paris, 1871), p. 114.] r^V 14 THE BALLADE Quant my sove la noblessa t? v'^ De la Flor que m fay pensar. En mon joven me comensa Amors de far mortalz joes; Tant m'art he 'mflama sos foes, (I Que n passi greu penedensa, - Dolor mortal e destressa, r^^ Et no puesc alz cossirar, Sino que la gentilessa De la Flor que m fay pensar. Helas! no m puese ben deffendre Que ne senta la dolor Que passi per fin* amor, Don cuda lo mieu cor f endre, Dolens et plens de tiistessa. Qui no cessa de plorar, Per tal sos volers aguessa De la Flor que m fay pensar. Prec humilment, test' enelina, Eysausisqua men desir. Car, ne y a plus medecina Per me far tost engausir; No's creatura que sabessa Antra milhor cogitar, Que surmontes la princessa De la Flor que m fay pensar. Tornada Ma blancha Flors e mestressa, Sus trastot quan es ses par, Datz me 1 secors e I'endressa De la Flors que m fay pensar."^® 2« A. F. Gatien-Arnoult, Monumens de la Littcrature Eomane (Paris- Toulouse, 1841-1849), Vol. IV, Las Flors del Gay Saber, p. 214. ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 15 Other specimens of the dansa show, in those parts of the poem where the refrain would come in the ballade stanza, end-words with the same rime, but no recurring burden, as may be seen, for example, in the Dansa de Nostra Dona.^"^ Other examples of the dansa might be cited to establish its place in the ballade family. The Old French analogue of the halade, as we have said, was the hallette. At least one hundred and eight of these hallettes, so-called, are contained in a single manuscript, which is, as a matter of fact, the only place where the word has been discovered.-® The surviving hallettes, like the surviving examples of the halada, are not, in reality, popular poetry. Alfred Jeanroy,^^ generously answering some inquiries of mine, wrote me, under the date of 23 July, 1910: *'I have not found any ballades earlier than those generally known, but I have tried to show that the re- frains interpolated in certain chansons, pastourelles and elsewhere belonged originally to chansons a danser or bal- lettes. ... I am firmly persuaded that the ballettes (those in the Oxford Ms. and the others, too) were sung ; that they w^ere sung is proved by those texts in which the refrains (these refrains being fragments of ballettes) seem to regu- late the dance as in Guillaume de Dole, for example. '* The fragments of dance songs that are left are not older than the thirteenth century. They are to be found in the romans aristocratiques, like Guilluume de Dole or La Vio- lette, that describe seigneurial celebrations, or in chan- sons, motets, and pastourelles, upon which these fragments are grafted in the manner of refrains. While the dance 2r A. F. Gatien-Arnoult, Opus. Cit., Vol. IV, pp. 205-207. 28 Bodleian Ms. Douce 308. 29 I was enabled to correspond with M. Jeanroy through the kind offices of M. Joseph Bedier, who was visiting New York in the spring of 1910. 16 THE BALLADE songs of the thirteenth century reflect the manner of the old popular dance songs of the peasants, it is certainly true that in the form in which we know them, the form given them by courtly poets, the form that was made to accom- pany the dance in the halls of great nobles, they were aristo- cratic and not popular.^'* The repetition of a refrain in these popular Old French dance songs was suggested, of course, by the repetition of identical movements in the dances they accompanied. In the extant refrains, recog- nized as fragments of an older, though only rarely of a folk poetry, the allusions to the dance are innumerable.^^ The oldest text to contain such refrains is Guillaume de Dole, written between 1210 and 1215.^^ ^i^g roman is inter- spersed with lyric fragments.^^ Similar lyric fragments came to serve as refrains in the ballettes. The French analogue of the hcdada is, as noted, the hal- 30 Joseph Bedier, Les Plus Anciennes Danses Frangaises, Hevue de Deux Mondes, January 15, 1906, p. 424. Cf. also Jeanroy, Les Origines, p. 113: **Nos refrains ne sont que de fragments, mais ils jouaient dans les morceaux auxquels ils appartenaient, le role de nos refrains actuels, et ils y etaient repete (k Torigine probableraent par ce choeur repondant au soliste). Cast ce qui explique qu'ils se soient imprimes plus profondement dans la memoire, et qu'ils aient seuls survecu. ' ' 31 See Jeanroy, Les Origines, pp. 394-396. 32 Godef roy, Dictionnaire de L'Ancienne Langue Frangaise (Paris, 1898), Vol. 1, p. 559, quotes under Bal: Souz un chastel q'en apele Biaucler En mont poi d'eure i ot granz bauz levez: Cez damoiseles i vont por caroler, Cil escuier i vont por bohorder, Cil chevalier i vont por esgarder. ((?. de Bole, Vat. Chr., 725, f. 89.) 88 Jeanroy, Les Origines, pp. 115-116. ORIGINS OP THE BALLADE 17 lette.^* In the hallette are embedded, as we have just said, some of the older refrains. In the course of the develop- ment of the hallette, we find the stanza progressing from one rime to several, whether the method be that described by Stengel or Jeanroy ; we observe, too, a strong tendency to reduce the number of stanzas to three. The ballettes of 34 p. Meyer, Documents Manuscrits de VAncienne Litterature de la France Conserves dans les Bihliotheques de la Grande-Bretagne (Paris, 1871), pp. 150-154 passim: *'Le manuscrit, Douce 308 est un volume in-folio de 297 feuillets, ecrit par diverses mains, et a ce qu'il semble, vers le second quart du XIV* sieele. La premiere partie du moins, qui contient les Voeux du Paon, ne saurait etre anterieure a 1312. II a du etre execute en Lor- raine, car il off re d'un fagon, passablement marquee les caract^res du dialecte, de cette province. . . . Ce qui donne la plus grande import- ance au manuscrit Douce 308, c'est le recueil de poesies lyriques qui s 'y trouve compris. . . . Le manuscrit Douce est le seul qui ait adopte le classment par genres. . . . ce qui est interessant c'est I'idee du classement et non son execution. Cette idee est celle d'un homme curieux et exact, ayant dej^ le sentiment de la critique. Que cet homme soit le scribe qui a execute le manuscrit ou un autre, e'est ce que nous ne pouvous guere savoir; mais il y a apparence que I'auteur d 'un tel classement vivait plutot au XlVe si^cle qu 'au Xllle, et cette presomption se change en certitude s'il est vrai que I'une des pieces du recueil n 'est pas anterieure a 1320. ' * Une autre remarque qui a son importance est que ce recueil a ete fait dans une intention purement litteraire, pour etre lu et non pour etre chante. De tous les chansonniers frangais il est, je crois, le seul qui ne soit pas note. En cela il ressemble aux chansonniers proven- gaux, qui k une exception pr6s, sont egalement depourvus de notation rausicale. ' ' Cf . also E. A. Meyer, Franzosische Lieder aus der Florentiner Hand- schrift, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fiir Bomanische Philologie, 8 Heft (Halle, 1907), p. 37: "E. Stengel hat . . . nachgewiesen, dass die Bezeichnung "Ballette'^ auf recht schwachen Fiissen steht, indem die Wortf orm * ' ballette ' ' nur einmal in der HS Douce 308 vorkommt. Daneben ist einmal in derselben HS. die Form ' ' balaide ' ' belegt, . . . Es ist mehr als zweifelhaft ob die Form "ballette" ein alt- f ranzosisches Wort ist. ' ' 3 18 THE BALLADE the Douce MS. appear to belong to about the middle of the thirteenth century, although at least one of the ballettes may be as late as 1320. In these poems it is certain that the refrain was repeated at the end of every stanza, though the manuscripts rarely show this repetition because scribes were most economical with their parchment. The manu- scripts that contain ballettes ordinarily place the refrain at the head of the piece (doubtless it was in reality sung and taken up in chorus at the beginning) ; then the refrain is sometimes repeated, often entire, at the end of the last stanza; and the first few words of the refrain are occa- sionally given at the end of the first and second stanzas. The place of the refrain is plainly indicated, however, by the fact that the last line of every stanza has a rime corre- sponding with the refrain rime.^^ What appears to be one of the earliest ballettes, in point of form, is reprinted below. ^v " Amors ne se donne mais elle se uant. il nest nuns ki ^jjV'* soit ameis si nait argent. I Cil est. .1. uiellars pansus. tezis deuant. et kil ait estei truans tot son uiuant. cil ait aikes a doner on i antant. et lautre lait on aler qui point ni tant. II Ceu puet on moult bien prouer certainnejl ment. Car il nest nuns ki tant ainme loialment. cil nait pooir de doneir ki puist niant. an amor monteplier de son talant. 35Jeanroy, Les Origines, p. 402, Cf. E. Stengel Die Refrains der Oxf order Ballettes, Ztschr. fiir Fr. Spr. und Lit., XXVIII, p. 72: **Dass die Voranstellung des Eef rains nichts besonderes zu besagen hat, zeigen Doppeltexte [in the Douce MS.] wie 11 (=115), 15 (=117), wo derselbe Eef rain ein Mai nur am Strophensehluss, ein Mai nur im Eingang geschrieben ist. " ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 19 III Leaulteis est tote morte simplement. an feme son li aporte elle lou prant. Qui nait riens noist a la porta a uuelz lou uant. en si desoiuent les femes bone gent."^® The stanza form of this ballette is similar to that of a chanson pieuse in MS. fr, 12483, **Pour s 'amour ai en douleur lone temps este." Both the ballette and the chanson pieuse probably had the same model.^^ The refrains of the ballettes in the Oxford manuscript have been grouped in six classes by Stengel.^^ In the first class, he places those refrains that occur at the end of the stanzas and not at the beginning of the whole poem. The idea seems to be that a refrain like this is more intimately connected with the sense of each stanza. In the second group of refrains, he places those that have no connection with the stanzas in sense, but are expressions of the lover's emotion. The third class is much like the second in containing a variety of refrains that are nothing more than terms of endearment. The fourth class, too, includes the lover's exclamations, rhetorical questions, or a statement of his de- sires. In the fifth class, Stengel includes refrains that are also common maxims. And in the sixth group, he places utterances of girls and of women. Other ballettes which belong to the last half of the twelfth century, and are therefore older than those of the Douce MS. are contained in a Florentine manuscript.^^ Here are 36 George Steffens, Die Altfranzosische Liederhandschrift der Bod- leiana in Oxford, Douce 308, Herrig's Archiv fiir das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (Braunschweig, 1897), Vol. 99, p. 343. 37 A. Jeanroy, Les Chansons pieuses du MS. fr. 1B483 de la BihUo- theque Nationale, Melanges Wilmotte (Paris, 1910), p. 255. Other chansons in this collection exhibit an early form of the hallette stanza. See pp. 261, 265. 38 G. Steffens, Opus Cit., pp. 339, 340, 342, 343, 372, 377. 39 R. A. Meyer, Franzosische Lieder aus der Florentiner Hand- schrift Strozzi-Magliahecchiana cl. vii, 1040 (Halle, 1907), p. 37. 20 THE BALLADE found specimens of the two types of songs with refrain, the kind in which the close of the stanza is structurally connected with the refrain, and the kind in which the refrain appears to be independent of any part of the stanza. R. A. Meyer, the latest editor of the manuscript, believes that the structure of early Latin hymns is re- sponsible for the Romance songs with refrain, and his answer to Stengel's theory is that the similarity between the close of the stanza and the refrain, far from betokening a development earlier than the stanza where the refrain is structurally independent, really may indicate a more prim- itive state of things. He presents for examination hymns where similarity between the close of the stanza and the refrain is obviously not obligatory. As an example of what may have led to the stanza of the hallette, Meyer cites the following hymn : 1. "Veris ad imperia R^nascuntur omnia, Amoris prooemia Corda premunt saucia Quaerula melodia Gratia praevia, Corda marcentia Media. Vitae vernat flos Intra nos. 2. Suspirat luscinia, Nostra sibi conscia Impetrent suspiria, Quod sequatur venia, Dirige, vitae via, Gratia praevia, Viae dispendia Gravia. 21 ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE Yitae vernat flos Intra nos."*® Of the two hallettes quoted immediately below from the Florentine manuscript, the first, according to Meyer, shows a stanza conclusion harmonizing with the refrain, whereas the second shows that the end of the stanza has been as- similated to the stanza nucleus. " De quant hone ore fu nes chi s'amie tient au pre en Verba giolie! I. ^ Or ma tres douse amie, dieus voiis dont le bon giort; 40 G. M. Dreves and C. Bliime, Analecta Hymnica Medii Mvi (Leipzig, 1886 ff), XXI, No. 40. Cf. R. A. Meyer, Franzosische Lieder aus der Florentiner Handschrift Strozzi-Maglidbecchiana cl. vii,1040 (Halle, 1907), pp. 35-36: '' Wir haben jedenfalls den Refrain als ein der romischen Kunstpoesie unbekanntes Stilmittel zu bezeich- nen. Ob der Refrain in der romischen Volkspoesie vorhanden war, dariiber wissen wir nichts. Wenn wir nun nachweisen konnen, dass die Formen derRefraingediclite, wie sie uns in franzosiseher Spraehe zuerst am 1200 (Guillaume de Dole) iiberliefert werden, mit alter iiberlieferten Formen der lateinischen Kirehenpoesie in allerengste Ver- bindung stehen, wie ja eiue absolute Zusammengehorigkeit der Melo- dieen die Uber diesen franzosischen und lateinisehen Texten stehen, nicht geleugnet wird, wenn wir ferner glauben diirfen, nachweisen zu konnen, dass die erwahnten lateinisehen Gedichte ihre Formen nicht von hypothetischen ' urromanischen Ref raingedichten ' sondern aus anderer Quelle erhalten haben, so wird sich die Theorie, welche die Formen der seit 1200 iiberlieferten Refraingedichte auf eine ur- romanische Grundlage zuriickfiihrt, als anfechtbar erweisen. Dabei bleibt natiirlieh unbestreitbar, dass in friiherer Zeit vielleicht einmal franzosische volkstiimliche Gedichte existiert haben, die formal mit vulgarlateinischen Liedern in Zusammenhang standen, doeh wir wissen nichts von solchen Gedichten. ' ' 22 THE BALLADE vos estes avisea, se n'amaris o non ? * * Nani voyr, mon dous amis, le parti en est tout pris : ne vos amerai mie/ Be quant hone ore fu nes chi s^amie tient au pre en Verba giolie! II. * Or ma tres douse amie, era a dieu vos chomant, ge vos ai . . . servie e ame mot lielmant/ ' II est voir, mon dous amis, Vos etes gay e giolis, e ge sui plus jolie/ De quant hone ore fu nes chi s'amie tient au pre en Verha giolie! III. Quant ge le vi . . . sur son cival monter, e sendre s'espeia, ses gans glans enformer: En sospirant ge li dis: * revenes, mon dous amis, ge serai vostre amie/ De quant hone ore fu nes chi s'amie tient au pre en Verha giolie! "*^ " Per ont m'en iroye, ma douse dame, se aler m'en voldroief 41 R. A. Meyer, Opus Cit., p. 42, No. Y ORIGINS OP THE BALLADE 23 I. Se je m'en voy par les cians, les ciardons i sont trop grans: Je me ponheroie, ma douse dame, se aler m'en voldroye! II. Si je m'en voy par les boys, les boysons i sont estroys: Je me mangeroye, ma douse dame, se aler m'en voldroye! III. Se je m'en voy par le pre mes clauses sont semeles: Je me hanheroye, ma douse dame, s'aler m'en voldroie!"*^ y^i Meyer *s theory that the hallette stanjza shows in its struc- ture the influence of the Latin hymn may or may not be true. This influence would not affect the hypothesis of an archetypal dance song which led to the halada, the dansa, the hallette, and the hallade. Nor would it invalidate the supposition that some of the refrains found in hallettes may be descended from those of popular poetry. Whether the ballade developed directly from such hallettes as those first discussed, or whether it is merely a parallel growth, cannot be exactly determined. T b o ppOQ e nt writoi ^^^Mygygs tlift^the evidence is in favor of the direct descent of the bal- lade from the hallette. As will be presently observed, the earliest hallades were three-stanza poems with a common *2 R. A. Meyer, Opus Cit, p. 48, No. V. 24 THE BALLADE rime-scheme throughout and a refrain. The first ballades have no envoy. The hallettes, it is to be remembered, show a marked tendency to three stanzas ; they also show a uni- form rime-scheme throughout and a refrain. There seems every reason to believe that the ballade took its three stanzas and refrain from the ballette^l^he ballettes are not, how- ever, the only poems written m the thirteenth century that show a uniform rime-scheme throughout. Consider the chanson pieuse, attributed to Guillaume le Vinier,*^ for which no model among the profane lyrics has yet been found :^* I. " Vierge pucele roiaus, Es cui li dous Jhesueris, Li dous glorieus joiaus Fu congeus et nouris, Bien fu vos cuers raemplis De sa grase et de s'amour A eel jour Que Sains Esperis I eut le fil Dieu assis. II. Douce dame emperiaus, Esmeree flour de lis, Dous vergiers especiaus Ou li sains fniis fu cueiUis, Souverains rosiers eslis, Vous aportastes la flour Et Poudour Par coi paradis Nous fust ouvers et pramis. *3 E. Ulrix, Les Chansons Inedites de Guillaume le Vinier d' Arras, Melanges Wilmotte (Paris, 1910), p. 796. **J. B6dier, Un Feuillet Eec^mment Betrouve d'un Chansonnier Frangais du xiiie Silcle, Melanges Wilmotte (Paris, 1910), p. 897. ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 25 III. Vous estes amours loiaus Dont li mort cuer sont espris, Li sourgons et li ruisiaus Ki arouse le pais, Li confors et li delis, La fontaine de douQour Ou li plour Sont puisie et pris Par coi pechie sont remis. IV. Ha! sanctuaires tres haus, Sor tous autres eonjoi's, Tres dous precieus vaissiaus, De toutes vertus garnis, Sains tresors ou Dieu a mis De virginite Founour, Tel valour, Dame, aves conquis, Nule n'est vers vous en pris. V. France dame naturaus, Ki saves les desconfis, Vers tous pechies et tous maus, Soiies moi confors toudis, Et qant mes cors ert faillis, Proiies vostre Creatour, Cui j'aour, K'aveuc ses amis Mete n'ame en paradis. VI. Cannon, rent gres et mereis La nonper et la meillour, K'a cest tour M'a s'ai'e apris De li a faire aueuns dis."^^ 45 E. Jarnstrom, Recueil de Chansons Pieuses du XII I^ Si^cle (Hel- sinki, 1910), Vol. I, p. 133. Cf. also the Histoire Litteraire, Vol. XXIII, p. 596: ". . . la ballade de Guillame le Vinier, composee de six couplets. Voici le quatriSme, dont les trois derniers vers forment le refrain: 26 THE BALLADE But we have to guard against reasoning in a circle. Indeed one chanson pieiise, that shows a refrain and two stanzas with the same rimes, is thought to have been com- posed to a ballette air.*^ " De la mere Dieu chanterai Et en chantant li prierai Qu'ele me soit, quant je morrai, Procheinne, La douce pucelle de touz biens plainne. S'ele m'est pres, seiirs serai, Quant de cest siecle partirai, Que je de m'ame a Dieu ferai Estrainne La douce pucelle de touz biens plainne. III. Dame d'onneur et de valour Et la mieudre de la meillour, Finns de pitie et de douQOur Fontainne ; La douce pucelle de touz biens plainne. IV. Mieudre qu'on ne porroit penser, Souviegne vos de nos tenser, Quant vostre filz fera sonner S'erainne, La douce pucelle de touz biens plainne. *'Un tout seul basier De cuer, a loisir, Porroit mon vouloir Grant piece accomplir; Mais de desirrier Me verrois morir, Le plus n'en avoie. Bone est la doulours De quoi naist docours Et soulas et joie." *6E. Jarnstrom, Opus Cit., p. 15. ORIGINS OF THB BALLADE 27 V. Or te pri je, poll damas, Si chiere com ceste dame as, Que doci chanter ne te soit gas Ne painne La douce pucelle de touz biens plainne."*^ To another trouvere, Pierekins de la Coupele, is at tri'buted a five-stanza poem with refrain and identical rimeS; one stanza of which is the following : I. "A mon pooir ai semi Ma dame et de volente. Dex doint, qu'il me soit merri, Et qu'ele m'en sache gre. Mis i a[i] tot [mon] ae Cuer et cors (et) pensee ausi. Se par li n'ai recoure Sante, dont sai je de fi: Ja de mes maus ne gar[i]rai. Dex, que ferai, de Vamor n'ai Be la hele, ou mon cuer nis aif"^^ In the Modena manuscript of French chansons, the first forty-nine pieces of which were written before 1254, a poem (number 39 in the series), attributed to Moniot d ^Arras, shows the same rimes in all stanzas : 47 E. Jarnstrom, Opus Cit,, p. 59. Jeanroy, reviewing Jarn- strom's book in Romania for January, 1911, says of this poem (p. 84): ''Le No. XX (R 664) a la meme structure qu'une chanson k refrain, tout a fait dans la maniere de Colin Muset (R. 144) ; il y a identite, non pas entre toutes les rimes, mais entres celles du refrain et du petit vers qui rattache celui-ci au couplet. Peut-etre cette forme tr^s simple et d 'allure populaire, etait-elle empruntee a une chanson anterieure, qui parait perdue." 48 F. Noack, Der Strophenausgang in seinem Verhdltnis sum Be- frain u. Strophengrundstock in der Eefrainhdltigen Altfranzosischen Lyric, Ausgaben und Ahhandlungen aus dem Gehiete der Bomani- schen Philologie (Marburg, 1899), XCVIII, p. 127. 28 THE BALLADE " Quant jo voi le dole tans d'este Venir, che cantent roscenaus, Adonc a Amors poeste Plus seur bons che seur delloiaus; Molt part ont cest(e) siecle amuse; Nus ne se puet tenir a aus; Dame, si vos gardez de ^aus. Tant a en vos sens et belte, Por Deu, ne soies comunaus A tel gent com vos ai nome; Vostre ami(s) jetes de travaus; Trop ai lone tans cest fais porte D'ensi vivre, que m'est noaus; Si per vos mor, done serai saus. A §0 pert que j'ai tant ame : Dame, si jo fusse des fans Je eiisse ma volente, Mais miels aem vivra con loiaus E mel voil [vers] vos recovrer, Por plus alegier de mes maus, Che gehagner por estre baus."*® The earliest ballades were always three-stanza refrain poems with the same rime-scheme throughout, the latter feature being thus common to chansons other than the hal- lette. The many ballades attributed to Adan^° de la Hale (1237-1287) have not survived. The clmnsons assigned to Adan by Guy include a poem which is like a ballade except that it has four stanzas. Its two-line refrain recalls, of course, the extended refrains in the ballettes: " Li dous maus mi renouvele, Avoec le printans <9 A. Jeanroy, Les Chansons Frangaises, Inedites du Manuscrit de Moddne, Supplement of Revue des Langucs Bomanes (1896), p. 254. 80 The spelling now preferred. ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 29 Doi iou bien estre chantans, Pour si jolie nouvele C'onques mais niis pour si bele, Ne plus sage ne meillour, Ne seiiti nial ne dolour Or est ensi Que j'atenderai merchi.'"^^ ^he earliest ballades are found, often with the music to which they were sung, in the romans of the late thir- teenth and early fourteenth centuries and in the works of Jehannot de Lescurel.^^uch romans are the Roman de Fauvel,^^ the Dit de la Panthere, La Prise Amoureuse, Le Romans de la Dame a la Lycorne et du Biau Chevalier au Lyon, and Li Regret Guillaume. Todd assigns the composition of the Dit de la Panthere to some time between 1290 and 1328. Two lyrics in Mar- givaFs work, one called in the text a Baladele, the other a Balade, are among the earliest ballades. In the Baladele, the monorimes are very primitive; and in the Balade, the stanza recalls the structure of a hallette stanza, as it is made up of five lines of seven syllables, followed by five lines of five syllables, the last of which is the refrain, the rime-scheme being a'babbcc. The text of one of these poems will serve as an example : " Anuis meslez a eontraire M'a si mue mon af aire 51 E. de Coussemaker, CSuvres Computes du Trouvere Adam de la Ealle (Paris, 1872), pp. 40-42. 52 Pierre Aubury, Le Roman de Fauvel (Paris, 1907). This is a photographic reproduction of MS. fr. 146 of the Bibliotheque Na- tionale. The date of Bk. I is 1310, of Bk. II, 1314. (See R. Hess, Ber Roman de Fauvel, Romanische Forschungen, XXVII, p. 295.) The ballades interpolated in the Roman in this particular MS. do not appear in the other MSS., and are, in all probability, by various authors. 30 THE BALLADE Qu'il m'a fait longuement taire De chanter et de chant faire. Car la bele au dous viaire Que j'aing defuit mon repaire; N'est assez pour moy retraire De chanter et de chant fairef Bone amour, veilliez atraire Tant que je puisse a li plaire, Si arai bon examplaire De chanter et de chant faire."^^ Another of Margivars lyrics, called in the text simply ckanQonete, is in reality a ballade of the early type with irregular lines and a two-line refrain. A stanza will suffice to show the structure : "Biautez, bontez, douce chiere, Sens et avenans maniere, Et grace m'ont si conquis En monstrant dame de pris Soudainement Qu^a li servir me rent Outreement."^^ Le Roman de la Dame a la Lycorne et dii Biau Chevalier au Lyon contains more ballades. This poem, too, dates from the end of the thirteenth or the beginning of the four- teenth century.*^^ It contains fourteen ballades, one of them, however, a fragment. In the text the word balade is used 58 H. A. Todd, Le Dit de la PantMre d' Amours par Nicole de Margival (Paris, 1883), p. 87. 54 H. A. Todd, Opus Cit., p. 84. 65 P. Gennrich, Le Romans de la Dame a La Lycorne et du Biau Chevalier au Lyon, Gesellschaft fur Eomanische Literatur (Dres- den, 1908), XVIII, p. 93. ORIGINS OP THE BALLADE 31 three times j*^® the other hallades introduced are designated as canclionnette, canclion, and clumt. Eleven of the hal- lades rime a b a b b c c, and vary in number of syllables to the line from seven to ten. The fragmentary ballade rimes ababbcc, and is made up of ten-syllable lines. Two other ballades are constructed differently. One rimes aabaabbaaaa, with a two-line refrain and seven- syllable lines; the other rimes ababccdd, with a one- line refrain and ten-syllable lines. Two of the ballades have a two-line refrain. The ballade quoted below is the earliest example known to me of the distribution of the stanzas of a ballade between two speakers.^^ The first two stanzas here are spoken by the Chevalier au Lyon ; the third is the Lady's answer. " Quant sui seuls et a par moi, Lors est toute ma pensee En vous, dame, a qui j'ay De fin coer m'amour donnee. Seur toutes coses m'agree Le grant bien de vous penser, Quant a vus ne puis parler. Onques femme tant n'amai, Con vous ai tons jours amee; Puis Peure, que je vus ai Premierement acointee, Douce, plesant, savouree; Ne f ai que vous regreter. Quant a vus ne puis parler. ^ Biaus sire, bien vous en croi Et m'en tieng si apaye, Que sachies en bonne foy, 5« Lines 3712, 5163, 3770. 57 Cf. p. 81 below. 32 THE BALLADE M'amour vus aie otroie Que tant aves desiree. Ce vous doit bien conforter, Quant a vous ne puis parler."^^ ^— In La Prise Amoureuse,^^ composed about 1332 by Jehan Acart de Hesdin, there are nine ballades. ^^ The author of these poems, whether he be Jehan Acart or some other, 58 F. Gennrich, Opus Cit., 11. 3715-3728; 11. 3751-3757. Cf. Chap- ter II, below, on ballade in dialogue. -. 59 Ernest Hoepffner, Jehan Acart de Hesdin, La Prise Amoureuse, Gesellschaft fiir Bomanische Literatur (Dresden, 1910), XXII, p. xiv. 60 E. Langlois, Les Manuscrits du Boman de la Bose, Les Travaux et Memoires de rUniversite de Lille (1910), pp. 110-116. There exists one MS. (Arras 897) in which these ballades, with one excep- tion, do not appear in the text. It is probable that their absence is due to their suppression by the Arras copyist. Cf. G. Raynaud, Hoepffner's La Prise Amoureuse, Bomania XL (1911), p. 130: "Lang- lois serait assez porte a croire que le MS. d 'Arras (qui du reste est date de 1370) represente quand meme un ancient etat de I'ouvrage et que les ballades et rondeaux, ajoutes apr^s coup, ne sont pas I'ceuvre de Jean Acart. Sauf verification a faire sur le MS. nous pensons au contraire qu'il y a eu suppression de la part du copiste d 'Arras, car, s 'il est vrai que certaines de ces pieces adressees a la dame, et ins6r6s dans le text de Paris ne s'y attachent pas etroitement, il est ais6 k constater d 'autre part que la moitie d'entre elles (huit exactement) sont annoncees par contexte; ce sont autant de corrections d61icates que le copiste de Paris eut du faire au texte primitif pour justifier 1 'hypothSse de M. Langlois. La presence d 'ailleurs de poesies courtes, de rhythm different, dans les po^mes de cette epoque est frequente. Comment aussi expliquer autrement la ballade finale qu'a eonserv6e le MS. d 'Arras? Bien entendu I'examen de ce MS. donnera la vraie explication; mais que ce soit Jean Acart, comme nous le croyons, ou tout autre, I'auteur des rondeaux et ballades figurant dans la Prise Amoureuse ne joue pas moins, apr^s la demonstration de Hoepffner, un role k part dans 1 'histoire de la poesie f ran^aise au XIV* si^cle, tenant encore des ses devanciers certains traits characteristiques que repudl- ent plus tard Machaut et ses disciples, et faisant dejd, voir plusieurs tendances que ceux-ci adopteront." ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 33 | i serves as a link between the trouveres, who produced hal- j lettes or changons with certain features of the hallddes, and i the first prolific writers of the ballade, Machaut, Froissart, I and Deschamps. These ballades of the romans and of Les- : curel are all, in a sense, transitional types, but the bal- | lades in La Prise Amoureuse are especially so. They differ < from. the later ballades in the proportionate frequency of \ the two-line refrain. There are two with the two-line re- j frain and seven with the one-line refrain, whereas in - Machaut only ten ballades show the two-line refrain to two i hundred and forty that have the one-line refrain, and in i Froissart, where two have the longer refrain, thirty-eight js^i^jWut have not. The percentage of ballades having two-line re-'^^T ' frains is even smaller in the work of Deschamps. On the j other hand, among the ballettes in the Douce MS. only four - VI have the single-line refrain, and in the Dit de la Panthere, ■ two of the ballades (not those so named) have a two-line ^refrain. (^ L^ '..^< , , ---■■ ,' •■•-'^ > '. : A.,w,wj:-^V^>'^^^^- v^^t^,^,w^^-^ ,,J^c,The seven-syllable line is most frequent in the ballades i^M^i.^"^-^- ^ of the Prise Amoureuse, of the Roman de Fauvel, and in '^^'^^--v^A j K the poems of Lescurel. The eight-syllable line is next in j point of frequency. In contrast, four-fifths of Machaut 's j ballades use the ten-syllable line, and it is equally popular with his school. The earliest ballades, like the Oxford \ ballettes, rarely introduce the ten-syllable line. The bal- lades in the Prise Amoureuse show great variety of line ^ structure within the stanza, and in this particular range 1 themselves with the older generation. i The ballades in the Prise Amoureuse, in the matter of the relation of the refrain to the stanza^ also exhibit features | of the earlier ballette. In the ballades of Deschamps, Machaut, and Froissart, the refrains are closely connected I in syllable-count and rime with one or more lines of the : stanza. Only three of the ballades (I, V, and IX) in the i 34 THE BALLADE Prise Amoureuse show this intimate connection of refrain and stanza; the other four have a refrain, which, while riming with some previous line in the strophe, shows a dif- ferent syllable-count. The case is similar with the two ballades that have a two-line refrain. They rime with some previous line of the stanza, but only the first of the two lines resembles the other lines. One of the ballades attributed to Jehan Acart follows : Balade I. " Si plaisamment m'aves pris Et espris, Mes dous cuers, que li miens prise, Qu*a vous me renc, et com pris Ai compris En ceste Amoureuse Prise, Es dous biens quAmours m'envoie, D'estre en voie. Pour vostre amour desservir, Flours du mond, a vous sei-vir. Done ne doi estre repris, S'ai empris Voloir de si noble emprise, Car ja pour venir a pris Senc apris Mon cuer de si douce aprise, Que, se ja merci n'avoie, Si s'avoie Mes cuers, sanz ja messervir, Flours du monde, a vous servir. Gens corps ou rien n'a mespiis, Et pourpris Ou toute honnours est pourprise, Ancois que mors m*ait souspris N'entrepris, ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 35 j i Par grace soiez esprise, Que vo pitiez me pourvoie, Et si voie ] Moi a ma vie asservir, j Flours du monde, a vous servir.""* j /The ballades of Jehannot de Lescurel, a little known poet . of not later than the middle of the fourteenth century, are t^^\^ ^i0^ of. the early type.^^Eleven ballades survive, one of ' , l'^^A*1*^ which, given below, shows the two-line refrain and irregu- y (aM larity of line structure common to the earlier ballades: " Belle, com loiaus amans, Vostres sui: car soiez moie. Je vous servirai touz tans, N'autre amer je ne voudroie, | Ne ne puis; se le povoie, Wi voudroie estre entendans. Et pour ce, se Dex me voie, ' Dame, bon gre vous saroie, '.•^ i ' Se voustre bouche riant /\ i " Daignoit toucher a la moie. \ | ^ i Li dons est nobles et grans; Ca, se par vou gre Favoie, ' Je seroie connoisanz i Que de vous amez seroie, Et mieus vous en ameroie. i Pource, biaus cuers dous et frans. Par si qu'aviser m'en doie, ] Dame, bon gre vous saroie i Se vostre bouche riant ^ Daignoit toucher a la moie. i 61 E. Hoepffner, Opus Cit., p. 1. ; 62 He could not have lived later than the middle of the four- j teenth century, because the MS. of his poems is of that period. ^ THE BALLADE Vostre vis est si plaisans Que ja ne me souleroie D'estre a vo plaisir baisans S'amez de vous me sentoie; A mieus souhaidier faudroie. Pour ce que soie sentant Quelle est d'amer la grant joie. Dame, bon gre vous saroie Se vostre bouche riant Daignoit toucher a la moie."^^ In Li Regret Guilaume Comte de Hainault, written in 1339^* by Jehan de le Mote, are thirty ballades, put into 63 A. de Montaiglon, Chansons Ballades et Bondeaux de Jehannot de Lescurel (Paris, 1855)^ p. 29. 64 A. Scheler, Li Begret Guillaume Comte de Hainault par Jehan de Mote (Louvain, 1882), p. viii. The rime schemes and line structure (the lines vary occasionally within the same hallade), of the thirty hcUlades is indicated below: (1) a )0 b a b b c c 10 syllables b a b b c b c 8 syllables b a b b c c 8 syllables b a b b c b c 10 syllables b a b b c c d 7 syllables b a b b c c 10 syllables b a b b c b c 7 syllables b a b c c 10 syllables a a a a b b 10 syllables (10) a b a b b c c 8 syllables t (11) (2) a (3) a (4) a (5) a (6) a (7) a (8) a (9) a c d abb 8 syllables (12) a b a b c c d 10 syllables (13) a b a b b e c 8 syllables (14) a b a b b c c 10 syllables (15) a b b a c c d 8 syllables r (16) a b a b b c c 10 syllables (17) a b a b b c c 8 syllables (18) a b a b c b c , 10 syllables b a b b c c 8 syllables b a b b c c 8 syllables (19) (20) b b ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 37 the mouths of as many abstract qualities, who are with one accord mourning the good count. All these hallades have a single-line refrain; five show seven-syllable lines; thirteen, eight-syllable lines; one, nine-syllable lines; and eleven use the ten-syllable line. Both the frequent use of the ten-syllable line, and the single-line refrain, show the author to belong decidedly to the generation of Machaut rather than of Margival. The ballade that follows, the first in the poem, is in all respects like many of Deschamps : Cangon " On ne poroit penser ne souhaidier Plus grant tourment ne plus aspre dolour, Qui s'est en mi venue hierbegier, Jou qui soloie iestre dame d'onnour, Car j'ai bien cause en mi d'avoir tristour, Ne me faura jamais tant con je dure, Puis c'ai pierdu le flour de douQour pure. Car eeste flour a oste dou rosier Pires que coers mesdisans plains d'errour, Car mesdisans poet on bien apaisier, Mes ne voi ci ne voie ne retour Pour quoi joie aye, ainsgois arai gringnour Painne, et c'est drois: d'autre cose n'ai cure, Puis c'ai perdu le flour de douQour pure. (21) a b a b b c c •\ (26) a b a b b c c 8 syllables 8 syllables (22) ababbcbc (27) ababbcbc 8 syllables 8 syllables (23) ababecdd (28) a b a b b c c 7 syllables 10 syllables (24) a b a b b c c *\(29) a b a b b c c 10 syllables ^ 7 syllables (25) a b a b e b c '■' (30) a b a b b c c 7 syllables 9 syllables 38 THE BALLADE Et non pour quant Nature voel pryer Que le bouton qu^il laissa pour savoir Sour Foudourant grascieus englentier, Voelle nourir en parfaite valour, Que de par li raie aueunne dougour, Car li espoirs de li me raseiire Puis c'ai perdu le flour de dou§our pure."^^ In this '^roman," Li Regret Guillaume, the trouvere hero, at the opening of the poem, is hastening to a puy d' amour in order to submit a ^*cangon amoureuse."^^ It was, in- deed, in these very puys d'amour and in the earlier re- ligious puys, both poetic guilds of the thirteenth century and later, that the ballade of three stanzas with common rimes and a refrain came to be diversified and complicated in line structure and rime. In the puys, too, the envoy, which had hitherto been a feature of several kinds of chansons, became attached to and identified with the bal- lade, so that after the opening of the fourteenth century a ballade, whether composed in a puy or not, almost inevitably contained a conventional address to the "Prince" in the first line of the envoy. These same puys saw the develop- ment of the serventois,^'' of the chant royal,^^ and of other forms with envoy, as well as of the ballade. 65 A. Scheler, Opus Cit., p. 20. 66 A. Scheler, Opus Cit., p. 4: "Singneur, jou qui ai fait ce livre Dormoie une nuit k delivre En mon lit Cl couci6s estoie. En dormant melancholioie A une cannon amoureuse, Et par samblance grascieuse Dis k'^ .i. puis la porteroie Pour couronner, se je pooie. " 67 See Appendix II. 68 See Appendix III. ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 39 Since certain final stages in the evolution of the ballade were accomplished in the puy, it will be well to give some consideration to this institution. The history of the word piii or puy is uncertain. It has been derived from the Latin podium meaning ''elevation," and in this sense has been supposed to refer to the platform on which the officials of the concourse sat.®^ Other critics have derived the word from the name of the town in Velay. Some of the sup- porters of this latter theory believe that pilgrims from every part of France spread the fame of the Virgin of Le Puy in Velay until religious societies named in her honor sprang up in northern France. Others, among whom is Paul Meyer, believe that a literary society actually existed in the town of Le Puy which was the model for similar societies in the North.*^^ A third explanation, that offered by Guy, goes back to the more usual meaning of the Latin podium, namely, mountain. Guy recalls the allegory of Muses residing on a remote peak, and in commenting on the antiquity of the notion,'^ supposes that the term puy, sig- 69 See H. Guy, Adan de la Hale (Paris, 1898), p. xxxiv, and notes. 70 p. Meyer, La Chanson de la Croisade contre les Alhigeois, (Paris, 1879) , Vol. II, p. 39 : " Quant a la cour du Puy, dont il est ici question, elle nous est connue principalement par deux temoignages qu 'on a sou- vent rapproches. L 'un est emprunte a la vie du Moine de Montaudon ; il y est dit que ce religieux, ayant obtenue de son abbe la permission de mener la vie mondaine, fut seigneur de la cour du Puy et con- serva ce titre tant que cette cour dura. . . . L 'autre temoignage est la soixante quatrieme des cento novelle antiche. . . . En outre, quatre approvatori etaient institutes pour examiner les chansons qui leur etaient soumises, signalant les bonnes, et rendant les autres a leurs auteurs pour etre corrigees. La celebre chanson de Guiraut de Cal- anson (commencement du XIII^ si^cle) sur le 'menor ters d 'amors' fut selon Guiraut Riquier, qui I'a longuement comment^e, presentee k la cour du Puy (Mahn Werlce d. Trouh. IV, 199)". 71 H. Guy, Opus at., p. xxxiv, criticizes the derivation of puy from podium meaning a platform, on the ground that, in the first place, 40 THE BALLADE nifying mountain, represented to religious and secular poets the heights to which they aspired to raise the subject which they were treating. "^^ As early as 1051, there was authorized a confrerie of jongleurs at the Sainte-Trinite podium is really unfamiliar in the sense of platform, and, in the second place, because the societies would hardly have been named from so unimportant an accessory. Paul Meyer's hypothesis he ques- tions (p. xxxvi) on the ground that other early societies of similar nature probably existed. He thinks that the numerous literary socie- ties could scarcely all have sprung from the one in the capital of Velay. * * II est vraisemblable, ' ' he writes, * ' que 1 'etablissement des puys repondait a une tendance generale et presque instinctive de la societe d'alors." The origin of the institution as curiously viewed by Abbe de la Rue in his Essais Historiques sur les Bardes, Les Jongleurs et les Trou- veres Normands et Anglo -N or mands {Caen, 1834), p. 28, is as follows: ^'L'origine des Puys d 'amour ne nous est pas connue, mais elle doit etre tres ancienne; elle pourrait bien etre celtique, du moins on trouve ces jeux poetiques en usage au vi^ siecle; le Barde Taliesin reconnait que son fils lui est superieur en poesie, et que cette superiority a ete proclam^e dans les jeux litt^rares ^tablis pour juger et couronner les meilleures poesies; ces jeux subsistaient encore au xiie siScle dans le pays de Galles et meme au xv*. Les Bretons les avaient probablement importes de la Gaule, leur premiere patrie; les peuples de nos provinces du Nord avaient pu en maintenir 1 'usage ou tout au moins en conserver le souvenir; le souvenir des hommes subsiste longtemps, surtout quand il s'agit d 'institutions agr6ables et utiles; dans ce dernier cas, les jeux poetiques auront ete r^tablis dans le Nord de la France, lors de la Formation du Roman Wallan. " 72 H. Guy, Opus at., pp. xxxviii. In a review of Guy's Adan de la Hale in Romania, xxix (1900), p. 294, Jeanroy says: **Sur I'origine meme et 1 'acception primitive du mot M. J. a soumis k une pdnetrante critique les opinions 6mises; la th^orie qu'il y oppose n'est pas non plus absolument satisf aisante, " On pp. 298-299 of the same review, Jeanroy cites some interesting references to puis found in lyric poetry. ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 41 de Fecamp in Normandy."^^ According to their charter, the purpose of their association was masses, alms, vigils, and prayers. Yearly on St. Martin's Day they walked in a procession with the monks. At a later date puys are known to have existed in Valenciennes, Arras, Rouen, Caen, Amiens, Abbeville, Dieppe, Douai, Cambray, Evreu, Lille, Bethune, and London. It will be unnecessary, in the interests of a full account of the ballade, to do more than touch on the history of a typical puy in France, and of the one known English puy. All the puys of the Middle Ages were originally religious in character. Their foundation was usually attributed to clerks who had had miraculous visions of the Virgin.'^* Gradually these religious fraternities evolved into literary societies, chambers of rhetoric, and academies, with only a faint coloring of their religious purpose left. The ''con- f rerie de Notre-Dame des Ardents ' '^^ at Arras is said to go back to the Virgin's gift of a healing candle to two min- strels during a pest in 1105. Early in the thirteenth cen- tury, so the account runs, a religious guild was founded at Arras in memory of this miracle. The statutes of the so- ciety"^® express its purpose to save the ' ' ardans qui ardoisent du fu d'enfer." Each member was to attend the meetings held three times a year, to pay dues, to succour his com- rades in poverty, to follow them to the grave, and to pay a forfeit if any of these duties was neglected. In this society, ■^3 Leroux de Lincy, Becueil de Chants Eistoriques Frangais (Paris, 1841), p. xxix, p. XXX, and by the same author, Essai Historique et Litteraire sur I'Ah'baye de Fecamp (Eouen, 1840), p. 378. Cf. Joseph Bedier, Richard de Normandie, Bomanic Review, I, p. 122. 74 See Appendix 1, E. 75 H. Guy, Adan de la Rale (Paris, 1898), pp. xxvii-xxxiv, passim. 76 Cf. MS. B. N. 8541. For the statutes of the puy at Amiens, see Victor de Beauvillee, Becueil de Documents Inedits Concernant la Picardie (Paris, 1862-1882), Vol. 1, p. 189, ff. 42 THE BALLADE in which, as in the others the members were classified, the trouveres were held first in dignity. This society, more- over, never lost its original religious character."^^ Now, as to the literary organization of this ptiy at Arras, which is so intimately connected with the activity of Adan de la Hale, the president of the association was called "Prince," and to him, as representing the whole corporation, the envoys of poems, composed before and after the vogue of the ballade, were frequently addressed. This office was probably elective, and would be held only by a rich man, because a "Prince" was expected to pay the expenses of any dramatic enterprises, to fee the clergy who officiated 77 H. Guy, Opus at., p. xxxiii. "S'ils font bande a part, quand il s'agit de s'occiiper de leur gaie science, ils entendent pourtant escorter aux procession le saint cierge." See also L. Passy, Frag- ments d'Histoire Litteraire a Propos d'un Nouveau Manuscrit de Chansons Frangaises, Bibliotheque de I'Ecole des Chartes, 4* serie, Vol. V (Paris, 1859), p. 492: ' ' J 'aimerais k definir un Puy, et en particulier le Puy d 'Arras, une confrerie litteraire. A prendre dans leur sens litteral les paroles de Vilain, on pourrait croire que de son temps les puys avaient perdu leur premier caractere, et substitue la culte de I'amour au culte de la Vierge. Des I'origine, il est vrai, 1 'esprit litteraire disputa a 1 'esprit religieux la direction des Puys. . . . La vie du moyen age etait si ennuyeuse et si monotone! . . . Com- ment ne pas saisir la premiere occasion de se distraire, et quelle occa- sion plus naturelle que d'honorer la mSre d'un Dieu par les lettres et les arts, la musique et la poesie? La confrerie tourna en acad6mie, et le Puy Notre-Dame devint un Puy d 'amour. Les poetes s'habitu- drent h eel^brer la beaute de leurs maitresses dans une reunion oil ils n'auraient du celebrer que la vertu de la Vierge; et les memes voix sur les memes airs chantdrent de pieux cantiques et de leg^res chansons. Le sentiment religieux ne fut cependent jamais 6touffe: il survecut dans I'objet mSme de I'assemblee et dans les details de la fete. Lorsqu'on retrouve au seizi^me si^cle les Puys constitues et fonctionnant sous la haute influence de I'Eglise, on ne pent pas sup- poser qu'au treizi^me, Pour sostenir amour, joie et jovent, il se soient derob^s k cette influence." ORIGINS OF THE BALLADE 43 at ceremonies, and to entertain generously. From the re- mark of the father of the fool in Adan's LaFeuillee, namely, **Tasies pour les Dames," it may he assumed that ladies were occasionally, if not frequently, present at the sessions. In this study, the literary forms other than the ballade which engaged the attention of the puys need not be dis- cussed. The puy at Arras, like the other poetic guilds, turned its attention to the subject of our study only after the middle of the fourteenth century ."^^ The brotherhood of the piiy founded in London at the close of the thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth century,^^ was, of course, modelled on these French confreries. The society received from the city great privileges in con- nection with the Chapel of St. Mary near Guildhall, which was built towards the close of Edward I's reign. The society was religious, convivial, and literary.^" Whether its models were the confreries of Normandy and Picardy, or a particular confrerie at Le Puy in Velay, cannot be certainly determined. The editor^^ of the Liber Custuma- rum, which contains the Statutes^^ of the English puy, he- 's There is no evidence for the exact date at which any puy took up the ballade as an exercise. 79 H. T. Eiley, Memorials of London and London Life (1276-1419), (London, 1868), p. 42: 27 Edward I. A. D. 1299. Letter-Book E., first fly-leaf. (Latin.) ''Common Pleas holden on Monday the morrow of Holy Trinity in the 27th year of the year of the reign of King Edward, son of King Henry. — At this Court, Henry le Waleys gave and granted unto the Brethren of the Pui 5 marks of yearly quit-rent to be received from all his tenements in London, toward the support of one chaplain, celebrating divine service in the new Chapel at the Guildhall of London." The Henry le Waleys here mentioned had been mayor both of London and Bordeaux. 80 See Appendix I, A. 81 H. T. Eiley. 82 See Appendix I, A. 44 THE BALLADE lieves that during the period of the organization of the English guild, the interruption of England's commercial relations with Normandy and Picardy made it probable that merchants from Gascoigne and Guyenne, neighbors of Le Puy, imported from thence the main features of a religious- literary guild. Although the majority of members were foreigners, the name of the "third Prince" of the fra- ternity, the only person named in the documents of the Liher Custumarum, which, as we have said, contains the statutes of the society, is English. Its convivial aspects, feasts, and processions seem most prominent, but masses and almsgiving also are prominent, not to speak of the yearly literary contest. On this occasion a crown was awarded to the composer of the best chancoun reale}^ Search of promising manuscript collections has failed to reveal any of the poems presented to the English puy. It is not unlikely, however, that both the hallade and the chant royal may have figured in its latest contests, if not in Eng- lish, perhaps in French. The sessions of this puy seem to have ceased after the fourteenth century.^* The last important contribution to the structure of the 'ballade was thus the envoy, added in the puys in the late fourteenth century, in the course of such poetical contests as have been described. Thereafter, chambers of rhetoric and individual poets might vary the length of the line, con- 83 See Appendix II. 84 H. T. Riley, Munimenta Gidhallae Londoniensis (London, 1860), Vol. II, Pt. I, p. LI: "As to the place of meeting of the companions of the Puy, we are not informed; if, indeed, they had any such fixed place, which seems doubtful. The Vintry which we know to have been extensively inhabited by merchants of Bordeaux and other localities of Gascoigne and Guyenne, seems not unlikely to have been their favorite place of resort." We are tempted to wonder whether the illustrious poet, son of a vintner, was familiar with the latest findings of the English puy. ORIGINS OP THE BALLADE 46 trive elaborate rime ornaments, or adapt the ballade to express various ideas and perform many functions, but, with the addition of an envoy, the form was fixed in its essential features. ^^pparently, then, the ballade took roughly about four centuries to develop. There seems no reason to doubt that the word itself came from the Provengal balada. BaZlette, used to describe what was probably a direct predecessor of the ballade, is, we may assume, a corruption. The ballade stanza was well developed by the fourteenth century, what- ever the process; whether the procedure was according to the method suggested by Stengel, by Jeanroy, or by R. A. Meyer is still to be determined. We see the ballade stanza in various stages of development in the balada and in the ballette. To the latter the ballade owes probably its three stanzas and refrain. The ballettes, composed in the thir- tenth century, were artistic dance songs. They incorporated refrains which, copied from those of traditional poetry, had become the stock-in-trade of the trouveres. Many of the ballettes consisted of only three stanzas, with a refrain at least two lines in length, loosely connected with the stanza. There are three conspicuous ways in which this thirteenth century dance song differs from its successor or analogue, for the earlier verse form shows a refrain of several lines which is frequently independent of the rest of the stanza and which often has every mark of being popular in char- acter. It is the refrain in all of these forms, in the balada as well as in the ballette and the ballade, that points to an ultimate popular origin, and establishes their kinship with earlier Romance songs composed in connection with the dance. Practically nothing remains of that primitive Ro- mance literature which has become a postulate of literary critics. The primitive dance songs survive only in refrains modelled on those of popular tradition. Though the ballade 46 THE BALLADE has, as might he supposed, its analogues in Spanish, Italian, and Provengal, in no one of these languages did so rigid a verse form as the French develop.^^ Other probable con- tributions to the form of the ballade are to be found in the chansonniers of the thirteenth century, which contain poems with the same rimes running through a number of stanzas ; there were, too, especially in verses composed for presenta- tion in the puys, envoys in which trouveres, judges, and other notabilities were addressed by name. In the late thirteenth century, three-stanza refrain poems, with the same rimes throughout, w^ere written and named halades, and as the fourteenth century progressed, the refrains of many lines that had characterized the ballade, in the romans and elsewhere, were generally reduced to one line. At length, at the close of the same century, the envoy, with its conventional salute to the "Prince," was annexed, and the ballade became in France a favorite poetic type for at least two centuries to come. »5 In the fifteenth century, however, the Provencal dansa showed a structure similar to that of the tallade. CHAPTER II THE BALLADE IN FRANCE FROM THE END OF THE FOUR- TEENTH CENTURY TO THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY It would obviously be an impossible task to make a list of all the writers who have produced ballades, and still more so to register all the occurrences of the type in early times. The great frequency of the ballade form in medieval France has already been noticed. And, with the exception of the eighteenth century, it has been in constant use in that country since the days of Lescurel. So, while the history of its origins must be made relatively complete, its long career in France necessitates limiting an account of its further development to its more significant phases. In the preceding chapter, the history of the early bal- lade referred to its increasingly complex versification. As time went on, not only did the form become modified, but there accumulated gradually a fund of ballade ideas,^ 1 F. J. A. Davidson, Uher den TJrsprung und die GeschicMe der Franzosischen Ballade (Leipzig, 1900), p. 73: "Sie ist damals die eigentliche Ausdrucksform fur alle Arten von Gedanken. Sie be- schrankt sich nieht auf irgend eine Schattierung und hangt von keiner besonderen Eingebung ab. Man bedient sich ihrer fiir polit- ische sowohl wie fiir religiose, fiir satirische als auch fiir Liebesge- dichte, und zwischen diesen Extremen giebt es keine Nuancierung des Gedankens, die sie nicht ausdriicken kann. Der Grund hierfiir ist jedenfalls der, dass ihr Charakter allein in Rhythmus liegt und durch- aus nicht vom Gegenstand der Dichtung selbst abhangt. " It is wholly true, of course, that the ballade is distinguished from other lyrical poetry by its metrical peculiarities more than by its content. David- son is prefectly justified, too, in emphasizing the very wide applica- tion of the ballade. But to grant the ballade this extensive range is not to deny that ballade literature had certain favorite themes. 47 48 THE BALLADE which was steadily drawn on from the days of Lescurel and Deschamps down to the time of La Fontaine. Ballades on these themes were occasionally grouped in sequences, and, more commonly still, became a favorite ornament of the early religious and secular drama. The ballade, likewise, continued to be favored by poets in the puys, and also in the more or less informal poetical concourses like those held at Blois under the auspices of Charles d 'Orleans. On one such occasion at Blois, for instance, the paradox, " Je meurs de soif aupres de la f ontaine, ' ' was announced as the refrain for ballades to be written in competition.^ Charles and his poet guests tried their hand on ballades based on this idea.^ Charles had indeed at least as early as 1451* played with the same sentiment : " Je meurs de soif en couste la f ontaine, Tremblant de froit ou feu des amoureux. Je gaigne temps et pers mainte semaine Je joue et ris quant me sens douloureux, Desplaisanee j'ay d'esperance plaine, J'actens boneur en regret angoisseux, Rien ne me plaist et si suis desireux, Je m^esjois et courre a ma pensee, En bien et mal par Fortune menee." 2 A ballade beginning, *'Ma doulce dame en qui jay ma fiance," and bearing as refrain, *'Je meurs de soif aupres de la f ontaine," appears on sig. tiii' of the Jardin de Plaisance of A. V§rard, as re- published by the Societe des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1910). 3 P. Champion : Le Manuscrit Autographe de Poesies de Charles d 'Orleans (Paris, 1907), p. 25, note 5: **Ce tournoi po6tique ne pent avoir eu lieu avant 1456, car on y voit figurer Gilles des Ormes qui paratt seulement dans la maison du due en 1456 (comptes de 1456). . . . Mais je ne crois pas que Ton puisse pr6ciser cette date. L 'in- scription de la pi6ce de Villon ne peut pas etre ant^rieure au 19 d^cembre 1547. A vrai dire, il n'y eut jamais un concours, mais seulement un th^me k developper. " ♦ Pierre Champion, Vie de Charles d'O Weans- (Paris, 1911), p. 652. m THE BALLADE IN PRANCE 49 Somewhat later, in another ballade, he modified the theme to, " Je n'ay plus soif, tarie est la fontaine." Then eleven of his friends took up the idea and developed it. The names of five of these are lost ; but Montbeton and Robertet, Ber- taut de Villebresme, Jean Caillau, Gilles des Ormes, Simo- net Caillau, and Francois Villon are known to have written ballades around the sentiment, " Je meurs de soif aupres de la fontaine. "« In the fifteenth century, when a number of very different ideas were finding expression in ballades, there was also great variety within the form itself.^ Many things could be done with a type of poetry the only fixed features of which were three stanzas, a refrain, the same rime-scheme in every stanza, and, under some circumstances, an envoy. By actual count, however, the most frequent stanzas were either that of eight lines, made up of octosyllabics and rim- ing a b a b b c b c, or that of ten lines composed of decasyl- labics, riming a b a b b c c d c d. Every stanza was a metrical unit, for the sense was seldom allowed to run over from one stanza to the next. It is noteworthy, too, that there were no breaks in sense even in the longest stanzas. Stanzas, moreover, in which two or more distinct ideas were elaborated were unusual, although every line in all three 5 Pierre Champion, Opus Cit., p. 653. « H. Chatelain, Eecherches sur le Vers Frangais au XV« Siecle, (Paris, 1908). In Chapter X of this work, Chatelain treats fully the variations of the ballade form in the fifteenth century. His summary is complete for the golden age of the ballade; the numerous metrical modifications of the type worked out in that century were, for all practical purposes, never augmented. Chatelain has done his work so thoroughly that it is only necessary to refer to his summary. The subject of the metrical structure of the ballade in the treatises on poetics of the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth cen- turies is discussed below in Chapter III. 60 THE BALLADE stanzas might contain an illustration of the theme of the whole halladeJ The metrical form of the ballade had originally, as has been shown, been conditioned to a certain extent by popu- lar dance airs.® And from the evidence of certain manu- scripts it seems certain that at least as late as the close of the fifteenth century ballades were written to be sung. A manuscript of Lescurel's gives a musical accompaniment for the first stanza of every ballade.^ In a British Museum manuscript of Charles d 'Orleans's poems, there is some musical notation of the sixteenth eentury.^^ What little has been said so far about the externals of the ballade has applied to the normal examples of the type ; but at an early date French poets taxed their ingenuity in turn- ing out what may well be called freak ballades. The abnormal complication and absurd ornamentation of the form was not confined to the school of the * * Grands Rheto- riqueurs." Deschamps and Christine de Pisan were both guilty of trying to see to what strange contortions they might subject this poetic form. Deschamps wrote at least two ballades that he claimed in the title might be read in 7 Compare the tallades composed of popular proverbs, cited below. 8 Cf . Pierre Aubry, Trouvdres et Troubadours (Paris, 1910), pp. 58-62. 9 A. de Montaiglon, Chansons Ballades et Eondeaux de Jehannot de Lescurel (Paris, 1855), pp. viii-ix. 10 This fact was given to me by M. Pierre Champion in a kindly personal interview in the summer of 1910, in Paris. See also P. Champion, Vie de Charles d'Orleans (Paris, 1911), p. 260: "Toute poesie 6tait encore, en partie, d^pendante de la musique et de la facile banalite qui en decoule. Au temps de Guillaume de Machault, cinquante ans environ avant que Charles composat ses premiere poesies, on chantait les rondeaux, les chansons, et meme les ballades. Au temps de la jeunesse de Charles d 'Orleans, les chansons seulement demeuraient des compositions musicales et de ce fait se distinguaient des rondeaux." THE BALI/ADE IN FRANCE 61 eight different ways. The first stanza of one of these will serve to show that the poet*s assertion was not extravagant: " Virginite, Beaute, Bonte, Saincte, Amoureuse, precieuse, agreable, Humilite, Pitie, Eternite, Glorieuse, piteuse, charitable, Vertueuse, doucereuse, honourable, Tressainctement pour nous tous destinee, Divinite, Verite inmuable, Certainement le sieele ains ordenee."^^ The artifice of Christine's Balades d'E strange Fagon is quite as painful. She furnished a hcdade retrograde qui se dit a droit et a rehours, the first stanza of which is: " Doulgour, bonte, gentillece, Noblece, beaulte, grant hohnour, 11 Le Marquis de Queux de Sainte-Hilaire, CEuvres Completes de Eiistaciie Deschamps (Paris, 1887), Vol. I, p. 81. On p. 82 are given the directions for reading the ballade here printed: "Comment ceste Balade se diversifie en .viii. ordres et se list par huit manieres differans I'une de Vautre, tout par honnes rimes et tousjours revenans a une meisme sentence et conclusion si comme il apparra aux lisans. La premiere, elle se list de I'ordre droit en descendant aval; La seeonde, elle se retrograde du premier ver en reversant contremont ; La tierce, en lisant I'un vers a droit et 1 'autre tout arrebours; La quarte, en prenant au ver de la rubriche par-dessus, en re- montant amont; La quinte, en prenant dessoubz, au piet de laditte rubriche et retro- gradant contremont jusques au commencement; Le sixte, chaeune couple se couppe parmi desseure; Item semblablement par dessoubz servent a laditte rubriche; La .vii^., les vers se croissent de I'un en 1 'autre; La .viii^., ou neuvyme, les mos des vers se raportent I'un centre 1 'autre en bonne substance sanz y muer la matere. Deschamps was guilty of another ballade similarly constructed. See Opus at., Vol. I, p. 95. 52 THE BALLADE Valour, maintien et sagece, Humblece en doulz plaisant atour, Conforteresse en savour. Dueil angoisseux secourable, Acueil bel et agreable."^^ And she also contrived a balade a Rimes Reprises. Its intricacies are evident in the stanza given : " Flour de beaulte en valour souverain, Raim de bonte, plante de toute grace, Grace d^avoir sur tons le pris a plain, Plain de savoir et qui tons maulz efface. Face plaisant, corps digne de louenge, Ange en semblant ou il n'a que redire, D'yre vuidie a vous des preux ou renge, Renge mon cuer qui fors vous ne desire." ^^ A peculiarly ornamented ballade was discovered by Paul Meyer in a manuscript of the end of the fifteenth century in the Hunterian Museum. He calls it a ballade tanto- gramme, and cites three lines and the refrain: " Poure Prouvence, pueple pen plantureux Par pestillence pugni presentement, Persequte, perdu, plaintif, paroureux Paradis paint, peneux pelerinage."^* A mere tour de force of a different variety is that ballade of Deschamps's on the books of the Bible. Proper names 12 M. Eoy, (Euvres poetiques de Christine de Pisan (Paris, 1886), Vol. I, p. 119. 13 M. Eoy, Opus at, Vol. I, p. 120. i*Paul Meyer, Documents Manuscrits de L*Ancienne Litterature de la France Conserves dans les Bibliotheques de la Grande-Bretagne (Extraits des Archives des Missions Scientifiques et Litteraires 2^ sSrie), (Paris, 1871), p. 119. The MS. is Q. 7. IS {Haenel, 7.126). THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 63 have at times contributed to the effect of great poetry, as in Milton's Paraddse Lost and in Shakespeare 's iCingf Henry the Fifth; but the discords of a single stanza are suflScient to indicate the dullness of this ballade by Deschamps : " Paraboles, Ecclestiastes rent, Cantiques lors, sapience verras; L'Ecelesiastiqiies a nous s'estent, Ysaie, puis vient Jheremias, Treuves Baruch, Ezechie, et si as De Daniel, Osee, Joel, s'as Amos apres, Abdye ainsis a nom, Jonas Micheas, et ensiiit Naom, Abbacuth, Sophonie, Aggeus, Zacharie, Malaehias, Maehabee, s'escrie: L'ordre SQavoir du lire n'est que bon."^^ Jehan Meschinot's four hallades on love must have been very difficult to put together. The four deal severally with ''amour sodale," ''amour vertueuse," "amour folic,'' and "amour viceuse." Each is composed of three stanzas of ten-syllable lines and an envoy of six lines. After the fourth syllable of every line there is an abrupt break. The first half of every line in all four ballades associates some action or quality with love, as "Amour loue," "Amour blame," and in all four ballades the portions of lines pre- ceding the break are identical. The second part of the line, however, changes in every ballade according to the special character of the love that is being described. A glance at the first three lines and the refrain of all the ballades will illustrate Meschinot's scheme: 15 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, CEuvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps (Paris, 1882), Vol. Ill, p. 289. In Gower's CinJcante Balades, XLIII, and in the Traitie of the same author, VIT, VIII, IX, X, XI, definitely employ lists of proper names as poetic ornaments. 54 THE BALLADE Amour sodale " Amour eommande aux gens estre loyaux. Amour deffend compaignie maulvaise. Amour acquiert grans biens a ses feaax. Amour blasme qui sans mal ne veult vivre." Amour vertueuse " Amour eommande aux gens estre parfaiets. Amour deffend tous deshonnestes faiets. Amour acquiert aux amans los et prix . . . Amour blasme " Amour eommande Amour deffend Amour acquiert Les meschans et infaicts." Amour folle. a tous estre joyeux. qu^on ait dueil ne souci. bruit d'estre gracieux. Amour blasme " Amour eommande Amour deffend Amour acquiert eeux qui n'ont robe neufve.' Amour viceuse aux gens vivre en luxure. ehastete nette et pure, enfin damnation . . . Amour blasme les vivans sans laidure."^* Eccentricities of rime, too, were in order. Cl-ement Marot wrote "du jour de Noel, sur I'air j'ai veu le temps que m'estoie a Basac/* a ballade in which all rime words end in c, as the first stanza here given shows : 16 Arthur de la Borderie, Jean Meschinot, sa Vie et ses CEvvres, Bihliotheque de VEcole des Chartes, t. 56 (Paris, 1895), p. 620. Cf. with these ballades, the Balade [de 1 'Amour] in Le Prisonnier Des- conforte (ed. by P. Champion, Paris, 1908, p. 14), in which every one of the twenty-eight lines begins with the word * 'Amour." THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 65 " Or est Noel venu son petit trac : Sus done aux champs, bergieres de respec: Prenons chascun panetiere & bissac, Flute, flageol, cornemuse, & rebec: Ores n'est pas temps de clon-e le bee, Chantons, sautons, & dansons ric a ric: Puis allons veoir I'Enfant an povre nic, Tant exalte d'Helie, aussi d'Enoc, Et adore de maint grand Roy, & Due : S'on nous dit nac, il f audra dir noc : Chantons Noel tant au soir, qu'au des-jucs."^'^ Acrostic ballades were not uncommon. The envoy of Villon's prayer on behalf of his mother spells out his name. So does his Balade des Contre-YeriUs. The "balade que Villon donna a un gentilhomme nouuellement marie pour I'envoyer a son epouse par luy conquise a I'espee,*' embodies the lady's name in an acrostic that runs through the first two stanzas. Jean Marot wrote a ''ballade de la Paran- gonne des Dames dont le nom est escript par le commence- ment des lettres capitales."^^ IT CEuvres de Clement Marot avec les Ouvrages de Jean Marot son Pere ceux de Michel Marot son Fils 4' ^^^ Pieces du Different de Clement avec Frangois Sagon (A la Haye, 1731), Tome II, p. 25. The c rimes are used again in the Ballade du Mazarin Grand Joueur de Hoc, given below with the historical hallades. ^^Opus at., Tome IV, p. 326. The first two stanzas follow: "Au Catalogue des Dames vertueuses Nous voyons or ceste Dam6 excellente, Noble en tons faitz, qui par gestes heureuses En nostre sexe tout bon bruyt represente; De sens, d'honneur c'est I'addresse & la sente Enumeree entre les parangonnes; Bonne, belle, liberalle, prudente, Eoyne d'honneur, exemplaire des bonnes. Elle a ce cueur qu'oeuvres ambicieuses Tient soubz le pied & les humbles augmente. 66 THE BALLADE The ballade in dialogue was a popular diversion with the French poets of three centuries. It owes some of its fea- tures to the dehat of earlier French poetry, which arose, doubtless, from a very simple principle of social intercourse. It might happen that some advocate of his own opinion would persist in supporting his peculiar views, till his wearied opponent retired from the field. Such an argu- ment was the essence and origin of the lyrical dehat. '^^ The ballade dialogue resembles quite closely that variety of the debat, known technically as the tenso, which has been de- fined as a real or fictitious dialogue in poetic form between two poets or two persons, or between two personifications. The tone of these dialogues varied from hostility to tem- pered urbanity, and the altercation led to no decision. Some of these tensos were real dialogues in the sense that the debate had actually occurred between two poets. The fictitious tenso was the work of one author.^^ Some such early literary tradition should account for the frequent use of dialogue give-and-take by ballade writers. At any rate the practice was common.-^ Sometimes the Aux povres gens parolles gracieuses Joyeusement avecques dons presente; Grande en vertuz & de vices absente Nous la tenons, car de toutes pcrsonnes Elle est dicte par raison trSs decente, Royne d'honneur exemplaire des bonnes.'* The lady in question is ' * Anne de Bretaigne, Royne de France. ' ' 10 Cf. A. Jeanroy, Les Origines de la Pocsie Lyrique en France an Moyen Age (Paris, 1904), Pt. I, Ch. II, passim. Cf. also T. H. Hanford, The Mediaeval Debate hetween Wine and Water, Publica- tions of the Modem Language Association, XXI, pp. 315-367. 20 TT. Knobloeh, Die Streitgedichte im Provenzalischen vnd Alt- franzosischen (Breslau, 1866), p. 13. 21 Cf. A. Jeanroy, Les Origines de la PoSsie Lyrique en France au Moyen Age (Paris, 1904), p. 479. Here we have a ballette dialoguee. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 57 speakers divide the line, as in Christine's balade a re- sponses: "Mon doulz ami. — Ma chiere dame. — S'acoute a moy. — Tres volentiers. M'aimes-tu bien? — Ouil, par m'ame. — Si fais je toy. — C'est doiilz mestiers. — De quoy? — D'amer. — Voire, sanz tiers. — Deux cuers en un. — Sanz decepvoir. — Voire aux loiaulz. — Tu as dit voir."^^ Sometimes each speaker is given a complete line, and they alternate, as in the same author's Balade a vers a re- sponses: " Amours, escoute ma complainte ? — Or dis: qu'as tu? de quoy te plains'? — De toy par qui je suis destraintte. — Tort as quante de ee te complains? — Non ay voir, car majoye estains. — Joye en aras s'en toy ne tient? — Trop crain le grant mal qui en vient. — Pense au bien, non pas au dommage? — Vueille ou non, d'un seul me souvient.^^s In another ballade each speaker is given a group of lines in the stanza, as in some of the Cent Ballades (58) ; in the same collection a whole ballade is more frequently assigned to a single disputant. Christine, again, in Le Livre du Due des Vi'ais Amans, has a ballade in which the characters, a lady and her lover, speak in alternating stanzas thus : 22 M. Roy, CEuvres Poetiques de Christine de Pisan (Paris, 1886), Vol. I, p. 121, St. 1. This type of dialogue ballade is very commoii ; see British Museum MS. Landsdowne 380, f. 258r, and J. Quicherat, Les Vers de Maitre Henri Baude (Paris, 1856), p. 26. 23 M. Roy, Opus at., Vol. I, p. 122, st. 1. 58 THE BALLADE " Belle, il me fault departir Et esloignier vo presence, Dont grant dueil me fault sentir, Car je mourray de pesanee Puis que plus n'aray Paisance De veoir vostre doulz vis Qui est, a ma eongnoiscence, Le plus perfait qu'onques vis. — ^Amis, ne puis eonsentir De bon gre vostre partence, Car sans vous sera martir Mon cuer en grief penitence, Si me fait mal quant je pense Qu'ainsi soit de moy ra\T:s Cil qui est par excellence Le plus perfait qu'onques vis. — Dame, bien doit amortir Tout mon bien quant souffisance Avions tous .II. et partir La convient sans qu'aye offense Faitte, et si n'y puis deffense Mettre, dont j'enrage vifs Pour vous, cuer plein d'essienee, Le plus perfait qu'onques vis. — Ou que faciez residence, Foy, amis, je vous plevis. Car vous estes sans doubtance Le plus perfait qu'onques vis."^* An amusing debat situation is found in two seventeenth century ballades by Madame de Deshoulieres and M. le Due de Saint Aignan. The second stanza and the envoy of the 24 M. Roy, (Euvres Poitiques de Christine de Pisan (Paris, 1896), Vol. Ill, p. 180. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 59 lady's ballade and the second stanza of her opponent's follow : " Riches atours, table, nombreux valets, Fout aujourd'hui, les trois quarts du merite. Si des amants soumis, constants, discrets, II est encore, la troupe en est petite: Amour d'un mois est amour decrepite. Amants brutaux sout les plus applaudis. Soupirs et pleurs feroient passer pour grue : Faveur est dite aussitot qu'obtenue. On n'aime plus comme on aimoit jadis. Envoi Fils de Venus, songe a tes interets; Je vais changer I'encens en camouflets: Tout est perdu, si ce train continue : Ramene-nous le siecle d'Amadis. II est honteux qu'en cour d'attraits pourvue. Oil politesse au comble est parvenue. On n'aime plus comme on aimoit jadis."^^ Eeponse de M. Le Due de Saint-Aignan. St. 2 " Nul riche atour, nul nombre de valets, Ne contribue a mon peu de merite; Toujours me tiens au rang des plus discrets : Tant mieux pour moi si la troupe est petite. Amour chez moi n'est jamais decrepite; Et quand les sots sont les plus applaudis, Dusse-je en tout passer pour une grue, Faveur se cache aussitot qu'obtenue, Tant j^aime encor comme on aimoit jadis."-^ 25 (Euvres de Madame et de Mademoiselle DeshouUdres (Paris, 1753), Vol. I, p. 153. 26 Opus at., Vol. I, p. 155. 60 THE BALLADE A certain type of dialo^e popular in the Middle Ages-^ has its analogues in ballade literature. The older conversa- tions between body and soul reappear in modified form, as is seen in the following ballade of Deschamps {dialogue entre la tete et le corps) : " Malade suy, dist le chief a son corps, Tant que ne sgay que je devenir doye. — C'est a bon droit, vous avez boute bors Les droiz membres dont je vous soustenoie, D'estranges mains aidier ne vous pourroye, Ce dist le corps, car vous n'avez oste Jambes et bras et le destre coste Et m'avez, joint membres d' autre paraige Qui m'ont destruit et a vous la sante. — Corps, doulz amis, dy moy done que f eray ge ?"^® A reported dispute of similar character is found in a halade in which "le coeur reproche au corps d 'aimer en trop haut lieu": Stanza 1. " Mon cuer au corps chascun jour se combat, En lui blasmant son penser, sa folic, Et ce qu'il veult amer en hault estat, En noblie lieu, en treshaulte lignie, Veult que le corps lui tiengne compangnie, En le menant par tout ou il vourra, Ou se ce non le cuer dit qu'il mouiTa Et que par ce fera le corps perir Puisque veoir sa dame ne pourra : Ainsi ont trop cuer et corps a souffrir. 27 In Eomania for 1880, p. 311, G. Paris, in a review of G. Klein- erts's tfber den Streit swischen Leih und Seele (Halle, 1880), writes: "Le veritable dialogue oii le corps renvoie k I'ame ses reproches apparait dans iin poSme fran^ais. *' Cf. Wright, Poems attributed to Walter Mapes, p. 321. 2S Le Marquis de Queiix de Saint-Hilaire, (Euvres Completes de Eustaches Deschamps (Paris, 1887), Vol. V, p. 344, st. 1. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 61 Stanza 3. Uun pour Tautre languit en ce debatj Force est de corps par le cuer afeblie, Dont le corps dit : Pourquoy me f ais tu mat ? Le cuers respont : Tu ne me sequeurs mie. Mouvoir me veulx; mayne moy vir m'amie. Le corps tremblant a dit : Qui te croira, Je seray mors, aussi Fen t'occira; De si hault lieu ne te deust souvenir. — Tu pers ton temps, autrement n'en sera. Ainsi out trop cuer et corps a souffrir.^^o Villon's well known hallade, Dehat du Cuer et du Corps, has four stanzas and envoy. Here the poet's heart assumes the role usually played by the soul in more serious con- troversy with the body.^*^ Le Dehat du Cuer et du Corps de Villon. " Qu'est-ce que i'oy ? — Ce suis. —Qui? — Ton cuer. Qui ne tient mais qu*a vng petit filet. Force n'ay plus, substance ne liqueur, Quand ie te voy retraict ainsi seulet. Com poure chien tappy en reculet. — Pour quoy est ce? — Pour ta foUe plaisance. —Que fen chault-il? — len ay la desplaisance. * 29 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, Opus Cit., Vol. Ill, p. 385. 30 For other French versions of the debate between soul and bod/, cf. G. Kleinert, Uher den Streit zwischen Leib und Seele (Halle, 1880), p. 51, p. 53. Cf. too, C. Euutz-Rees, Charles Sainte-Marthe (New York, 1910), pp. 333-334. 62 THE BALLADE — Laisse m'en paix ! — Pour quoy? — I'y penseray. — Quand fera ce? — Quant feray hors d'enfance. — Plus ne t'en dis. — Et ie m'en passeray. Que penses tu? — Estre homme de valeur. — Tu as trente ans. — C'est I'aage d'vng mullet. — Est ce enfance? — Nennil. — C7est done foUeur. Qui te saisist? —Par ou? — Par le collet. Riens ne congois. — Si fais; mouches en let: L*vng est blane, Fautre noir, c'est la distance. — Est ce done tout? — Que veulx tu que ie tance? Se n^est assez, ie recommenceray. — Tu es perdu! — I*y met tray resistance. — Plus ne t'en dis. — Et ie m'en passeray. Envoi — Veulx tu viure ? — Dieu m'en doint la puissance ! II te fault— Quoy? — Remors de conscience; Lire sans fin. — En quoy lire? — En science; THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 63 Laisser les folz! — Bien i'y aduiseray. — Or le retien ! — Pen ay bien souuenaice. — N'atens pas tant que viengne k desplaisance. Plus ne t'en dis. — Et ie m'en passeray."^^ Thus the form of the ballade became more and more diversified. Nevertheless, whatever external features were added to its structure, the original three stanzas, per- sistent rimes, and refrain remained unaltered. The fund of ideas, from which those who used the form drew, was fairly limited. These ideas, embodied in the main themes employed by the writers of French ballades, suggest a method of classification, which is not inevitable but merely convenient. What follows, therefore, is in the nature of a survey of French ballade literature, grouped, so far as possible,^^ according to subject. The Eeligious Ballade The shaping of the ballade in the puy must have meant its early adaptation to religious themes. It is not surpris- ing, therefore, to find French poets during three centuries piously inclined to make this fixed form do service for prayer and praise. The ballades given in this section are chiefly concerned with the worship of Mary. Sometimes 31 A. Longnon, (Euvres Completes de Frangoi^ Villon (Paris, 1892), p. 113. Swinburne's translation of this and of the other Villon ballades is noteworthy. Cf. P. Champion, FraiiQois Villon, Sa Vie et Son Temps (Paris, 1913), Vol. II, pp. 130-132. 32 Under the two headings, *' Ballade Sequences," and the *' Ballade in the Drama," there has, obviously, been a departure from the method of arrangement by subject. It is also true that the doctrines of Courtly Love inform practically all the ballades cited. 64 THE BALLADE she is addressed in the terms of profane love ; sometimes the special doctrines connected with her are set forth. But other religious ideas as well are contained in ballade litera- ture. The persons of the Trinity^^ are duly celebrated, the Saviour is ceremonially enshrined, and sin and salvation are reverently treated. Undoubtedly the most beautiful of the ballade prayers to the holy mother is Villon's ^'feit a la requeste de sa mere pour prier Nostre-Dame": Ballade " Dames des cieulx, regente terrienne, Emperiere des infemaux palus, Recevez moy, vostre humble chrestienne, Que eomprinse soye entre vous esleus, Ce non obstant qu'onques rien ne valus. Les biens de vous, Ma Dame et Ka Maistresse, Sont trop plus grans que ne suis pecheresse, Sans lesquelz biens ame ne pent merir N'avoir les cieulx, je n'en suis jangleresse. En ceste foy je vueil vivre et mourir. A vostre Filz dictes que je suis sienne; De luy soyent mes pechiez abolus; Pardonne moy comme a TEgipcienne, Ou comme il feist au clerc Theophilus, Lequel par vous fut quitte et absolus, Combien qu'il eust au deable fait promesse. Preservez moy que face jamais ce, Vierge portant, sans rompure encourir, Le sacrement qu*on celebre a la messe. En ceste foy je vueil vivre et mourir. 83 A halade (f) of thirteen stanzas and envoy addressed to "Men Dieu'' and beginning with the line "O eternelle Trinity " appears in Le Prisonnier Besconforte (ed. by P. Champion, Paris, 1908, p. 53), THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 65 Femme je suis povrette et ancienne, Qui riens ne s§ay; oncques lettre ne leus. Au moustier voy dont suis paroissienne Paradis paint, ou sout harpes et lus. Et ung enfer ou dampnez sont boullus: L'ung me fait paour, I'autre joye et liesse. La joye avoir me fay, haulte Deesse, A qui pecheurs doivent tous recouvrir, Comblez de foy, sans fainte ne paresse. En ceste foy je vueil vivre et mourir. V ous portastes, digne Vierge, princesse, I esus regnant qui n'a ne fin ne cesse. L e Tout Puissant prenant nostre foiblesse, L aissa les cieulx et nous Vint secourir, ffrit a mort sa tres chiere jeunesse; iVostre Seigneur tel est, tel le confesse. En ceste foy je vueil vivre et mourir."^* A prayer to the Virgin,^^ probably of the fifteenth cen- tury, offers a contrast to the foregoing: " Ave douce dame de paradis, Toute pleine de grace et de douchour. Pour nous auons lautaine ioie aquiz, Bien heureuse de nostre uraie amour, 34 Francois Villon, CEuvres, edit6es par un Ancien Archiviste (Paris, 1911), p. 40. Cf. P. Champion, Frangois Villon, Sa Vie et Son Temps (Paris, 1913), Vol. I, p. 16 ff. 35 British Museum MS. Additional 15^24, fol. 49''. Paul Meyer, Extraits du MS. Additional 15S24 du Musee Britannique, Bulletin de Societe des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1882), p. 69, describes this MS. as '*un petit volume eerit sur parehemin d'une 6criture italienne, vers la fin du XV si^cle ou plus probablement au com- mencement du XVI. . . . L'interet de ce recueil consiste pour une grande part k avoir ete fait en Italic. ... II porte temoignage de I'etat qu'en ce pays on faisait de notre poesie au temps de la Renaissance. ' ' 66 THE BALLADE Dez pecheours estez port et seiour, En nouz sort la fontaine de tout bien, Douce mere, pries per nous, amen. Salue fleur odorant de touz esliz, Du quel fruit auons tres noble pascour, A nous fesons nostre reclaim tout diz, Esperance que nous done uigour. Pleine de grace entendez ma clamour, Quar tressouvent empleurant me souien. Douce mere, pries pour nous, amen. Gale sans per secourez ce chetiz. Qui sui en nef sans auiron dentour, Et auouglez par mon peche porriz. Humble dame a qui ie f az mon plour. Prier uostre dolx fil nostre segnour Quil ait merci de ce poure cristien, Douce mere, pries pour nous, amen. yhesu crist nostre uray creatour, Aiez misericorde ama f olour, Pour amour de ta mere aqui me tien, Douce mere, pries pour nous, amen." Another and earlier ' ' balade de Nostre Dame moult belle ' ' was written by Deschamps about 1380. In the first stanza the poet prays: " Secourez moy, douce vierge Marie, Port de salut que Ten doit reclamer; Je sens ma nef foible, provre et pourrie, De sept tourmens assaillie en la mer; Mon voile est roupt, ancres n'y puet encrer; J'ay grant paour que plunge ou que n'affonde Se voz pitiez envers moy ne se fonde."^^ 36 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, (Euvres Computes de Eustache Deschamps (Paris, 1878), Vol. I, p. 258. » THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 67 I ] Deschamps *s * * autre balade de Nostre Dame ' * contains an answer to the preceding : j " Presente suis, je te viens faire aie, j Mais il te fault mon filz, ton Dieu, amer Et delaissier t'erreur et ta folie ] Et ce monde qui te fait tourmenter; , Pour .vii. tourmens qu'il convient rebouter, Pran .vii. vertus qui font la vie monde, ' Se ma pitie veulz que vers toy se fonde. j Humilite et Chastite n^oublie Et Charite, qui tant fait a louer; Abstinance soit en ta compaignie, I Paeience, pour tous maulx endurer. De ton avoir doiz, aux povres donner Pour esehiver d'enfer la mort seeonde, Se ma pitie veulz vers toy que se fonde. ' Par ces vertus yert ta nef redreeie, I Et si pourras ton voile asseurer, ( Ne les tourmens ne te mefferont mie, | Que ne puisses a droit port arriver; ' Ton voile est droit, vueille toy ordener I Si que peche en ton vaissel n'abonde, ^ Se ma pitiez veulz que vers toy se fonde."^^ Comparaible with this last, is Jean Marot's monologue, < another poem in which the Virgin herself speaks : i " Parlant en form de Ballade ^ le jour de son Assomption. i Devant que la cause premiere Fist la terre & la mer jadis, , Devant que Dieu erea lumiere, Ne qu'il formast ses Benedicts, | 37 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, Opus Cit., Vol. I, p. 259. \ 68 THE BALLADE Devant ce temps que je vous dis, Sentence estoit desja donnee, Que je seroye en Paradis Sur tous les angelz couronnee. Maintenant je suis Tresoriere Des hautz biens de gloire assouvis; Maintenant je suis emperiere Triumphante en royal devis; Maintenant les benoitz ravis Me disent fleur sans courroux nee. Vous estes selon nostre advis, Sur tous les angels couronnee. Apres que boys, prez & rivieres Seront de leurs estres bannys; Apres que par loy droicturiere Humains seront par mort finis, Des haults trones d'honneur garnys Comme Royne, preordonnee Vivray par siecles infinis Sur tous les angels couronnee. Envoy Prince en ce jour dire je puys, Puisque telle gloire m'est donnee. J'ay este, je serai & suys Sur tous les angels couronnee."*® The Virgin speaks for herself, too, in an anonymous hallade, probably of the fifteenth century :** 38 CEuvres de Clement Marot avec les Ouvrages de Jean Marot son Pere ceux de Michel Marot son Fils 4" ^es Pieces du Different de Clement avec Frangois Sagon (A la Haye, 1731), tome IV, p. 353. 30 See note on p. 71 below. The ballade is found in MS. p. S4408, f. 50*-51'", of the Bihliothdque Nationale. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE OV Argumentum i Nigra sum sed formosa filia Jerusalem. Canticorum 1°. j " Ballade en la personne de la Vierge ^ Or sus levez hault la veue, Deuotes filles de syon, ; Voyez comment dieu ma preueue, ] Ains du ciel la perfection J Tant que par preelection; | Et oultre la forme mortelle, j Je suis par sa protection ' Noire en couleur mais toute belle. Noire en couleur mauez congneue, j Portant vostre condition, \ Dhomme et de femme ainsy venue, \ Et subiecte en affliction. ■ Mais sentez que sans fiction, ' De dieu suis mere naturelle, \ Tost direz ma conception, > Noire en couleur mais toute belle. ^ Nolite me considerare quod fusca sim, quia decolar- 1 avit me sol. Canticorum 1° j ) Ne vous artz si mauez veue, J Pale et sans consolation, \ Car le vray soleil ma rendue ' Sans couleur par compassion. ] Quand lay veu souffrir passion ' Pour lohmme quj luy fut rebelle, La fuz en desolation. Noire en couleur mais toute belle. Envoy \ Prince cest vostre Intencion j Que Marie humble columbelle ^ Soit dicte par preuention Noire en couleur mais toute belle." \ Nicolas baudry. 70 THE BALLADE \ Molinet 's Oraison a la Vierge Marie belongs to the second half of the fifteenth century, and has all the decorative effect of that ornate period: \ { " recouurance moult plaisant ! i Deuat vous me suys presente, ] En ce lieu a genoulx disant j Des maulx quay fait la verite. i Pour ce que en suys desherite, ' Vers dieu dont poure me reclame. Pour moster de ma pourete Ayez pitie de ma poure ame. ; esclarboucle reluysant! ; Nuyct et iour sans obscurite, ^ Esmeraulde trescler luysant, / Et saphir de securite; Dyamant de mundicite ^ Rubis rayant cler comme flame, Je vous requiers en charite Ayez pitie de ma poure ame. cypres aromatisant! , Palme de grant suauite, Cedre sus tous resplendissant, Oliue de fertilite; A matres grant necessite ' Vous prie et requier saincte dame, ] Quant a mourir seray cite, i Ayez pitie de ma poure ame. rose odoriferant! Et vray lis de virginite, Violette tres flourissant, Marguerite dhumilite, Mariolaine de purite, Romarin flairant comme basme. Par vostre clemence et pitie, Ayez pitie de ma poure ame. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 71 J Prince eternal en trinite, j Trois personnes ie vous reclame, ] Et vous requiers en vnite ^ Ayez pitie de ma poure ame. »>40 ] Praise Of the Virgin spoken by her own son is also found i in ballade form :*^ Argument Ballade en laquelle est escript j Comme le fameux Jesuchrist ] Ont a sa mere toute belle i Quelle est pour luy et luy pour elle. i " Ma mere ou ma face empraincte, j Subiect ou mon corps fut emprainct, j Nayez ennuy soucy ne eraincte ! Du peche que homme faict crainct, 1 Car vostre concept nest attainct j Du crime de commune loy; ,| Ne doubtez de peche le tainct, j Je suis pour vous et vous pour moy. ' Vostre pudique chair et saincte Pour moy qui suis des sainctz le sainct ' Fut par grace vestue et ceincte, < De purite le sacre sainct ceincte, ' Et plus je fais que laspid sainct, Est mys par vous en desarroy. Vela comment soubz secret mainct, Je suis pour vous et vous pour moy. *oLcs Faiciz et Dictz de Feu de Bonne Memoire Maistre Jehan 1 Molinet (Paris, 1531), Sig. Pii^ j 41 MS. fr. M408, fol. 49^-50'-, of the Bihliotheque Nationale. This -' is a collection of chants royaux, hallades and rondeaux in honor of the Virgin Mary (sixteenth century). There are twenty-two ballades. j 72 • THE BALLADE Vous nauez oz, sang, nerf ne joinete, Que grace nayct au corps conjoinct, Diuinite fut en vous joinete, Cest moy a dieu mon pere joinct, Jay tousiours este vostre adioincte, Comme tienct saincte eglise et foy. Par quoy mere ne craignez point, Je suis pour vous et vous pour moy. Envoy Se aucun de erreur vous mord ou poinct, Nen soyez pourtant en esmoy. Car pour premier et dernier poinct, Je suis pour vous et vous pour moy." Jehan couppel. The idea of the Immaculate Conception is touched on in the following ballade, in which the Virgin is addressed ; as a substitute for the antique muse:*^ J Ballade \ " Les payens versificateurs * Pryent le muses benignement, ; Mais noz prudentz predicateurs i Oyent quilz ont failly grandement, Quj font maintenant aultrement, i Invocant de premiere assiete [ En leurs sermons treshumblement, i La saincte nymphe au grand poete. i Ingenieux compositeurs, j Prennons tous manifestement j Aux malingz*^ preuaricateurs i *^MS. fr. 24408, fol. 69'-70'', of the Biblictheque Nationale. It I seems to be of the sixteenth century. i *8Not in Godefroy. ^ THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 73 Quilz sabusent totalement, Disant la vierge faulsement En peche amour este faicte, Veu quelle estoit diuinement La saincte nymphe au grand poete. Subtilz et facondz orateurs Venez par escriptz amplement, Dire comme vrays amateurs Quelle est amant tout element, Sans peche generalement, De dieu premier discrete, Par grand honneur specialement La saincte nymphe au grand poete. Enuoy La vierge fut benignement Dicte par loraison celeste, De Gabriel certainement La saincte nymphe au grand poete." Robert bellenger. A hallade** contained in a manuscript of the Bibliotheque Nationale which is described as '*sur rimmaculee Concep- tion," merely touches on that aspect of the subject. The poet uses elaborate similes drawn from the miracles of spring to illuminate the doctrines of original sin and sal- vation : " Le grant yuer par sa froidure Du beau verger dhumanite Hatta les fleurs et la verdure, Luy ostant toute amenite. 44 MS. fr. 19369, fol. 78^-79', of the BihliotMque Nationale. This manuscript contains twenty-seven ballades. The librarian whom I consulted believed the handwriting to be of the early sixteenth century. 74 . THE BALLADE Jusques a ce que en dignite Zephire vent delicieux, Engendra par benignite Le doulx printemps solatieux. Par lyuer de froide nature Jentens dadam la vilite, Qui gasta la belle omature De toute sa posterite. Fors de la fleur de purite, Que dieu son cher filz gracieux Esleut en grace et dignite, Le doulx printemps solatieux. Jamais en ceste creature Vil peehe neust activite, Pour tant que diuine omature La preseruoit deprauite. En la saincte festivite De sou sainet concept precieux, Qui la prenne en suauite, Le doulx printemps solatieux. Enuoy Prince, pour non vtilite, Malgre sathan fallatieux, EUe este en toute humilite, Le doulx printemps solatieux." A similar parallel between the solace of spring and the alleviating power of divine intercession is found in the same manuscript, from which three other illustrations have been drawn : Ballade*^ " Au verger de dieu ordonne, Logis des luimains et repere, 45 MS. fr. IS4408, fol. 51''-52', of the BihliotMque NationcHe. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 75 Se apparoit le desordonne Serpent quj suprent nostre pere. En ce lieu set rien ny prospere, Quand en sourt au printemps seulette Pour adam quj plus biens ne espere La blanche fleur de violette. Au frays moys de Mars obstine; Sourt la fleur quj rigeur tempere Comme est de dieu predestine Faisant abysmer la vipere. Dieu par dessus nature opere Quand sa vertu rend si complete, Quon voit contre tout impropere La blanche fleur de violette. Vierge, je me suis ordonne, Figurer toy sainete nom prospere A ceste fleur tu as donne Dodeur quj tons aultres supere. II te plaist et ton filz limpere, Supporte done ma plume necte, Quj te painct voulant te complere La blanche fleur de violette. Enuoy Prince, la vierge est nostre mere, Quj son filz doulcement allecte, Que je nomme sans coulpe amere La blanche fleur de violette." Pierre beuard In a ballade of Clement Marot the familiar parallel be- tween Mary's Son and the devoted pelican is drawn: "Le pellican de la forest celique, Entre ses faictz tant beaulx et nouvelletz, Apres les cieulx et I'ordre archangelique Voulut creer ses petis oyselletz. 76 I THE BALLADE Puis s'envola, les laissa tous seuletz, Et leur donna, pour mieulx sur la terre estre, La grand' forest de paradis terrestre, D'arbres de vie amplement revestue, Plantez par luy, qu'on peult dire en tout estre Le pellican qui pour les siens se tue. Mais ce pendant qu'en ramage musique Chantent aux boys comme rossignolletz, Un oyseleur cauteleux et inique Les a deceuz a glus, rhetz et fiUetz, Dont sont banniz des jardins verdeletz, Car des haultz fruictz trop voulurent repaistre, Parquoy en lieu sentant pouldre et salpestre Par plusieurs ans mainte souffrance ont eue, En attendant hors du beau lieu champestre Le pellican qui pour les siens se tue. Pour eulx mourut cest oysel deifique, Car du hault boys plein de sainctz Angeletz Vola qa. bas par charite pudique, Ou il trouva corbeaux tresordz et laydz, Qui de son sang ont faict maintz ruysseletz, Le tourmentant a ^extre et a senestre. Si que sa mort, comme I'on peult congnoistre, A ses petis a la vie rendue. Ainsi leur fait sa bonte apparoistre Le Pellican qui pour les siens se tue. Envoy Les corbeaux sont ces Juifs exilez Qui ont a tort les membres mutilez Du Pellican, c'est du seul Dieu et maistre. Les Oyseletz sont Humains, qu'il feit naistre, Et I'Oyseleur, la Serpente tortue Qui les decent, leur faisant mescongnoistre Le Pellican qui pour les siens se tue."*® 4« Pierre Jannet, CEuvres Computes de CUment Marot (Paris, 1873), Vol. II, p. 76. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 77 j The deity himself speaks in Molinet's Oradson par j Maniere de Ballade :*'' j " Nous, dieu damours, createur, Roy de gloire, ] Salut a tous vrays amans dhumble affaire. Comme il soit uray que, depuis la victoire ^ De nostre filz sur le monte de caluaire, Plusieurs souldars par peu de congnoissanee ' j De noz armes font au dyable aliance. ' ^ Si vous faisons pour vostre bien mander 'i Leseu dargent au chief dor luysant cler, j A cinq playes que quant prescheurs ou carmes, ' Com vrays heraulx les vouldront blasonner j Loyaulx amans recongnoissez ces armes. ' Divinite du chief dor pouez croire j Pare innocence est largent ou pourtraire, ) Voulurent iuifz les plays et eneoire [ Parfist longis louuraige necessaire; j Pour vrays amans deliurer de greuance, ^ Et si donnons et oetroions puissance, ■ A leglise militante passer, ' A noz gaiges tous ceulx qui retoumer Vouldront a nous, mais quen pleurs et en larmes j De cueur constrict et foy sans abuser. Loyaulx amans recongnoissez ces armes. I Besoing sera quen ayez la memoire i Du dernier iour que nous vouldrons retraire, i Dessus le val iosaphat chose est voire -. Pour comdampner lancien aduersaire. La monsterons ces armes sans nuisance: I Pour nostre gent remettre en ordonnance, Et la vouldont souldees deliurer, j Lors coniuendra le plus hardy trembler, : Car ny vauldront espees ne guisarmes, j Mais quant orrez noz trompettes sonner, Loyaulx amans recongnoissez ces armes. *T Les Faictz et Bictz de Feu de Bonne Memoire Maistre Jehan j Molinet (Paris, 1531), Sig. A. j 78 , THE BALLADE Prince, pitie voult ce mand impetrer, Quant il nous pleust pierre a Romme poser, Pour recepuoir tous verteux gens darmes, Dont se voulez en nostre regne entrer, Loyaulx amans Recongnoissez ces armes." A hcdlade of Alain Chartier's, ''foy la premiere vertu,'' is likewise addressed to the deity : " Dieu tout puissant, de qui noblesse vient Et dont descent toute perfection, A tout cree, tout nourrist, tout soustient Par sa haulte digne provision; Mais, pour tenir la terre en union, A ordonne chaseun en son office, Ly ung seigneur, I'autre en subjection, Pour foy garder et pour vivre en justice. Cil qui de dieu le plus de honneur obtient Par seigneurie et domination. Plus est tenu et plus luy appartient D'avoir en luy entiere affection, Crainte et honneur, bonne devocion Et vergoine de meffait et de vice, Et faire tout en bonne entention. Pour foy garder et pour vivre en justice. Cil est noble et pour tel se maintient Sans vantrie et sans decepcion, Qui envers dieu obeissant se tient Et fait le droit de sa profession; Qui quiert noblesse en autre opinion. Fait a dieu tort et au sang prejudice; Car dieu forme noble condition Pour foy garder et pour vivre en justice. Povre et riche meurt en corruption, Noble et commun doivent a dieu service; THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 79 Mais les nobles ont exaltation Pour foy garder et pour vivre en justice "48 f There are religious ballades, too, that treat of the ever popular seven sins. One manuscript contains seven bal- lades on the **sept pechez mortelz.'* Premierement I Sur le peche dorgueil.*^ 1 " Sens orguilleux qui estes peruers, Voz esperitz qui sont dorgueil couuers ' Et obfusquez de ville couuerture Descouurez les et les tenez ouuers. ] Et contemplez, ie vous pry par mes vers, : Que vostre chair deuiendra pourriture. I Vous estes faictz du lymon de la terre, j Et une foys y toumerez grant erre, j Que ne voulez aduiser ne congnoistre. j Meulx vous vauldroit acquerre humilite i Que les honneurs ie vous dy verite. Car a la fin orgeil decort son maistre. i Point ne voyez et auez les yeulx vers. j Que vng temps viendra que vous gyrez en vers : Viande a vers o quel griefue poineture. ■ Et vous voulez par voz desirs reuers, j Preemmer a tours et a trauers. ] *8 K. F. Bartseh, Chrestomathie de I 'Ancien Frangais (Leipzig, ] 1884), p. 447. , ^9 MS. fr. £306, fol. 20'"-20^, of the Bihliotheque Nationale, said by the librarian to be of the early sixteenth century. These ballades were printed also by Verard in the volume Les Eegnars Traversant les Perilleuses Voyes des Folles Fiances du Monde (1503) under the title *'des vices et des vertus,'* with link pieces of octosyllabic lines not given in the MS. Cf. E. Picot, Une Supercherie d'Antoine Verard {Romania, 1893), p. 248. 80 , THE BALLADE A toutes gens de quelconque stature ; Vous mesprisez et menez tousiours guerre, \ Aux pouures gens voulans paradis querre. J Et de vertuz leurs ames du tout paistre j Qui de leurs corps nont curiosite. f, Desistez vous de celle vanite, i Car a la fin orgeil decort son maistre. Las lueifer auecques ses comiers i Par son orgeil cruel, faulx, et diuers, , Qui jadis fut si belle creature, ' De paradis fut gette es enfers. , Lequelz depuis sort estez ou yuers, | Sont ennemys de Ihumaine nature. ; Aussy bruyant vous estez que tonnerre. < Vanteurs, gorriers reluysans comme verre. \i Ambicieux dont vous fault mes congnoistre. .1 Mais vous serez par vostre iniquite j De vostre espoir du tout disherite. , Car a la fin orgeil decort son maistre. Prince, vueillez de vostre fait enquerre, I Et tout cogneu ne vouldrez point acquerre ' Tous ses honneurs dont farciz voulez estre, Mais vous laissez grant granite | Pour euader toute perplexite, ] Car a la fin orgeil decort son maistre." i Undoubtedly in the same class with the foregoing, be- longs Deschamps's ballade, called' by his editor Allegorie i Satirique des Sept Peches Capitaux: " N'a pas long temps qu^en une region Vi en dormant dolereuse assemblee, Ce fut Orgueil chevauchant le lion, Ire empres luy qui se fiert d'une esp^e, Sur un loup siet; Envie la derv6e THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 81 Dessus un chien aloit fort murmurant, Avarice gouverne la contree : Onques ne vi si dolereuse gent. Car celle avoit or, joyaulx a foison, Et languissoit d'acquerre entalentee ; Paresce apres dormoit une saison, En Fan n^a pas sa quenoille filee; Sur I'asne siet la povre escheveulee Qui en touz lieux est toudis indigent; Glotonnie fut sur un ours posee, Onques ne vi si dolereuse gent. Celle mettoit tout a destruction, Par gourmander avoit la pence emflee ; Luxure estoit moult pres de son giron Qui chevauchoit une truie esehaufee, Mirant, pignant s'aloit comme une fee Et attraioit maint homme en regardant; Mais trop puoit sa trace et son alee, Onques ne vi si dolereuse gent. L'Envoy. Princes, moult est la terre desertee Ou telz vices sont seignour et regent; Regne s'en pert et ame en est dampnee, Onques ne vi si dolereuse gent."^** Ballades on Death Closely allied to the religious hallades in tone and in gen- eral character are those in which the various aspects of death are treated. A fifteenth century hallade^^ represen- tative of this class follows : 50 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, (Euvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps (Paris, 1878), Vol. I, p. 319. 51 British Museum MS. Barley 4397, fol. 120^-121'. 7 82 , / THE BALLADB " Pecheur qui scez qui morir doiz, Et que cy nest pas ton entente, Pense a ton bien mantesfois, A la mort qui tant test presente, Aux mondains ne mets ton entente, Car nas a viure deux iours ne trois, De terre es toute puante, Retourner cy fault vne fois. Tons les jours a ton oeil tu vois Nature sieuyr coUe sente Pape, prelas, princes, et roix, Du contraire nul ne sen vante, Et pour ce ton pechie guermente, Et diz en toy et recongnois Que de terre es toute puante, Retourner cy fault vne fois. Paradiz aras se men crois, Ne cuide pas que je te mente. Preng garde a ton fait aincois, Que lame de ton corps sesuente II fault premier quil se repente, Et puis que dye bien congnois Que de terre es toute puante Retourner cy fault vne fois. Princes, qui pendiz en la crois, Et morir volz de mort cruante Pour le pecheur, ainsi le crois Racheter de playe doulante. Veuillez par ta digne puissante Que dire puist de ceur courtois Que de terre es toute puante Retourner cy fault vne fois." Death is the theme, too, of another ballade^ in manu- script : 52 MS. fr. 1707, fol. 26, of the BibliotUque NationaXe. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE Od Balade de la Mort " Moy, qui suis mort a tous humains, Fais assavoir comme desse Que je tieng leur vie en mes mains. Fy de leur orgueil et richesse ! Tous fais toumer a la reuerse, Quat par la hault divin vouloir ffais venir jeunesse et viellesse En terre pourrir et manoir. Pensent ils que mes cris soient vains*? Bien le scaront se deulx j'approche. Ou est arthus ou est gauuains,^^ Hector qui tant eult de proesse? Chasteaulx villes ne forteresse Contre moi ne leur peult valoir. Qui que je voeul prens ou delesse En terre pourrir et manoir. ffuyent fort, soient pres ou loings, Dansent, chantet, men'as liesse. Voisent chasser aux cerfz aux daings, Prennent perdris mainnet en lesse. Chiens et levriers, cela n'oppresse Ma grant vertu ne mon pouoir. Tous fais venir par une adresse, En terre pourrir et manoir. Prince, come dame et mestresse Autant m'est le blanc que le noir. Au pas quant Fame le corps lesse. En terre pourrir et manoir." A Balade de la Mort^* is found also in Bouchet*s work: " Home aueugle des plaisirs de ce mode, Pense que c'est de ton estre & nature — 53 Cf. p. 88, The ' ' Uhi Sunt" Ballade. 54 Jehan Bouchet, XIII Eondeaulx Differens. Auec XXV Balades Vifferentes (Paris, 1536), Sig. Dvii^-Dviii^ 84 THE BALLADE Sy maintenant tu a force & faeonde Richesse, auoir, beaulte, sante, droicture — Demain seras tresuille pouriture Que le plus grand de tes amis fuyra; Tres uolontiers ton corps on conduyra lusques en terre a son dernier conuy, Quant ast de Fame en ingement yra Pour recepuoir ce que aura desseruy. Tu es vng sac tout plain de terre imude, Beau par dessus dedans plain de laidure, De toy ne vient, ne procede & redonde Que infection qu'a grad peine on endure; Tu ne redz rien de bouche & nez qu'ordure, Tant que viuras de toy ne sortira Que puanteur & quant departira L'ame de toy, qui te aura bien seruy, Par deuant dieu tons ses faictz on lyra, Pour recepuoir ce que aura desseruy. Le corps tousiours cotre la raison gronde, Et Fame induyt a toute forfaicture, En voluptez non en vertus se fonde, Et ne quiert fors paresse & nourriture; II ne sert dieu fors par quelque adueture, Penser ne veult que vne fois pourrira, Dont i'ay grand paour que au grad iour yra Ou il sera en ame & corps rauy, C'est deuant Dieu ou il obeyra, Pour recepuoir ce que aura desseruy. Prince congnoys que mourir conuiendra, Et que ton corps charongne deuiendra Homme n^y a qui n'y soit asseruir, Puis deuant Dieu chascune ame viendra Pour recepuoir ce que aura desseruy." Three of Chastellain*s poems have to do with death. The THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 86 conceptions in the second stanza of Ballade II are familiar yet striking : " Lequel veulx-tu, ou vie ou mort choisir? Choisys des deux: tu as discretion. Aymes-tu mieulx de ton corps le desir Pour ton ame mettre a dampnation Que vivre un peu en tribulation Et qu'apres mort soyt ton ame ravie En gloire es cieulx, qui de nul desservie Estre ne peult en ceste vie humaine, S'il ne laisse terre, avoir et demaine Et pere et mere et tout s'il est possible, Et vive en paine et en labeur terrible, En suy^^ant Dieu tous jours patiemment? C'est le chemin qui conduit seurement . Apres trespas I'ame a salvation; Et qui va aultre, il va a dampnement, ; Homme deffait, mis a perdition."^^ The envoy of Ballade III indulges in more conventional imagery : " Homme, arme-toy contre Theure future Forte et dure, car mort de la pointure Te picquera de sa mortelle darde; Mais SQais-tu quant? demain par aventure Ou aujourd'huy. Pour tant donne-toy garde."^^ In Ballade VII, Death with his dart figures, too, and the treatment is more pictorial : "Pense un chacun qu'il portera son fais Et que apres mort sera ressuscite Pour rendre a Dieu compte de ses meffais 55 Kervyn de Lettenhove, (Euvres de Georges Chastellain (Brussels, 1866), Vol. VIII, p. 300. 56 Kervyn de Lettenhove, Opus Cit., Vol. VIII, p. 303. 86 THE BALLADE En jugement ou il sera cite : La luy sera tout son temps recite ; La Dieu dira aux benoits Venite Et aux mauldits Ite. Ceste voir ditte, Chancun aura droit selon son merite, Les saulves gloire et leesse infinite, Et les dampnes tristesse a tous jours mais. Las! pensons-y, ear c'est chose licite: Par ce moyen nous aurons tousjours pais. Prince mortel, nostre vie est petite Et nous suyt mort atout son dard subite; Pour tant faisons des biens plus qu^onques mais, Tant qu'apres mort nostre ame es cieux habite : Par ce moyen nous aurons tousjours pais."^^ In Pierre de la Vacherie^s ballade on death, a pagan asso- ciation is introduced: "Riens il n*y plus certain que la mort Ne moins certain quant est I'heure d'icelle; Par quoy chascun doit avoir le remort, Duyre son ame, de peur qu'el ne chancelle Et que ne soit de Proserpine ancelle, Qui tant de peine luy feroit encourir; De penitence entrez en la nasselle, Considerant qu'une fois fault mourir."'*^ A curious dialogue in which Death and Man parley was written possibly by Meschinot : 57 Kervyn to Lettenhove, Opus Cit. p. 308, third stanza and envoy. 58 Pierre de la Vacherie, Gouvernement des Trois Estatz, A. de Montaiglon et James de Rothschild, Recueil de Poesies Francoises (Paris, 1877), Vol. XII, p. 97. Stanza 3 is given. The poem was composed 1505-1512. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 87 La mort parte a Ihomme humain. "Ben toy. Tu le seauras. Greue uature. Tu en mourras. Temprement. En pourriture. Va confesser car ie ne scay meilleur trouuer. A qui et quay ie fait? Quen sera 11? Quant? Cest chose dure. Las ou iray ie? Conseil me fault Se jay pechie? et sen ay peine? Son ma meffait? Dieu & coment? et qui dit ce? Tu le diras Si lendure Tu pardonras. Dentente pure. Saincte escripture. Cest mon conseil, pour ce prouer Car ie ne scay meilleur trouuer. Ie me rendz done. Ce feray mon? Se iay laultruy? Se iay auoir? Quoy? Que mangeray ie? Quelle? La foy tiendras Tu dis droicture Tu le rendras Tu en feras. Aux puoures Leur nourriture. La pasture. Que prebstre scet sacrer Car ie ne scay meilleur trouuer. Prince Que veulx tu? Ie vous iure. Quoy? Que je croy. La vierge pure. Que dieu crea pour nous sauluer Car ie ne scay meilleur trouuer."''® 59 Les Lunettes des Princes auec Aulcunes Balades 4" Additions Nouuellement Composee par Nohle Homme lehan Meschinot Escuyer en son Vivant Grant Maistre dHotel de la Eoyne de France (Paris, 1539), Sig. Qvii^-Qviii^ 88 the ballade The '*Ubi sunt'' Ballade®^ Probably the most famous ballade ever written is Villon's "des dames du temps jadis. " It is another example of how traditional literary forms and old ideas are transformed into new and glorious poetry by a great poet.^^ The **ubi sunt'' formula, first used in sermons and didactic poems, was soon transferred to hymns and songs, and thence spread from Latin versions to the vernacular.^- St. Bernard inquired : "Die ubi Salomon, olim tarn nobilis? Vel ubi Samson est, dux invineibilis? Vel pulcher Absalon, vultu mirabilis? Vel dulcis Jonathas, multum amabilis ? '' And he continued his questioning for the pagans, too : " Quo Caesar abiit, celsus imperio ? Vel Dives splendidus, totus in prandio? Die, ubi Tullius, clarus eloquio? Vel Aristoteles, suramus ingenio ? "^^ «o Professor K. C. M. Sills of Bowdoin College gave me a number of references to "ubi sunt'' literature. 61 Gaston Paris, Frangois Villon (Paris, 1910), p. 107: "Mais I'^scolier parisien a su faire de ce lieu commun une des perles les plus rares de la poesie de tous les temps, d 'abord en n 'evoquant dans son reve que des figures des femmes, puis en les choisissant avec un art ou plutot un instinct merveilleux. " 62-03 Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du Lundi (Vol. XIV), 26 Sept. 1859, pp. 297-298. Cf. C. Horstmann, Richard Bolle of Eampole, Library of Early English Writers (1895), Vol. II, 374; C. E. Northrop, Ubi Sunt Heroes, Modern Language Notes XXVIII, No. 4, p. 106; C. E. Northrop, Lilce a Midsomer Hose, Modern Language Notes, XXIV, No. 8, p. 257; Frederick Tupper, The Ubi Sunt Formula, Modern Language Notes, VIII, No. 8, p. 506; T. B. Bright, The Ubi Sunt Formula, Modern Language Notes, VIII, No. 3, p. 187. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 89 \ ■{ 1 At least three of Deschamps's poems, a chant royal'^* j and two ballades, are on the **ubi sunt" theme. Their i quality is suggested by the stanzas quoted : * Baiade \ Comment Ce Monde N'est Riens Quant a la Vie St. 1. 1 " Ou est Nembroth le grant jay ant, I Qui premiers obtint seigneurie ] Sur Babiloine? Ou est Priant, \ Hector, et toute sa lignie? j Achilles et sa compaingnie, Troye, Carthaige et Romulus, \ Athene, Alixandre, Remus, { Jullius Cesar et li sien? Ilz sont tous cendre devenus : Souflez, nostre vie n^est rien."®** But that "ubi sunt" ballade of his which takes for its j theme the passing of ''adorable jeunesse" has its share of ' poetic poignancy. \ \ " Qu'est devenu printemps, Avril et May? Ou est ale le doulx temps que j'avoie ' «*Le Marquis de Queux de SaintiHilaire, (Euvres Completes de j Mustache Deschamps (Paris, 1882), Vol. Ill, p. 183: . "Force de corps, qu'est devenu Sanson? ! Ou est Auglas, le bon practicien? 1 Ou est le corps du sage Salemon ( Ne d'Ypocras, le bon phisicien? ' Ou est Platon, le grant naturien ' Ne Orpheus o sa doulce musique? i Tholomeus o son arismetique ? ^ Ne Dedalus qui first le bel ouvragef Us sont tous mors, si fu leur mort inique; . i Tuit y mourront, et li fol et li saige. " i «5G. Eaynaud, Opus Cit., Vol. VIII, p. 149. .| 90 THE BALLADE A .xiiii. ans, le corps plaisant et gay, Les cheveux blons, ou temps que je cuidoie Que Pen m'amoit pas amours que j'avoie, Que je regnay, que je fus honnoree, Jeune, gente, fresche et fort desiree? Vint et cinq ans dura ma jeune flours, Mais a trente ans fu ma colour muee. Lasse! languir vois ou desert d'amours: VEnvoy Jeunes belles, cuidez car je cuiday; Mais avisez a la doulour que j'ay. Prenez vo temps, car trop vault un bon jours. Vingt et cinq ans ont tenu mon cuer gay, Trente et le plus m^ont fait perdre toute glay Lasse! languir vois ou desert d' amours."^® Sainte-Beuve makes the point that Villon 's real contribu- tion to great poetry lies not so much in the conventional questioning as in the poignant refrain, "Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?" Professor Gummere, on the other hand, has shown that these magic words are only a variant of a communal refrain.®^ The American scholar refers to a beautiful Middle English predecessor of the great ballade, the Luve Bon, in which, in response to a " maid of Christ ' * who asks for a love song, Thomas de Hales cites, as so many exempla, the miserable fates of those who gave themselves to love and recommends Christ as the only worthy lover. Quite comparable to Villon's ballade is this stanza : " Hwer is paris and heleyne, }pat weren so bryght and feyre on bleo? 06 Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, (Euvres Computes de Eus- tache Deschamps (Paris, 1882), Vol. Ill, p. 373. 67 F. B. Gummere, The Beginnings of Poetry (New York, 1901), p. 149. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 91 ^ I Amadas. tristram and dideyne,®® | yseude and alle j7eo? i Ector wi}7 his scharpe meyne, ' and cesar riche of wordes feo? i Heo bej? iglyden vt of J?e reyne. j so \>e schef (t) is of J?e cleo."«» \ J These lines lack plainly the concentrated lyric sweetness of i Villon's poem, the most perfect of all ballades :'^^ | " Dictes moy ou, n'en quel pays, Est Flora la belle Rommaine, i Archipiades^^ ne Thais, Qui fut sa cousine germaine; Echo parlant quant bruyt on maine Dessus riviere ou sus estan, Qui beault€ ot trop plus qu'humaine. « Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan ? " 1 Ou est la tres sage Hellois, Pour qui fut chastre et puis moyne Pierre Esbaillart a Saint Denis? Pour son amour ot ceste essoyne. Semblablement, ou est la royne Qui commanda que Buridan Fust gete en ung sac en Saine? Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan ? La royne Blanche comme lis Qui chantoit a voix de seraine, «8 Scribal error for ideyne. 69 Richard Morris, An Old English Miscellany (London, 1872), Early English Text Society, No. 49, p. 95. For further references to the treatment of the '*ubi sunt" motive, see O. L. Triggs, The As- sembly of Gods by John Lydgate, Early English Text Society, Extra Series 69, London, 1896, pp. 73-74. 70 Cf. P. Champion, Frangois Villon Sa Vie et Son Temps (Paris, 1913), Vol. I, p. 145; Vol. II, pp. 186-188. TiAlcibiades — see G. Paris, Opus Cit., p. 107. 92 THE BALLADE ] Berte au grant pie, Bietris, Alls, Haremburgis qui tint le Maine, Et Jehanne^^ la bonne Lorraine 72 Cf. P. Champion, Ballade du Sacre de Beims, a chant royal. i Cf. also the uninspired "ballade contre les Anglais," printed in Bomania for 1892, p. 51, by Paul Meyer, who dates the piece 1429. ' For other historical ballades see p. 128 below. J '*Ariere, Englois couez, ariere! Vostre sort si ne resgne plus. i Penses deu treyner vous baniere \ Que bons Fransois ont rue jus j Par le voloyr dou roy Jhesus, ' Et Janne, la douce pucelle, ! De quoy vous estes confondus, i Dont c 'est pour vous dure novelle. I De tropt orgouilleuse maniere | Longuemen vous estes tenus; i En France est vous [tre] semet[i]ere, Dont vous estes pour foulx tenus. Faucement y estes venus, M6s, par bonne juste querelle, i Tourner vous en faut tons camus, '. Dont c'est pour vous dure novelle. Or esmagines quelle chiere Font ceulx qui vous ont soustenus j Depuis vostre emprisse premiere. j Je croy qu'i sont mort ou perdus, Car je ne voys nulle ne nus Qui de present de vous se mesle. Si non chetis et maletrus, Dont c'est pour vous dure novelle. Pour vous gages, il est conclus, Ai^s la goute et la gravelle Et le coul taill6 rasibus, Dont c'est pour vous dure nouvelle." THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 93 Qu'Englois brulerent a Rouan; Ou sont ilz, ou, Vierge souvraine? Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan? Prince, n'enquerez de sepmaine Ou elles sont, ne de cest an, Que ce refrain ne vous remaine : Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?"^^ Villon wrote two other ballades of this type, the **balade des seigneurs du temps iadis"^* and a ''balade (a ce propos en viel langage f rancois) , ' ^^^ neither of which is a master- piece. A direct result also of these poems of Villon's is Gringore's pious questioning of death with its formal in- sistence on chastity and virtue as the prerequisites of im- mortality. " Ou est Priam, ou est Agamemnon, Et Alexandre qui cut si grant renom? Ou la proesse des tres nobles Romains? Qu'est de venue la puissance Sanxon, Et la richesse du Riche Pharaon, Qui en leur temps subjuguoient les humains? Jean's exploits, as the ballade quoted shows, were not always pro- ductive of great lines. The '' ballade centre les anglais '* obviously belongs in the category of historical ballades. 73 Francois Villon, (Euvr es, editees par un Ancien Archiviste (Paris, 1911), p. 22. J. W. Mackail, (Springs of Helicon London, 1909, p. 34), speaking of Pandarus's line, ''Yea, farewell all the snow of feme year," says: "The words on the lips of a later poet became the burden of the world-famous Ballad of Dead Ladies, but they were Chaucer 's first. ' ' Cf . also H. Guy, Histoire de la PoSsie Frangaise du Xrie Siecle (Paris, 1910), p. 146: Octavien Saint-Gelays, one of Villon's poetic followers, had the temerity to essay twice a re-writing of the flawless Ballade des dames du temps jadis. 74 A. Longnon, CEuvres Completes de Frangois Villon (Paris, 1892), p. 34. 75 A. Longnon, Opus Cit., p. 36. 94 THE BALLADE II sont sechez ainsi qu^au prez les foings. Mort en la fin les a occis, deffais, Et qu'il soit vray, plusieurs en sont tesmoings; Au mortel monde demeurent les bienfais."^^ Proverbs and the Ballade Ballades, adaptable to the sober purposes of religion and death, lent themselves easily to gnomic uses. Moreover, the proverb as a line unit frequently offered a quick solution of what might otherwise have been a difficult rime-problem. Proverbs were used singly or they were grouped to form a stanza. But the stringing together of any considerable number of proverbs was likely to produce patter rather than poetry. That proverbs should have been introduced into ballades was to be expected. In the early years of the existence of the ballade, there was, indeed, the medieval affection for sententious wisdom to account for the fre- quent appearance of the proverb, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, there was the obsession in favor of rhetorical ornament to explain the presence of the proverb in so many places.*^^ 76 Charles Oulmont, Pierre Gringore (Paris, 1911), p. 142. 77 * ' La f a^on dont les rhetoriqueurs concevait la morale les con- duisait necessairement k I'exprimer en proverbes. Non seulement ils ne fuyaient pas ces sentences banales et contradictoires que le dogma- tisme populaire a edictees, mais il les recherchaient avec z^le en sorte que leurs livres en sont plus farcis que les discours de Sancho Pan^a. Des pieces enti^res (j 'en pourrais citer plus de cent) nous oifrent un proverbe k la fin de chaque strophe. Presque tons les auteurs de ee temps se sont asservis k cette mode, et le seul effort que certains — Molinet, par exemple, — aient fait pour se monstrer originaux, ^'a 4t6 de commencer quelquef ois la strophe par le proverbe. Adjoutez qu 'ils ne recherchent point les adages les plus significatifs ou les moins prosaiques, mais ceux qui ont le nombre de syllabes qu'il faut (dix ou huit, dix k 1 'ordinaire) ; il s'ensuit que les memes maximes revien- nent ra^caniquement, et servent flexibles et vaines, k prouver le pour et le centre." (H. Guy, L'icole de Rhetoriqueurs, Paris, 1910, p. 68.) THE BALiiADE IN FRANCE 95 In Deschamps's ballades, the proverb occurs sometimes in the body of the stanza, as in * ' autre balade de la complainte de grammaire," stanza 1, line 7: " Si vielle suy et de si long temps nee Que mil ne veult plus ma doctrine entendre, Et si fu je la premiere ordonnee, Qui les .vii. ars fis a pluseurs aprendre, Et les plus grans fis mainte foiz du mendre, A rude engin, par fort continuer; Goute d'yaue fait la pierre caver, Si fiat aussi continuacion De poursuir, retenir, demander: Mais des .vi. ars voy la destruction."'® Or the proverb — ^and this fashion is more frequent — serves as the refrain. The first stanza of a "balade morale d'un paisant et son chien, ' ' shows this disposition of the material : " Un paisant avoit un chien De grant exploit, jeune et puissant, Fort et hardi, si I'ama bien, Car toute beste fut prenant, Et si gardoit diligemment Son hostel de jour et de nuit; Manger lui fist de maint deduit, Et des loups son tropiau garda. Or devint vieulx: lors le destruit: Quant fruit faut, desserte s^en va."'^ This hallade, like many others of Deschamps's, is a fable, and of fables there is a word to be said later. Proverbs are common in the ballades of Deschamps and also in those by his contemporaries, Christine de Pisan and 78 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint- Hilaire, (Euvres Completes de Eustache DescMmps (Paris, 1887), Vol. V, p. 152. 79 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, Opus Cit., Vol. VI, p. 270. 96 THE BALLADE Froissart.®** The former, for instance, used a proverb as refrain in one of the Cent Ballades, the first stanza of which is : " Sage seroit qui se saroit garder Des f aulx amans qui ades ont usage De dire assez pour les femmes frauder; Trop se plaignent de I'amoureuse rage Qui plus les tient que I'oisellet la cage, Et vont faignant qu'ilz en ont eouleur fade; Mais quant a moy tiens de certain corage, Qui plus se plaint n'est pas le plus malade."^^ Similarly, Froissart's method of availing himself of the ready made wisdom of proverbs is shown in the third and fourth lines of a ballade in Meliador: "Aucun dient clamant ont trop grant painne Pour bien amer et loyaute tenir; Pour ce, s'il ont .i. bien une sepmainne, Encontre ce leur fault .c. maus souffrir. Mais a ce point ne me voel acorder, Car Amours poet tout ce bien amender. Par .i. seul eur c'on en poet recevoir, Couvient, il dont tout Fanoi oublier C'on ot onques ou puist jamais avoir."^^ The ballade consisting of nothing but proverbs became popular after Villon. His ** ballades desi Proverbes*'^* 80 See E. Fehse, Sprichtwort und Sentenz hex Eustache Deschamps und Dichtern Seiner Zeit (Berlin, 1905). 81 M. Eoj, CEuvrcs Foetiques de Christine de Pisan (Paris, 1886), Vol. I, p. 54. 82 A. Longnon, Meliador par Jean Froissart (Paris, 1895), Vol. IT, p. 214. 83 Le Roux de Lincy, Le Livre des Froverbes Frangais (Paris, 1859), Vol. I, p. LVIII: "Villon connaissait bien les proverbes, non pas ces sentences pedantesques, ees mots dor6s, comme on disait alors, THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 97 tempted other poets. The following stanza quoted from one of his proverbial ballades, in spite of its mannerisms and artifice, is extremely ingenious: " Tant grate chievre que mal gist, Tant va le pot a I'eau qu'il brise, Tant chauffe on le fer qu'il rougist, Tant le maille on qu'il se debrise, Tant vault I'homme comme on le prise, Tant s'eslongne il qu'il n'en souvient, Tant mauvais est qu'on le desprise, Tant erie I'on Noel qu'il vient."^* Almost identical in form and phrase is the halade [des Proverbes] of Le Pnsonnier Desconforte, dating near the end of the fifteenth century. Take for example the first stanza : ' Tant ayme I'on que mal en vient, Tant pri-on que chose est acquise, dont Pierre Gringoire et les ennuyeux rimeurs de son ecole se plaisai- ent a orner leur ecrits, mais les proverbes communs repetes a chaque moment par le peuple, et dont encore aujourd'hui il aime a faire usage." And p. LIX: *'Presque toutes les ballades que Villon a jointes k son Grand et a son Petit Testament se terminent ainsi, et 1 'on voit, d 'apres les exemples cites precedemment que cette maniere de composer etait fort repandue aux XIV* et XV* si^cles. " This hal- lade is printed in Le Jardin de Plaisance, Societe des Ancieiis Textes Frangais (Paris, 1910), sig vi. 84 Francois Villon, CEuvres, ed. par un Ancien Archiviste (Paris, 1911), p. 79. The first line of Villon's poem and the refrain are recurrent in French literature. The proverb, ' ' Tant grate chiSvre que mal gist, ' ' occurs twice in Le Roux de Lincy's Chants Historiques, in a halade (of 21 stanzas) by Alain Chartier (1449), at the end of stanza 8; and again at the end of stanza 11 of a Chanson contre Hugues Aubriot (1384). At the end of stanza 12 of the latter poem is another proverb beginning with tant. 8 98 THE BALLADE Tant poursuit-on qu'on y parvient, Tant bat-on place qu'elle est prise, Tant plus couste plus on la prise Tant perle-Pon qu'on se mesdit, Tant va le pot a Feau qu'il brise Tant grate chievre que mal git."^'^ A ballads of CoUerye, too, was doubtless indebted to Villon's experiments with the proverb in ballade form. " Trop or et argent amasser Sans en bien user n'est licite; Trop son ennemy pourchasser N'est pas tout eur, comme on recite; Trop longue guerre mort suscite, Au peuple mauvais peu en chault; Trop malverser, grant mal incite; Tant plus y a trop, et moins vault. Trop empoigner, trop embrasser Est ung trop assez illicite, Trop avoir et trop tracasser N'est pas bon, S'il n'y a poursuitte Prisee n^est une lache fruitte, Ne trop fin homme, ne trop cault, Ne pareillement trop grant suitte; Tant plus y a trop et moins vault. Trop noiser et trop menasser Est un trop dont on n^est pas quicte; 85 Pierre Champion, Le Prisonnier Desconforte du Chateau de Loches (Paris, 1909), p. 13. Two other contemporaries of Villon's are known to have composed proverb hallades. See P. Champion, Vie de Charles d'Orlcans (Paris, 1911), p. 598: "La ballade des Proverbes, qu'^crivit assez tard M* Pierre Chevalier, est une bonne contribution h ce mode litt^raire" . . . Bertaut de Villebresme . . . 6crivit sur ce snjet une ballade dans laquelle il laissa briller toute son Erudition." THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 99 Trop passer et trop rapasser C^est un trop de sotte conduite; Trop voit-on prudence petite Regner sur plusieurs bas et hault Trop voit-on mourir gens d'eslite; Tant plus y a trop et moins vault. Prince, ma parolle desduyte, Puis que par trop conclure fault, Je dis en substance bien duitte: Tant plus y a trop et moins vault."^® Melin de Saint Gelais wrote two hallades, in one of which, a gay little plea for the right of a lover to distract himself with many beauties, he avails himself of several familiar and popular sayings : " S'il est ainsi qu'il n'est rien si parfaict Ou il n'y ayt de I'imperfeetion, Et s'il est vray qu' Amour n'ayt en effect Nul autre object que la perfection; Confesser faut que ceste affection, Qui ne pent voir son object tout en une, Se pent espandre et choisir en ehacune Ce qu'il y a plus digne d'amitie, Ainsi I'amour dispersee et commune Demeure entiere et n'a point de moitie. Vertu qui tout accomplit et parfait N'est qu'un seul bien qui a mainte action; Beaute aussi, qui tost se deffait. Est simple en soy; mais sa compaction, 86 Charles d'Herieault, (Euvres de Roger de Collerye (Paris, 1855), p. 171. On the same page, in a foot-note, the editor says: ''Cette ballade presente une tournure analogue k celle de Villon: 'Tant grate ch^vre que mal gist,' etc. 100 THE BALLADE i I Qui emplit I'oeil de satisfaction, ' Gist en plusieurs qui n'ont semblance aucune. ] Les vices grands, comme envie ou rancune, I Dependent tons d'une seule impitie, I Ainsi amour, sous maints chois ou fortune, J Demeure entiere, et n'a point de moitie. j Qui dura done variable, un qui fait De divers Mens prudente election? L'abeille prend, pour venir a son faict, De maintes fleurs douce refection; Tout Funivers, et la complexion De ce grand corps qui est dessous la lune N'est qu'un changer d'une espece a quelqu'une D'autre accident, par sage inimitie; Et si nature, a tons faicts opportune Demeure entiere et n'a point de moitie. Envoy Soit done fortune a moy luisante ou brune. Me tienne au fond ou me mette a la hune, Nul n'en doit prendre envie ne pitie; Car mon amour, requise ou importune, Demeure entiere et n'a point de moitie."^'' Thoroughly sententious, too, in purpose and in expression is the ''balade bien substancieuse":^'* " II nest dangier que de villain, Ne orgueil que de poure enrichy, 87 J. B. Blanchemain, CEuvres CompUtes de Melin de Saint-Gelais (Paris, 1873), Vol. TT. p. 4. 88 British Museum Ms. Barley 4S97, fol. 82' (written on paper in fifteenth century hand). The poem is found also with some differ- ences in Jardin de Plaisance, SociSte des Anciens Textes Franqais, Sig. tii. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 101 Ne si sceur chemin que le plain, Ne secours que de vray amy, Ne desespoir que jalousie, Ne hault vouloir que damoureux, Ne paistre quen grant seignourie, Ne chiere que dhomme joyeulx. Ne seruir que roy souuerain, Ne en amour tel bien que mercy, Ne mengier que quant on a f aim, Ne nul tel chastoy que de luy, Ne pourete que malladie, Ne angoisse que ceur conuoiteux, Ne puissance ou il ny ait enuiye, Ne chiere que dhome joyeulx. Et®* nest richesse que destre sain, Ne lait nom que dhome a honty, Ne que de la mort plus certain, Ne emprinse que dhome hardy, Ne tel tresor que preud5mie, Ne suyr^^ que les bons et preux, Ne la maison que bien garnie, Ne chiere que dhdme joyeulx. Prince, que volez que je dye, II nest parler que gracieux, Ne loer ges quaprez leur vie, Ne chiere " [rest of refrain indicated by abbreviation.] The poetic tendency to moralize, which often led a writer of ballades to lean on proverbs, also caused him to turn to fable literature and to the fabrication of elaborate animal allegory. Deschamps wrote a number of such fable hal- 89 Probably should be omitted; elisions, e. g., n' emprinse, should be made. 90 Probably should be suyvre or suivre. 102 THE BALLADE lades. He chose subjects like Le Paysan et le Serpent, ^'^ Le Chat et les Souris^^ and Le Reynard et le Corheau.^^ The ballade of Le Lion et les Fourmis^^ is political allegory in fable guise. The ants in this case are the thrifty Flemings. Mellin de Saint- Gelays used the iahle-hallade in behalf of Clement Marot and against Francois Sagon, who had attacked Marot, by describing a kite in mid air who swoops down and fastens his talons on a sleeping cat. The inoffen- sive cat is Marot ; the bird of prey is Sagon : " Mais, se voyant ainsi injustement attaque, Le chat combat et au milan s'attache Si vivement et restraint si tresfort Que le milan, faisant tout son effort De s'envoler, se tint prins a la prise, Lors me souvint d'un qui a fait le fort, Qui par son mal a sa faiblesse apprise."®^ Ballades of Courtly Love^*' One of the favorite diversions of aristocratic society in the fifteenth century was the cultivation of courtly love. 91 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, CEuvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps (Paris, 1878), Vol. I, p. 120. 02 Idem, Vol. I, p. 151. 03 Idem, Vol. II, p. 61. 04 Idem, Vol. I, p. 287. 95 H. J. Molinier, Mellin de Saint-Gelays (Rodez, 1910),, p. 382. 96 Cf. A. Piaget, Un Manuscrit de la Cour Amoureuse de Charles VI, Romania XXXI, and A. Piaget, La Cour Amoureuse, dite de Charles VI, Romania XX. Cf. also W. G. Dodd, Courtly Love in Chaucer and Gower (Boston and London, 1913). This book con- tains a detailed treatment of the subject and presents evidence of the almost universal presence of the doctrines of '* Courtly love" in the English authors named, and in French writers after the Trou- badours. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 103 The well-born were lovers as inevitably as they were fighters. The conventions of a lover's conduct were rigidly prescribed and all well-regulated ardor was supposed to find some relief in decorous poetic devotion. The Courts of Love, which were frequently held on St. Valentine's day, or on the first of May, furnished the occasion for love bal- lades with their set phrases and shallow compliments. The ballades of Machaut, Deschamps,^^ Froissart, and Charles d 'Orleans, are for the most part expressions of these fami- liar formulas of courtly love. So are the ballade sequences presently to be discussed; so, for that matter, are the greater number of ballades composed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The whole subject of the motives and modes of courtly love is involved in a study of ballade literature. The allegory of these ballades became current with the Roman de la Rose, where abstractions like Dangier, Esper- ance, Nonchaloir, w^ere popularized, and where the example of great lovers, too, first became a familiar literary resource. Thus Charles d 'Orleans accuses Dangier: " C'est par Dangier, mon cruel adversaire, Qui m*a tenu en ses mains longuement, En tous mes faiz je le trouve contraire; Et plus se rit quant plus me voit dolent. Se vouloye raeonter plainement En cest escript mon ennuieux martire, Trop long seroit: pour ce certainement J'aymasse mieulx de bouche le vous dire."**^ 97 A. Piaget, Tin Manuscrit de la Cour Amour euse de Charles VI, Romania, XXXI, p. 602: The name of Eustache Deschamps appears among the auditeurs, one of the eight classes of members. OS A. Champollion-Figeac, Les Poesies du Due Charles d^Orleans (Paris, 1842), p. 69. 104 , THE BALLADB Again, the same poet basks in a St. Valentine's day sun ; while in the clutches of Ennuieuse-pensee : " Le beau souleil, le jour Saint- Valentin, I Qui apportoit sa chandelle alumee, ^ N'a par longtemps, entra un bien matin i Priveement en ma chambre fermee. Celle clarte qu'il avoit apportee Si m'esveilla du somme de Soussy ,j Ou j^avoye toute la nuit dormy, i Sur le dur lit d'Ennuieuse-pensee."^^*' j Charles d 'Orleans has a very beautiful love poem in La ! CJiasse et le Depart d* Amours, ^^^ in which the formal ele- i ment is less disturbing : ] I " Se dieu plaist, brief uement lannee De ma tristesse passera, Belle tres loyaulment amee, Et le beau temps se monstrera. Mais scauez vous quant ce sera? Quant le doulx soleil gracieulx De voltre beaulte entrera par la fenestre de mes yeulx. Lors la chambre de ma pensee De grant plaisance reluyra, Et sera de joye paree, Adonc mon cueur sesueillera 100 A. ChampoUion-Figeac, Opus Cit., p. 126. 101 P. Champion, Piices Joyeuses du XVe sQcle (vol. XXI of Bevue de Philologie Frangaise), p. 162: ^'La Chasse et le Depart Vamoura est 1 'une des plus 6tranges supercheries du libraire 6diteuf Antoine V6rard. Ce livre fut public en 1509 sous le nom d'Octovien de Saint Gelais et de Blaise d'Auriol. ... A. Piaget a montre que ce volume contenait avec quelques rajeunissements, la plupart des poesies de Charles d 'Orleans d^marquees, qu Ml f allait y reconnaitre la main d*un veritable faussaire.*' THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 105 Qui en dueil dormy longtemps a plus ne donnira se maist dieux; Quant ceste clerte le verra par les fenestres des mes yeulx. Helas ! quant viendra la joumee Quainsi aduenir me pourra? Ma maistresse tresdesiree, pensez vous que brief aduiendra? Car moncueur tousiours languira En ennuy sans point auoir mieulx, Juc a tant que soleil verra Par les fenestres de mes yeulx. De reeonfort mon cueur aura Autant que nul dessoulz les cieulx; Belle, quant vous regardera Par les fenestres de mes yeulx."^®^ A familiar conceit is conventionally expressed in the first stanza of one of Machaut's hallades: " Tenus me sui longuement de chanter, Mais orendroit ay loyal occoison D'estre envoisies et de joie mener, Car mes cuers est gietes hors de prison Oil il fut nus doucement. Mais puis qu'il est mis hors delivrement, Mener m'estuet bonne vie et joieuse, Pris de rechief en prison amoureuse."^®^ One of the Englishmen who wrote French poetry, John Gower, shows in all his hallades familiarity with courtly love. Like Charles d 'Orleans, who repeatedly made St. Valentine's day his point of departure, Gower includes in 102 Blaise d'Auriol, Depart d* Amours (Toulouse, 1508), Sig. Biii"". 103 V. Chichmaref, Guillaume de Machaut, Poesies Lyriques (Paris, 1909), Vol. I, p. 50. 106 THE BALLADE his Cinkante Balades two dedicated to rites of the four- teenth of February.^^* Gower, too, is fond of citing famous precedents. The refrain of halade XIII tells how the lover 's pangs are ^'Plus qe Paris ne soeffrist pour Heleine. "^**^ The lady of one of his hcdades (XLIII) complains: "Plus tricherous qe Jason a Medee, A Deianire ou q'Ereules estoit, Plus q'Eneas, q'avoit Dido lessee, Plus qe Theseiis, q'Adriagne amoit, Ou Demephon, quant Phillis oublioit, Je trieus, helas, q'amer jadis soloie: Dont chanterai desore en mon endroit, C'est ma dolour, se fuist aingois ma joie."^^^ Letters in ballade form may conveniently be considered in connection with conventional love terms. Gower 's Cinkante Balades also contains three love letters in the usual epistolary style of ballades. In one case the poet concludes : " noble dame, a vous ce lettre irra, Et quant dieu plest, je vous verrai apres: Par cest escrit il vous remembrera, Quant dolour vait, lest joies vienont pres."^<^^ His other letter envoys are similar in character.^^® Deschamps used the ballade as letter several times. There is a "lettre d 'Eustace, en regrac,iant Madame d'Orliens par Balade, ' ' the first stanza of which runs : 10* G. C. Macaulay, Complete Works of John Gower (Oxford, 1899), Vol. I, pp. 365-366, balades XXXIIII and XXXV. 105 Idem, Vol. I, p. 349. loe Idem, Vol. I, p. 371. 107 Idem, Vol. I, p. 339. ios Idem, Vol. I, p. 340; p. 341. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 107 " Ma trescliiere et redoubtee dame, Je vous merci tresamoureusement, Quant pleu vous a a souvenir de Fame, D'Eustace, moy vostre povre servent, Qu'om disoit mort, et si benignement En avez fait chanter de vostre grace, Qu'a Dieu suppli, priere ne li face Jamais nul jour ne bien durant ma vie Que vous n'aiez en ce vo bien et place; De voz gens bien devez estre serv^ie."^^® And another letter, addressed to the ' ' damoiselles de ma diete Dame d'Orliens,'' closes with this envoy: " Dames d'onneur, damoiselles aussi, Eustace, d'umble cuer vous mercie De voz biens faiz; vostres sui pour ce di, Car je voy bien : Qui ayme, a tart oblie."^^^ In 1471, P. de Jasulhac, a French student at Toulouse, won a *'dame d 'argent" for the composition of the Letra d* Amours here given: " Tres dossa Flor, cortes, plasen acuelh, Nimpha plasen, del munde la plus bela; Mantienh joyos, baselic frapan d'uelh; Cors triumphan, ma dossa Domayzela, 109 G. Raynaud, (Euvres Completes de EustacJie Deschamps (Paris, 1891), Vol. VTT, p. 122. 110 G. Raynaud, Op^is Cit., p. 125. The refrain of this hdllade, popularized by Chaucer in the Parle- ment of Foules, is found in at least two other places, as the first lino of a stanza in a lyric of the Modena MS. (See A. Jeanroy, Les Chan- sons Frangaises du MS. de Modene, Supplement of Bevue des Langues Bomanes, 1896, p. 249), and also as the refrain of Balade XXV in Gower's Cinkante Balades. (See G. C. Macaulay, Complete Works of John Gower (Oxford, 1899), Vol. I, p. 358.) 108 THE BALLADE Mon cor soffris dolor arden, crusela, Per vostr* amor e languis neyt e jom, En loc que sia trobar no pot so jom Tan fort vos tern e de bon' amor ama, E se mante plus que nul a son torn Humil, Hal e secret a sa Dama. Quant ieu regart vostras belas fayssos, Lo gentil cors, vostra bona doctrina, Lo bel parlar, lo regart amoros E 1 bon renom qu'en vos sus tot domina, Adone, mon cor de vos amor no fina, Ez en re plus trobar no pot repaus, Tant es liat en vostre' amor e claus, Don en totz Iocs, desir arden I'enflama, E tot jom es, ses mudar son prepaus, Humil, lial e secret a sa Dama. Done, rosier gay, supplic vos humilmen Ajatz merce de ma joie simplessa. No vulhatz pas mon dolen fenimen. Res ieu no elam qu'amor e gentillessa: leu vos crendray coma Dieu o Deesa, En vos serven y aman de bon acort; Vostre sera mon cors e vien e mort, Gardan per tot vostre bon nom e fama, Retenetz lo, quar el es ferm e fort Humil, lial e secret a sa Dama. Tomada Prince tres haut, thesaur de tot deport, Vuelhas donar a mon cor bon coffort, En alleujan sa dolor e sa flama; Son voler es dresser entro la mort Humil, lial e secret a sa Dama." [A. F. Gatien-Amoult, Monumens de la Litterature Romane (Paris-Toulouse, 1841-1849), Vol. IV, p. 239.] the ballade in prance 109 Ballade Sequences Some of the earliest ballades were imbedded in allegorical poems of considerable length. In the fourteenth century and in the fifteenth, too, ballades continued to be inter- spersed in narrative, though not necessarily allegorical, poems. Thus, in Froissart's Le Livre du Tresor Amou- reux,^^^ there are one hundred and twenty-eight ballades, arranged in three groups, two of forty-four^^^ and one of forty, all of which exhibit a unity of thought and feeling in that their theme is " D 'armes, d 'amours et de moralite, ' ' or, in other words, chivalry. The chief interest, however, for the medieval reader lay primarily, we may suppose, in the verse into which the ballades were introduced, and not in the ballades themselves. Other poems, too, containing series of ballades, might be cited, such as Machaut's Le Livre du Voir-Dit,^^* Christine de Pisan's Le Livre du Due des Vrais Ama^is,^^^ and Le Prisonnier Desconforte.^'^^ But at least three sequences of one hundred ballades and one group of fifty, unconnected with other verse or prose, were composed at the height of the enthusiasm for the form. There were the Cinkante Balades,^^^ composed by John 111 A. Scheler, CEuvres de Froissart (Brussels, 1872), Vol. Ill, p. 54. 112 In one of these groups a jeu-parti occurs between the poet and a knight on the comparative merits of success in arms and success in love. 113 Guillaume de Machaut, Le Livre du Voit-Dit, with an introduc- tion by P. Paris (Paris, 1885). 114 M. Roy, (Euvres Poetiques de Christine de Pisan (Paris, 1896), Vol. III. lisp. Champion, Le Prisonnier DesconfortS (Paris, 1909). 116 G. C. Macaulay, The Complete Works of John Gower (Oxford, 1899), Vol. I. 110 THE BALLADE Gowe» in French verse,^^^ two centuries by ''Christine desolee/' and a third century by Jean le Seneschal.^^^ In all these the familiar situations and sentiments of courtly s love figured repeatedly. In another series by Christine de Pisan, the Cent Bal- lades,^^^ the thought connection throughout is much less close than it would be in a characteristic sonnet sequence of the Elizabethans. These sonnet sequences^^*' usually celebrate the matchless perfections of the beloved. The beauties of one individual, more rarely of several, secure the unity of the collection. But the Cent Ballades, unlike the sonnet sequences, are on a variety of subjects and seem to have been composed at long intervals.^-^ For example, the first twenty ballades express Christine's personal loss in the death of her husband, while others treat the general 117 The rhythm is somewhat different from that of French verse on the continent. There is a noticeable conflict between the syllabic count and the accent. Gower, like the English poets who wrote bal- lades in English, did not conform wholly to the restrictions of the form. Five of his ballades, for example, XIII, XVI, XIV, XVII, and LI, are without refrain. 118 G. Raynaud, Les Cent Ballades (Paris, 1905), p. xliii: ''Nous dirons done, en combinant les donnees fournies par le Livre des faits et par le poeme des Cent Ballades que ce dernier ouvrage, dont le cadre est 1 'ceuvre commune de quatre auteurs, a et6 presque en entier versifie par le s6nechal d 'Eu, aide partiellement par Boueicault, par Cresecque et par Philippe d'Artois, dont le collaboration ne sau- rait etre exactement d^finie. '* 119 Maurice Roy, CEuvres Poctiques de Christine de Pisan (Paris, 1886), Vol. I, p. 1. Roy believes the time of composition to cover the years between 1394 and 1399. 120 Cf. Sidney Lee, Elizabethan Sonnets, An English Garner (West- minster, 1904). 121 M. Roy, Opus at., Vol. T, p. xxvii: "Nous pensons done que c'est dans un intervalle d'au moins cinq ou six ann6es qu'ont du etre composes la plupart de ces morceaux poctiques." THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 111 subject of love — vicariously, as Balade L would have us believe. " Aucunes gens porroient mesjugier Pour ce sur moy que je fais ditz d'amours; Et diroient que Pamoureux dongier, i Je SQay trop bieii compter et tous les tours, j Et que ja si vivement , N'en parlasse, sanz Tessay proprement, ' Mais sauve soit la grace des diseurs, Je m'en raport a tous sages ditteurs."^22 j Some wholly different themes, too, are found. For example, \ a contemporary meets ironical treatment at the hands of the | lady : \ " Dant chevalier, vous amez, moult beaulz ditz, Mais je vous pri que mieulx aimiez beaulz faiz."^^^ ; Jealous husbands, favorite subjects for jest in the Middle | Ages, come in for their share : \ " Que ferons nous de ce mary jaloux? . Je pry a Dieu qu'on le puist escorchier. j Tant se prent il de pres garde de nous i Que ne pouons Pun de Fautre approchier. A male hart on le puist atachier, L'ort vil, villain, de goute contrefait, - Qui tant de maulz et tant d'anuis nous fait ! "124 Again, entirely different from these in tone, is Balade \ XCIV, as the closing stanza will show : ! " Si devons, tous et toutes, querir voie De parvenir avec la noble route ' 122 Idem, Vol. I, p. 51. ; 123 Idem, Vol. I, p. 59, Balade LVIII. \ 124 Idem, Vol. I, p. 78, Balade LXXVIII. ,1 1 \ 112 THE BALLADE Des benois sains, ou vit et regne a joye s. La tres hault Dieu, en qui est bonte toute, Qui nous donra tel salaire, Se nous voulons repentir et bien faire, Ou joye et paix et grant gloire est enclose. Dieux nous y maint trestous a la parclose !"^^^ In the final ballade of the collection, Christine intimates that the hundred were gathered together at a friend's request : " Cent balades ay cy escriptes, Trestoutes de mon sentement. Si en sont mes promesses quites A qui m'en pria ehierement. Nommee m'i suis proprement; Qui le vouldra savoir ou non, En la eentiesme entierement En escrit y ay mis mon nom."^^* Who this friend was continues to be a mystery. The other century of ballades composed by Christine, the Cent Balades d'Amant et de Dame, was, as the first stanza of the introductory ballade says, composed at the behest of some gracious lady: " Quoy que n'eusse corage ne pensee. Quant a present, de dits amoureus faire, Car autre part ades suis a pensee. Par le command de personne, qui plaire Doit bien a tons, ay empris a parfaire D'un amoureux et sa dame ensement. Pour obeir a autrui et complaire, Cent balades d'amoureux sentement."^^^ 125 Idem, Vol. I, p. 99. 126 Idem, Vol. I, p. 100. 127 Idem, Vol. Ill, p. 209. THE BALLADE IN PRANCE 113 After this introduction, the lady and her servant in love proceed, in a series of ballades, to challenge each other. The cry of the lover is : " Tournez voz yeulx vers moy, doulce maitresse,"^® The lady's attitude is indicated by her observation: " Ayme qui vouldra amer, Quant a moy je n'en fois conte."^^* The lover reports his lack of progress to Amours, and Amours, in a ballade, takes the difficult mistress to task: "Trop est foUe ta vantise."^^^ Finally the lady softens by degrees. First she admits, **Assez lone temps a dure vo martires. "^^^ In a dialogue within a single ballade they then arrive at a better mutual understanding. At length, in surrender, the lady says : " Tienne toute Suis sans doubte."^^ In the remaining ballades they celebrate the passionate per- fection of accomplished love in terms of the courtly conven- tions of the day; they grieve over the inevitable estrange- ments and separations, and in the end, the lady, "Au lit malade couchiee, ' * is made to say : " A Dieu, Amours ; aprouchiee Suis de mort par toy; j'en sue Ja la sueur, et fichiee Suis ou pas, m'ame perdue 128 Idem, Vol. Ill, p. 220. 129 Idem, Vol. Ill, p. 215. 130 Idem, Vol. Ill, p. 219. 131 Idem, Vol. Ill, p. 235. 132 Idem, Vol. Ill, p. 243. 9 114 ; / THE BALLADE Ne soit pas mais de Dieu eue A Dieu, monde, a Dieu, honneurs, J^ay yeulx troubles et voix mue. Car ja me deffault li eueurs."^^^ Gower's CinJcante Balades belong approximately to the same period^^* as Christine 's Cent Balades. Like hers, they are for the most part impersonal. The prose glosses to Balades V and VI show clearly that the series is in no sense autobiographical. For Gower says of the first five that they are made especially *'pour ceaux q'attendont lours amours par droite mariage," and of the rest that they are "uni- verseles a tout le monde, selonc les prophetes et les con- dicions des Amantz, qui sont diversement travailez en la fortune d 'amour." And, moreover, five of the halades^^^ are plainly from the feminine point of view. Various favorite ballade themes are treated by Gower. Love is his chief business, however, and love according to the mode of the age. In contrast, Les Cent Ballades of Jean le Seneschal have considerable plot. In his own person, he begins the story : One day, when, as a young man, he is on the road between Angers and les Ponts-de-Ce, he meets a knight. This older cavalier, seeing that the young man is distracted and sad, immediately comes to the conclusion that he is in love, and, as a man of experience, he lays down certain rules of con- duct in matters of love and of chivalry; he expounds the 133 M. Eoy, Opus at., Vol. Ill, p. 307. 18* G. C. Macaulay, The Works of John Gower (Oxford, 1899), Vol. T, p. Ixxiii: "In any case it seems certain that some at least of the balades were composed with a view to the court of Henry TV, and the collection assumed its present shape probably in the year of his ac- cession, 1399, for we know that either in the first or second year of Henry IV the poet became blind and ceased to write." 135 XLI-XLV. XLVI. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 115 doctrines of love and of war and shows how real happiness in love lies in loyalty. This advice, given in the first fifty ballades, the pupil promises to follow. Almost six months later, he is put to the test. On the banks of the Loire, in the midst of a brilliant company, one of the ladies takes him aside and taxes him with his ideal of faith in love. She praises the charms of fickleness, and prophesies that his absurd obstinacy will in the end lead to his utter boredom. Finally, dismayed by his attitude, she suggests recourse to judges. He intimates ironically that the case is merely between treachery in love and true faith. But the lady insists that he states the question unfairly and that true happiness in love lies not in exalting constancy too highly or in condemning fickleness too vociferously. She will admit no disloyalty to any one lover in a multiplicity of lovers. The three judges by whom the debate is to be settled hold with the young man that loyalty in love brings the only true happiness, whereupon all four resolve to make a book out of this joint adventure. ^^^ 136 Gaston Eaynaud, Les Cent Ballades par Jean le Seneschal (Paris, 1905), p. xxxiv: "Le po^me n'est en realite qu'un dehat poetique entre deux parties, dont 1 'une representee par le vieux cheva- lier Hutin, soutient la cause de Loyaute en amour, et dont 1 'autre, sous les traits d 'une jeune dame designee sous le nom de la Guignarde defend au contraire les droits de Faussete." The series is thought to have been composed during a pilgrimage of the author's in the Holy Land. In regard to the date of the poems and the circumstances under which they were given publicity, Eaynaud has the following to say (pp. xlviii-xlix) : "En octobre 1389, les pterins rentrent en France . . . ' ils trouv^rent en leur chemin le roy, qui estoit a 1 'ab- baye de Clugny. ... Si les recent le roy moult joyeusement, et grand f este fit de leur venue. ' Ce ne f ut certainement pas durant les fetes de Cluny que se tint le puy ou les auteurs des Cent Ballades pro- posaient aux amateurs de poesie la question a traiter de la superiority de 1 'amour loyal ou de 1 'amour volage. Nous savons en effet que le due de Berry, qui prit part au concours, ne se trouvait pas a Cluny et 116 THE BALLADE The give and take of the lady and her sensible cavalier are well shown in the sixteenth Balade: " Or me dittes, se trouviez Belle dame, douce, plaisant, Et a son maintien veiez Que d' Amours vous moustrast semblant, Vouldriez la par convenant Qu'amie la deussiez elamer?" — " Nennin, car j'aim ma dame tant Qu'autre ne quier, ne veul amer." — " Et SQ price Faviez De s'amour, en lui requerant La sienne que tant vouldriez, Et de ce vous fust refusant, Dittes moi, des la en avant Vouldriez vous sien demourer?" — " Oil, certes; je vous creant Qu'autre ne quier, ne veul amer." — " Certes, fil, mestier ariez De bon conseil, car maintenant Voy qu^avenir ne sariez Aus grans biens qu^alez desirant. Pour ce vous pry que tant ne quant Ne maintenez ce fol penser." qu'il rcncontra le cortege royal pour la premiere fois k Avignon, le 30 octobre 1389. Huit jours plus tard, le samedi 6 novembre, apr^s de nombreuses fetes . . . Charles VI quittait la ville, signifiant a ses deux oncles de Bourgogne et de Berrj son desir de ne pas etre ac- compagne par eux dans la suite de son voyage . . . Nous sommes done naturellement amen6 k conclure que le concours po6tique fait k 1 'occasion des Cent Ballades, ovl figure le due de Berry, a dii se pro- duire k Avignon pendant le s^jour du roi, au nombre des f§tes . . . alors que la rupture entre le roi et le due de Berry n'etait pas encore prononc^e. ' ' THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 117 — " Ne m'alez plus de ce parlant, Qu'autre ne quier, ne veul amer."^^^ An interesting supplement to the work of Jean le Sene- schal is the little series of thirteen ballades, the answers of as many amateurs, who undertook one side or the other of the controversy. Two of the poets support the claims of fickle- ness ; seven champion constancy, and four take an amused, slightly skeptical tone with no reference to the real issue. Of the advocates of constancy, Guy VI de la Tremoille^^® may be the spokesman. The first stanza of his reply con- firms the point of view of the young cavalier in Les Cent Ballades: " De grant honneur amoureux enrichir Ne pent s'il n'a Loyaute en s'aye, Et pour ce fay dedens mon euer florir Loyal amour d'umilite gamie, Dont doucement sans Faussete servie Sera la flour non pareille d'onneur, De grant beaute, de bonte, de valeur, Qui de mon cuer souveraine maistresse Est et sera: s'aray dame et seignour: En ciel un dieu, en terre une diesse."^^® The Satirical Ballade Satire in the centuries in which the 'ballade flourished was largely directed against the frailties of the Church and of the court, and against the sins and stupidities of women. In ballade literature, the clergy rarely, the aristocracy more often, and the feminine sex most often, are the objects of attack. The jargon of the lowest grades of Paris society was used by Villon and by many other poets in their gross 137 G. Eaynaud, Opus Cit., p. 119. 138 Born 1343. 139 G. Raynaud, Opus Cit., p. 221. 118 THE BALLADE attacks on gross abuses/*^ The satirical '^sotte" ballade, nearly always expressed in terms of unspeakable indecency, assailed institutions and individuals indiscriminately. Most of these are unprintable, and because of their dialect for- tunately incomprehensible to all but special students of jargon or thieves' patter.^*^ A ballade of Roger de Collerye here given represents the type of satire in which the restraints of decency were not felt. " Contre les clercs de chastellet. La Bazoche. Dormez vous? quoy! est il vray ie men plains. Sus, mes suppostz gectez regrectz & plains Ou aultrement ie n'en seray eontente. Est il saison par chemins & par plains De songer creux? non non ie me complains Tout a part moy de vostre longe attente Bazoehiens, qu'on ne se meseontente, Car il est diet, sans faire grant hahay Que vous iourrez ce ioly moys de may. Laissez courir gensdarmes & leurs train Postes, heraulx, sil vient quilz soient contrains De desmarcher ainsi qui Ie vent vente. Que voz esbas ne soient iamais estains! 140 Marcel Schwob, Parnasse Satyrique du XV Sidcle (Paris, 1905). Cf. also, S. Raynaud, Ballade Addressee a Charles VII contre Arthur de Bichemont, Connetdble de France, Bulletin de la SocietS des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1910), p. 45; and P. Champion, Pieces Joyeuses des XVe Sidcle, Bevue de Philologie Frangaise, Vol. XXI, pp. 182-192, imesim. 1*1 Cf. Villon's 'ballades in jargon and Les Contredictz de Franc Gontier; see A. Longnon CEuvres Computes de Frangois Villon (Paris, 1892), p. 83 and P. Champion, Frangois Villon, sa Viet et ses (Euvres (Paris, 1913), Vol. I, pp. 194-196. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 119 De laschete ne fustes one attaint II est tout vray i'en ay lectre patente. Continuez, vous ares vostre rente : Grans et petis sactendent de cueur gay Que vous iourrez ce ioly moys de may. Suppostz gentilz, ajnues, doubtez (&| crains, Empoignes moy ces tripiers a beaulx crains, Des auiourdhuy contre eux ie me presente. Ce sont poissars, pipereaulx, mal mondains, Punectz, infectz & puans comme dains; Qui ne me croit, qu'on les experimente."^*^ Du cardinal ia ne fault que i'en mente S'il n'est papa, papelart, papegay, Si iourrez vous ce ioly moys de may. Prince, ie dis come dame et regente, Et pour oster tout ennuy & esmay, Veu & congneu vostre maniere gente, Que vous iourrez ce ioly moys de may.^*^ Many of the satires against women^^* are written in the language of the gutter, but some are entrusted to the ordi- nary vernacular. Deschamps has a halade ''contre les femmes" with the refrain, ''II n'est chose que femmene con- comme."^*^ Villon spares no vicious detail in the Ballads de la Belle E'eaidmiere aux Filles de loie.^*^ And in his 1*2 Of the institution of the Bazoehe, H. Guy, L 'Ecole des BhStori- queurs (Paris, 1910), p. 56, says: ^'Satirique et joviale association des clercs du palais. " See A. Fabre, Les Clercs du Palais (Lyon, 1875). 143X65 CEuvres de Boger de Collerye (Paris, 1536), Sig Nii\ 144 An interesting account of this subject is given in T. L. Neff, La Satire des Femmes dans la Poesie Lyrique Frangaise du Moyen Age (Paris, 1900). 145 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, CEuvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps (Paris, 1882), Vol. II, p. 36. 146 A. Longnon, (Euvres de Frangois Villon (Paris, 1892), p. 42. 120 THE BALLADE Ballade de Bonne Doctrine a Ceux de Mauvaise Vie,^*' his refrain is : * ' Tout aux tauernes & aux filles. ' ' Bouchet, too, has his say against consuming loves. He follows the courtly lovers in searching the past for examples of affection lavished on the ladies : Balade cotre foUes Amours. " Tout homme, qui bien se gouueme Entre les mondains sagement, Pres foUes femmes ne se yueme, Mais fuyt d'amours Pembrasement ; Amour est vng feu vehement Dont viennent les grandes chaleurs Qui font a tout entendement, Pour vng plaisir mille douleurs. Sanson y lessa sa lanteme, Dauid en plora longuement, La teste y pardit Olopheme, Troye en perist piteusement, Philix pour aymer follement Se pendi apres cris & pleurs, Tarquin en eust pour paiement, Pour vng plaisir mille douleurs. Salomon, la clere luserne. En mescongneust Dieu faulcement, Et vergille au vent de galeme Fut tout vng iour publiquement ; Aristote facillement S^en lessa brider; quelz en-eurs Tons en eurent certainnement, Pour vng plaisir mille douleurs. 147 A. Longnon, Opus Cit., p. 93. Cf. P. Champion, Francois Vil- lon, sa Vie et ses CEuvres (Paris, 1913), Vol. T, p. 79. THE BALLADE IN PRANCE 121 ) Prince, vous voyez clerement j Damours les petites valleurs, Et qu'on y a finablement, j Pour vng plaisir mille douleurs."^^^ In Gracien du Pont's Les Controverses des Sexes Mascu- i lin et Feminin,^^^ the masculine sex is actually moved to j call on the author for aid against the ''grande follie" of ,l the ladies: ] ] " Balade unisonne a refrain, contenant la priere et supplication du sexe masculin enuers I'autheur. ' En luy priant le vouloir secourir et deffendre. I Le sexe masculin. \ Frere germain: humblement si te prye '\ Le pouure corps : qui de toy tant se f ye : | Guer son affaire: le veuilles secourir ^ Femenin sexe : par sa gi'ande f ollie : La tant blesse : de mainete villainie • Que de grand dueil : en est cuyde mourir ^ Par quoy te vient: de bon cueur requerir i Qua le deffendre: tu veuilles estre enclin ' Guarde Thonneur: du sexe masculin. ,' Je scay tres bien : sans nulle flatterie ] Que si tu veule: mettre ta fantasie j Facillement: la scauras mainctenir 1 Car mainct passaige: de la theologie j Du droict commun : et de philosophic 1 En trouveras: pour le bien soubstenir Ne parmectz plus: si mal lentretenir Je ten supplie : mon doulx frere begnin ; Garde I'honneur: du sexe masculin. 1*8 lehan Bouchet, XIII Eondeaux Differens. Auec XXV Balades Differentes (Paris, 1536). Sig. Cv^ 1*9 Toulouse, 1584. 122 THE BALLADE Ce nest rien plus: le droict de ma partie Que oppinion : caquet et menterie i Pensant bon droiet: en maulvais conuertir j Par ses propoz: et grande bauerie \ Par ses menasses : et par sa crierie ' Pense les gens: de raison diuertir ^ De telz abuz: je tous veule advertir i En declairant: son cauteleux engin ; Garde Fhonneur: du sexe maseulin. Lenuoy Frere lequel: sans plus men enquerir ] En brief z de jours: tous mes maulx peulx guerir i Et mon proces: mettre du tout afifin < Garde I'honneur: du sexe maseulin." j " Balade unissone a refrain et coronnee par ' equiuocques du sexe maseulin se complaignant du ; sexe femenin priant lautheur derechief se vouloir « seeourir. Le sexe maseulin Las je me plains: de mainctz estourdiz dictz Qua ma partie : par faulx intenditz ditz Contre I'honneur: de mes fleurissanz sens Dont par le juge : des dampnez maulditz dis ; Auant desjours: si me mesconditz dir J Lauras vaincu : tes faictz si puissans sentz Mes desirs sont: a toy addressans sens Auoir le cueur: vers aultre quelquil soit De motz picque : suys par mainctz fissans cens 1 Les bons amys : au besoing Ion eognoist. j Laisse pour moy : tous les amolliz lictz Et prens tes liures : ou par mes delictz liz Et trouueras: des motz competens tantz THE BALLADE IN PRANCE 123 Las je trouuerez : si mal ses dediuctz duitz Que si trouue: ieusse nulz conduitz dhuys Leusse fouy: par long (comme entendz) temps En brief vaincuz : ces dictz inconstans tendz Par toy si peine : tu mectz en cest endroict Ses arcz desprit: les plus resistans tendz Les bons amys: au besoing Ion congnoist. Sur tous viuans : dargumens essuytz suy Car en oyant : ce que je pour suys sueiz De despit queuz: ouyr telz meschantz chantz Gaigner cuydoit: dhonneur par surpris pris Se monstrant f ol : sur toutz les marchantz champs En luy abbatras : ses f aulx decepuans ventz Tant par raison : que par le commun droiet A toy mes droictz : sans nulz reservans vendz Les bons amys: au besoing Ion congnoist, Enuoy Prince puyssant : sur tous les regentz gentz Conforte moy: si poinct faire se doibt Car comme disent: pouures indigens gens Les bons amys: au besoing Ion congnoist." The king and the court were naturally in a position to be treated more tenderly by the satirist. In the twenty-five ballades by Meschinot and Chastellain, appended to Les Lunettes de Princes of Meschinot, one of which is given below, Louis XI is the object of the satire : " On ne pent mieulx perdre le no dhoneur Que soy trouuer desloyal & menteur, Lasche en armes, cruel a ses amys, A meschans gens estre large dhonneur, sans congnoistre ceulx en qui est valeur, Mais acquerir en tout temps ennemys ; Tel homme doit auoir mendicite, 124 THE BALLADE Gastea' son temps en infelieite, Sans faire ries qua dieu naux home plaise. II sera plain dopprobres & diffames, Cest cil que tons les vertueux sans blasmes Vont mauldisant pour sa vie mauluaise. Le peu scauant abondant sermonneur Du nom de dieu homble blasphemeur, Sans rien tenir de ce quil a promis, Qui nescoute des poures la clameur, Mais les cotrainct par moleste & rigeur, Cobien quil soit pour leur pasteur comis se verra cheoir en grant perplexite, Par son deffault & imbecillite, se lire dieu de brief il ne repaise Nomme sera du nombre de infames Le malheureux : que tons seigneurs et dames Vont mauldisant pour sa vie mauluaise. II naffiert pas a vng prince ou seignewr, Qui de vertus doibt paroistre enseigneur, estre inconstant ne aux vices submis, Pour ce quil est des aultres gouuerneur; Cest bie raison quil soit saige & raeilleur Que ceulx a tel estat nest permis, Pour eseheuer toute prolixite, Comme deuant a este recite. le diray vray, ou il fault que me taise, II nest mestier que pour sage te clames, se celuy es que raisonnables ames Vot mauldisant pour sa vie mauluaise. Georges Prince ennemy daultruy felicite De propre sang de propre affinite De propre paix qui le tient a son aise Quest il celuy fort hayneux a soymesmes THE BALLADE IN PRANCE 125 et que la voix de tous homes & femmes Vont mauldisant pour sa vie mauluaise."^'^® : The first stanza of a dialogue ballade, by Henri Baude, i describes the plight of an exiled favorite of Louis XI i (1466) : I "Ballade Faicte Pour Mgr. de Dampmartin Contre Messire Charles de Meslung. \ Dont viens-tu, Martin? — De Melun. ] — Et que dit-on? J'ai veu Chariot? j — Par ta foy? II est tout commun, J Aussi camus comme ung rabot. ' — En bon poinct? Rond comme ung sabot? — Quelle chiere fait-il? Triste et mome. ; — Et que fait-il? Sans dire mot, ] II actent que le vent se toume."^^^ I And the Court itself is attacked in another ballade by the | same author : ' Ballade en Dialogue ] Sur le mauvais comportement de la court. j J'allasse en court, se j'eusse de I'argent. j — A quoy faire? — Pour avoir ung office. ] — Les y vent-on? Ouy, tres-chierement. ' — Pourquoy est-ce? — Par faulte de police. ) — Je m'en plaindroie. — Et a qui? — A justice. j — Justice, dort, encor n'est esveillee. \ 150 Les Lunettes des Princes avec Aulcunes Balades 4" Additions ! Nouuellement Composee par NoMe Homme lehan Meschinot Escuyer ' en son Viuant Grant Maistre dHotel de la Boyne de France (Paris, j 1539), sig. Ivi''-Ivii'. ' 151 J. Quicherat, Les Vers de Maitre Eenn Baude (Paris, 1856), | p. 20. 126 THE BALLADEi — Dont precede? — Le quoy? — Ceste malice. — ^De nostre court qu'est mal conseillee."^^^ A ballade of CoUerye's " centre les flatteurs de Court" begins thus : " Pour succumber le train imbecial Qui court en court, de flatteurs impudiques Premeditant d'ung sens trop bestial Villipender bons servans domestiques, Tympaniser par criz haulx et publiques Et organer d'un chant vil, sans accord Convient leurs noms; par moyens ebloiques, De raporteurs vient tout mal et discord."^^^ Mildly satirical in tone is Sarrasin's Balade du Pays de Cocqgne : "Ne loiions Plsle ou Fortune jadis Mit ses tresors, ny la plaine Elisee, Ny de Mahom le noble Paradis; Car chacun sgait que c'est billevesee. Par nous plutot Cocagne soit prisee; C'est bons Pais; I'Almanach point ne ment, Oil Ton le voit depeint fort dignement. Or pour sQavoir ou git cette compagne, Je le diray disant pays en Nonnand Le Pays de Caux est le Pays de Cocagne. Tons les Mardys sont de gras Mardys, De ces Mardys FAnnee est composee. Cailles y vont dans le plat dix a dix, Et perdreaux tendres comme rosee. Le fruit y pleut, si que c'est chose ais6e De le cueillir se baissant seulement. 152 J. Quicherat, Opus Cit., p. 79, st. 1. i^a Charles d 'llericault, Les CEuvres de Boger de Collerye (Paris, 1855), p. 169. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 127 \ Poissons en beun-e y nagent largement, Fleuves y sont du meilleiir vin d'Espagne, \ Et tout cela fait dire tardement ] Le pays de Caux est le Pays de Cocagne. 1 Pour les Beautez de ces lieux, Amadis i Eut Oriane en son temps meprisee; Bien donnerois quatre maravedis Si j'en avois une seule baisee. Plus cointes sont que n'est une Epousee, i Et dans Palais s'ebattent noblement , Pres leur deduit & leur ebatement Rien n'eut paru la Cour de Charlemagne, Quoy que Turpin en ecrive autrement ] Le Pays de Caux est le Pays de Cocagne."^^* i i A hallade in the vein of light literary satire, not wholly ] lacking in a kind of genuine admiration, is Sarrasin's in his j Pompe Funehre de Voiture (1648). The poem is here I printed with the introduction that precedes it in the i burlesque : "Ces Romaneiers etoient suivis d^une troupe de bonnes gens, se lamentans pitoyablement : C'etaient nos vieux Poetes que Voiture avoit remis en vogue par ses Balades, ses Triolets, & ses Rondeaux, i & qui par sa mort retoumoient dans leur ancien decry. Marot, S qui sur tons luy etoit le plus oblige, se plaignant plus fortement ; que les autres & a demy desespere, leur chantoit cette Balade. Balade j Maitre Vincent nous avoit retirez, i Par ses beaux Vers faits a notre maniere, Des dents des Vers nos ennemis jurez, ] Du long oubly, d'une sale poussiere. '; Lors que jadis nous tenions cour pleniere, ] Tout gentil coeur composoit un Rondeau. j 154 Les CEuvres de M. Sarrasin (Paris, 1694), p. 400. 128 THE BALLADE Vielle Balade etoit un fruit nouveau. Les Triolets avoient grosse pratique, Tout nous rioit : mais tout est a vau — Feau, Voiture est mort, adieu la Muse antique. Biens est raison que soyons eplorez Quand Atropos la Parque Safraniere, En retranchant les beaux filets dorez Oil tant se plut sa Soeur la Filandiere, A fait tomber Voiture dans la biere. Bien nous faut-il prendre le Chalumeau, Et tristement, ainsi qu^au renouveau Le Rossignol au bocage rustique, Chaeun chanter en pleurant comme un veau, Voiture est mort, adieu la Muse antique. Or nous serons par tout deshonorez, L'un sera mis en comets d'Epiciere; L'autre expose dans les lieux egarez Oil les Mortels d'une posture fiere Luy toumeront par mepris le derriere. Plusieurs seront balayez au ruisseau, Maint au foyer trainent en maint lambeau Sera brule comme un traitre Heretique : Chaeun de nous aura part au gateau, Voiture est mort, adieu la Muse antique. Envoy Prince Apollon, un funeste Corbeau, En croassant au sommet d'un Ormeau, A dit d'une voix prophetique, Bouqins, Bouqins, rentrez dans le tombeau, Voiture est mort, adieu la Muse antique."^*** The Historical Ballade French history also finds expression in ballades. Both important and unimportant events, royal marriages, treaties, iBBLe« (Euvres de M. Sarrasin (Paris, 1694), pp. 268-270. THE BALLADE IN PRANCE 129 campaigns, and military heroes, furnished at various times the subject matter of this fixed verse form. Great historical poetry was not produced. The formal nature of the ballade precluded the effects of Drayton 's ballad on Agincourt, or of Wolfe's Burial of Sir John More. In the wealth of ballades furnished by Deschamps we find a ballade *'sur la naissance de Charles VI et de Louis d 'Orleans son frere,"^^^ the refrain of which is, ''Par ce sgara chascun ceste naissance"; another *'Sur le mort de Bertrand du Guesclin" (1380),^" with a refrain, *'Plourez, plourez, flour de chevalerie"; another *'sur la Treve Faite avec L 'Angleterre " (1394),^^^ with the refrain, ''Paix n'arez ja s'ilz ne rendent Calays." The envoy of Des- champs 's ballade ''sur le mariage de Richard, roi d'Angle- terre et d 'Isabeau de France ' ' is pathetic in its unconscious- ness of the real outcome of the match : L'Envoy "Princes royaulx, de bonne affection Querez la paix et reformacion De voz subgiez, et vous ferez que saige, Par le traittie d'umble conjunction. S'estes tout un, ne doubtez, nascion: Toute paix vint par un saint mariaige."^^^ Christine de Pisan, in 1404, wrote a ballade ' * Complainte sur le mort de Philippe Le Hardi, Due de Bourgongne, ' '^^'^ 136 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, CEuvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps (Paris, 1878), Vol. I, p. 146. 15T Idem, Vol. II, p. 27. There is another on the same subject on p. 29. 158 Idem, Vol. Ill, p. 62. 159 Idem, Vol. VI, p. 134. ' 160 M. Roy, CEuvres Poetiques de Christine de Pisan (Paris, 1886), Vol. I, p. 255. 10 130 THE BALLADE) with the refrain, ''Affaire eussions du bon due de Bour- gongne. ' '^^^ A well known historical ballade has for its subject "I'etat de la France apres la bataille d'Agincourt" (1415) : " Cy veoit-on que par piteuse adventure Prince regnant, plein de sa voulente, Sang si divers qui de I'autre n'a cure, Conseil suspect de parcialite, Poeple destruit par prodigalite, Feront encore tant de gens mendier Qu'a ung chascun f auldra faire mestier. Noblesse fait encontre sa nature; Le clergie craint et cele verite; Humble commun obeit et endure; Faulx protecteur luy font adversite Mais trop souffrir induit necessite Dont advendra, ce que ja voir ne quier, Qu'a ung chascun fauldra faire mestier. Foible ennemi, en grant desconfiture Victorien et pou debilite; Provision verbal qui petit dure, Dont mille riens n'en est execute; Le roy des cieulx meisme est persecute! La fin viendra, et nostre estat dernier Qu'a ung chascun fauldra faire mestier.^^^^ Fifty years later, under circumstances described in the Memoire de Jacques Duclercq (liv. V, ch. XXIV), ^^^ the following was composed : 101 This duke of Burgundy was the father of John the Fearless, slayer of Louis d 'Orleans. i«2 Le Roux de Liney, Recueil de Chants Eistoriques Frangais (Paris, 1844), p. 296. 168 Le Roux de Lincy, Opus Cit., p. 352: "Or au mois de juillet 1465, lorsque les Bourguignons s'avan^aient k la rencontre de leurs THE BALLADE IN PRANCE 131 "D'ou venez vous? — D'ou Voire, de la cour. — Et qu'y f aict on ?— Qu'y f aict on. Rien quy vaille — A brief parler quel est bniict de la cour? Mauvais. — Oy? — Oy certainement. — Aurons nous pis? — Oy certainement. — — Comment eela? On en voit I'apparence — Quy portera ee faix entierement? — Quy? — Voire quy? — Les trois estats de France. Dont vient cecy? De quoy sy grief mal sourd? — Dont voir dea? Dictes le hardiment. — Je criens, pensant qui tient I'argent sy court. Diray-je? Oy; dictes le baudement. Et quy sont-ils? Je ne parle autrement. — En ont-ils eu? — Si en ont a puissance! — Quy leur en bailie, sy tres abondamment? — Quy? — Voire quy? — Les trois estats de France. Que diet Paris? Est-il muet et sourd? N'ose-il parler? — Nenny, ne Parlement. — Et le Clergie, le vous tient-on bien court? — Par vostre foy, oy publiquement — Noblesse, quoy? — Va moitie pirement; Tout se perit, sans avoir esperance. — Quy pent pourvoir a cecy bonnement? — Quy? — ^Voire quy? — Les trois estats de France. Prince, quy veult leur donner allegeance? — A quy? — A eux? Je vous prie humblement. — De quoy? — Que vous ayez leur regne en remembrance allies les Bretons, ils travers^rent Saint-Denis et vinrent, par la plaine de Clichy, jusqu'au pent de Saint-Cloud, dont ils se rendirent maitres. La ils firent une assez longue halte, dans I'attente que les Parisiens allaient leur ouvrir leurs portes; mais il n'en fut rien, car, au lieu de capitulation, ils ne re^urent a leur adresse, qu'un feuillet de papier 6u etaient ecrites les deux ballades qu'on va lire." 132 , THE BAIiLADB — Qu'y peut donner bon conseil prestement? — Qu^y — Voire quy? Les trois estats de France."^®* Naturally the rivalry^^^ between Louis XI and Charles the Bold found ballade expression, too : " Souffle, Triton, en ta bucce argentine ; Muse, en musant en ta doulce musette, Donne louange et gloire eelestine Au dieu Phebus a la barbe roussette. Quant du vergier ou croist mainte noisette, Ou fleurs de lys yssent par millions, Aceompaigne de mes petitz lyons, Ay combatu I'universel araigne Qui m'a trouvee par ses rebellions Lyon rampant en eroppe de montaigne. Le cerf vollant qui nous fait cest actine Fut recueilly en nostre maisonnette, Souef nourry, sans poison serpentine. Par nous porte sa noble coronette; Et maintenant nous point de sa cornette! Ce sont povres remuneraeions. Mais Dieu voyant mes operacions. M'a fait avoir victoire en la Champaigne, 164 Le Roux de Lincy, Opus Cit., p. 354. A text of this ballade, differing in a few particulars, is to be found in MS. f. 1707, fol. 62'" in the Bihliothdque Nationale and in the Jardin de Plaisance, SodetS des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1910), sig. t ii. 165 Le Roux de Lincy, Opus Cit., p. 369: ''II [Chastelain] la [the ballade given] composa vers le milieu de I'annee 1467, au moment ou les Liegeois, pour la troisi^me fois depuis trois ans, venaient de f-e soulever contre le due de Bourgogne, k 1 'instigation du roi de France. . . . Le lyon rampant ... est une allusion au lion grimpant sur une montagne, qui faisait la devise du due de Bourgogne. Le cerf volant, son ennemi, c'cst le roi de France, qui avait pour embldme un cerf ail6." THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 138 Et veult que soit sur Francois mencions Lyon rampant en croppe de montaigne."**'* In the Chroniques de Louis XII by Jean D*Auton are several ballades dealing with the failure of the King's cam- paign in Naples (1502-1504)/^^ Their general character is shown by the first stanza and envoy of Les Tresoriers: Les Tresoriers " Qui vueust soubmectre ung pays estranger Par faictz d'armes, ou injures vanger, II doit avoir finenees a sufiire Pour son charroy eonduyre et arranger, Et a ses gens tant donner a menger Que nul par fain les puisse desconfire; Ses tresoriers bons et loyaulx esUre, Seurs, diligens, bien expertz et prop ices, Promptz a payer, gardans bonnes polliees ; Convoitize ne priser deux festus, D'Autruy avoir ne porter leurs pellices: Avarice corrumpt toutes vertus. Prince, on ne pent de plus s'endommager Que soubmectre sa chevance en danger De ceulx qui sont par argent abbatus; Argent fait tost meurs et propos changer, Tesmoings mentir, arbitres mal juger: Avarice corrumpt toutes vertus."^®^ 166 Le Eoux de Lincy, Opvs Cit., p. 371 ; the first two stanzas are given. Gilles des Ormes on behalf of his patron replied in a ballade with the refrain, "Lyon couohant an pied de la montaigne. " 167 The same subject is treated by Gringore in Les Folles Entreprises. 168 E. de Maulde La Clavi^re, Chroniques de Louis XII par Jean Auton (Paris, 1893), Vol. Ill, p. 345. The circumstances re- ferred to center about the battle of Garigliano (1503), and are thus 134 THE BALLADE In 1520, the gorgeous meeting of Francis I and Henry i VIII on the Field of the Cloth of Gold was celebrated in a ! 'ballade by Clement Marot : i " Au camp des Rois les plus beau de ce monde -■■ Sont arrivez trois riches estendars: . Amour tient Fun de couleur blanche &i munde, ] Triumphe I'autre avecques ses souldars j Vivement painet de couleur celestine: Beaute apres en sa main noble, & digne Porte le tiers tainct de vermeille sorte : \ Ainsi chascun richement se comporte, \ Et en tel ordre, & pompe primeraine | Sont venu veoir la Royalle eohorte ] Amour, Triumphe, & Beaute souveraine. ' \ En ces beaux lieux tost que vol d'Aronde, ; Vient celle Amour des Celestines pars, ] Et en apporte une vive, & claire unde, j Dont elle estainct les f ureurs de Dieu Mars : Avecques France, angleterre enlumine, j Disant, il font qu'en ce Camp je domine: ; Puis a son vueil fait bon guet a la porte, Pour erapescher, que Discordre n'apporte La pomme d'or, dont vint guerre inhumaine: I Aussi affin que seulement, en sorte 1 Amour, Triumphe, & Beaute souveraine j Pas ne convient, que mal plume se fonde I A rediger du triumphe les arts, \ Car de si grans en hautesse profonde j N'en firent one les belliqueurs Cesars. ] described : ' * Mais il ne pardonna paa de longtemps h ceux qui avaient ' 6t6 mel6s ^ ces evenements. II refusa de voir la plupart d'entre eux i et les confina dans le Milanais. 11 poursuivit en mSme temps quelques j financiers qui avaient prevarique; I'un deux fut execute." (E. 1 Lavisse, Eistoire de France, Paris, 1903, Vol. V, p. 66). \ THE BALLADE IN PRANCE 186 Que diray plus, richesses tant insigne ^ A tous huinains bien demonstre & designe Des deux partis la puissance tres-forte. Bref, il n'est cueur qui ne se reconforte En ce pays, plus qu'en mer la seraine, De veoir regner (apres rencune morte) Amour, Triumphe, & Beaute souveraine Envoy De la beaute des hommes ne deporte : Et quand a celle aux Dames, je rapporte, Qu'en ce monceau laide seroit Helaine. Parquoy concludz, que ceste, terre porte Amour, Triumphe, & Beaute souveraine."^^^ Cardinal Mazarin was, as might be expected, the object at times of congratulation, at times of execration in ballade literature. Voiture, in 1647, wrote a "ballade a Mont- seignieur le Cardinal Mazarin sur la prise de la Bassee.'* Its complimentary character is plain in the third stanza : " Puissant esprit, qui nous f ortifiez, Et dont le soin nos ennemis reprime Que vos succes partout soient publics. Que votre los en tous endroicts s'imprime, Et que le chant dont mon ame s'imprime, Se fasse ouir de Paris a Maroc. Quand je vivrois aussi longtemps qu'Enoc, Toujours dirai de fond de ma pensee: Seigneurs flamands, ce fut un mauvais troe, Pour Landrecy de changer la Bassee."^^** A bitter attack on Cardinal Mazarin is embodied in Balade du Mazarin Grand Joueur de Hoc: 169 CEuvres de Clement Marot avec les ouvrages de Jean Marot son J Pere ceux de Michel Marot son Fils Sr les Pieces du Different de Cle- I ment avec Frangois Sagon (A la Haye, 1741), Vol. II, p. 20. ^ 170 A. Ubicini, (Euvres de Voiture (Paris, 1855), Vol. II, p. 429. J 136 THE BALLADE J ! " Enfin il en aura desia le f orf ait clac. '\ Et le ieune frondeur aussi f erme qu'un roc i Sanglera la croupiere a ce joueur de hoc j Dont I'auarice a mis nostre France au bissac, | Les enquestes pour luy sont pires que le tic j Toutes ses actions s'obseruent ric a ric, I Et contre le Senat ses fourbes sont a sec \ Chaque iour il fait voir qu'il n'a n'y sens ny sue | Et moins de jugement qu I'oyseau de S. luc, J H ne peut esuiter le mat dans eet eschec. j 'j Pour le faire sortir on fait le triquetrac i II connille, il a peur, il redoute le choc ,i II franchira pourrant le pas sans brindestoc, Et passera bien tost nos riuieres sans bac, II craint certain arrest plus que venire d'aspic ' II craint I'agent a croc, a crochets et a pic, ] Et le coyon qu'il est, fait le salamalec j Au plus vil artisan comme il feroit au due i Dans peu le gazetier prosnera son desjuc II ne peut esuiter le mat dans cet eschec. ; II a pour son conseil gens de corde & de sac Qui font cas de I'honneur comme huguenots d'un froc ^ II vend Fespicopat et des mitres fait troc. Car il n'en done point sans quelque miguemac i Mais il ne sera plus desormais ce traffic j T/almanach du Palais en fait le pronestic, j Et qu^on luy passera la plume par le bee, Fust-il plus tier cent fois qu^un Flamand dans bolduc j Ou quVn ieune cadet du pais de Mon luc, i II ne peut esuiter le mat dans cet eschec. Envoy i Prince qui fis passer carriere au braue bee j Et qui mis I'archiduc en pitoyable affroc Ce ministre ignorant n'a que le foy dVn grec, j THE BAIiLADE IN PRANCE 137 Mesme il te trahiroit pour trois plumes de coc, Laisse la chastier & sa sequele auec le suis dans I'aduenir s^auant comme vn enoc, II ne peut esuiter le mat dans cet eschec."^''^ The Ballade in the Drama Sibilet, a sixteenth century critic,^^* wrote in 1548 that ballades and rondeaux^"^^ were to be found in farce, sotie, morality and mystery ' ' comme morceaux en fricassee. ' ' His statement is richly illustrated by the ballades in the fifteenth and sixteenth century mysteries that have come down to us.^^* Ballades, like the triolets more frequently employed in the mysteries, were used as adornments of the text. They were, as the subject matter of the mysteries would suggest, for the most part prayers to the deity and supplications to Mary for her intercession. Thus, a ballade prayer in the Mystere de Saint e Barbe (fifteenth century) is spoken by Origines and three companions : 171 Ballade du Mazarin Grand Joueur de Hoc (Paris, 1649) ; [on p. 117 of a volume of tracts in Columbia Library, 944. 033, Zl], Refer- ences to chess are common in other forms of mediaeval literature. Chess has always been a favorite source of figures with poets. Cf. Charles d 'Orleans's ballade beginning: " J 'ay aux echecs jou6 devant amours" (D 'Hericault, Vol. I, pp. 76-77) : Of this ballade M. Cham- pion in his Charles d'Orleans joueur d'echecs, says (p. 16): "Dans cette ballade Charles d 'Orleans parle en poete dans la langue du joueur. Elle resume les rapports du poete et du joueur: le poSte transforme, allegorise et raflSne la matiere banale de son habitue! passe-temps. ' ' 172 See Chapter III. 173 Cf. Ludwig Miiller, Das Bondel in den Franzosischen MiraTcel- spielen und Mysterien des 15 u. 16 Jahrhunderts, Ausgaben und Ab- handlungen XXIV (Marburg, 1884). 174 M. Brandenburg, Die Festenstrophengebilde und einige Metrische Kunsteleien des Mystere de Sainte Barbe (Greifswald, 1907). On pp. 82-85 of this able dissertation is given a table of the ballade forms found in various published and unpublished French mysteries. 138 THE BALLADE Origines finit. > " dieu hault pere precieux Et curieux j Du salut de ta creature, j Toy qui es seul vietorieux Moy vieieux, Je te mercy [e] d'entente pure. j Pitie as tu de la laidure | Que ta facture Enduroit par mauldit desroy, Et as mis a desonfiture Et confracture , Les enemys de nostre loy i Liepart j Jesus, filz du dieu vigoreux, .a Non rigoureux, Mais doulx en toute adversite, Nous qui estions douloureux Et langoreux As saulve par ton amitie. ■ Tu oustas de captivite j Et vilite j Les enffans d'Israel mis en foy. j lis sont mis en mandicite, i Non respite ' Les ennemys de nostre loy. Ysacar finit Sainct esp[e]rit qui sa bas venistes Et si vous meistes Es appoustres par eharit«, ■ Qui aujourduy sans noz merites ! Victoire acquistes, Je vous mercye en verite. j Nous suymes hors d'iniquite, ^ D'austerite, I THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 139 " j \ Par vostre conduyte et arroy. j Huy sont mors et suppedite j D'audacit^ j Les ennemys de nostre loy. j I [Envoi] j Noradin 0, Saincte unie trinite Communite De totalle bonte en foy, Meet en bonne credulite ; Par sainctete Les ennemys de nostre loy ! "^^^ ; A ballade without envoy in which the stanzas are simi- ; larly distributed among several characters is to be found, \ too, in Le Mystere de la Passion d'Arnoul Grehan: < Jaspar ' i " Je te salue, Dieu du ciel glorieux, j Dieu immortel, Dieu sur tons vertueux, vray filz de Dieu qui creas ciel et terre; j Je te salus, rou par dessus les cieux, ] monarche seul du monde et tons les lieux ^ que cueur humain pent penser ne enquerre. Je congnois bien que notre char humaine ' as pris ou corps de la vierge puraine i pour racheter tes amis innocens: 1 recoy mon don, si vray que tu le sens ' offrir de cueur, et pour totalle somme j present te fais d'or, de mierre et d'encens, toy demonstrant roy, Dieu, et mortel homme. ^ i 175 M. Brandenburg, Opus Cit, pp. 65-66. ; 140 THE BALLADE Melcior Je te salue, chere enffant gracieux, • tres noble filz, tres saint fruit precieux, ■ des beaulx le chois ou plus beau ne fault querre, ] Je te salue des doulx plus deliteux i le plus, des plus begnins le plus piteux, ! celeste pain, vraye angulaire pien-e; ' Parfaicte amour par devant toy m^admaine, recongnoissant ta puissance haultaine, J et qu'aux humains delivrer condescens, ^ et se je n*ay dons a toy bien decens, i excuse moy : je, qui ton serf me nomme, present te fais d'or, de mierre et d'encens, toy demonstrant roy, Dieu, et mortel homme. Baltazar Je te salue, roy du eiel plantureux, fruit de salut, des riches plus eureux, hors qui tresor bien ne se peust conquerre, S'en biens mondains es me et diseteux et dehors pers povre enffant souffeteux. tant as en toy que nyl ne peust enquerre; 1 Car du plus hault de I'arche souveraine es descendu en la vie mondaine, i juge et regent des present et absens, | et non obstant que tons biens sont recens. | en toy, saulveur, ne temps ne les consomme, | present te fais d*or, de mierre et d^encens, | toy demonstrant roy, Dieu, et mortel homme."^^' j i A ballade addressed to the Virgin as intercessor occurs in the fourteenth century Mystere d'une Jeune Fille qui j voulut s'abandonner a peche, where it will be seen that free stanzas alternate with those of the fixed form : ' 178 Paris et Raynaud, Le MyaUre de la Passion d'Arnoul Grehan I (Paris, 1878), p. 86. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 141 Le Larron " Ha, doulce vierge, en ce trespas Dur repas De mort cruelle et douloureuse Je te requiers: Ne me faulx, Ton compas Me soit conduitte glorieuse! Ha, vierge, en ceste mort honteuse, Langoureuse En ce jour pour moy tres piteuse Prens de ma pouvre ame pitie: Par ta saincte nativite. Le Bourreau C'est tres bien dit en verite. Or precede de mieulx en mieulx ! Monte tu seras herite Ce jour au royaulme des cieulx. Le Larron Des cieulx requiers foys et soulas, Las, helas, Qui est la vraye vie heureuse. Mon pouvre cueur dolent et las En ces laz Requiert ta graace precieuse. D(e) 'oultraige fiere et haynause Furieusement furieuse. Du dyable soyes preserve: Par ta saincte nativite. Le Bourreau En grant fervenr de charity Continue de bon couraige; Mais monte par humilite Des cieulx tu auras Theritaige. 142 THE BAIjLADB Le Larron L'heritaige des cieulx tu as Soubz tes bras. Soit mon ame solacieuse! Ha vierge, pense de mon cas Maulx a tas Ay faictz qui la rendent paoureuse Ma vie a este malheureuse. Dont doubteuse Est ma fin, Soues curieuse De ma pouvre debilite Par ta saincte nativite! Ambition contencieuse Contencion ambicieuse M'ont de tons biens desberite. Secours en ceste mort honteuse Par ta saincte nativite! Le Bourreau C'est son cas bien solicite. A ce monde ne pense plus. Mais dictz pour toute auctorite A ceste heure ton : in manus ! "^'^ Occasionally the ballade figured as a prologue to the mystery. The prologue, whatever its form might be, was spoken by the author, by a member of the company, or by some priest not a member of the company. The purpose of such a prologue was to fix the attention of the audience, to give them some notion of the plot, or to express the author's humility. The prologue in the fifteenth century Le Martire de Saint Adrien is spoken by a priest : 177 M. Brandenburg, Opus Cit., p. 74. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 143 Preco " En Fonneur de la Trinite, En qui gist toute haulte puissance, Vous prions qu'en bonne unite Veuillez trestous fere silence, Et vous verres cy en presence, S'il plaist au roy celestien Jouer, par belle demonstrance, Le martire saint Adrien. Duquel la vie en verite Vous dira, em briefve substance, Le prescheur, par auctorite Qu'il a de divine science. Or luy vueilliez done audience Trestous prester par bon raoyen, Et escouter en reverance Le martire saint Adrien. Car en ginefve infirmite A mainte gens donne alegence; Pour ce par grant sollenite En voulons fere remembrance. Sy vous prions par alienee Qu'en ce lieu nous faisiez ce bien De vouloir oyr par plaisance Le martire saint Adrien. Prince, garde de toute oultrance Ceulx et celles qu'entendront bien Et mectront en leur souvenance Le matire Saint Adrien.''^^^ Another ballade prologue is spoken by an actor at the opening of the mystery of Notre Dame de Puy by Claude Doleson :"« i 178 D. H. Carnahan, The Prologue in the Old French and Provengal d Mystery (New Haven, 1905), pp. 124-125. 179 Sixteenth century. 144 THE BALLADE L'Acteur " Puisque f aict avons narration Des faictz dignes de recordation Ces deux jours dernierement passez, Out fut f aict I'ediffication De ceste eglise de devotion, Je croy qu'il vous en souvient assez. Mais plus avant il nous fault proceder, Pour ces beaulx faictz dignement recorder, Et ppur reciter, cy a brief langaige, De toy, tres-saincte Vierge Marie, Comment fut, au Puy, sans qu'on varie, Uadvenement de ton glorieux ymaige. Soyons trestous en consolation, Laissons courroux et desolation, Pensons aux biens que Dieu nous a laissez, Regardons sa grande dilection. En luy rendant de graces actions, II est raison tres-bien le cognoissez. Recognoissons aussi, sans plus tarder, De Marie, et vueillons regarder Et entendre de tout notre couraige. Prestons y doulcement tons I'ouye, Ce faisant orrons tons je vous afiie. L'advenement de ton glorieux ymaige. Trestous nous faisons jubilation A ton ymaige, Fille de Sion, Et n^en voulons nullement faire ces, Car voyons que ta representacion Nous a donne illumination En ce pais, Vierge, tu bien le s^ais; Et qui, en brief, nous vouldroit demander. Qui tant de maulx nous a faict evader Le temps jadis que nous portoient dommaige? On diroit sans qu'on y contredire Que I'a faict et on le certiffie; L'advenement de ton glorieux ymaige. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 145 Princesse, vueilles nous contregarder De ton povoir, aussi interceder Pour tons pecheurs envers le Juge-mage Ainsi tenus serons-nous, quoy qu'on die, De louer toy et en chacune partie L^advenement de ton glorieux ymaige."^^** Another noteworthy ballade prologue, a fifteenth century piece of ** diablerie, ' ^ the text of which is not printed, in- troduces St. Martin by Andre de la Vigne, and is spoken by Lucifer. The first three lines are: " Ballade de la puissance infemalle. Au Zodiaque du tenebreux Pluto, Et Megera, Theziphon, Aletho,"i8i The Mistere de Viet Testament alone contains seventeen ballades. Of considerable dramatic power is that spoken by Vesca in Du Jugement de Salomon: Vesea "Haa, mon enfant! Helas! comment? Ne te pourray je secourir? Je vous erie mercy humblement! VouUez vous inhumainement Faire ceste innoseent mourrir? Las! ne le faictes pas perir, Mais a ceste femme mauldicte Le delivrez pour le nourrir; Quant est de ma part, je luy quitte. | J^ayme mieulx qu'elle le nourrisse \ Qu'il soit tue devant mes yeulx. , ] Helas! que mourrir je le veisse, ] Mon doulx enfant? J'aymeroie mieulx ' 180 D. H. Camahan, Opus Cit., pp. 121-122. 181 L. Petit de JuUeville, Les Mysteres (Paris, 1880), p. 539. 11 i 146 THE BALLADE , Qu'on me menast ainst, m'ait Dieux, Bnisler comme f emme interdicte ! Baillez luy enfant preeieux; ] Quant est de ma part, je luy quitte. \ A Dieu, mon beau filz triumphant! 1 Pour toy je seuffre grant mallaise, Mon soulas, mon bien, mon enfant! ' II est force que je te baise. ■ Sire! je vous prie qu'il vous plaise ' Garder qu'on ne le decapite, i Et qu'el en face a son bel aise; ! Quant est.de ma part, je luy quitte! ■ Prince, saichez que ne mourray i Se sur luy on faict tel poursuyte; A Achilla le lesseray : Quant est de ma part, je luy quitte ! "^^- ! Two hallades of farewell and a letter hallade occur in Le I Mystere de Saint Louis Roi de France. The ballade of ! farewell here reprinted is spoken by ** Chevaliers de la Marche" at Louis's departure for Egypt: Le ij® Chevalier de la Marche " Vray Dieu, de qui a voir est desiree ' Des sainz anges ta face glorieuse, j Vois la painne rude, desmesuree. Que nous souffrons pour ta loy gracieuse; Confortes-nous en la painne angoisseuse i Et auz tourmens angoisseuse et divers j Que nous livre ceste gent oultrageuse | Par sa faulse mauvaistie envieuse, i Qui veut ta f oy f aire aler a renvers ; Tire nous amez en la gloire joyeuse, Fais-nous victeurs contre ces gens pervers. j 182 James de Eothschild, Le Mistcre de Viel Testament (Paris, j 1891), Vol. IV, p. 327. J THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 147 Le iij® Chevalier de la Marche Sire, qui hors la charte egipeienne Mis hors Joseph, ton leal serviteur, Fais nous confort contre la gent payenne; Nous t'en prions, souverain Redempteur. Devant nous est nostre persequteur. Qui nous griefve par ses tiranz adverz. Par Fennoit du faulz deable seducteur. Qui est leur chef, leur prince, leur ducteur. * Cely leur monstre de ta foy le renvers: Si te prions, souverain Plasmateur, Fais-nous vieteurs contre ces gens pervers. Le iiij® Chevalier de la Marche Visite-nous, souverain Roy du ciel, Delivre-nous de ceste gente felonne. Tu qui sauvez le prophette Daniel, De lions fierz sa tressainte personne, Delivre-nous, de cy, sire, et nous donne Qu^en ton saint ciel puissent estre convers Nos esperis, et ayent la couronne De martire, qui tant est noble et bonne, Et d'immortal vestement lez convers; Et pour trouver du ciel la droite bonne, Fais-nous vieteurs contre ces gens pervers. Le Mareschal de Cypre. Prince du ciel, qui point ne relinquis Ceulz qui tu as par ton saint sane acquis, Fais-nous du ciel les buys plaisans ouvers; Et comme nous t'avons trestous requis, Fais nous vieteurs contre ces gens pervers."^^^ The letter ballade comes to Marguerite from Louis through the Seigneur de Nesle. In the text here followed, the 183 Franeisque Michel, Le Mystere de Saint Loys, Boi de France (Westminster, 1895), pp. 243-244. 148 THE BALLADE 'j I refrain is nowhere written out and is omitted entirely after ' the first stanza. The whole refrain runs : 1 " Que pour prison ne maladie Ne vous peut mon.cueur oblier.^^* j Marguerite j "Helas! que j'en oye la lecture: i Je suis de I'ouir envieuse. j [Le seigneur de Nesle lit la cedule.] "A ma compagne et vraye espeuse, ' Marguerite, et ehere amye, i Salut. Ne soyez soucieuse De moy, dame, je vous emprie; Car pour certain je vous affye I Qu'a vous sens sy mon cuer lier, I Que pour prise ne maladie J Ne vous peut mon cuer oblier. i Ne prenez en vous deseonfort .'] Qui tons cueurs a pye ralie ; | Car que[elque] paine qui me lie, Par escript vous faiz publier: ' Pour prison | „ Ne vous peut ] ' > Brefment je vous iray revoir, ! N'en doubtez pas, ma chere amye; ■ Par escript le vous fais sgavoir, Affin que plus ne vous ennuye. ' Faictez joye, ne vous courcez mye, Car je dis de cuer tr^s-eutier: j Pour prison 1^ j Ne vous peut ( ^ j Princesse, h chere tr^s-lie I Je dis pour vous solaeier: 1 Pour prison 1 - ! Ne vous peut j * ; 184 A. Brandenburg, Opus Cit., p. 91. ^ THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 149 , Le tout vostre espoux sans nul sy, ^ Loys, roy frangois de Poissy."^®* J A double ballade of the metrical variety known as **bal- laide fatrisee'^^^^ is to be found in Sainct Didier: j Le Bailly "Martir de grant auctorite Qui jadis souffris passion Par I'inique perversite De Croscus, plain d'infeetion, Toute la congregacion Qui en ton service se fonde, Preserve de la morte seconde!^^'' Le Premier Bourgeoys Preserve de la morte seconde Les devotz qui te font honneur, Et s'il y a nul errabonde, Fay que toute grace y habonde Pour complaire au doulx Createur, Tu es tousiours notre Pasteur, Toy qui es & qui as este Martir de grant auctorite. Le Second Bourgeoys Martir de grant auctorite, Par ta glorification, Veul maintenir la cite De Lengres en prosperite Sans quelque tribulacion, Et ceulx qui ont devocion 185 F. Michel, Opus Cit., p. 224. 186 Cf. Molinet's theory in Chapter III below. 18T A line is missing in this stanza. Whereas there are three stanzas containing the refrain of the first stanza, there are only two that have the other refrain. 150 THE BALLADE Devant la chasse pure & monde Preserve de la mort seconde! Le Tiers Bourgeoys. Preserve de la mort seconde Nous qui te servons de bon cueur, Car I'ennemy tres furibonde Tousiours est prest et sitibonde Pour nous bouter en quelque erreur, Garder nous peulx de cest horreur, Toy qui est tousiours repute, Martir de grant auctorite ! Le Quart Bourgeoys Martir de grant auctorite Maintiens soubz ta protection Ta noble confraternite, Qui est foudee en charite, En amour & dilection Tous ceulx qui ont affliction D^y laisser des biens de ce monde, Preserve de la mort seconde ! ''^*® In several of the mysteries, there are little groups of two or three ballades connected by various line and rime identi- ties. In the collection of mysteries known as Viel Testa- ment, for example, De Hestre, one of the number, contains two ballades, in succession, the rime of the refrain of the first being taken up by the first line of the second. The first has the added peculiarity of using the refrain as the initial line of stanzas and envoy. To indicate the effect, the envoy 188 J. Carnandet, La Vie et Passion de Manseigneur Sain<;t BidieVy Martir et Evesque de Lengres p. Maistre Guillaume Flamang (Paris, 1855), pp. 43&-437. This mystery belongs to the fifteenth century. Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1891), Vol. VI, p. 48. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 151 of the first ballade and the first stanza of the second are given here : " Humble de cueur, parf aicte obeissance Assuaire roy d'Inde de valleur, Ton aneelle te rent congru honneur, Humble de cueur, parfaiete obeissance."^^® " Humilite voyant en apparence A toy, Hester, ton regart me complest, En contraire de I'inobedience De Vastie, qui trop si me desplaist ; Pour tant te donne cecy, car 11 me plaist. Le dyademe, couronne a humble femme, Sur ton chef mes, et en grace parf ait Trosne d'honneur et chef de mon reame."^^® According to Petit de Julleville, these lyric passages in the mysteries were, in general, sung, or, at any rate, were declaimed to the accompaniment of music.^^*' In view of the intimate connection of the ballade formula with the puy^ another circumstance in the presentation of the mysteries is here worth noting : namely, the accepted fact that, in the fourteenth century, the Miracles de Nostre Dame were acted at some puy,^^^ the location of which has not been de- termined. The presence in these Miracles of the serventoys couronnes and estrives^^^ bears testimony to this situation. The puys had succeeded the church in the exhibition of religious drama, and, in turn, the puys (not all of which 189 James de Rothschild, Le Mistere de Viel Testament, SociSte des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1891), vol. VI, p. 48. 190 L. Petit de Julleville, Les Mysteres (Paris, 1880), Vol. I, p. 290. 191 L. Petit de Julleville, Les Comediens en France au Moyen Age (Paris, 1885), p. 49. 192 Cf . Gaston Paris and U. Robert : Miracles de Nostre Dame par Personnages (Paris, 1876) ; see also Appendix on the serventois. 152 THE BALLADE necessarily were engaged in producing drama) were suc- ceeded by the various "Confreries de la Passion.'' It is safe to assume that the religious drama of France owes to its connection with the puy the interpolation of the ballade}^'' Conclusion The ballades included in the foregoing pages range in date from the fourteenth century to the seventeenth. By far the greater number of them are insignificant as litera- ture. They exhibit the sort of ingenuity that is inconsistent with real poetry. The tricks of the ballade writers, their acrostics, their word plays, made the form a kind of intel- lectual game. Because of this trifling, probably, there are few ballades that strike a modern reader as worth while. The satirical ones are remarkable for bold personalities, but such wit is not likely to appeal to a healthy sense of humor nowadays. Francois Villon alone in these three cen- turies produced ballades, one is tempted to say a ballade, of great beauty. These poems have for us, therefore, a social rather than a literary interest. In them for three hundred years the dominant ideas of medieval society were perpetuated. The current conceptions of love, death, and religion, the hand-to-mouth wisdom of proverbs, satire mordant and mild, the chronicle of marching events, aristocratic politics, — all these 'subjects were accepted as within the proper ^^^ Ballades appear to be more numerous in the mysteries that sur- vive than in other early drama. But we may take Sibilet's word for it that the form was not uncommon in farces and in soties. La Basoche at Toulouse, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, pro- duced, for example, a Sotise a Iluit Personnaiges, by the Andr6 de la Vigne mentioned above, in which there were two ballades. See E. Picot, Recucil General des Soties (Paris, 1904), Vol. II, pp. 21, 102. THE BALLADE IN FRANCE 153 scope of the ballade. Of particular interest, too, is its pres- ence in the religious drama. So many of the mysteries are connected with puys that it is not surprising to find the ballade, itself in part a product of the puy, figuring in a number of the sacred plays.^^* The ballade was thus con- sidered equally appropriate for the expression of sacred or profane emotions. The body of critical theory in regard to the ballade^^^ reflects, as we shall see, the fluctuating esteem in which the form was held. The slighting references to it that began with du Bellay were a sure indication of its declining vogue. The ballade had become superanniMi:ed, too, long before the slurs of Moliere's Vadius."*^ It^as to be re- vived in the nineteenth century, but there was no attempt then made to restore to this most popular of all French artificial verse forms the importance w-hich it had enjoyed in the Middle Ages. The French ballade of the present day is always, in contrast to the earlier ballade in the same language, a poetic trifle, rarely concerned with the solem- nities of life. 19* As a matter of fact, triolets and rondeaux are quite as common as hallades in the sacred drama. 195 Reprinted in the following chapter. i9«The date of Les Femmes Savantes is 1672. CHAPTER III THE THEORY OF THE BALLADE FROM DESCHAMPS TO BOILEAU The ballade, with all its infinite variety, came to be neg- lected even in France, and its decline from favor was, as we have seen, as well marked and definite as its enormous popu- larity had been. Naturally, the vogue of the ballade is re- flected in theirhetorico'-poetical treatises of which the poets and critics of France were so prolific in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These treatises not only recorded the progress of the form and the practice of the poets who had used it, but in some cases suggested elaborate innovations or novel complications of a type already sufficiently fixed and intricate. The handbooks of poetics that multiplied in these years are very generally looked upon as a symptom of decadence. But, in the case Of the ballade, it must be understood that the refinements and the intricacies sug- gested by pedants were not necessarily accepted generally by the poets. Poetasters early distorted the form in ac- cordance with the prescriptions of theorists; but Villon, a man of some education, writing after at least four of them had appeared, produced the most beautiful ballades in literature. Deschamps's L'Art de Dictier (1392) contains the earliest theoretical discussion of the ballade known to me.^ 1 But the Provencal Dansa is defined in the Leys d 'Amors, Vol. I, pp. 341-343, and the Leys d 'Amors was first promulgated in 1356. (See H. F. Gatien-Arnoult, Monumens de la Littirature Bomane, Paris-Toulouse, 1841-9.) Cf. Chapter I, above. 154 THEORY OF THE BALLADE 155 j Its neglect in France followed the invasion of ideas from Kenaissance Italy. Thus Boileau's passing reference in his Art Poetique (1675), shows how lightly the form had i come to be held at the end of the sixteenth century. The casual mention of the hallade by this critic indicates the verdict of the French classical age in regard to this form. ' The bibliography below aims to include all treatises be- tween these two dates that dealt at all with the theory of the ballade. These treatises, as we have noted, not only ] codified usage but invented new arrangements and thereby ; affected current hallade literature, for the formal char- i acter of the ballade offered a tempting field to the char- \^ acteristic ingenuity of the versifier of the late Middle Ages, y And, whereas the poet's interest in an idea won the day in \ many cases, it is quite true that substance was often sacri-y \ ficed to elaborate form. The complications suggested by ] the rhetoricians, and the ballades of their contemporaries ] embodying these strange rhetorical variations, are inex- ^ tricably confused as cause and effect in the history of the \ French ballade in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. ^ I. Bibliography | Eustache Deschamps: L'Art de Dictier, 1392. Jacques Legrand : Des Rimes, before 1405.- Anonymous : Les Regies de la Seconde Rhetorique, 1411- ! 1432.3 \ Baudet Herenc : Le Doctrinal de la Seconde Rhetorique, j 1432.^ i 2 E. Langlois, Becueil B 'Arts de Seconde Rhetorique, Collection \ de Documents Inedits sur VHistoire de France (Paris, 1902), pp. 1-10. '] For date given, cf. p. xvi. 3 Ibid., Opus at., pp. 11-103. ! * Ibid., Opus at., pp. 104-198. ] 166 THE BALLADE Anonymous: Traite de L^Art de Bhetorique, 1433-66.'* Jean Molinet: L'Art de Rhetorique, 1493.^ L'Infortune: L'Instructif de Seconde Bhetoricque, about 1500.^ 5 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 199-213. 6 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 214-252. 7 Le Jardin de Plaisance et Fleur de Ehetoricque contains this trea- tise. Le Jardin was printed by Antoine Verard twice in the first five years of the sixteenth century. (See John McFarlane, Antoine Verard, Illustrated Monographs, issued by the Bibliographical Society, No. VII, London, 1900. McFarlane notes two editions by Verard: item 141, a copy of Le Jardin, McFarlane places among the books printed by Verard between 1500-1503. This edition contains a large number of cuts from Verard 's Terence, printed about 1500. McFarlane gives the Bihliotheque Nationale number of this earlier edition as Res. Ye. 168. He also records a later edition, item 165, printed by Verard probably about 1504. A known copy of this is to be found in the British Museum, designated as C. 6. b. 8). Viollet-le-Duc in his Cata- logue des Livres Composant sa Bibliotheque Poetique, Paris, 1843, describes the copy of Le Jardin belonging to him. His copy was printed "a Lyon" and is undated. He knows of another edition (p. 90) dated 1547. He comments on the manual as follows: ''L'auteur de ce livre rare n'est connu que sous le nom qu'il se donne lui-meme de l'Infortun6. Les auteurs que I'ont suivi, et qui I'ont souvent cite, ne lui donnent pas d 'autre nom: il vivait sous Louis XI, puisqu'il parle de 1 'institution recente de I'Ordre de Saint-Michel (1469), et Charles VIII—" and further: "Les bibliographes qui ont rendre compte de ce livre, peut-etre sans 1 'avoir lu, I'ont consid6r6 comme un recueil de plusiers pieces contenant d'abord un art poetique, et ensuite des pieces detacheea, sans suite, ou plutot sans rapport entre elles ; mais ils n 'ont sans doute pas remarque que l'Infortun6 en commenqant sa seconde rhetorique, Diffinito, primum Capitulum, car tons ses titres sont en latin, aprSs avoir indique qu'il va traiter des vices de la composition, de I'emploi des figures ou tropes, de la quantite des vers, de la rime, des diverses sortes de poemes, des moralites, des mystSres, des romans en vers, etc.; donne 1 'example en meme temps que le pr6cepte, c'est -^-dire que d'abord les regies du rondeau sont expliqu6es par un rondeau. II en est de meme de la ballade. ... II cite le nom des auteurs qui THEORY OP THE BALLADE 157 Anonymous: Traite de Ehetonque,^ 1490 ( ?) f 1500 ( ?).^« Pierre Fabri: Le Grant et Vraie Art de Pleine Rheto- rique, 1521." Anonymous: L'Art et Science de BKetorique Vulgaire, 1524-1525.12 Gratien du Pont : Art et Science de BKetorique Metrifiee, 1539. Thomas Sibilet : Art Poetique Frangoise, 1548." se sont distingues dans chacuns de ces genres de composition, Arnould Greban, Alain Chartier, Christine (de Pisan), etc." (p. 90). Viollet- le-Duc also notes the contents of the rest of the book, mentions half-a- dozen poems or more by name and calls attention to a large number of ballades and rondeaus. E. Stengel in Kritische Jahresbericht iiber die Fortschritte der Bomanischen Philologie, I, p. 277: "Der kongl. Bibl. in Dresden eine undatirte Ausgabe besitzt.'^ In 1911, a facsimile of Verard's first edition was issued by the Societe des Anciens Textes Frangais, on p. ccvi (sig. Uii) of which occurs a date: mil quatre eens einquante neuf en auril que Ion voit la fleur. 8 Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 253-264. This treatise is also printed in A. de Montaiglon's Becueil de Poesies Frangaises des XV e et XV le Siecles (Paris, 1855-1858), III, pp. 118 ff. Langlois says of Mon- taiglon's reprint, *'une reedition faite d'apres la precedente [a Gothic edition printed at Lyons about 1500] avec quelques corrections sans importance mais generalment malheureuses. ' ' 9 Marie Pellechet, Catalogue des Incunables des Bibliotheques Publiques de France (Paris, 1897), I, 1376, suggests the date 1490 tentatively. 10 Brunet, Manuel du Libraire (Paris, 1861), I, 513, notes a Gothic edition of about 1500 printed at Lyons. 11 H. Zschalig: Die Verslehren von Fabri, du Pont und Sibilet (Leipzig, 1884), p. 20, gives the first edition as printed at Rouen in 1521. There is a copy in the Harvard Library printed at Lyons in 1536. The latest edition is that of Heron printed at Rouen, 1889- 1890, for the Societe des Bibliophiles Normands. 12 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 265^26. 13 Extensive extracts from Sibilet were printed in Charles Asseli- neau, Livre des Ballades (Paris, 1876), Appendix. Gaiffe has a reprint in preparation. 158 THE BALLADE Joachim du Bellay : Deffense et Illustration de la Langue Frangoise, 1549.^* Barthelemy Aneau : Le Quintil Horatian, 1550.^^ Guillaume des Autelz : Bepliques aux Furieuses Defenses de Louis Meigret, 1550. Jacques Pelletier: L^Art Poetique, 1555. Etienne Pasquier: Becherches de la France, 1560/^ Bk. VII, Chap. V. Francois de Pierre Delaudun Daigaliers: L'Art Poetique, 1598. Vauquelin de la Fresnaye: L^Art Poetique Frangois, 1605." Le Sieur de Deimier: L'Academie de VArt Poetique, 1610. Louys du Gardin: Les Premieres Adresses du Chemin de Parnasse, 1620.^^ 14 Ed. by Henri Chamard (Paris, 1904). 15 Brunet gives 1551 for the first edition, but there is no copy in existence. Henri Chamard, La Date et L 'Auteur du Quintil Horatian, Eevue d'Histoire Litt^raire de la France (15 Jan. 1898), dates the Quintil, p. 58, in 1550. The Quintil was joined to the Art Poetique of Sibilet in 1555 and was never after separated. Found in con- venient form in Chamard 's edition of Du Bellay 's Deffense. 16 The Harvard Library copy was printed in Amsterdam in 1723. "^"^ Jean Vauquelin de la Fresnaye, L'Art Poetique, par F. Pelissier (Paris, 1885). 18 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., and cf. Eiicktaschel, Einige Arts Poetiques aus der Zeit Bonsard's u. Malheries (London, 1899). Both give ex- tracts from du Gardin. On p. vi, note 2, Langlois says of the work: "Les exemplaires en sont tr^s rares. J 'en possSde un fort beau, ayant appartenue h Viollct le-Dnc, . . . c *es:t le seul connu de Brunet (Manuel II, 865) ; un autre, en mauvais 6tat, se trouve h la biblio- thfique de 1 'Arsenal (BL 736), c'est qelui qu'a connu M. Eiicktaschel; un troisi^me appartient k la bibliothSque Pauline de Munster (cit6 par M. Stengel dans Kritischer Johreshericht iibcr die Fortschritte der Bomanischen Philologie, I, pp. 277). Stengel in Kritische Johres- hericht fiir Bomanische Philologie, I, 276, says that there is a copy THEORY OF THE BALLADE 159 FranQoise Colletet: L'Escole des Muses, 1652.^® Nicholas Boileau-Despreaux : L'Art Poetique, 1673.^^ The history of the theory of the ballade would be incom- plete, on the negative side, without the mention of certain poetical treatises of the period that with timely enthusiasm for the classical forms fail to mention the ballade at all.'^^ Such are : Antoine Fouquelin (or Foclin) : La Bketorique Fran- goise, 1555. Pierre de Courcelles : La Rhetorique, 1557. P. de Ronsard: Abrege de L'Art Poetique Frangois, 1565. Claude Fauchet: Recueil de VOrigine de la Langue et Poesie Frangoise, 1581. Nicholas Rapin : Vers Mesurez, 1610. Jules de la Mesnardiere : La Poetique, 1640. Guillaume Colletet: L'Art Poetique, 1658. The theories which grew up in regard to the ballade and the fluctuating esteem in which it was held at various times in the course of three centuries are exemplified in the ex- tracts here given from various works of criticism: of Du Gardin, dated Douay 1620, in the Pauline Library at Miinster. Speaking of Eiickstaschel, Stengel says: '^Ganzliclie unbekannt ist ihm ein Abschnitt in Thevenius Bearbeitung der Ramusschen Gram- matik beglieben. Es steht S 127-137 der Ausg. von 1590 unter der Ubersclirift : De ratione versuum in Rythmis atque metro. ' ' 19 Cf. Appendix I. Columbia Library owns a copy dated Paris, 1656. 20 A. S. Cook, The Art of Poetry (Boston, 1892). 21 At least three treatises that I have not been able to see may con- ceivably include a discussion of the ballade. They are: Jean Ory: Art Poetique (in MS.). According to Rigoley de Juvigny, Ory flourished in Mans about 1544 as an ''avocat. " Claude de Boissiere: Art Paetique, 1554. According to Zschalig, ''Keiner Pariser Bibliothek besitzt ihn.'^ Anonymous: L' Introduction d la Poesie, 1620. Mentioned by Gou- get, Vol. Ill, p. 418. 160 , THE BALLADE II. Illustrative Extracts A. Eustache Deschainps: L'Art de Dictier ''L'autre musique est appellee naturele pour ce qu'elle ne puet estre aprinse a nul, se son propre eouraige naturel- ment ne s'i applique, et est une musique de bouche en pro- ferant paroules metrifees, aueune foiz en laiz, autrefoiz en balades, autrefoiz in rondeaulx cengles et doubles, et en chancons baladees, qui sont ainsi appellees pour ce que le refrain d'une balade sert tousjours par maniere de rubriche a la fin de chaseuns couple d'icelle, et la cliangon balladee de trois vers doubles a tousjours, par difference des balades, son refrain et rubriche au commencement, que aucuns ap- pellent du temps present virilays. Et ja soit ce que ceste musique naturele se face de volunte amoureuse a la louenge des dames, et en autres manieres, selon les materes et le sentement de ceuls, qui en ceste musique s 'appliquent et que les faiseurs d'icelle ne saichent pas communement la musique artificiele ne donner chant par art de notes a ce qu 'ilz font, toutesvoies est appellee musique ceste science naturele, pour ce que le diz et chancons par eulx faiz ou les livres metrifiez se lisent de bouche et proferent par voix non pas chantable, tant que les douces paroles ainsis faicts et recordees par vois plaisent aux escoutans qui les oyent si que au Puy d^ amours anciennement et encores est acous- tumez en pluseurs villes et citez des pais et royaumes du monde. ** Ceuls qui avoient et ont acoustume de faire en ceste musique naturele serventois de Nostre Dame, chan^ans royaulx, pastourelles, balades et rondeaulx portoient chas- cun ce quel fait avoit devant le Prince du puys, et le recor- doit par cuer, et ce recort estoit appele en disant, apres qu'ilz avoient chante leur chanson devant le Prince, pour ce que neant plus que Ten pourroit proferer le chant de musique THEORY OF THE BALLADE 161 sanz la bouche ouvrir, neant plus pourroit Ten proferer ceste musique naturele sanz voix et sanz donner son et pause aux dictez qui f aiz en sont. ' '^^ * * Or sera dit et escript cy apres la f agon des Balades. **Et premierement est assavoir que il est hcdade de huit vers, dont la rubriche est pareille en ryme au ver antese- quent, et toutefois que le derrain mot du premier ver de la balade est de trois sillabes, il doit estre de .XI. piez, si comme il sera veu par exemple cy apres ; et se le derrenier mot du second ver n'a qu^une ou deux sillabes, ledit ver sera de dix piez ; et se il ya aucun ver coppe qui soit de cinq piez, Exemple sur ce que Dit Est. Balade de .VIII. vers couppez. " Je hez jours et ma vie dolente, Et si maudis Peure que je fu nez, Et a la mort humblement me presente Pour les tourmens dont je suy fortunez. Je hez ma concepcion Et si maudi ma constellacion Ou Fortune me fist naistre premier, Quant je me voy de toutz maulx prisonnier. *'Et en ceste balade leonime, par ce qu'en chascun ver elle emporte sillabe entiere, aussi comme dolente et presente, concepcion et constellacion. Autre Balade " De tous les biens temporelz de ce monde Ne se doit nulz roys ne sires clamer, Puisque telz sont que Fortune suronde Qui par son droit les puet touldre ou embler; 22 G. Eaynaud, GEuvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps, Soci4te des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1891), Vol. VII, pp. 270-271. 12 162 THE BALLADE Le plus puissant puet I'autre deserter, Si qu'il n'est roy, due n^empereur de Romme Qui en terre puist vray tiltre occuper Ne dire sien, fors que le sens de I'omme. <.note Et des marans sur toutes est cong-^.....^^^^^^^-^^^^^'^'^^ ^ Je responder, dont j'eus une hor-^-""''^ '^^^^^^^'^^^^ Non feray voir, point ne I'aray je."^- " Cy s'ensuit une taille plainne laie halladant. Jeune, joyeux, gallant, frique, joly, Gay et poly, plain d'amoureux espoir, Et main et soir seray, quar enbelly, 31 Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 58-59. 32 Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 65. THEORY OP THE BALLADE 167 Sans nul f aulx sy Dont, sans mouvoir Ou esmouvoir Par grant doulgour, Paiz et Honnour, Se ne chesse Cest pour I'amour men a loyal vouloir, mon cueur de beau manoir Pa voulu bonne amour, prennent en moy sejour Loyaute et Leese. d'eus loer en cest jour, de ma dame et maistresse."^* '' Cy s'ensuit ballade laye. Helas ! Amours, Par vostre gre. La grant durte Si durement Car agripe Et attrape Triste tourment Nesunement N^alegement Ainsi finer Et tristrement Pour loyaument " Cy s'ensuit ballades a Mj, manieres. Bien doit amant /oyeusement J.U temps plaisant Fray sentement Tenir en soy Et esbanoy Car bien dire os La ou enelos A sens bonte Bens par compos. regardes e n pite, qui nuit et jour m'esprent que je pers ma sante, m'a douloureusement par quoy n*ay sentement qui me puist conforter. Me faut piteusement vous servir et amer. que vuet amours servir par maniere ordonnee. avoir doulz souvenir faut qu'il ait c'est I'entree largesce et courtoisie si convient sans boidie se il vuet remanoir par amoureux vouloir son euer comme soubgis en la fin puet avoir. [Two other stanzas given.] Bimes en mos Princes sans non chaloir Tcy ente sens bien en vous a mis saLanglois, Opus Cit., p. 97. 168 . THE BALLADE iS'ont dont je los chil qui puet esmouvoir." P. de Compiengne.^* D. Baudet Herenc: Le Doctrinal de la Seconde Rhetorique^^ *'Cy s'ensuit une balade, et de matiere que Ton doibt tenir en puy d'escole, laquelle est de .xj. lignes en chascun couplet, pour ce que le reffrain et de .xj. sillabes. " Cil qui des f ais d' Amour n'a congnoissance Et desire savoir trouver maniere De rendre a luy loyale obeissance, Pour parvenir a sa grace planiere Et a I'amour de dame doulce et gente, Viengne servir en sa court excellente; La trouvera tourment delicieux, Confort dolant, ennuy solacieux, Doulceur amere, esjoy[e] tristresse, Guerre amoureuse ; et si domine en eulx Haultain plaisir, qui cueur tient en destresse. [Two other stanzas given.] Prince d' Amours, pour estre plus eureux Ou service d' Amours, tenes I'adresse . D'avoir en vous, comme amant cremeteux, Haultain plaisir, qui cueur tient en destresse. *'Aultre taille de balade que on doibt faire ou diet puy d'eseolle laquelle ne doibt contenir que dix lignes, pour ce que le reffrain ne contient que dix sillabes. 34 Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 100-101. 35 The Doctrinal gives evidence that its author knew the preceding treatise. Langlois (Opus Cit., p. xxxvii) says that Herenc 's inno- vations and his reorganization of material are always in the direction of greater system and more logical arrangement. Both treatises are written in the dialect of Picardy. THEORY OP THE BALLADE 169 Je me suis mis ou plus joieux dangler Qu'onqiie[s] amant se mist pour grace attraire De celle a qui j*ay requis que logier VoeuUe mon cueur ou sien, sans le retraire; Et loyalment, sans aler au contraire, A le servir je mettray mon entente; Car j'espoire, quoy que vive en attente D'avoir mercy, qu'en bien me partira. Donques, affin que ceste doulceur sente, Jamais mon cueur qu^elle me ch[o]isira. [Two other stanzas given.] Prince d' Amours, pour la beaulte tres gente De ma chiere maistresse, ou se mira Mon vray desir par plaisance evidente, Jamais mon cueur qu'elle ne choisira. **Aultre taille de balade d'escolle, Tune de huit lignes, pour ee que le reffrain contient .viij. sillabes et I'aultre de .ix. lignes, pour ce que le reffrain contient .ix. sillabes. " Le monde va en amendant, Car Orgueil, Ire et Gloutonnie Ne si moustrent plus maintenant, Paresse, Luxure ne Envye, N' Avarice que Dieu mauldie! On a buy du mal d'aultruy doeul ; Misericorde est exaulchie. Se je dis vray, creves moy Poeul. [Two other stanzas given.] Prince, ma femme est vien m'amie Car pour faire de que je voeul EUe est toudis appareillie. ^ Se je dis vray, creves moy Poeul. ''Ballade eontenant .ix. lignes, pour ce que le reffrain est de .ix. sillabes, comme dit est. 170 THE BALLADE Un compaignon d'entendement Et une femme de raison Entrois n'a mye gramment, S'oys que celle au compaignon Disoit : ^ II me f aut presenter Poulain, pour mon car atteler, Car je voeul aler ou voyage Ou on peult souvent encontrer Les broudes visaige a visaige/ C'il respond! centainement : ' Dame, j'ay poulain de f ason, Fouet a deux noux, dont souvent Le chasseray, mais que ou moilon Des limons le voeuUes mener/ Adonc vis le dame lever ' Les limons comme il est d'usaige, Disant: * Hastes vous de trouver Les broudes visaige a visaige/ [The third stanza is given.] Prince, pour en paix demourer. Home que est en mariaige, II luy fault souvent adjuster Les broudes visaige a visaige. "Aultre forme de balade, que ne doibt comprendre que .vij. lignes, pour ce que le mettre ne doibt estre que [de] .vij. sillabes le masculin, et le feminin de .viij. sillabes; et s'ap- pelle balade baladant. "Ung homme, provre d^avoir, Au lit mortel disoit hier, En plourant : * Bon doit avoir Dieu de moy contrarier, Que tant de biens envoier THEORY OP THE BALLADE 171 En ce monde me soloit, Et sie ne m^eii souvenoit. [Two other stanzas given.] Prince, maint an a entier Qu'on m'a volu enseigner Tons les poins que cil disoit, Et si ne m^en souvenoit." Cy s'ensuivent aultres halades nouvelle faittes a plaisance. Balade Faitte A La Volente De L^Ouvrier. " Je vous mercye, Amours, De tres loyal vouloir De voz plaisans doul§ours Que me faittes avoir; En vo service gent Vostre suis ligement; Car par rians regars, A mon cueur contente Celle qui les deux pars De son cueur m'a donne. [Another stanza given.] Prince, des joyaulx dars D'Amour m'a assene Celle qui les deux pars De son cueur m'a donne. Balade Layee " Belle, en vous servant m'est venue Desplaisance en lieu de liesse. Qui piece a vous ay esleiie Pour ma souv[e]raine maistresse Et desse; 172 , THE BALLADE Et vous m'aves habandonne Et donne. Reffus, qui foy vous ai promis, Comme amis. C'est par envye venimeuse Et doubteuse, Qui greve m'a vers vous a tort: Jamais n^aray vie joieuse, Ains array paine doloureuse San confort. [Two other stanzas given.] Aultre Balade Be Court Mett[r]e " Chiere maistresse, A vous me plains De la destresse Dont je suis plains Par Bel Accoeil, Dont je recoil Angoisse dure, Qui trop me dure, Car mes solas Troeuve en decours, Criant: 'Helas ! Mort ou secours ! ' [Another stanza given.] Princesse pure, De humble figure, N^oublies pas Moy en doulours, Criant: 'Helas! Mort ou secours ! * "*• 8« Langlois, Opus Cit, pp. 179-189. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 173 E. Traits de L'Art de BMtorique^'^ ''Item, on doit sgavoir que communement rondelz ne balades n'ont point de nombre de silabes en leurs bastons. "^^ ^^Cy s'e7isuit le tractie des balades de toute fourmes. La balade ait .iij. clause et une demey clause ; et doit avoir au moin .vij. bastons en chascune plainne clause; et en demey clause lemoin que on puet mettre se le scens puet estre bon. "En une chascune balade doit estre ung reffrain d'un baston, et ce reffrain doit estre mis en la fin de chascun vers ou de chascune clause et demi clause d'une balade, comme il appert bien evidemment au balades f aictes. Et doit estre le scens rapportes et refferez de chascune clause a celui ref- frain, comme il appert az autres balades. Et pour ceu que on ne doit point redire une chose, on doit panre nouvel pro- pos ou nouvel moz en la fin de chascune clause qui soient rapportez au bastons de celle ballade, tant que le scens soit bons et passable devant tons. ' ' Item, la maniere de rimer balades est de plusiers manie- res, mais en une chacune clause doit estre une croisiee de rime au eommancement, comme cy appert en 1 'example de cest balade la. On puet pranre fourme et maniere de faire balades autrez sus la forme de cest cy : " Je croy que Dieu trestout crea: Le ciel [et] le terre et la mer, Et en apres qu'il procrea Adam et Eve sans doubter; s^Langlois, Opus Cit., p. xliv: The next authority whom we consult for the theory of the ballade is the unknown author of the Traite de VArt de Bhetorique. This essay is preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale in a manuscript apparently of the second third of the fifteenth century. The only forms of poetry for which rules are given are the ballade and the rondeau. 3S Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 203. 174 THE BALLADE Puis par la pomme hors bouter Lez fist du paradis terrestre, Et pour nous de painne getter II volt de mere vierge nestre. * * Item, aussi on puet f aire balades de plus de bastons et de plux clauses, mais, pour cause de brief te, je lasse ceste chose et la mes en la bonne diligence d'un chascun, etc/'^® F. Jean Molinet: L^Art de Rhetorique Vulgaire*^ ''Autre taille de rimes se nomme enchayennee, pour ce que la fin d'un metre est pareil en voix au commencement de Tautre, et est diverse en signification. Et se puet ceste taille causer en balades, vers huitains. ... Exemple^^ " Trop durement mon cuer souspire, Pire mal sent que desconfort; aoLanglois, Opiis Cit., pp. 205-206, passim: Here, baston means line; demey clause, envoy; and vers, a strophe or stanza. When the author says that a stanza should have at least seven lines he probably does not count the refrain. 40 This treatise, long attributed to Henri de Croy, is known in an edition of 1493, published by Antoine Verard at Paris. It is more lucid than any of its predecessors or than any of its successors in the field. Just what Molinet 's obligations to former works are it is diffi- cult to say. He seems to have been the kind of person who would have worked into his scheme everything that was suitable, and so he prob- ably gathered a distinction here, or a classification there, from the rhetoricians who proceeded him. L'Infortun6, Fabri, and the authors of the two other anonymous treatises, published by Langlois in the JRecueil, in their turn, levied contributions on Molinet. These obliga- tions are, however, not so plain, if we base our comparison only on the ballade. (See Langlois, De Artibus Bhetoricae Ehythmicae, Paris, 1890, pp. 51 ff.) *i The same tortured variety is called by Deschamps, Ballade equi- voque retrograde et leonine. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 175 Confort le fait, plus n'a riens fort. Fort se plaint, ne scet qu'il doit dire.*^ **Balade commune doit avoir refrain et trois couples et I'envoy. Le refrain et la derreniere ligne desdis couples et de I'envoy, auquel refrain se tire toute la sustance de la balade, ainsi que la sayette au signe du bersail. Et doit chascun couplet, par rigour d'examen, avoir autant de lignes que le refrain contient de sillabes. Se le refrain a .viij. sillabes et la derrieniere est parfaitte, la balade doit tenir forme de vers huytains; se le refrain a .ix. sillabes, les couples seront de .ix. lignes, dont les quatre premieres se croisent; la .v®., .vj® et .viij®. sont de pareille termination, different, aux premieres, et la .vij®. et .ix®. lignes pareilles en consonance et distinctes a toutes autres. Se la refrain a .X. sillabes, les couples de la balade sont de .x. lignes, dont les .iiij. premieres se croisent; la .v®. pareille a la .iiij®., la .vij®. et la .ix®. de pareille termination, et la .viij®. et .x®. egales en consonnance. Se le refrain a .xj. sillabes, les couples avront .xj. lignes, les .iiij. premieres se croisent la .V®., et .vj®. pareilles en rimes, la .vij®., .viij®. et .x®. egales en consonance et la .ix®. et .xj®. de pareille termination. Et est a noter que tout envoy lequel a la fois recommence par Prince, a son refrain comme les autres couples, mais il ne contient que .v. lignes au plus et prent ses terminations et rimes selon les derrenieres lignes des dessusdis couples. Exemple de Balade Commune*^ " Des Mirmidons la hardiesse emprendre, Pour envayr le tres puissant Athlas, De Medea les cauteles aprendre, Pour inpugner les ai-s dame Palas, *2 Three other similar quartrains are given. See Langlois, Becueil, pp. 224^225. *3 Found also in Molinet 's Faictz et Dictz, f . 74. 176 THE BALLADE Faire trambler de monde la machine, Fourdroier Mars, qui contre nous machine, Fouder chasteaux sus le mont Pemasus Voler en air ainsi que Pegasus, Endormir gens au flagol de Mercure N'est il besoing pour parvenir lassus: II fait assez qui son salut procure. [Two other stanzas given.] Prince du puy, le grant dieu Saturnus, Demogorgon, Pheton, Phebe, Phebus Ne demandent grant labour ne grant cure, Mais que le corps soit bien entretenus II fait assez qui son salut procure. * * Balade balladant tient les termes de ballade commune, si non que les couples sont comme vers septains. Autres dient qu'elle est de dix et de .xj. sillabes, et est batelee a la .iiij®. sillabe en certaines lignes ; car en toutes lignes de dix ou de .xj. sillabes, soit en balade ou autre taille, tousjours la quarte sillabe on piet doit estre de mot complet, et doit on illec reposer en la pronuncant. Exemple** " Jui's ont dit que nostra redempteur Fut enebanteur pas art dyabolique Fol seducteur, faulx prevaricateur, Menteur, vanteur facteur de voie oblique; Mais sainct Jehan dist qu'il nous inspira, Qu'il nous crea et si bien nous ama Qu*il nous forma a son divin semblant. II fut enfant du pere triumphant, Soleil luisant, sente on nul ne devie, Fleur flourissant, vraie messie naissant, Dieu tout puissant, verite, voie et vie. [Two more stanzas; then comes the envoy.] <♦ Also printed in Molinet *s Faictz et Dictz, f . 1. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 177 Prince du puy, si estes obeissant A son command, en sa gloire infinie Laseus regnant le verrez dominant, Dieu tout puissant, verite, voie et vie. "Balade fatrisee ou jumelle sont deux ballades communes telement annexeez ensemble que le commencement de I'une donne refrain a Tautre. C'est couleur de rhethorique est decente a faire regrez, comme il appert en TYstoire de sainct ' jQuentin, ou Tescuier trouva sainct Maurice mutile sur les - champs. Exemple^^ " Maurice, le beau chevalier, ' Tu es mort! Ellas! que feray je? j Je ne te puis vie baillier, j Ne susciter, ne conseillier! ! Tu as paie mortel treuage. ] Quel perte ! quel dueil ! quel dommage ! \ Quel criminel oceision! \ terrible prodition ! \ terrible prodition ! ! Faulx empereur de Rommenie, >. Maudite generation, ] Pute enge, pute nation, i Pute gent, pute progenie, \ Vous avez par grant tyrannie Mis a mort et fait exillier ^ Maurice, le beau chevalier! '•'. \ Maurice, le beau chevalier, ' Noble due de hardy corage, , j Tu estois venus bataillier, [ Pour le bien publique habillier I 45 The reference to the Sainct Quentin and the presence of the fol- ; lowing ballade here and in the Mystery, led Langlois to attribute the I Mystery to Molinet. See Bomania, XXII, p. 552. ! 13 i 178 THE BALLADE De paix et de hautain parage, Mais les traytres plains de rage Ont failly de promission. terrible prodition ! terrible prodition ! Faulz tirans, plains de dyablerie, Destruite avez la legion De la thebee region, Et sa noble chevalerie. Entre lesquelz la fleur flourie Estoit pour tons cuers resveillier, Maurice, le beau chevalier! Maurice, le beau chevalier Que dira ton hault parentage. Si tost qu'il porra soutillier Comment on t^a fait detaillier Et murdrir en fleur de ton age? Quel desconfort! quel grief outrage! Quel pleur! quel lamentation! O terrible prodition ! O terrible prodition ! As tu fait ceste villonnie! Tu ev avra pugnition Et horrible dampnation Avec Fenfemale maisnie. La terre est couverte et honnie Du sang du bon due famillier, Maurice, le beau chevalier! Prince, vous avez pas envie Assome et fait traveillier Maurice, le beau chevalier."^® *• Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 235-241. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 179 G. Llnfortune: L'Instructif de Seconde Bhetoricque*'^ Sig. b iii verso De nona specie "Les balades communement < Par telz formes sont composees j Reprendre on doit premierement Les premieres lignes croisees Au quart et quint lieu apposees Troys coupletz egaulx au renger Ainsi doiuent estre posees Refrain pareil sans riens changer Auec troys coupletz mesmement Desgales lignes proposees Vng prince y soit pareillement De la moitie des exposees Coupletz qui seront imposees Sans aucun vice y calanger Si non par na aux disposees Refrains pareil sans riens changer. Les coupletz soient signament Dautant de lignes compassees Comme le refrain proprement A de sillabes proposees Et ces reigles presupposees Lon peult les balades forger En forme bien auctorisees Refrain pareil sans riens changer 47 L 'Instructif de Seconde Bhetoricque, printed in Le Jardin de Plaisance, was written by an author who signed himself L'Infortnne. He may have been a certain Jourdain or Joannes Caletenses. The treatise is in rime and the various forms of poetry described are ex- emplified in the statement of the rules that present in themselves the very type of verse they are explaining. See G. Pellissier, De Sexti Decimi Saeculi in Francia Artxbus Poeticis (Paris, 1882). 180 THE BALLADE j I Le prince soit tant seulement 1 De la moitie pour abregier ' Des coupletz et non autrement | Refrain pareil sans riens changer ] Notabile Doppinion sot aucus coe puis entedre | Que balade ait refrain et trois coupletz semblables > Et le prince sis les vers point repredre Lesquelles croisent desgales lignes sortables " "; Sig. b. iiij. recto Balada retrograda " Constellation nous produit Refection dhumain engin t Jeunesse ne quiert que deduit Chascun doit craidre mal engin 1 Sans corde file ne engin Notet et preignet sans leuriers Ces prouerbes les manouuriers \ Soit de colericque ou sanguin i Plus sont de maistres que douuriers j A rimer maint cueur se reduit \ Tant sur coefe que sur beguin Ou sur mot ou sens mieulx se duit Sur clerc sur lourt ou sur bourdin** Doultrecuidez se meslent dautres mestiers Puis lors que dit Ion dung badin Plus sont de maistres que douuriers La science sabatardit De rethoricque sans latin Quant de rimer chascun en dit 48 Two lines missing. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 181 A plaisir: soit soir ou matin Lon rime chien centre matin Chascun sen mesle en tons quartiers Dieux que de nouueaulx charpentiers De rimer chascun tatin Plus sont de maistres que douuiers." Balada per dyalogum "Ha maistre alain quoy qui mapelle Cest moy: tu qui: cest linfortune: las Que te fault il : las lon rue a la pelle Rethoricque: voire dis tu: helas Oy qui fait ce : Aucune diceulx ia las Ou ne scauent. Est il vray tu te gales Mais en quel lieu ou en festes ou en gales Est il certain : oy benedicite Vous perdres bruit pour telz cimbales Boute chouque si est ressuscite. Reuit il dieux: oy. Quelle vielle Comment: ne scay. tais toy cu songes las Sauf vostre honneur. Non dea quel kirielle Mais ou en galans saillans en voz las Puis en font ilz de bons biens : cest solas Quoy nettemet come vng autre en brimbales Dis tu: sans voz couleurs rethoricales Voir est ce tout. Nest ce pas bien dicte Pour le commun : quen ties tu. quen tregales Boute chouque si est ressuscite. Cest vng grant cas : si est ce grant nouuelle Comme rime il : en beaux termes tous plas Cest rigole contrepaye est telle Ou se fait el. tant sur potz que sur plas En beau goret, oneques mieulx naeouplas Aumoins pieca bon nota de cancales 182 THE BALLADE Donnez leur: quoy pour loyer deux escales Ou masure pour leur habilite Dea sanf farcer pourquoy car en gringales Boute chouque si est ressuscite. Prince notez. quoy : ce present libelle De qui de quoy de iourdain qui la belle Pour ses deux blans gardez diuersite A quoy faire pour cause telle quelle Boute chouque si est ressuscite." H. Traits de Bhetorique*^ Vers Septains " Pluseurs vers qui sont septains Sont a le fois pour chanssons Que chantent les gens mondains, Et se font de telz fassons. Or regardons se sont bons Pour resconforter malades Souvent on en fait balades. Vers Witains Et Coppes. " On dit couplet Ou vers witain Quant il est fait De bone main Et qu'il est plain *9The author of the Traite de BhStorique (1490?; 1500?), like L 'Inf ortun^, defines a form by means of the form itself. It is im- possible, since the exact date of neither is known, to say who orig- inated the method. The TraitS is not a complete seconde rhetorique, but is intended only to instruct some friend of the author who wished to poetize. The treatise gives isolated haXlade stanzas but says noth- ing about the structure of the whole bcUlade. Much of the stuff is pure doggerel. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 183 De rime sade. S'il a refrain II est ballade."5« Vers Dizains de .x. Pies et De .x. Lignes j " Vers de .x. pies de .x. lignes rimes j Sont vers dizains, deroisies en ce point. Es balades sont il souvent trouves, Quant le refrain leur est donne a point. Mais touteffois oublier ne fault point i A faire arrest et poser au quart piet, | Car aultrement il seroit reprochiet \ C'est balade quant il porte refrain, | Et a le fois enlachiet et croisiet, i Ne plus ne mains que s'il fut vers douzain."*^^ ^ Nota " On treuve balade souvant j De .v. pies, de .vj. et de sept, De .viij., de dix communement, ! De .ix., ne .xij., nul n'en scet. ] Pluseurs balades baladans Virlais, fatras d'aultre fachon Ont en leur ait les biens rimans, Dont point je ne fais mension. Se j'en dis mon entention, Pardonnes moy se j'ay failly; Je n*ay faict ce traictiet se non Pour aprendre ung mien amy."" 50 Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 257. 61 Ibid., Opus at., p. 261. 52 Ibid., Opus at., p. 264. 184 THE BALLADE I. Pierre Fabri : Le Grand et Vrai Art de Pleine Rhetorique ** Ballades se font de huyt lignes pour clause et huyt syllabes en masculin pour ligne. Et doibuent estre trois clauses de semblable lisiere ou rithme et semblable reffrain pour derniere ligne, lequel doibt estre masculin avec demye clause de semblable ou aultre lisiere au quattre dernieres lignes, qui s'appelle I'enuoy, ou le prince, pource que, en tenant le puy de ballades, voluntiers ledict enuoy se adrece ou enuoye au prince. Et disent aulcuns qu'il n'est point necessaire, ne aussi I'enuoy d'vng champ royal, veu que Ten y peult changer lisiere. Mais la coustume plus com- mune c'est qui sont de I'essence de ballade et de champ royal, et doibuent en puy estre de semblable lisiere, et se, par eulx a redicte, ilz sont a reffuser. Aulcuns font bal- lades et lignes de dix syllabes en masculin, et les aultres prennent deux lignes pour reffrain et se peuent layer, retro- grader en tant de manieres que I'acteur trouuera de suauite en son ordonnance ; mais s'il excede huyt lignes et huyt syl- labes, ce n'est plus ballade, et ceulx de dix syllabes s'ap- pellent bastars de champ royal ou demy champ royal, bal- lade quant ilz changent lisiere en la cinquiesime ou sixiesme ligne, comme sont les XXV ballades de Meschinot enuoyees a George 1 'Auanturier, et celles de maistre Alain que sont au Breuiaire des nobles. Et differe ballade a reffrain bran- lant, pource que en ballade les IIII et V lignes sont de semblabe lisiere et terminaison, et le reffrain branlant change, et si a VI ou VIII couplectz sans prince, et ne sont point les clauses de semblable lisiere. "°^ 53 A. H6ron, Le Grand et Vrai Art de Pleine Rhetorique de Pierre Fdbri (Rouen, 1890), Second Livre, pp. 87-88. Fabri quotes here L'Infortun6's verse definition of the tallade. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 185 ] .i " Frere Oliuier Maillart : ' Seigneurs, qui les grans biens auez j Pour seruir la chose publique, ■ Prelatz et clercs les droitz sQauez, i Gens qui menez vie lubrique, j De voz pechez et voye oblique \ Vous rendrez conte et reliqua, * Ou serez dampnez sans replique, | M'arme, il n'y a ne sy ne qua. : Gorgyas basteurs de pauez, i Bourgoys, marchans, gens de practique, Femmes qui vos faces lauez Et pour intention inique ^ Fringuez bien en forme autentique, ! Le diable qui vous prouoqua En fin pour vous auoir s'applique. \ M'arme, il n'y a, etc. '■ Tricherres qui Pautruy debuez, i Gens, nobles, gens d'art mecanique, ^ Leuez tons les testes, leuez, Vous vous dampnez, raison I'explique. i Vous yrez au Dieu pacifique Qui oncques pecheur ne mocqua, ! Ou au logis diabolique. | M'arme, il n'y a ne sy ne qua. Enuoy j Prince, redempteur magnifique \ Qui d'enfer Adam reuoqua, ' Se par toy n'auons pais vnique, M'arme, il n'y a ne sy ne qua."^* 'i **Septains different a ballade, pource qu'ilz sont sept \ lignes, et ballade est de huyt. . . . Les Picars apprennent les ballades que sont d'autant de lignes qu'il y a de syllabes au j 54 A. Heron, Opus Cit., pp. 89-90. ' 186 THE BALLADE pallinode; mais, se il passe huyt en masculin et neuf en feminin, ce n'est plus ballade. ' ' Item, ilz font difference entre commune et ballade balla- dant' qu^ilz appellent batelee en la quarte syllabe, c'est a dire que toute ligne de dix ou de vnze doibt auoir couppe en mot complet et masculin, comme il est diet de champ royal. Ballade antique de dix syllabes en masculin : " Quant vous verrez les princes recuUer Et les riches estre en division ; Quant vous verrez les sages aceuller Pour soustenir police et vnion ; Quant les flatteurs par leur sedition Informeront les seigneurs au contraire; Quant en croirta des folz Toppinion, Tenez vous seurs qu'aurez beaucoup a faire. [Two other stanzas given.] Prince, pour Dieu ayez affection D'entretenir la iustice ordinaire, Ou aultrement et pour conclusion Tenez vous seurs, etc." Uen f aict aussi des ballades a paige ou layees, Comme cy : " Fleur de beaulte gracieuse, Precieuse, Gente d'honneur excellente, Viue face sumpteuse, Verteuse, Blanche dame et nouvelle ente."" J. L^Art et Science de Rhetorique Vulgaire Autre Reigle ** Encores autre taille de dix lignes se treuvent, la quelle est bonne a faire ballades de dix mettres, selon le refrain de 85 A. H6ron, Opus Cit, pp. 91-93. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 187 dix sillabes, comme icy appert par ung article d*une double ballade de feu maistre Jehan Le Mayre : Exemple " Cent ans a creu ; tout se paye en une heure. II est escript par ung noble chapitre: Qui feu nourrit pour meetre en autruy feurre, Finer par feu doibt tel pervers ministre. De trahison tons enfans de trahistre Sont entachez, soit en taille ou en fonte. Tel f ut Enee et Anthenor en compte ; Telz estes vous leurs successeurs encore. Mais le bon droit la malice surmonte. Or est Priam bien venge de Anthenor.^® ''Autre maniere de ryme se treuve de onze lignes, de la quelle communement on fait ballades ou chantz royaulx, selon et en ensuyvant le refrain qui est feminin et de onze sillabes, comme il appert: Exemple^"^ "Artaxerses, plein de gloyre et faeunde, Jadis monstrant ses triumphes royaulx, Fit ung convy d'opulence fecunde Aux princes siens, gentz et subjects loyaulx. Vasty la royne, habondante en richesses, Tint court planiere aux dames et duchesses Adoneq el roy, pour plus fort s'esjouyr, Voult que a luy vint, mais il n'en sceut jouyr; Lors couronna Hester, vierge opportune, Puys decreta et fit par tout ouyr La loy de mort condempnant tous fors une.''^ 56 Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 277, says that this is the second stanza of a double ballade in the L^gende de Venitiens of Jean Lemaire. 57 The first stanza of a chant royal given later in the same treatise. 58 Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 277-278. 188 THE BALLADE ^^Sensuyvent Les Reigles de Balades et Chant z Royaux. Ballade commune doibt avoir refrain et troys cnpletz, et 1 'envoy ; dont le refrain tire la substance de la ballade. Et doibt chascun couplet par rigueur d'examen avoir autant de lignes que le refrain contient de sillabes. De huyt sillabes. ' ' Se le refrain a huyt sillabes et la derreniere est parf aicte et masculine, la ballade doibt tenir forme de vers huytains. De neuf sillabes, ' * Se le refrain a neuf sillabes et la derreniere est feminine et imparfaicte, les coupletz doibvent avoir neuf lignes, dont les quartres premieres se croysent, et la .v®., .vj®. et .viij®., sont de pareilles terminations et ryme differente aux quatre premieres lignes croysees et la septiesme et neuvfiesme con- sonantes en ryme et differantes de toutes les autres. De Dix sillabes. **Se le reffrain a dix sillabes, les coupletz de la ballade sont de dix lignes ; mais il fault que la derreniere sillabe de la ligne dudit refrain soit en ryme masculine et parf aicte ; des quelles dix lignes les quatres premieres se croysent, la .v®. pareille a la .iiij®., la .vi®., .vij®. et .ix®. de pareille termina- tion differante a celle de la croysure, et la .viij®. et .x®. egalles en ryme et consonance distinctes de toutes les autres. De Onze sillabes. * ' Se le refrain a onze sillabes, dont la derreniere est fem- inine et imparfaicte, les coupletz auront onze lignes, des quelles les quatre premieres se croysent, la .v*. et .vj*. pareilles et d 'autre ryme; la .vij®., .viij®., et .x*. egalles en consonance et differante aux premieres; et la .ix®. et .xj". THEORY OF THE BALLADE 189 aussi de pareille termination et differante a toutes les autres. Be L'Envoy * * II est a noter que tout envoy, qui se commance par Prince, a les mesme refrain des coupletz; mais il ne contient que einq lignes tout au plus es coupletz de dix et onze sillabes, et prend ses terminations et rymes sur les cinq derrenieres lignes desditz coupletz; et se ilz n'ont que huyt ou neuf lignes, les rymes de Tenvoy se feront sur le quatres der- renieres lignes d'iceulx coupletz. * ' Exemple de huyt lignes les coupletz et de huyt sillabes le refrain se monstrera en une double ballade cy apres ensuy- vant, qui se commance ainsi : Le roy Francois chevaleureux, etc. Exemple de neuf sillabes " Suys je pas le plus malheureux Qui soit vivant dessus la terre, De veoir Ennuy de douloureux, Aecourir sus moy si grand erre? Helas! ce cas dur et amer Est seullement pour trop aymer Une tres belle et jeune dame; Dont voy qu'il est a presumer Par amour on reQoit maint blasme. [Two other stanzas given.] Prince, on me debvroit assommer, Puys que j'ay fait moy mesme infame, Car je voy pour me consommer Par amour on re^oit maint blasme. Exemple de dix sillabes [None given.] 190 THE BALLADE "Exemple de onze lignes les coupletz et onze sillabes le refrain se verra en ung chant royal cy apres ensuyvant et commenQant : Artaxerses, plain de gloire et f aconde, etc.*^" **Et n'y a autre difference, sinon que le chant royal est fait de cing coupletz et I'envoy, et la ballade n'en a que troys et I'envoy. **En vers alexandrins se peult aussi faire ballade, les coupletz de douze lignes, et le refrain de douze sillabes, combien que n'en aye encores veu. Exemple " Si jadis le dicu Mars eut des filz belliqueux Es granctz et noble Greez, es Troyans f ortz et preux ; Et es prudents Rommains, puissans d'antiquite, Au temps present en Gaulle en est de vertueux. Adextres et hardiz, si qu' en faietz sumptueux, Aulcun d'eulx, pour mourir, n'a les armes quicte. On en voit toute France ennoblie et tres seure Par le nombre alie des princes qui Fasseure, Dont I'eslite et perle est un ung prince frangoys, Franc, begnin, saige et jeune et de belle stature, Qui tousjours a le cueur, de vertus nourriture, Le myeulx ayme de tons et I'espoir de Frangoys. [Two other stanzas given.] Prince, f aiz nous ce bien que jusque a cent ans dure Ce riche et beau joyau, pur et nect, sans laidure, Qui, comme hoir, garde et tient, de mont et de val, loix ; Garde le, s'il te plaist, d'infortune trop dure. Car seul nous le tenons, et, s'il luy plaist, Fendure Le myeulx ayme de tons et I'espoir de Frangoys."® B» See p. 187 above. «o By the author of the treatise. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 191 "Ballade balladant tient termes de ballade, commune, fors qu'elle est bastellee a la quatriesme et cinquiesme sillabes en certaines lignes de la quadrure ; car en toutes lignes de dix ou de onze sillabes, soit en ballade, rondeau ou autre taille, tousjours la quatriesme sillabe en masculin ou la cin- quiesme en feminin et singulier nombre, qui fait la qua- drure, doibt estre de mettre complet, et avoir sentence en-tiere, et fault illecq reposer en pronunQant. Et autant es vers alexandrins s'en doibt faire en la sixiesme sillabe masculine et en la septiesme feminine, qui fait la quadrure, comme plus a plain, et declaire et par exemple monstre au commancement de cest oeuvre, en la dilucidation et exposi- tion du parfaict ou masculin et le I'imparfaict ou feminin. Toutesvoyes encore, ainsi que dit est, le coupletz de ceste forme de ballade doib[vent] contenir autant de lignes comme le refrain a de sillabes. Exemple " Juifz ont dit que nostre redemption."^^ * ' Ballade f atrisee ou gemelle sont deux ballades communes tellement ordonnees et entrelacees ensemble que le com- mancement de I'une donne refrain a I'autre. Et se peuent faire et composer de quelque quantite et nombre de sillabes que I'acteur vouldra, en y observant les reigle, dessusdictes en forme de ballades. Exemple "Le roy FranQois, chevaleureux, Doue de tous dons de nature, Est a pied et cheval heureux, Franc, fort, de vertus desireux, «i Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 294-298. This same tallade is given in Molinet's treatise. 192 THE BALLADE Moult aymant justice et droicture; Par quoy sus toute creature Gloire il a, car par ses haultz f aictz Ses ennemys sont tous deffaitz. Ses ennemys sont tous deffaitz Et est leur puissance abolie; Bien ont congneu par vilz effectz Les lasches tours qu'ilz avoient f aitz ; Car sont puniz de leur folie, Lors n'eurent que melencolie, Quant si pres virent entour eulx Le roy Frangois, chevaleureux. [Four other stanzas given.] Prince entretiens tousjours Farmeure De prudence, par bon art meure, Au roy, puys que publier faiz; Ses ennemeys sont tous deffaiz."^ K. Gracien du Pont: Art et Science de Bhetorique Metrifiee. fol. 49-50«3 Quest ce que Ballades ''Nous auos souuet dessus parle, des Ballades et des Chaps royaulx. Toutesfoys nauos encores declaire quest ce que Ballade, & quest ce que Chap royal. Premieremet debuez noter q ballade nest aultre chose, q troys coupletz a ung mesme reffrain, avec Leuoy qui porte pareil reffrain que lesd coupletz. Et pour bie entendre quest ce q Enuoy, ce n'est que vng sommaire de fin & coclu- sion quant au sens, qui ne doibt estre en nobre & mesure de 62 Langlois, Opus Cit., pp. 300-301. 63 The references are to the edition printed in 1539 at Toulouse. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 193 lignes, que le moytie de lung desd troys coupletz. Et ce debuez entendre de la derniere moytie dudict couplet, no de la premiere. Laqlle moytie se prend apres la premiers clause parfaicte faisant couplet parfaict, coe auons dessus diet. Cest a scauoir en Rithme platte, ou croysee, despuys les quatre premieres lignes, & en rithme riche despuys les six dictes. Apres lesqlles pouez chager de croyseure & facos en mainctes sortes pour faire couplet double. Coe verrez en mains lieux dessoubz alleguez composez par diuers Autheurs. Et notez que de riguer dudict art / chascu couplet doibt auoir aultant de lignes, hors mys ledict Enuoy, q le reffrain a de syllabes. Toutesfoys, nest telle rigeur obseruee, & gardee, ains se practique au plaisir de coposeur, coe voyez toutz les iours par exeples. Pourueu que en mesure, ny quatitez de lignes ne soit excede le nobre de douz lignes coe avons diet. Et sachez aussi que les coupletz des Ballades ne doibuent estre hors mys ledict Enuoy, de moins de lignes, que de sept, copris ledict reffrain, de moins ne seroyt Ballade ains coupletz a reffrain, ne meritanz por- ter le nom de Ballades. Et pose quilz portet n5bre compe- tent, selon nostre aduys, si tous lesdictz coupletz ne sont vnissones, aussi ne merite estre dicte Ballade. Combien que soyent plusiers au cotraire. Vous trouuerez de Ballades en forme deue en maictz & duiers lieux. Et audict liure des Cotrouerses, toutes sont vnissones. Et premieremet, au fueillet .ij. tourne, vne a .ix. lignes. Vne aultre au fueillet .iij. tourne a .x. lignes, coronee. Au feuillet .vj. tourne, vne enchaisnee, a .viij. lignes, au fueillet .xj. vne coronnee a dix lignes, au fueillet .xlix. tourne, vne batellee a .x. lignes, au fueillet .liiij. vne emperiere, a .viij. lignes, au fueillet tourne, vne aultre emperiere, par enquiuocs mariez a .viij. lig. au fueillet .Iv. vne coronnee & batellee a seblables corones a .vij. lignes, au fueillet .lix. vne batellee a .viij. lignes, au fueillet •Ix. tourne vne par equiuocques a .x. lignes, au fueillet 14 194 , THE BALLADE .Ixvij. tourne, vne latinisee a .x. lignes, au fueillet .Ixxviij. vne a .x. lignes, au fueillet .Ixxviij. vne a .x. lignes, au fueillet .Ixxxij. tourne, Vne par equiuocqs a .x. lignes, au fueillet .cxix. vne batelle a .xij. lignes. Ite aulx fueilletz .cxxvij. & .cxx. .vij. troys suyuates a double sens a .viij. lignes au fueillet .clxxviij. tourne, vne eoronee, & batellee a .viij. lignes. Notez que despuys le nobre de .vij. lig. inclusivement, jusq a douze, se peuet faire Ballades. Et quant aulx coup- letz, il ny en doibt auoir que troys, & Leuoy. Aultremet me seroyt Ballade ains chap royal." Fol. Hi verso **Des mesdisans des rithmes graues, & subtilles de termes. . . . Mays quelq chose quilz saichent dire, quant elles sont bien faictes, soit en Ballade vnisonne. Et mesmement eoronee par equiuocques, Emperiere, ou aultre, est plus riche, & digne destre mieulx prisee, que cet, ne mille des- dictz aultres bas stilles. Et auront lesdietz grossiers igno- rantz, plustost faictes cent, voyre mille Ballades de leurs maternelz patoys, & prineipes dapprentys, que vne bone Ballade desdictz haultz stilles, qui ne se laissent digerer en lestomac de toutes gens. ' ' "II fault presuppose, que ceulx qui font vne bonne ballade des dictz haultz stilles peneux & subtilz, quilz en ferot bien vne planiere & grossiere. Vng home qui scait lyre le Pater noster, & toutes aultres escriptures, tant de main que de Impression scauroit bien lyre le A, B, C. Et scait bien espeler & assembler les lettres en syllabes, & dictions. Nous ne voullons poinct soubstenir q quant vne desdicts especes graues ne seroyt de bone mesure, de bon sens, & seroit viceuse, fust plus estimee que vne bonne Ballade simple a bon sens & termes sans aulcu vice." THEORY OP THE BALLADE 195 The varieties of hallades that appear in du Font's Con- traverses are given below : Ballade unissone a IX lignes et dix syllabes. Ballade dyaloguee a VIII syllabes et X lignes. Ballade unissone par dizains. Ballade unisonne batellee a X syllabes. Ballade unissone leonine et batellee a II terminaisons tant seullement a dizains. Ballade unissone par termes scabreulx et latinisez a dizaine. Ballade unissone et batellee a XII lignes. Ballade unissone par equivocques a dix syllabes et X lignes. Ballade unissone a doubles equivocques. Ballade unissone coronnee par equivocques a dizains. Ballade unissone par vers enchaisnez equivocquez. Ballade unissone coronnee par equivocques mariez en la premiere terminaison ou sont accordez deux contraires cest le plurier avec le singulier et le masculin avec le feminin : car la teste est masculin et pluriere et la coronne feminine et singuliere a dizains. Ballade unissone coronnee par equivoques et batellee par coronez equivocquez. Ballade unissone batellee et coronnee par double coronne equivocquee chascune ligne portant son equivocque aultre- ment dicte emperiere. Ballade unissone batellee par termes deonismes riches hors mys le refrain et son subject coronnee a deux coronnes par coronnez mariez dicte emperiere par equivocques tante le masculin que le feminin. Ballade unissone coronnee par equivocques et batellee par semblables coronnes equivocquees, autrement dicte coronnee par equivocques redoublez en laquelle est coronne le refrain. Ballade unissone a double sens retrogradee en diverses 196 THE BALLADE fagons dont en lysant toute la ligne dit mal des femmes aussy en la lysant au rebours mot a mot. Et ne lysant que line moytie de chascun quartier que vous vouldrez dit bien desdites femmes tant le lysant en hault que en bas. Ballade unissone a double sens et de mesme sorte que la dessus quant a lestille, mays eontraire a lautre devant car en lysant toute la ligne dit bien des femmes et les moytiez en disent mal. Ballade unissone de mesme stille que les dessus dictes, sauf que en lysant toute la ligne dit bien des femmes et de moytiez lune dit mal et lautre bien desdictes femmes par- ainey toutes les troys susdictes ballades sont differentes Tune de I'autre, combien que soyent d'ung mesme stille et de retrogradent d'une sorte.^* L. Thomas Sibilet : Art Poetique Frangois "La Balade est Poeme plus graue que nul des precedens [Sonnet and Rondeau], pour ce que de son origine s'adres- soit aux Princesses et ne traitoit que materes graves et dignes de Taureille dVn roi. Auec le temps empireur de toutes choses, les Poetes FranQoys Tout adaptee a matieres plus legeres et facecieuses, en sorte qu'auiourd' huy la matiere de la Balade est toute telle qu'il plaist a celuy qui en est autheur. Si est elle neantmoins moins propre a facecies et legeretez. "Sa forme est telle quelle eontient trois coupletz entiers, et vn epilogue communement appelle Enuoy. Les trois coupletz doyuent auoir tous autant de vers les vns comme les autres, et unisones en ryme : car s'ilz sont de different son, ia la bonne part de la grace que doit la Balade, est esgaree. Le nombre des vers en chasque couplet est huit- tain ou dizain, par foys septain ou vnzain. . . . L 'enuoy ou 6* Gracien du Pont, Les Controverses des Sexes MascuUn et Femi- nin, Tholoze, 1534. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 197 epilogue mesure le nombre de ses vers a la forme du couplet : ear si le couplet est huictain, I'Enuoy sera quatrain. Se le couplet ha dis vers, I'epilogue en aura cinq plus commune- ment: aulcuns foys sept. S'il est vnzain, I'Enuoy sera icy de cinq, la de six, ailleurs de sept vers. Et si le couplet a douze vers, comme tu en trouueras, en aucunes Balades de Marot, I'Enuoy en doit auoit sept pour legitime proposi- tion. Voyla quant au nombre des vers: mais quant a la ryme, tu entens assez dans mon auertissement, qu'a raison de 1 'analogic, les vers de I'Enuoy, en quelque nombre qu'ils soyent, doyuent resembler en son, autant des derniers du couplet, qu 'ilz sont en leur nombre : comme si 1 'epilogue a cinq vers, ces cinq doynent estre vnisones aux cinq derniers de chasque couplet precedent, et ainsi en plus grand nombre. Mais sur tout fault que tu anises au dernier vers du premier couplet, qu'on appelle Refrain, pource qu'il repete entier en la fin de chasque couplet, et de I'Enuoy de mesme. Repete di-ie, non comme au Rondeau simple ou double, auquel la repetition du vers ou hemistiche est abondante, c'est a dire qu'elle ne diminue point le nombre des vers autrement requis au couplet, ains est supernumeraire. Mais en la Balade le refrain repete est conte pour vn des vers constituans le couplet, comme tu peuz voir en ceste Balade de Marot : [Here Sibilet prints Marot 's ballade, the refrain of which is: **Le beau Dauphin, tant desire en France."] "Tu trouueras d'autres Balades a double refrain, I'vn repete au mylieu du couplet, et I'autre a la fin: comme en la Balade de Marot a Frere Lubin:^^ et ceste maniere de refrain double, est autant rare que plaisante. La Balade au demourant se fait de vers de huit et dix syllabes mieux et plus communement. Mais tiens tousiours en memoire ceste regie generalle, qui le vers de huit syllabes est ne «5 See Chapter V, below, p. 319, and the present chapter, p. 206. 198 THE BALLADE seulement pour les choses legeres et plaisantes. Note con- sequemment quant au fait de la Balade, que sa premier vertu et perfection est, quand le refrain n'est point tire par les cheveux pour rentrer en fin de couplet : mais y est repete de mesme grace et connexion que je t'ay dit au chaptire precedent estre requise a la reprise du Rondeau. "L'Enuoy commence quasi tousiours par ce mot, Prince si la Balade dresse a homme; & par Princesse, si a femme, d'oii tu peuz cognoistre la maieste et pris d'elle. Cela toutesfois n'est tant necessaire que tu ne trouues en beaucoup d'Enuoys ces mots laissez pour autres mieulx a propos qui ayent pareille ou meilleure harmonic. "^^ M. Joachim du Bellay: La Deffence et Illustration de Langice Frangoyse "Ly doncques, et rely premierement, (o Poete futur) fueillette de main nocturne et journelle les exemplaires grecz et latins : puis me laisse toutes ces vielles poesies f rancoyses aux Jeux Floraux de Thoulouze et au Puy de Rouan:^^ comme rondeaux, ballades, vyrelaiz, chantz, royaux, chan- sons, et autres telles episseries, qui corrompent legoust de nostre langue et ne servent si non a porter temoignage de notre ignorance. "^^ N. Barthelemy Aneau : Le Qwintil Horatian "Trop dedaigneuse est ceste exportation de laisser les vieilles poesies aux Floraux de Tholose et au Puytz de Rouan. Par laquelle trop superbe dehortation sont indig- nement et trop arrogament deprisees deux tresnobles choses. 6« Charles Asselineau: Livre des Ballades (Paris, 1876), pp. 171-174 «7 See Chapter I. 68 11. Chamard, Joachim du Bellay, La Defence et Illustration de la Langue Francoyse (Paris, 1904), p. 201. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 199 D'ont Tune est rinstitution ancienne en deux tresbonnes villes de France de Thonneur attribue au mieux faisans, pour I'entretien eternal de la poesie frangoise, jouxte le proverbe: Vhonneur nourrit les ars. Tel que jadis fut en Grece es Olynpiques, et a Rome es jeux publiques. L 'autre est 1 'excellence et noblesse de noz poemes les plus beaux et les plus artificielz, comme rondeaux, balades, chans royaux, virlais, lesquelz tu nommes, par terrible translation, es- picerie corrumpant le goust: qui toutefois en toute per- fection d'art et d 'invention excedent tes beaux sonnetz et odes (que tu nommes ainsi) desquelz plus amplement cy apres je parleray. Et en cest endroit, tu ne cognois, ou ne veux cognoistre, que ces nobles poemes sont propres et pecu- liers a langue francoise, et de la sienne et propre et antique invention. Sinon que par adventure on les vousist rap- porter a d'aucunes formes hebraiques et greques es Pro- phetes et en Isocrat, et quelques latines en Ciceron et orai- sons et en Vergile es vers intercalaires. Ce que mesmes les noms de ces poemes donnent a entendre. Car rondeau est periode, balade est nom Grec, chant royal est carme heroique, par principale denomination, virlay est lyrique ou la'ique, c'est a dire populaire. Ce que ne pensant pas, tu les rejettes, mesmement les virlais, et a la fin ordonnes les vers lyriques, qui sont tout un et une mesme chose. Mais ce que te fais les depriser, a mon avis que c'est la difficulte d'iceux poemes, qui ne sortent jamais de povre esprit, et d'autant sont plus beaux que de difficile facture, selon le proverbe grec ra x^^^o. KaXa,les choses difflcules sont belles. Tout ainsi comme en grec et latin les vers exametres, che- minans a deux piedz seulement, sont plus nobles et plus beaux que les trochai'ques ou iambiques ou comiques, qui recoivent plusieurs piedz indifferement et plus a I'aise. Pource ne blasme point ce que tant est louable, et ne de- fendz aux autres ce que tu desperes povoir parfaire. Et ne 200 THE BALLADE dy point que telz poemes ne serve sinon a porter tes- moignage de nostre ignorance. Car au contraire par excel- lence de vers et ligatures, nombreuse multiplicite de caden- ces unisonnantes, et argute rentree, refrains et reprinses avec la majeste de la chose traitee, et epilogue des envoys, tesmoignent la magnificence et richesse de nostre langue, et la noblesse et la felicite des espritz frangois, en cela exce- dans toute les poesies vulgares. Mais pour le difficile artifice et elabouree beaute d'iceux anciens poemes, tu les veux estre laissez. ' '^^ ''Sonnez luy Tantiquaille. Tu nouz as bien induit a laisser le blanc pour le bis, les balades, rondeaux, virlaiz et chans royaux pour les sonnetz, invention (comme tu dis) italienne. Dequoy (si a Dieu plait) ils sont beaucop plus a priser. Et certes ils sont d'une merveilleuse invention (a bien les consyderer) et tresdificile, comme d'un huitain bien libre, a deux ou trois cadences [rimes], et un sizain, a autant d'unisonances ou croisees, ou entreposees si abondon- neement et deregleement, qu le plus souvent en cinq vers sont trois rymes diverses et la ryme du premier rendue finalement au cinquieme, tellement que en oyant le dernier, on a desja perdu le son et la memoire de son premier uni- sonant, qui est desja a cinq lieues de la. Vela una brave poesie, pour en mepriser et dedaigner toutes les autres ex- cellentes frangoises, si conjointes en leurs croisures qu'elles ne laissent jamais perdre et Icing voller le son de leur compagne, encore demourant en I'oreille, et en Ve fenit^® plus d'un ver, ou deux au plus, et ce en double croysure et entreposee quaternaire. Outre ce au lieu de defendre et «» H. Chamard, Joachim du Bellay, La Beifence et Illustration de la Langue Francoyse (Paris, 1904), pp. 203-204. 70 A corrupt passage. Chamard says : " Le sens est bien peu clair. *' This remark applies to the unemended text. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 201 illustrer nostre langue (comme tu le promets), tu nous fais grand deshonneur, de nous renvoyer a Titalien, qui a prins la forme de sa poesie des Francois, et en laquelle il est si licentieux, qu'il use de motz et couppes, divisions et con- tractions a Testriviere.'''^ ** Comme tu as jete les plus belles formes de la poesie frauQoise, ainsi maintenant rejectes tu la plus exquise sorte de ryme que nous ayons, moyenant qu'elle ne soit affectee et cerchee trop curieusement. Et en cecy tu blasmes taisi- blement Meschinot, Molinet, Cretin et Marot, tels person- nages que chacun les coignoit. Mais comme j'ay dit des chants royaux, balades, rondeaux et virlais, la difficulte des equivoques, qui ne te viennent pas tons jours a propos, les te fait rejecter. ■'^ O. Guillaume des Autelz: Bepliques aux Furieiises Defenses de Louis Meigret "Au reste, encores, ne tiens je si peu de conte de noz anciens Francois, que je mesprise tant leurs propres inven- tions que ceux qui les appellent espisseries, qui ne servent d 'autre chose que de porter temoignage de nostre ignorance. Pourquoy est plus a mesp riser I'elaboree ballade francoise que la superstitieuse sextine italiene? Ou y trouvez vous si grande ineptie? Est ce en la palynodie? mais elle nous est commune avecques les Grecs et Latins. Est ce en la difficulte? mais tant plus en est elle louable, pourveu qu'elle n'en apparoisse ny moins ornee ny plus contrainte. Est ce en I'abus de ceux qui escrivent mal? mais nous pourrions ainsi universellement condemner toute la poesie. Et tant 71 H. Chamard, Opus Cit., p. 222. 72 iMd., p. 264. 202 THE BALLADE s*en faut que pour sa diffieulte je restime incapable des ornemens poetiques que je ii*en forclus pas le chant royal, beaucoup plus difficile et ingenieux: d'autant qu'il est plus long et doit contenir une perpetuelle allegoric jusques a Tepilogue, qui la doit ouvrir et declairer. Et quant ce ne seroit qu'un exercice pour nous preparer a plus grans ceuvres, pource ne devrions nous vituperer 1 'eglantine tho- losane, ou Ion ne defend pas de proposer d'autres poemes. Cecy n'est pas dit pour soutenir la facon de nostre vieille poesie : mais je pense que ce temps luy peult donner ce que le passe luy ha refuse, et qu'elle n'est inhabible a le re- cevoir. Ce que j'ay dit de la ballade, je I'estens jusques au lay, que noz predecesseurs prenoient pour I'ode: et pource je ne me soucie pas qu'on rejette le nom, pourveu qu'on retienne la chose et que Ion I'agence mieux."^^ P. Jacques Pelletier: L'Art Poetique **Combien de tans a ete notre langue languissante an barbaric povrete et contannement ! . . . Combien longue- mant a ele sofistique an Balades, Rondeaus, Lez, Virelez, Triolez, e s'il i an a de tez.''* Q. Etienne Pasquier : Becherches de la France ' ' Quant a la Ballade, c 'estoit un chant Royal racourci au petit pied, auquel toutes les reigles de 1 'autre s 'observoient et en la suite continuelle de la rime, et en la closture du vers, et au Renvoy, mais ils se passoient par trois ou quatre dizains, ou huitains, et encores en vers de sept, huit on dix syllabes a la discretion du fatiste, et en tel argument qu'il vouloir choisir." 78 ihid., p. 204. 74 H. Chamard, De Jacohi Peletarii Cenomanensis Arte Poetica (Insulis, 1900), p. 57. THEORY OP THE BAXiLADE 203 **Si ces trois especes de Poesie estoient encores en usage, je ne les vous eusse icy representees, comme sur un tableau : vous les recevrez de moi comme d'une antiquiaille. Toute mon intention estoit, et est, de vous monstrer dont pro- venoit, que corabien que les chant Royaux et Ballades ne parlassent en aucune fagon des Princes, toutesfois leurs conclusions aboutissent seulement en eux. ' ' ''II n'est pas qu'en ma jeunesse es disputes qui se faisoient entre nous dedans nos classes, celuy qui avoit mal respondu, estoit par nous appelle Reus, comme si on luy eust faict son procez. II en prit autrement a nos vieux Poetes. Car comme ainsi fust qu'ils eussent certain jeux de prix en leur Poesies, ils ne condamnoient point celuy qui faisoit le plus mal, mais bien honoroient du nom tantost de Roy, tantost le Prince, celuy qui avoit le mieux fait.'* "Tous ces chants [chants Royaux Ballades], comme j'ay dit, estoient dediez a I'honneur, et celebration des Festes les plus celebres, comme de la Nativite de nostre Seigneur, de sa Passion, de la Conception de nostre Dame, et ainsi des autres : La fin estoit un couplet de cinq, ou sex vers que 1 'on addressoit a un Prince, duquel on n 'avoit faict aucune men- tion par tout le discours du chant. Chose qui pent appres- ter a penser a celuy qui ne scaura ceste anciennete. La verite donques est (que j'ay apprise du vieux Art Poetique FrauQois par moy cy-dessus allegue [Dolet]) que Ton cele- broit en plusieurs endroits de, la France des jeux Floraux, ou celuy qui avoit rapporte I'honneur de mieux escrire, estant appelle tantost Roy, tantost Prince, quand il falloit renouveler les jeux, donnoit ordinairement des ces Chants a faire, qui furent pour ceste cause appellez Royaux, d'au- tant que de toute leur Poesie, cestuy estoit le plus riche 204 THE BALLADE sujet qui estoit donne par le Roy, lequel donnoit aussi des Ballades a faire qui estoient comme demy chants Royaux. Ces jeunes fatistes ayans compose ce qui leur estoit enjoinct, reblandissoient a la fin de leurs Chants Royaux et Ballades leur Prince, afin que I'honorant ils fussent aussi par luy gratifiez, et lors il distribuoit Chapeaux et Couronnes de fleurs, uns et autres, selon le plus ou le moins qu'ils avoient bien-faict. Chose qui s 'observe encores dans Tholose, oii Ton bailie I'Englentine a celuy qui a gaigne le dessus, au second la Soulcie, et quelques autres fleurs par ordre, le tout toutesfois d 'argent, et port encores cet honneste exer- cise, le nom de jeux Floraux, tout ainsi qu 'ancienneraent. Ces chants Royaux, Ballades, Rondeaux et Pastorales, commencerent d 'avoir cours vers le regne de Charles cin- quiesme.'^* R. Frangois de Pierre Delaudun Daigaliers: L'Art Poetique De la Ballade Chap. V *'Avtrefois la ballade a este en telle vogue, qu'elle ne seruoit qu' a choses grades & dignes d'estre presentees a vn Roy ou Prince: mais auiourd'huy outre ce que Ton ne s'en sert plus, encores ceux qui s'en seruent ne 1 'employ et qu'a risee, & n 'estoit, le puy de la Conception des Carmes de Roiian, qui se tient vne fois I'an, ie croy que desja la memoire en seroit perdue. La Ballade est appellee ainsi, pource qu'elle seruoit au Bal, & contient quatre parties, SQauoir trois couplets entiers & vn enuoy, qui sert d 'epilogue. Les couplets ont autant de vers les vns que les autres, & sont vnisones en rime. I 'ay diet que c 'estoit 75 E. Pasquier, Les Becherches de la France (Amsterdam, 1723), Book vn, Ch. V. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 205 a dire, qu'ils sont semblables & fraternisans. L'on y met des vers selon le plaisir du Poete. Les plus communs sont de hiiict, sept, dix & vnze, I'enuoy n'a que la moitie des carmes d'vn couplet, comme si le couplet est de huict ou de sept, Tenuoy en aura quatre s'il est de dix ou de sept, Tenuoy en aura quatre s'il est de dix ou de vnze, I'enuoy aura cinq & quelquesfois sept, pourueu qu'il soit vnzain, si le couplet a douze vers I'euoy en a sept, & les vers de I'enuoy doiuent estre vnisones aux derniers du couplet. Le refrain de la Ballade est le vers qui se repete tousiours a la fin du couplet & de I'enuoy; lequel est compte pour vn des vers du couplet, & n'est pas superflus, comme le refrain ou repetitio du Rondeau. I 'en mets icy vne qui est prise de mes Meslages pour n'en trouuer en Ronsard, Desportes, & autres bon autheurs." "Pour bien dormir la matinee, lusqu'a midy ou bien plus tard, Pour enployer mal sa ioumee, Bien le fera maistre Mordart, Car s'il ne se leuoit si tard, Ce seroit chose salutaire : Et de faire un acte gaillard, Maistre Mordart ne le pent faire. Pour caqueter Papres-disnee, Au coing d'vn feu comme vn cagnard, Et pour faire chose mal nee, Bien le fera Maistre Mordart, Mais si par vne fois d'hazard II eust pense de vous complaire: Pour aller chez maistre Richard, Maistre Mordart le pent bien faire. Pour bien aller a I'haquenee Dessus vn beau cheual bayart, Se pourmener la matinee 206 THE BALLADE Bien le f aira Maistre Mordart, Et puis venant de ceste part, Comme vn braue soldat de guerre : De prendre son repos bien tart, Maistre Mordart ne le peut faire. Enuoy Pour faire Facte dVn cagnart, Bien le fera Maistre Mordart. Mais si c'est chose salutaire, Maistre Mordart ne le peut faire."^^ ' ' Ceste Ballade est appellee a double refrain IVn au milieu du couplet, & 1 'autre a la fin, mais es Ballades dont j'ay parle cy dessus, il n'est pas requis de mettre que celuy de la fin. La Ballade de huict syllabes n'est pour que risee, mais celle de dix est pour choses graues, & faut que le premier mot de I'enuoy se commence par le tiltre d'honneur de celuy a qui elle s'adresse.'*" S. Vauquelin de la Fresnaye: L'Art Poetique Frangois " Et des vieux chants Royaux decharge le fardeau, Oste moy Ballade, oste moy le Rondeau. Les Sonnets amoureux des Tangons Prouengalles, Succederent depuis aux marches inegalles Dont marche I'Elegie; alors des Troubadors Fut la Rime trouee en chantant leurs amours : Et quand leur vers Rimez ils mirent en estime II sonnoient, il chantoient, ils balloient sous leur Rime. Du Son se fist Sonnet, du Chant se fist chanson, Et du Bal la Ballade, en diverse f a^on : T6 Cf . the refrain of Frdre Lubin by Clement Marot : ' ' Fr^re Lubin ne le peult faire. '* 77 Francois de Pierre Delaudun Daigaliers, L^Art Poetique (Paris, 1598), pp. 56-59. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 207 Ces Trouuerres alloient par toutes les Prouinces Sonner, chanter, danser leurs Rimes chez les Princes."^^ T. Le Sieur de Deimier: L*Academie de VArt Poetique . . . ''la Poesie Frangoise est traictee en trente-deux sortes de Poemes, qui sont nommez ainsi, et en premier lieu comme le plus excellent de tons: le Poeme Heroique, Dis- eours, Hymne, Confession, Priere, Auanture, Elegie, Stances, Ode, Sonnet, Madrigal, Plainte, Chanso, Proso- popee. Lamentations ou Regrets, Epigrame, Cartel, Echo, Satyre, Eglogue, Epithalame, Tragedie Tragi-comedie, Chant Royal, Epitaphe, Moralite, Farce, Rondeau, Balade, Vire-lay & Triolet. Lesquels a mon auis, sont, ou compren- nent toutes les formes et manieres dont les Poetes ont d'escrit, ou peuuent d'escrire leurs imaginations. Aussi les six derniers de ces Poemes ont este fort pratiquez entre les anciens Poetes Frangois, mais a present on n'en plus d'estat."'^ U. Francois Colletet: L^Escole des Muses "La Balade autrefois ne s'adressoit qu'aux Princes, et ne traittoit que matieres graues et serieuses: depuis, les Poetes s'en sont seruis en toutes sortes de matieres: Elle contient trois couplets et vn enuoy ou epilogue : les couplets doiuent auoir autant de vers les vns comme les autres, et les rimes doiuent estre vnisonnes, c'est a dire, que les rimes qui sont au premier, doiuent estre semblables de son a celles du second et troisieme. **La disposition des rimes des couplets est semblable a eelle de I'Epigramme: les Vers communs sont commune- ment employez en sa composition. 78Vauquelin de la Fresnaye, L'Art Poetique Frangois (Paris, 1885), Livre I, 11. 545-556. T^lie Sieur de Deimier, L'Academie de VArt Poetique (Paris, 1610), pp. 19-20. 208 THE BALLADE **Le nombre des Vers de chaque couplet est a Tarbitre du Poete ; toutef ois les plus reguliers sont de huit, dix, sept ou vnze, et quelque fois de douze Vers. * ' L 'enuoy ou epilogue mesure le nombre de ses Vers a celuy des couplets: car si les couplets ont huit Vers, Tenuoy en aura quatre; s'il en a dix, I'epilogue en aura cinq plus communement, quelque fois sept; si'il est dVnze, I'enuoy sera de cinq, six ou sept; si le couplet en a douze, I'enuoy sera de sept ; les Vers de 1 'enuoy doiuent auoir les mesmes rimes que les derniers Vers du couplet. ' ' Le dernier Vers de chacun des trois couplets de 1 'enuoy, doit estre le mesme, et on Tappelle le refrain de la Balade, lequel ne doit estre compte pour vn des Vers constituans le couplet comme il se pourra voir en cette Balade de Marot, laquelle, quoy que son style ne soit pas a imiter, nous pourra toutesfois servir pour voir la disposition de ce Poeme. "II faut bien prendre garde que le refrain ne soit tire par les cheueux."®** V. Boilesai: L' Art Poetique " Tout poeme est brillant de sa propre beaute : Le rondeau, ne gaulois, a la naivete; La ballade, asser\de a ses vieilles maximes, Souvent doit tout son lustre au caprice des rimes."®® III. Summary The theories in regard to the ballade in the selections given above are concerned with the structure of the stanzas and of the line units; with the rime-scheme, the refrain, and the envoy. The rhetoricians, from the begin- ning, were keenly interested in devising embellishment and 80 Francois Colletet, L'Escole des Muses (Paris, 1656), pp. 48-50. 81 Nicolas Boileau-Despr^aux, L'Art Poetique, 11. 139-142 reprinted in A. S. Cook, The Art of Poetry (Boston, 1892), p. 180. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 209 multiplying variations. Their distinctive contributions practically ceased with the work of Sibilet, after whose treatise the ballade was no longer of importance in the hand- books of poetics. Sibilet himself was indebted to his pre- decessors, Deschamps, Molinet, Llnfortune, Fabri, and du Pont. The first of the writers on the hallade, Deschamps, dis- criminated between music and poetry in his effort to show that in the puy, where the ballade was presented before the pnnce of the puy, the poet recited his poem and did not sing it. In his text and in the examples (not all of which are given above), he speaks of nine varieties of the ballade. They are : (1) The stanza of 7 lines. (2) The stanza of 8 lines (8 syllables) ;ababbcbc, with envoy a c a c. (3) The stanza of 8 lines (10 syllables) ;ababbcbc. (4) The stanza of 8 lines with 7 lines of 10 syllables and the fifth line of 7 syllables ; a b a b c c d d. (5) The stanza of 8 lines (10 syllables) with a two line refrain; ababbcbc. (6) The stanza of 9 lines with 8 lines of 10 syllables and the sixth line of seven ; a b a b c c d d. (7) The stanza of 10 lines (8 syllables) ;ababbcc 1 - d c d. (8) The stanza of 10 lines (10 syllables) ;ababbcc v\tj d c d. (9) The stanza of 11 lines with 10 lines of 10 syllables and the fifth line of 7 syllables; ababccdd e d e ; envoy, d d e d d e. The envoy according to Deschamps was attached formerly only to the chant royal. In connection with the rime of the ballade he explains the nature of leonine and sonant. By the former he means what is called in English feminine 15 210 THE BALLADE rime, and by the latter what we call masculine rime. A ballade equivoque and retrograde is peculiar in taking the last one or two syllables of the preceding line for the first word of the following line and employing this last in an entirely different sense from that in which it had first appeared. Legrand, unlike Deschamps, reflects an earlier stage of the ballade. In his short treatise he takes up the interior structure of the ballade stanza, and what he says of it is applicable to the commonest ballade scheme. By Vouvert and le clos he must mean the crossed rimes a b a b; Voutrepasse must then be those lines intervening be- tween the cross-riming lines and the refrain. It is there- fore impossible for the latter not to contain the rime of the refrain. Legrand 's statement is not explained by the evi- dence of fifteenth century ballades, though he means per- haps that the oultre passe may contain rimes, especially in the case of the longer ballade stanzas, that are found also either in the first four lines or in the refrain.^- 82 E. Stengel, reviewing Langlois' Eeciieil, pointed out that Le- grand 's theory was based on the usage of the fourteenth, even perhaps of the thirteenth century. To illustrate, he referred to the Oxford col- lection of baletes in MS. Douce 308 as furnishing specimens built on the rules of the ballade set down by Legrand. He says "Sehen wir uns den Bau der haJetes in der Oxforder Sammlung an, so finden sich allerdings nur zwei darunter deren Strophenabschluss jede Reimver- bindung mit dem Eefrain vermissen lasst, namlich No. 163 und 69. "In 163 steht iiberdies der zweite und in 69 der einzige Reim des Strophenabschlusses auch selbststandig denen der Stollen gegeniiber. Nach Legrands Vorschrift sollte eine solche vollige Reimselbstandig- keit eigentlich ausgeschlossen sein. Ahnliche Falle einzelner selbstjind- iger Reime des Strophenabschlusses kommen in unserer Sammlung auch noch sehr selten vor (z. B. No. 57). Dagegen reimt in alien iibrigen Balladen der Strophenabschluss entweder nur mit dem Re- frain Oder sowohl mit dem Refrain wie mit den Stollen. Dass Le- grand ferner das envoi der Ballade verschweigt, deutet wohl auch eher THEORY OF THE BALLADE 211 The author of Les Regies de la Seconde Rhetorique men- tions six varieties of the ballade: (1) The stanza of 9 lines (10 syllables) ; a b a b c c d c d, with envoy ceded. (An unquotable sote halade.y^ (2) The stanza of 10 lines (7 syllables) ; a a b a a b b a a b. (3) The stanza of 8 lines (10 syllables) ;ababbcbc. (4) The stanza of 11 lines (10 syllables) ; a b a b c c d d e d e. The vowels in the end rimes follow the order of vowels in the alphabet. (5) The stanza of 10 lines (first half line of 4 syllables; second half line of six syllables; constructed to read like 7 below) ; a b a b b c c d c d. (6) The stanza of 12 lines (the first, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, ninth, tenth, and twelfth of 10 syllables, with a break after the third syllable; the second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh lines of 4 syllables) ; aabaa bbbcbbc. (7) The stanza of ten lines (the lines divided into two parts, the first half line having 4 syllables, the second half, 6 syllables) ;ababecdded, with envoy d e d. All three stanzas and envoy of this ballade are given. There is no refrain. The first letters of all the lines present the acrostic Biaute, Clarte, Honneur, Richesse and Pris. The ballade may read in three ways: (a) only the first half -lines; (b) only the second half -lines; (c) darauf , dass er die alte Baletef orm im Auge halte, als dass er ' ne s'est pas bien rendu eompte de ce qu'il 6crivait'; denn Deschamps (S 278) bemerkt betreffs der Envois ausdriicklich : ' Et ne les souloit on point faire anciennement, fors es Chansons royaulx.' *' See Stengel, in Zeit. f. Bom. Phil, XXVIII, p. 369. 83 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 38. 212 THE BALLADE both the first half and the second half of the line together. Read in the last way, the ballade shows internal rime. The specimen stanza given of a halade en figure de poetiz lais, and the plaine laie halladant cited, are both re- ferred to the lai, because in the fifteenth century that kind of poem employed either short lines only or long and short lines mixed. In the work of Herenc, who knew Les Regies, we have the first mention of a relationship between the number of lines in the stanza and the number of syllables in the refrain, an eleven-line stanza having an eleven-syllable refrain (and so other lines of eleven syllables), the same arrangement mak- ing ten-line, nine-line, and eight-line stanzas. The ballade varieties in Herenc 's book on poetics are : (1) The stanza of 11 lines (11 syllables) ; a b a b c c d d e d e, with an envoy d e d e. (2) The stanza of 10 lines (10 syllables) : a b a b b c c d c d, with an envoy c d c d. (3) The stanza of 8 lines (8 syllables) ; a b a b b c b c, with an envoy b c b c. (4) The stanza of 9 lines (9 syllables) ; a b a b c c d c d, with an envoy c d c d. (5) The stanza of 7 lines (7 syllables) ; a b a b b c c, with an envoy b b c c. (6) The stanza of ten lines (6 syllables) ; a b a b c c d e d e, with an envoy d e d e. (7) The stanza of 15 lines (the first, second, third, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth lines of 8 syllables; the fifth, seventh, ninth, eleventh and fifteenth lines of three syllables) ; ababbccddeefeef. (8) The stanza of 12 lines (4 syllables) ; a b a b c c d d e f e f , with an envoy d d e f e f. The re- frain is composed of two lines. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 213 One of the hallades quoted above contains the familiar catalogue of the Seven Deadly Sins, a matter not wholly uncongenial to this form of poetry.®* Another quoted by Herenc shows the use of the ballade for purposes of dia- logue.^*^ The Traits de VArt de RJietorique gives rules for the ballade and the rondeau only, among the fixed forms, **car en cest art y fait mettre moult I'usaige.'' Forms like the chant royal, the serventois, etc., had come to be considered purely academic exercises even at the time of Deschamps. At the end of the treatise, as a sort of appendix, the author transcribes a number of ballades (not printed by Langlois) some of which have the same refrain. They were undoubt- edly composed in competition at some piiy. One of the series is always labeled le pris. The author of the Traite says in one place that the ballade stanza may be of any number of lines, but later on he prescribes at least seven lines, probajbly not including the refrain. He recommends crossed rimes for every stanza. Legrand, it will be noticed, anticipates this author in emphasizing the relation of the refrain to the rest of the stanza. Molinet, like Deschamps, was a prolific poet as well as a theorizer, and he draws his examples from his own works. He repeats the direction that the lines of the stanza should equal the number of syllables in the refrain. He dis- tinguishes : (1) The stanza of 8 lines (8 syllables). (2) The stanza of 9 lines (9 syllables) ; a b a b c c d c d. (3) The stanza of 10 lines (10 syllables) ; a b a b b c c d c d. 84 See Chapter II. Cf. MS. Frangais 2306 in the BihUothdque Nationale. 85 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. xlv. 214 THE BALLADE (4) The stanza of 11 lines (11 syllables) ; a b a b c c d d e d e, with an envoy d d e d e. (5) The stanza of 11 lines (the first and fifth lines are of 10 syllables unbroken; the other lines are of 11 syllables, broken after the fourth syllable) ; a b a bccddede, with an envoy d e d e. (6) The stanza of 8 lines (8 syllables) ; the first, third, fifth stanzas riming abaabbec; the second, fourth and sixth riming cdccddaa, with an envoy d a a. The first, third, and fifth stanzas taken together form a balladey as do the second, fourth, and sixth stanzas. A further complication is the fact that in both cases the refrain of a stanza serves as the first line of the next stanza. The ballade halladant (see 5 above) was defined by Herenc as composed of seven seven-syllable line stanzas. What Molinet calls a ballade balladant was described under the title Taille Pleine Lwie Balladant in the first anonymous treatise we examined. Langlois explains Molinet 's use of the word balladant by supposing Molinet 's familiarity with that treatise just referred to, where the title Taille Plaine Balladant occurs. Langlois believes that balladant in the title means simply pour ballade. He thinks it pos- sible that Molinet misapprehended the title, hence his double and unusual definition of the ballade balladant. L'lnfortun^ adds nothing new to the theory of the sub- ject. He reiterates in verse the two well-known formulas that the ballade stanza must begin with crossed rimes and that the number of syllables in the refrain must correspond to the number of lines in the stanza. He uses in the In- structif proper three types: (1) The stanza of 8 lines (8 syllables) ;ababbcbc, with an envoy a c a c. Appropriately enough he employs this type for the definition of the form. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 215 (2) The stanza of 9 lines (9 syllables) ; a b a b b e c b c. (3) The stanza of 10 lines (10 syllables) ; a b a b b c c d c d, with an envoy a a d a d. This form shows the ballade with dialogue carried on within the line unit. The Traite de Bhetorique covers only a small part of the field of poetics and is plainly amateur in scope. It suggests for use in the ballade : (1) The stanza of 7 lines (7 syllables) ; a b a b b c c. (2) The stanza of 8 lines (4 syllables) ;ababbcbc. (3) The stanza of 10 lines (10 syllables) ; a b a b b c c d c d. Fabri 's Pleine Bhetorique is based on L 'Inf ortune and on Molinet. He quotes from both, especially from L 'Inf or- tune, who appears on practically on every page of that part of the Pleine Bhetorique that deals with poetry. Fabri 's work is especially interesting as the work of a man who was one of the early participators in the ''Con- cours du Puy de la Conception" at Rouen. He says at the beginning of the Bhetorique en Bithme that he has composed his handbook of rime "a celle fin que les deuotz f acteurs de champ royal du Puy de 1 'Immaculee Conception de la Vierge ayent plus ardant desir de composer, de tant qu'ilz en congnoissent la maniere, par laquelle leur deuo- tion croistra, et affin que noz treshonnorez seigneurs et maistres, les princes et poetes laurez d'iceluy Puy, ayent aulcune recreation. ' '^^ Fabri follows Molinet in the theory of the ballade, as his reference to the **Picars" implies. His first example is L 'Inf ortune 's ballade on the ballade. The ballade layee is taken from Molinet; Molinet was more elaborate, it will be remembered in his explanation of the ballade balladant. Fabri 's examples embrace these varieties : 8« A. Heron, Opus Cit., Ft. II, p. 2. 216 THE BALLADE (1) The stanza of 8 lines (8 syllables) ;ababbcbe, with an envoy a c a c. (2) The stanza of 8 lines (8 syllables) ;ababbcbc, with an envoy b c b c. (3) The stanza of 8 lines (10 syllables) ; a b a b b c b e, with an envoy b c b c. Another treatise based largely on Molinet is L'Art et Science de Rhetorique Vulgaire. It is a reproduction of Molinet with some additions, the chief of which is the recom- mendation relative to the alternation of masculine and feminine rimes. With the new restriction in view, Molinet 's examples are several times revised at the expense of their meaning.^^ The following are recommended for the ballade: (1) The stanza of 10 lines (10 syllables) ; a b a b b c c d c d, (2) The stanza of 11 lines (11 syllables) ; a b a b c c d d e d e. (3) The stanza of 8 lines (8 syllables) ; a b a a b b c c. (4) The stanza of 9 lines (9 syllables) ; a b a b c c d c d, with an envoy c d c d. (5) The stanza of 12 lines (alexandrines) ; a a b a a b c c d c c d, with an envoy c c d c c d. (6) See stanza form (5) of Molinet. (7) See stanza form (6) of Molinet. In general, du Pont bases his rules on Fabri, who in turn, as we have seen, derives from Molinet and L'Infortune. Du Pont, it is plain, was familiar, too, with the manual of Deschamps. The hallade, according to du Pont, must have at least seven lines and no more than twelve lines. He speaks specifically of (1) The stanza of 7 lines couronnee and hatelee in which the last syllable of the line was to be twice re- peated, and in which the last word of the line was 87 Langlois, OpibS Cit., p. Ixvii. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 217 to rime with the cesura of the following line. This last variation is illustrated also in Les Regies de la Seconde Rhetorique in the taille plaine laie balladant. (2) The stanza of 8 lines. (3) The stanza of 9 lines. (4) The stanza of 8 lines, emperiere when the sound was to be repeated three times at the end of each line. (5) The stanza of 8 lines equivoque. (6) The stanza of 8 lines hatelee. (7) The stanza of 10 lines hatelee. (8) The stanza of 10 lines, couronnee. The term couron- nee is open to two interpretations in connection with the ballade. Rime couronee means ordinarily rime which demands the repetition of the last syllable in the line. The ballade couronee may mean a ballade i composed of 2 stanzas of 10 lines (4 syllables) ; ababb ceded, fol- lowed by 2 stanzas of 10 lines (6 syllables), with another refrain riming efeffgghgh, fol- lowed, in turn, by two stanzas, one of which con- forms to the first type, the other of which to the second type. This kind of ballade is completed by an envoy of 6 lines (with the refrain of the second group of stanzas) , riming h h g g h h. The Controverses referred to as du Font's work is his Controverses des sexes masculin et feminin, en trois livres, suivi de la Requete du sexe masculin contre le feminin (Toulouse, 1534), a collection of ballades, rondeaux, lais, and virelais, the main purpose of which is made plain by its title. But its subsidiary purpose is, " Pareillement aussi pour inciter (Dont grandement y peuuent proufiter) Les ieunes gens, qui desirent apprendre 218 THE BALLADE De composer et rhetorique entendre. Ilz y uerront des Rythmes bien subtiles Aiix apprentiz de tel art fort utiles."^^ Sibilet's Art Poetique Frangois was notably the first of the manuals to show humanistic tendencies, yet his inclu- sion in his body of poetical theory of the earlier poetic formulas showed him to be only partly under the spell of classical antiquity. Sibilet, strangely enough, makes the address to the prince in the envoy an excuse for believing that the ballade was originally adapted, because of its connection with royalty, only to subjects of dignity and weight. The rest of Sibilet's statements about the ballade present no great variation from those of other authorities. His use of the word epi- logue for envoy is an evidence of classical influence. He fixes the numerical relation between the number of lines in the stanza and the number of lines in the envoy as follows : stanza 8 Envoy 4 Stanza 11 Envoy 5 10 5 11 6 10 7 12 7 He concludes that lines of 8 syllables or of 10 syllables are most commonly used in the ballade. Only a year after Sibilet's work, appeared the better known Deffense et Illustration de la Langue Frangoise, which, depending as it does almost wholly on the works of Sperone Speroni and Tolomeio, marked Du Bellay as a Renaissance man, vowed to the building up of a native style formed by classically educated taste. Against the ballade he inveighs as an evidence of the ignorance of his predeces- sors. His reference to the Floureaux de Tholose and the Puy de Rouan are evidently depreciatory. 88 H. Zschalig, Die Verslehren von Fabri, du Pont und Sibilet (Leip- sig, 1884), p. 58. THEORY OF THE BALLADE 219 Aneau's Le Quintil Horation was strangely reactionary, attacking Du Bellay's contemptuous references to the con- tests at Toulouse and to the puy at Rouen, and depre- cating du Bellay's treatment of the older forms of French poetry. Inconsistently, Aneau bases his defence on the prec- edents of Greece and Rome. He meets Du Bellay on his own ground and justifies the native types of verse by their classical ( ? ) analogues. In the same year that Aneau was writing (1550), Guil- laume des Autelz in his Bepliques aux Furieuses Defenses de Louis Meigret took much the same ground. He is even more indignant than Aneau at the intrusion of the antique form. But Pelletier, whose L'Art Paetique appeared five years later, was a follower of Du Bellay's. Although, as we shall see, there are books on poetics published even after Aneau that take the trouble to do more than name the balladBf really Du Bellay marks a boundary line between the old and the new French poets. Delaudun writes of it as a curiosity, whereas Pasquier and Francois CoUette, being literary historians, are highly particular and definite in their handling of the form. Vauquelin de la Fresnaye, Le Sieur de Deimier, and Boileau only name the ballade not to praise it, while Pelletier, imitating Du Bellay's method, treats it with contempt. The very title of Etienne Pasquier 's Recherches de la France (1560) shows it to be different in scope from the narrower handbooks that we have been examining. It aims, in truth, to give an historically accurate account of the political and cultural progress of France. Pasquier, in the spirit of the antiquary, devotes some space to the bal- lade, which he derives from the chant royal. It is note- worthy, on the other hand, that Colletet seems to have lost sight of the connection of the puy with the origin of the ballade. 220 THE BALLADE Before Boileau, the classical despot, disposes of the bal- lade as a form that owes its popularity chiefly to tricks of rime, Moliere in Les Femmes Savantes, played the year be- fore Boileau 's set of rules appeared, embodies in Trissotin *s fatal phrase the timely verdict of the seventeenth-century man of letters in regard to the ballade, Vadius and Tris- sotin are bandying compliments :^® Trissotin " Rien qui soit plus eharmant que vos petits rondeaux 1 Vadius Rien de si plein d'esprit que tous vos madrigaux? Trissotin Au ballades surtout vous etes admirable. Vadius Et dans les bouts-rimes je vous trouve adorable." They continue to outdo each other ; then : Vadius " On verroit le public vous dressez de statues. Horn! c'est une ballade, et je veux que tout net Vous m'en ... Trissotin Avez-vous vue certain petit sonne* Sur la fievre qui tient la princesse Uranie ? " Vadius admits having heard the sonnet, but declares it to be trash of the worst kind. At this they fall to quarrelling. Vadius tries to propitiate Trissotin in order that the ballade may be read aloud : Vadius " II fant qu'en ^coutant j^aie eu ^esprit distrait, Ou bien que le lecteur m'ait gate le sonnet, Mais laissons ce discours, et voyons ma ballade. 8» Moliere, Les Femmes Savantes, Act III, Sc. 5. THEORY OP THE BALLADE 221 j Trissotin I La ballade, d, mon goUt, est une chose fade; j Ce n'en est plus la mode, elle sent son vieux temps. \ Vadius ; La ballade pourtant eharme beaucoup de gens. Trissotin Elle a pour les pedans de merveilleux appas." i ] Trissotin is speaking for his age when he says: '*La bal- i lade a mon gout est une chose fade.'* ' CHAPTER IV THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE In all probability, it will never be explained to our entire satisfaction why the ballade, which had met with so much favor in France and which won its way with the greatest Middle English poet, did not achieve greater popularity with Chaucer's contemporaries and successors. In Eng- land, the fifteenth century man of letters seems to have been susceptible to a variety of French conventions, but only occasionally did he feel impelled to use the form that in France had become a favorite means of literary expression. France, indeed, had seen the production of ballades by the thousands, whereas England saw an out- put that could be counted by the hundreds. A complete bibliography of the Middle English ballade might contain only some two hundred and twenty items, but even this list would certainly include questionable specimens of the type. To Chaucer himself are attributed with consider- able certainty sixteen genuine ballades. Lydgate intro- duced the form into The Temple of Glas, The Legend of Seynt Margaret, and The Fall of Princes. He also wrote ballades independent of his longer poems. Hoccleve seems never to have composed a true ballade, although the char- acter of his seven-line and eight-line stanza shows how familiar he must have been with the form.^ Two Middle 1 See F. J. Furnivall, Eoccleve's Minor Poems, Early English Text Society (London, 1892), Extra Series 61, p, 63, in which is found Balade to my Maister Carpenter, of three stanzas and a fourth stanza used as a kind of envoy with no common rimes and no refrain. 222 THE MIDDliE ENGUSH BALLADE 223 English collections of ballades are known, namely, the series that, for many years, went under the name of Charles d 'Orleans, and the translation by one Quixley of John Gower's Traitie pour Essempler les Amants Marietz. A small number of ballades in print have, at various times, been attributed to Chaucer, or to one or another of his fol- lowers. Other ballades, anonymous, still unprinted, are probably to be unearthed in English and in Scotch libraries.^ In Middle. English the rigor of the French form is re- laxed. The ballade is found occasionally, it is true, cast in the mould most commonly used in France. For example, Lydgate's Flour of Courtesy e, with its three similar stanzas and envoy of fewer lines than the stanzas, its rime-scheme and refrain, is in form like hundreds of French ballades. Many of the Middle English poems are three-stanza bal- lades without envoys, like some of Deschamps's and Ma- chaut's, but with common rimes and a refrain in all three stanzas. A few Middle English lyrics we must call ballades, because the refrain is constant even though the rimes change. Such ballades are seen in The He of Ladies and in The Court of Sapience. A three-stanza poem, with different rime in every stanza, and with no refrain, called 2F. M. Padelford, The Cambridge History of English Literature (New York, 1908), Vol. II, Chap. XVI, pp. 442-443: ''Of all forms of French amatory verse, the ballade enjoyed the greatest popu- larity in England. It was the form in which the gallant most often essayed to ease his bosom of the torments of love. Every phase of the conventional love complaint, every chapter in the cycle of the lover's history, is treated in these ballades precisely as in the corresponding verse in France." There seems to be no evidence to bear out this general statement of the case. As the succeeding pages show, the number of hallades written in England in the fifteenth century was inconsiderable ; such as were written showed little variety in theme, and with certain notable exceptions, were ineffectual imita- tions of the form as adapted by Chaucer from that in vogue in France. 224 THE BALLADE in the manuscript a halade, served as a kind of preface to The Chaunce of the Dyse.^ This three-stanza form was undoubtedly written under the influence of the French, but it certainly cannot be accounted a true ballade any more than Hoccleve's envoy to the Begement of Princes,^ or certain other three-stanza poems in the same manuscript, to be mentioned later. The envoy in the French ballade is composed, as we have seen, of lines whose number bears some relation to the number of lines in the stanza. But the envoy in the English ballade may, as is the case in the Fall of Princes, be composed of as many lines as the stanza that it follows. We shall hold those Middle English poems to be ballades which are composed of three stanzas with refrain. We may allow the name ballade to such poems even when new rimes are introduced in every stanza, although even in Middle English the best ballades carry the rimes of the first stanza throughout the poem. The ballade in Middle Eng- lish, as in French, may or may not have an envoy. The envoy may be of fewer lines than the stanza or of the same number. In the French ballade it is clear that there is a considerable variety in line structure, as the number of syllables in the line employed vary widely, and in certain cases condition the number of lines in the stanzas. In Middle English, on the contrary, the almost invariable line is the five stress line, used according to the pleasure of the individual poet. It is the aim of the following pages to record the use of the word balade or ballade and to consider the ballades of Chaucer, Lydgate, and the lesser Middle English versifiers. 8 Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16. *F. J. Furnivall, Hoccleve's Begement of Princes, Early English Text Society (London, 1897), Extra Series 72, p. 196. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 225 I. Nomenclature According to Middle English nomenclature, a halade might be a narrative poem of purely popular origin,*^ or the lyric of special artificial character, with its various modifi- cations, in which we are interested, or a stanzaic lyric of indefinite length.® Chaucer, referring, of course, to the seven-line stanza ballade without envoy, in the Prologue B. F. of the Legend of Creod Women makes Love speak of '' 'Hyd, Absolon, thy tresses in halade.' ' The other Chaucerian ballades are of seven-line, eight-line, or nine- line stanzas, some with envoys some without.^ At the end of the fourteenth century, Gower too, was using the title Cinkante Balades to describe the conventional French form of either seven-line or eight-line stanzas with envoy. Lydgate, on the other hand, extends the word to mean stanzas of sevens, with or without the same rimes as the others, as he implies in: "I took a penne and wroot in myn maneer The said balladys as they stonden heere."* Again Lydgate, alluding to seven-line stanzas, writes in By come and Chichevache (about 1430), in a kind of gloss, ''An ymage in Poete wise, seyeng these iij balades/* A glance at the latest® Lydgate bibliography will con- 5 British Museum MS. Harley 372, fol. 113. 6 In Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16, The Compleynt of the Dethe of Pity is headed halade (fol. 187). 7 In British Museum MS. Add. 34360, Womanly NoUesse, labeled Balade that Chauncier made, is composed of nine-line stanzas, riming aabaabbab, with the same rimes in all three stanzas but without refrain. The envoy is of six lines riming a c a c a a. 8 The Fifteen Joys of Our Lady, quoted in H. N. MacCracken, King James' Claim to Rhyme Royal, Modern Language Notes, XXIV, p. 32. 9 H. N. MacCracken, The Lydgate Canon, Transactions of the Philological Society, Pt. I for 1907, London, 1908. 16 226 THE BALLADE vince one that the scribes of this poet used the term halade most frequently to mark the stanzaic lyric of indefinite length,^** although, as we have seen, the poet himself pro- duced ballades in the stricter sense of the word as well. Particularly in the Fall of Princes are there ballades of seven-line and eight-line stanzas, with and without envoys. James Shirley, the scribe, writing about 1430, included in a manuscripts^ the three following titles : Balade Byal de saine counsylle. Balade moult Bon et Bydl. Balade Eyal made by oure laureate poete of Albyon. MacCracken, who calls attention to these three items,^^ says of them : * * These poems, two of them French and one English, show the Chaucerian use of the term ballade. But the same scribe uses the term balade ryal of poems tran- scribed twenty years later in MS. Bodley Ashmole 59, where the stanzas do not have the same rimes but merely a common refrain.'^ The same Shirley, in another manu- script,^^ uses balade as a descriptive title for a six-line stanza riming a b a b c c,^* and for a seven-line stanza riming a b a b b c c.^'' 10 For example, at the end of A Sayenge of the Nyghtyngale, a poem of fifty-four stanzas of sevens, Shirley wrote: ' ' Of this Balade Dan lohn Lydgate made nomore. " (Otto Glauning, The Two Nightingale Poems, London, 1900, Early English Text Society, Extra Series 80, p. 28.) 11 Trinity College, Cambridge MS. B. 3. SO. 12 H. N. MacCracken, King James' Claim to Ehyme Boyal, Modern Language Notes, XXIV, p. 32. 13 British Museum MS. Harley 7333, 14 "The worlde so wyde,'' E. Flugel, Anglia, XIV, p. 463. i5*'phe more I goo,'* E. Fliigel, Anglia, XIV, p. 463. Shirley's heading runs, "Halsam Squiere made these ij halades.^' These stanzas were popular enough to appear in several MSS. See also E. P. Hammond, Two British Museum MSS., Anglia, XXVIII, p. 4. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 227 Ballade was used by Lydgate himself to describe seven- line stanzas in the Fifteen Joys and Sorrows of Mary: " Off ech of them the noumbre was Fifteene, Bothe of hir loyes and her adversitees, Ech after othir, and to that hevenUe queene I sauh Oon kneele deuoutly on his knees j A Pater-noster and ten tyme Auees In ordre he sayde [at thende] o f ech ballade Cessyd nat, tyl he an eende made."^® Another early illustration of the use of the word is seen in John Hardyng's Chronicle (about 1440), in which he writes: *^Into halade I wyll it now translate," and means thereby the seven-line, a b a b b c c stanza : " Yet wyll I vse the symple witte I haue To your plesaunce and consolacion, Most noble lorde and prince, so God me saue, That in chronycles hath delectacion. Though it be farre above myne estimacion, Into halade 1 wyll it now translate, Ryght in this form with all myne estymate."^'' The use of the word in Sir Richard Ros's translation of La Belle Dame sans Merci, made about 1460,^^ is not definite, but merely goes to show the conventional association be- tween lovers and ballades. The conjunction of halades and *'songes" makes it probable that the short French lyric is here referred to : " Thes seke loners, I leue ]>at to hem longes, Whiche led )?air lyfe in hope of allegeaunee, 16 H. N. MacCracken, The Minor Poems of John Lydgate, Early English Text Society (London, 1911), Extra Series, 107, p. 269. 17 John Hardyng, Chronicle, ed. Henry Ellis (London, 1812), p. 16. 18 F. J. Furnivall, Political and Beligious Poems, Early English Text Society, Vol. 15 (London, 1866), p. 54. 228 THE BALLADE ]>at is to say, to make balade or songes, Eueryche of hem as J^ei fele her grevaunee, ffor sche pat wasse my joy and my plesaunce, — Whos soule, I pray God of his mercy saue, — Sche hath myn wyle, my hertes ordeynaunce, which lithe with her vnder her toumbe in graue."^* Before 1500, too, we have Ashby writing in his Active Policy of the Prince: " Maisters Gower, Chaucer & Lydgate, Primier poetes of this nacion, Embelysshing oure englisshe tendure algate, Firste finders to oure consolacion Off.fresshe, douce englisshe and formacion Of newe halades, not vsed before, By whome we all may haue lernying and lore."^** The presence of Master Gower 's name in the first line of this stanza makes it seem probable that Ashby had in mind a hallade in the special sense. Gower, so far as we know, wrote no English ballades, yet Ashby seems to dwell on the function of the three poets in beautifying and enriching the poetic forms of their mother tongue. It is quite possible that Ashby, without examining facts too closely, associated the exotic fixed form, French or English, with all three poets. All three certainly were known as the authors of ballades in the most technical interpretation of the word. Quixley (1502?) says of Gower 's Timtie: " Gower it made in f rensh with gret studie In ballades ryal."^^ 10 F. J. Furnivall, Opus Cit., p. 82. 20 M. Bateaon, George Ashby 's Poems, Early English Text Society, Extra Series 76 (London, 1899), p. 13. 21 The use of the word * ' royal ' ' in this connection may be traced, in England as in France, to the usages of the puy. The statutes of a London puy, as a matter of fact, give evidence earlier in date than any similar French records of the use of the word reale as applied to a chanson in the puy. Cf. Chapter I, and Appendix on Chant Boyal. THE MroDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 229 Quixley's hcdlad^s are, indeed, of the three-stanza, seven- line variety, without envoy, riming a b a b b c c, with the same rimes in all stanzas and a common refrain. In the fourteenth chapter of Stephen Hawes 's Pastime of Pleasure, dated by Wynkyn de Worde 1505-6, in a com- mendation of Lydgate, we read : " Mayster Lydgate, the most dulcet sprynge Of famous rethoryke, with halade ryaXl, The chefe orygynal of my leming, What vaylethe it on you for to call Me for to ayde, now in espeeiall; Sythen your body is now wrapte in chest, I pray God to gyve your soule good rest. But many a one is ryghte well experte In this connyng, but upon auctoryte, They fayne no fables pleasaunt & covert, But spende theyr time in vaynful vanyte Makynge halades of fers^ent amyte. As gestes and tryfles wythout frutef nines; Thus al in vayne they spend their besynes."22 In this passage, Hawes seems to be contrasting the sub- stantial Lydgate poems of many seven-line stanzas with the courtly poetry of the new century. ' * Amyte ' ' is presumably used to describe the relation between a gallant and his amie. As a matter of fact, however, the courtly ballades of the early sixteenth century have survived apparently in only modified form. Three or four years later, in 1509, Barclay, in translating Brandt's Narrenschiff, modestly be- gins his arraignment of the wicked ladies of history with, " My halade bare of frute and eloquenee."^^ 22 Stephen Howes, The Pastime of Pleasur (London, 1845), p. 55. 23 Barclay's Ship of Fools (London, 1874), Vol. II, p. 2. 230 THE BALLADE Here the word halade is applied to one division of the translation, called "Of the yre immoderate, the wrath and great lewdness of wymen," and composed of a number of eight-line stanzas, riming a b a b b c b c, concluding with an envoy of two stanzas in which the translator allows himself to speak, and addresses himself directly to "Ye wrathful! wymen by vyce lesynge your name. ' ' Balade appears again in the same sense in another stanza of the division : " Cornelia prudent Chaste and discrete and of beauty souerayne Shall not my Balade rede."^* It seems probable, from the context, that Spenser, in the third book of the Faerie Queene had in mind the ballade of fixed form, when he catalogued Parideirs efforts to win Hellenore : " And otherwhyles with amorous delights And pleasing toyes he would her entertaine ; Now singing sweetly to surprize her sprights, Now making layes of love and lovers paine, Bransles, Ballads, virelays and verses vaine ; Oft purposes, oft riddles he devysd, And thousands like which flowed in his braine, With which he fed her fancy, and entysd To take to his new love, and leave her old despysd."^'' 24 Opus Cit., Vol. II, p. 2. Compare with this sentiment the stanza that occurs in Bk. I of the Fall of Princes, at the end of Ch. XX (On the Malice of Women) : * ' Though Then Bochas, in his opinion Agaynst women lyst a processe make, They that ben good of condicion Shoulde ayenst it no maner quarel take But lightly, I passe and their sleues shake: For againe good be nothinge made Who can conceyue th effect of this taladc. ' ' 28 The Faerie Queene (1590), Book III, Canto X, stanza VIII. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 231 By Ballads Spenser may have meant the fixed verse form ; if he did, it was a piece of conscious archaizing or perhaps only a recognition of the former overwhelming popularity of the ballade in courtly circles. The ballade proper was, then, no longer in current use in England in the last three quarters of the sixteenth cen- tury, nor was it destined to reappear in English poetry until the lapse of four hundred years. In France, as we have seen, its peculiarities engaged students of poetic theory for at least two centuries; in England, however, in conse- quence of its short and comparatively obscure career, it is referred to in its fixed form by only two Elizabethan critics, George Gascoigne and James VI of Scotland. Gas- coigne evidently is thinking of an entirely different ' ' kinde * ' when he explains : " There is also another kinde, called Ballade, and thereof are sundrie sortes: for a man may write ballade in a staffe of six lines, every line conteyning eighte or sixe sillables, whereof the firste and third, second and fourth do rime acrosse, and the fifth and sixth do rime togither in conclusion. You may write also your ballad of tenne syllables, rimying as before is declared, but these two were wont to be most comonly used in ballade, which propre name was (I thinke) derived of this worde in Italian BcUlare, whiche signifieth to daunce, and indeed, those kinds of rimes serve beste for daunces and light matters."^® James VI of Scotland, however, in his Essay es of a Pren- tise in the Divine Art of Foesie, gives the name Ballat 26 Later in conclusion he says: "Ballades are beste of matters of love." Tradition still associated the ballade with love, but its three stanzas, refrain, and envoy had come to be neglected and a different stanzaic form associated with the name. Even the country of its provenience was ignored (George Gascoigne, Certain Notes of Instruc- tion, 1575). Cf. on Halsam, p. 226, above. 232 THE BALLADE Royal to the stanzas most popular in the writing of bal- lades, namely to the abahbcbc stanza. His concep- tion of the uses of the stanza is far removed from the French fixed form, but may be reminiscent of the recommendations of certain French authorities that the Chant Royal be dedicated to graver purposes than the ballade.^'' His direc- tions are as follows : "For any heich and graue subiectis, specially drawin out of leamit authouris, vse this kynde of verse following, eallit Bailat Royal, as That nicht he celst, and went to bed, bot greind Zit fast for day, and thocht the nicht to lang: At last Diana domi her head recleind. Into the sea. Then Lucifer vpsprang, Aurora^s post, vvhome sho did send amang The leittie cludds, for to foretell ane hour. Before sho stay her tears, quhilk Guide sang Fell for her loue, quhilk tumit in a flour.''^^ Finally, if we turn to Cotgrave's dictionary, so useful for word meanings of the early seventeenth century,*® we see that for Cotgrave's contemporaries balade has become merely a synonym for the ballet. Ballade or balade cease to figure as poetic terms till the eighteenth century revival of interest in Middle English, and the form itself is not again attempted in English till the last thirty years of the nineteenth century. 27 See Chapter III. 28 Revlis and Cautelis, Essays of a Prentise in the Divine Art of Poesie (Edinburgh, 1585). 29Randle Cotgrave, A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues (London, 1611). THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 233 II. Chaucer In the Prologue to the Fall of Princes, Lydgate wrote : " This sayd Poete my master in his dayes Made and compiled ful many a fresh dittie. Complants, ballades, roudels, vyrelayes Full delectable to heare and to se : For whiche men should of ryght and equitie, Syth he in englysh in making was the best, 'Pray vnto God to geue his soule good rest." And with lyrics, wrought in the French fashion, in honor of Love, Alcestis credits Chaucer in both prologues to the Legend of Good Women. "And many an ympne for your halydayes. That highten Balades, Roundels, Virelayes."^** The '^Virelayes" have vanished, the ** Roundels" survive in four specimens only,^^ but the Balades are still extant in sufficient numbers to bear witness to the fact that this kind of poem when handled delicately and withal precisely may be worth writing. In the Oxford Chaucer canon, there are in all twelve of these hallades.^^ In addition, there is a 30 Prologue A G to the Legend of Good Women, 11. 410-411. 31 Namely, the Eoundel in the Parlement of Foules and the three examples in Merciles Beaute. 32 w. W. Skeat, The Complete Worlcs of Geoffrey Chaucer (Ox- ford, 1894). These ballades are found in Volume I on the following pages ; Fortune (3 ballades), p. 383. To Sosamounde, p. 389. Truth, p. 390. Gentilesse, p. 392. Lah of Stedfastnesse, p. 394. The Compleynt of Venus (three ballades), p. 400. The Compleint of Chaucer to his Empty Purse, p. 405. Against Women Inconstant, p. 409. —A Balade of Compleynt, p. 415. 234 THE BALLADE hallade in both versions of the Prologue of the Legend of Good Women.^^ Furthermore, of this list, two are compound ballades, if we may use the term, namely, Fortune and The Compleynt of Venus. The former comprises really three ballades : first, that known as Le Pleintif countre Fortune, second. La Be- spounse de Fortune au Pleintif, third. La Bespounse du Pleintif countre Fortune (the la^st two stanzas of the same balade are headed La Bespounse de Fortune countre le Pleintif), and finally, Lenvoy de Fortune.^^ Each of the ballades has three stanzas of eight lines each, with the rime- scheme ababbcbc, and the rimes are identical in each of the three stanzas. The envoy is a stanza of seven lines, riming a b a b b c b. The seventh line shows no simi- larity to any one of the three refrains. The envoy applies to the group as a whole rather than to the final ballade to which it is attached. Conventionally the first line invokes The last two are printed in the Appendix under these words: '*The following poems are also probably genuine, but are placed here for lack of external evidence." Miss E. P. Hammond [Chaucer, A. Bib- liographical Manual (New York, 1908), pp. 440^41], following Furnivall in the Chaucer Society Prints^ calls Against Women In- constant, Newfanglenesse, and finds no mark of authorship in any of the manuscripts. Nor, according to the authority of Miss Hammond, is there any mark of authorship in the manuscripts in the case of A Balade of Compleynt. This ballade, however, need not concern us further, since it is merely a three stanza form, written in rime royal; the rimes in every stanza differ and there is no refrain or envoy. 33 Prologue A, 11. 203-223; Prologue B, 11. 249-269. 34 Bodleian MSS. Fairfax 16, Bodley 633, and Univ. Lib. Camb. MS. li, Hi, 21, head this triple hallade "Balade (s) de vilage saunz peynture. Cf. E. P. Hammond, Chaucer, A Bibliographical Manual (New York, 1908), p. 369. Bradshaw, basing his emendation on Boethius, "This like Fortune hath departed and uncovered to thee both the certain visages, and eke the doutous visages of thyne felawes," [Cf. F. J. Furnivall, Trial-Forewords, London, 1871, p. 8, note.] Changed vilage to visage. THE MroDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 235 ** Princes," but the royalty addressed is probably literary, not literal. The fourth line runs : ' ' at my requeste, as three of you or tweyne," specifying the number called upon. Skeat says : * ' If the reference is to the Dukes of Lancaster, York, and Gloucester, then the 'beste frend' must be the king himself. "^^ The nicety of metrical structure is here no obstacle to the poet. The most striking features of the poem are rather its insistence on the adequacy of the indi- vidual to cope with things; the challenge contained in the line, ''for fynally. Fortune, I thee defye"; and the boast that, ' ' he that hath himself hath suffisaunce. ' * One's first instinct is to search old records and accounts to discover whether Chaucer did ''unlock his heart" here with a ballade-key. Furnivall, indeed, once speculated;^'' "I suppose Chaucer wrote his Fortune when he was him- self 'ensample trewe and newe,' of the Goddess's caprice, fit to be added to his 'ensamples trewe and olde' of his Monk's Tale. When sued by Mrs. Buckholt in Easter Term, 1398, and getting Letters of Protection against her and other enemies at law in that year's May, Chaucer might well change his note from the Daisy and Lady of the Legende, to the False Dissembler who had left him in the lurch, and who later, on July 24 and 31, 1398, reduced him to borrow 6s. 8d. each day from the Exchequer. But Chaucer is cheery still. He has not so fallen that 'there is no remedye to bring him out of his adversitie. ' He seems to recur to his Truth's 'Suffise J?yn owen J?ing, \>ei it be smal,' and says 'his suffysaunce shall be his socour,' he has the mastery 35 W. W. Skeat, Opus Cit., Vol. I, p. 547. According to the same authority, the line of the envoy quoted occurs only in Cambridge University Library MS. li, 3. 21, but is probably due to the author's revision. 36 F. J. Furnivall, A Parallel-Text Edition of Chaucer's Minor Poems (London, no date), Part III, p. 439. 236 , THE BALLADE over himself, and knows that 'no man is wrechyd but hym- self yt wene, ' and that he has yet his best friend alive. No lucky side-note tells who his friend then was, though we know that Henry Bolingbroke, Blanche's son, with her sweet soft speech, provd the poet's helper." In view of the conventional treatment of Lady Fortune in Dante,^^ in the Consolation of Philosophy of Boethius.^^ in the Roman de la Bose,^^ it is impossible to insist strongly on the autobiographical revelation in Fortune. It was cus- tomary all through the Middle Ages to write of Fortune's Wheel in a highly figurative way.*^ Plainly, in this triple ballade, Chaucer was making use of a popular French verse form ; he was using it, moreover, to incorporate ideas derived from the Roman de la Rose,^^ and from the Conso- lation of Philosophy .^^ Yet, granted that the form is fixed^^ and that the ideas in the main are commonplace, is Chaucer's dramatic assertion of his valiancy in the face of disaster any less effective ? Chaucer's other triple ballade, the Compleynt of Venus, 37 J. S. P. Tatlock, Chaucer and Dante, Modern Philology, III, p. 369. 88 G. W. Prothero, A Memoir of Henry Bradshaw (London, 1880), p. 212. 39 E. Koeppel, Chauceriana, Anglia, XIV, p. 248. *o Cf. Carmina Bur ana, Poem I and Provencal lyrics passim. ^1 English version (attributed to Chaucer), 11. 5403-5584. 42 W. W. Skeat, The Complete WorJcs of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 543, says that Boethius' De Consolatione, Bk. II, prose 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and metre 1, is the foundation. *8F. J. Furnivall, A Parallel-Text Selection of Chaucer's Minor Poems (London), Part III, p. 439, note: ''Tho Shirley says this Fortune was 'translated out of Frenshe into English,^ yet no French original has yet been found for it; and if ever one turns up, I believe it'll prove an original after the manner of the Boece, Metre V, Book 2, for the Former Age, and intemerata for the Mother of God rather than one like De Guileville's Virgin poem for the A B C." THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 237 differs somewhat in form from Fortune. Each of the bcU- lades in the Compleynt of Venus is made up of eight-line stanzas, too, but in this case they rime ababbccb. The rimes are, of course, identical within each of the three bal- lades. The envoy has ten lines riming aabaabbaab independent of the three preceding ballades. Only the envoy is original. The MSS. vary between Princesse and Princes^^ in the first line of the envoy. A note of Shirley's in one of the manuscripts*^ reads: ''Hit is sayde that Graunsone made this last balade for Venus, resembled to my Lady of York; answering the complaynt of Mars." Piaget, in his articles on Granson,''^ discusses Shirley's note in the light of those ballades of Granson's that served as Chaucer's original, and comes to the conclusion*^ that Gran- 44 w. W. Skeat, Complete WorTcs of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 404, foot-notes; p. 561. 45 Trinity College, Cambridge MS. B. 3. SO. 46 A. Piaget, Oton de Granson et ses Poesies, Bomania, XIX, 237- 259; 403-448. 47 The steps which led to these conclusions may be summarized as follows: According to Shirley, the Compleynt of Mars was composed by Chaucer for Isabelle, Duchess of York, daughter of Don Pedro of Castille. This princess was designated in the poem under the name of Venus, and Mars represented John Holland, Count of Huntingdon, later Duke of Exeter, ^'frere uterin de Richard II.'' At the end of the Compleynt of Venus, in MS. T of the works of Chaucer (Trinity College, Cambridge, B. 3. 20), Shirley put the following note: ''Hit is sayde that Graunsone made this last 'balade for Venus, resembled to my lady of York ; answering the complaynt of Mars. ' ' If this were true, it would mean that Granson, having read the Compleynt of Mars during one of his visits in England, had responded with a Compleynt of Venus also addressed to the Duchess of York. And this great lady, who in this case would be the Venus of both complaints, must have begged Chaucer to translate into English Granson's little poem. Skeat, relying on Shirley's notes, puts the date of the Compleynt of Mars at about 1374 and as the date for the composition and trans- 238 THE BALLADE son never wrote a poem or poems called the Compleynt of Venus, but that he had, in his youth — in 1393 he was over fifty — composed ballades on the occasion of an unhappy love, that Chaucer chose three of them, translated them, and combined them as one poem. In this form, according to Piaget, there is no question of either Venus or Mars ; and it must be admitted that the title of Compleynt of Venus is not Chaucer's but Shirley's. Piaget points out that the lady, who in the complaint praises the cavalier, her friend, speaks in terms very inappropriate to Venus. Why should Venus say : " But certes, Love, I sey nat in such wyse That for tescape out of your lace I mente." He holds that Shirley was mistaken ; that the so-called Com- pleynt of Venus has really nothing to do with the Com- pleynt of Mars, but that nothing prevents our assuming that Chaucer translated, as one may conclude from Shirley's note, the three ballades of Granson at the demand of the Duchess of York. Piaget calls attention, too, to the extremely significant change of viewpoint in Chaucer's translation or adaptation. In the original it is the man praising his mistress; in the Middle English version it is the woman eulogizing her lover. The conclusions of Piaget are generally accepted. These three ballades, close as they are to Granson 's, ex- hibit much original dramatic ability on Chaucer's part. lation of the Compleynt of Venus about 1393, just at the time when Granson, compromised by the death of Comte Eouge, fled his country and secured a pension in England from Richard II. The different tone in the complaints might have cast some doubt on the affirmations of Shirley. Much good will is necessary to make one see in Granson 's three ballades an answer to an English poem, filled with astronomical allusions. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 239 He seems to have understood and expressed a mental atti- tude highly characteristic of one type of woman, and a type, indeed, probably most acceptable to the modern as well as to the mediaeval man, namely: " Thus oghte I blesse well myn aventure, Sith that him list me serven and honoure." To Bosemounde^^ (a title given by Skeat) is a single ballade. Although it appears with the unquestioned poems in the Oxford edition edition of Chaucer's works, its posi- tion there is guaranteed rather by the character of the poem itself than by external evidence.^^ There are three stanzas of the common rime-scheme ababbcbc and no envoy. The refrain runs, ''Thogh ye to me ne do no daliaunce,'* and refers to the aloofness of Rosemounde. The ballade is vers de societe in the gayest vein with mock heroic touches: "Nas never pyk walwed in galauntyne As I in love am walwed and y-wounde; For which ful ofte I of my-self di^^ne That I am trewe Tristam the secounde."^® 48 w. W. Skeat, Complete Works of Geofrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 389. *9 E. P. Hammond, Chaucer, A Bibliographical Manual (New York, 1908), p. 460: "The MS. which also contains the Troilus, writes below the poem 'Tregentil. Chaucer,' the two names 'a considerable distant apart/ Oxford Chaucer I: 81. This poem appears on the flyleaf of the MS., and the Troilus has, according to Skeat, the same two names written, one just before, the other just after, the colophon. Skeat considers that by ' Tregentil ' is meant the scribe. Accepted by Koch as genuine, p. 41 of Chronology. ' ' 50 E. P. Hammond, Opus Cit., p. 461 : Koch places this poem about 1380-84. 240 THE BALLADE Truth, or the Balade de Bon Conseyl,^^ has three seven- line stanzas, riming a b a b b c e, and an envoy of seven lines riming similarly. The title of the ballade is variously given as Balade de hon conseyl,^^ La hon Counseil de le Auctour,^^ Moral balade of Chanicyre.^^ In one of the manuscripts,^^ Shirley calls it a ^^ Balade that Chancier made on his deeth-bedde. ' '^^ Again, as in the case of Fortune, the main source of the poem seems to be Boethius.^^ Indeed, in lines 8 and 9, " Tempest thee noght al croked to redresse, In trust of hir that turneth as a bal," we have another reference to the medieval conception of Fortune 's wheel. The refrain, " And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede," was no doubt suggested by, "The truth shall make you free'' {John,YIlI, 32). siW. W. Skeat, Complete Worlcs of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 390. Cf. p. 82: The envoy occurs only in British Museum MS. Additional 10340. According to Skeat, the envoy ''may have been suppressed owing to a misunderstanding of the word vache (cow), the true sense of which is a little obscure. The reference is to Boethius, bk. V, met. 5, where it is explained that quadrupeds look down upon the earth, whilst man alone looks up toward heaven. ' ' Cf ., however, Edith Rickert, Thou Vache, Modern Philology, XI, p. 209. In this article, VoA^he is shown to refer to Sir Phillip la Vache or de la Vache, a contemporary of Chaucer's. 52 Cambridge University Library Ms. Gg. 4. 27. 53 British Museum Ms. Lansdowne 699. C4 British Museum Ms. Harley 7333. 55 Trinity College, Cambridge Ms. B. S. SO. 66 W. W. Skeat, Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 82. Skeat characterizes this statement as "probably a mere bad guess.'' F. J. Furnivall, Trial Forewords (London, 1871), pp. 8-9, gives date as 1386 or 1388. 57 Bk. Ill, met. 11; bk. I, pr. 5; etc. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 241 The tone of the Balade de Bon Conseyl contrasts strongly with the tone in Fortune, " That thee is sent, receyve in buxumnesse, The wrastling for this worlde axeth a f al," is the expression of failure and discouragement; it is not the cry of one who would say, "I was ever a fighter, so — one fight more. The best and the last ! " Gentilesse,^^ a Moral Balade of Chaucier,^^ is a poem of three seven-line stanzas, riming a b a b b c c, with no envoy. The refrain, '*A1 were he mytre, croune, or diademe," is repeated without variation at the close of every stanza. Both FurnivalP^ and Koch^^ place the date of composition after 1390. The ideas in Gentilesse, as in the case notably of Fortune, presented themselves to Chaucer's mind from the Consolation of Philosophy^^ and from the Roman de la Rose.^^ Chaucer took his theory of Gentilesse from con- es w. W. Skeat, Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 392. 59 British Museum Ms. 7333. 60 F. J. Fumivall, Trial-Forewords (London, 1871), p. 12; p. 17. 61 John Koch, Chronology of Chaucer's Writings (London, 1890), p. 79. 62 E. P. Hammond, Chaucer: A Bibliographical Manual (New York, 1908), p. 372. ** Skeat I: 553 gives as groundwork Boethius bk. Ill, prose 6; cp. Eoman de la Bose, 18807 ff.; see W.B. Tale 253 fif., Dante, Purgatorio 7: 121, Convito IV canzone 3. These refs. were pointed out by F. J. Child in Athen. 1870 II: 721, with mention also of Gower, Conf. Amantis IV: 2200 ff., A Bis de Gentilesse is in the Works of de Conde III: 97. '' [This last poem proves on examina- tion to have nothing in common with Chaucer's 'ballade.'] H. M. Ayres of Columbia Universitj holds that 'Hhe discussion of the nature of true nobility . . . which Tyrwhitt credits Boethius with having set abroad in the Middle Ages, proves to contain much that antedates the 17 242 THE BALLADE temporary standards, yet his application of the theory is his own. In Lak of Stedfastnesse^^ Chaucer used the French form with an animus different from that found in his other bal- lades. In Fortune, in Truth, and in Gentilesse he uses the ballade seriously, it is true, but in Lak of Stedfastnesse he makes it a means of expressing the social confusion and the unrest of his day. This ballade contains three^* seven-line stanzas, riming a b a b b c c, and an envoy stanza, rim- ing in the same way. The refrain, *'That al is lost for lak of stedfastnesse, ' ' occurs at the end of all the stanzas, but appears as, "And wed thy folk again to stedfastnesse," at the end of the envoy. According to one manuscript,*** * ' This balade made Geffrey Chaunciers the Laurealle Poete of Albion and sente it to his souerain lorde kynge Richarde the secounde ]?ane being / in his Castell of Windesore. "** On the date of this ballade, Furnivall enumerating says: * ' Then the Lack of Steadfastness — evidently written in the later years of Richard II 's reign, and probably in 1397, when the king had his uncle the Duke of Gloucester seized and murdered, also seized the Earl of Warwick and Arundel, and got his Parliament (who doubtless hoped he'd mend his ways) to do all he wisht."*^ If the poem was dispatched to the king at this epoch in his activities, the sentiments of the envoy are certainly timely. Chaucer, as has often been remarked, only occasionally reflects the social discontents Consolations of Philosophy, and provides an excellent example of a literary commonplace of which Classical Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance alike made abundant use. ' ' 63 w. W. Skeat, Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 394. 64 Bannatyne MS. 1568 inserts a spurious fourth stanza. 65 British Museum MS. Barley 7SSS. 66 E. P. Hammond, Chaucer ^ A Biographical Manual (New York, 1908), p. 394. «7P. J. rurnivall, Trial Fore-Words (London, 1871), p. 8. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 243 of his day ; his outlook on life is plainly not that of a pro- fessional reformer, but certainly in this ballade he pauses to analyse the source of evil in his age. If the general idea of the ballade be taken from Boethius, Bk. II, met. 8, one can only say that the old philosopher's reflections merely furnished Chaucer with a point of departure. The Compleynt of Chaucer to his Empty Purse^^ is also composed of three seven-line stanzas. Again, as usual, the rimes are identical in all three stanzas ; the scheme is a b a b b c c. There is an envoy of five lines riming a a b b a.®^ The refrain of the three stanzas is not used in the envoy. There are, however, two other forms in which the poem is found, namely, in three seven-line stanzas without an envoy, ^® and also without the envoy but with a series of seven-line stanzas on imprisonment following.'^ ^ The en- voy'^ is usually considered the last piece of writing done by Chaucer, for it contains a direct appeal to Henry IV, who was accepted by Parliament September 30, 1399 ; as a result of the poet's appeal, he was in all probability granted an additional forty marks yearly on October third or thirteenth of the same year.'^^ Skeat suggests that a similar complaint was addressed to the French king, John II, by Guillaume de Machaut in 1351-6, in short rimed lines, but adds, "the real model which Chaucer had in view was, in my opinion, the Ballade ... by 68 W. W. Skeat, Complete WorTcs of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 404. 69 Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16. 70 British Museum MS. Additional 22139. 71 British Museum MSS. Harley 2251 and Additional 34360. See E. P. Hammond, Lament of a Prisoner against Fortune, Anglia, XXXII, p. 481, ff. 72 In British Museum MS. Harley 7333, Purse is headed ' ' A sup- plicacion to Kyng Eichard by Chaucier. * ' 73 W. W. Skeat, Complete Works of Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 562. Cf. also E. Fliigel, Chauceriana Minora, Anglia, XXI, p. 245. 244 THE BALLADE Bustache Deschamps, . . . written on a similar occasion, viz. after the death of Charles V of France, and the acces- sion of Charles VI, who had promised Deschamps a pension but had not paid it. ' '^* Apparently both Deschamps^^ and Chaucer were prompted to write by similar circumstances, and both poets, like ordinary men who are impoverished, cherished similar sentiments. But Chaucer may quite easily have written his complaint without having been famil- iar with Deschamps 's cheerless ballade. The French and the English poems show little similarity in metrical struc- ture. The former has three eight-line stanzas, riming a b a b b c b c, and a six-line envoy riming b b c b c b; the latter, as we have noticed, three seven-line stanzas (aba b b c c), and a five-line envoy (a a b b a). In subject matter, even, the poems show only accidental and factitious similarities. Chaucer apostrophizes his purse as his "ladye dere**; he supplicates her to be his "queene of comfort"; he appeals to her *'curtyse.'' His refrain is ever, " Beth hevy ageyn, or elles mot I dye." It is only in the envoy that the appeal to a royal patron comes. On the contrary, in Deschamps *s ballade, there are throughout the stanzas repeated references to pensions and kingly bounties in the past and repeated plaints of neglect. It is a whining, not a whimsical kind of poverty that the Frenchman sings of, with a somewhat sordidly worded refrain : " Mais du paier n'y sgay voie ne tour." The claims of Machaut's Complaint e,"^^ addressed to John 74 w. W. Skeat, Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, pp. 562-563. ■^sLe Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, (Euvres Computes de Bustache Deschamps (Paris, 1880), Vol. II, p. 81. T«V. Chichmaref, Chiillaume de Machaut, Poesies Lyriques, (Paris, 1909), Vol. I, p. 262. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 245 II of France, to be considered as a source of The Compleynt of Chaucer to his Empty Purse are unimportant. It is to be noted in tliis connection again that there are certain conventions that have always been well recognized in a state of society where poetry flourished under patronage, and these conventions are common alike to Chaucer's com- plaint and the poems of Deschamps and Machaut. Ma- chaut's detailed account of his own infirmities and very definite appeal for amount denied do not suggest Chaucer's lyric vein at all. Against Women Inconstant, "^"^ as Stow'® named it, or Newfanglenesse, as it is called by Furnivall,'^ employs the seven-line stanza riming a b a b b c c, has three stanzas and no envoy. The refrain, ''In stede of blew, thus may ye were al grene," is an adaptation of Machaut 's, ''Qu'en lieu de bleu. Dame, vous vestez vert."®^ Beside this simi- larity, the French and the English hallade are, alike in stanza form and in the absence of an envoy. But they are dissimilar in tone. Chaucer grimly arraigns a lady in the wholesouled fashion so popular in the Middle Ages, when satire alternated with adulation, whereas Machaut 's re- proaches are without spirit in comparison, and his theme is the havoc wrought in his constitution by the fickleness of his dame.®^ 77 W. W. Skeat, Complete Worls of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. I, p. 409. 78 E. P. Hammond, Chaucer, A Bibliographical Manual (New York, 1908), p. 441. 79 In Chaucer Society Print. 80 V. Chiclmiaref, Guillaume de Machaut, Podsies Lyriques (Paris, 1909), Vol I, p. 218. 81 The letter that follows is what ' ' she said ' ' on the receipt of Machaut 's ballade. Agnes of Navarre (?) wrote her lover: "Mon- tres doulz cuer, man tris chier et doulz ami, — Je ai vue une balade en laquelle il ha: en lieu de blan, Dame, vous vestes vert. Et se ne 246 THE BALLADE In 1894 Skeat issued what is generally accepted®^ as a genuine Chaucerian ballade, Womanly Nohlesse.^^ It has three nine-line stanzas, riming a a b a a b h a b, and an envoy riming a c a c a a. The envoy and each of the three stanzas end differently. If this ballade is Chaucer's, he certainly departs widely from his usual custom of fol- lowing closely the fixed French form. There is no such thing as transcending form if the artistic problem is to restrain the development of the theme by the exigencies of a certain fixed type. Chaucer, if it be Chaucer, certainly gained nothing by the looseness of construction in his poem. To a fifteenth century reader it must have been annoying to be disappointed of a refrain at the end of every stanza. Koch's doubts of the authenticity of the poem do not rest, however, on the looseness of the ballade.^* say pour qui vous le feystes. Car se ce fu pour moi, vous avez tort. Car, f oy que je doi a vous que j 'aime de tout mon cuer, unques puis- que, vous meystes et envelopastes mon cuer en fin azur et 1 'enf ermates au tresor dont vous avez la clef, il ne fut changies ne sera toute ma vie. Car si je volois bien ne le porrois je faire sans vous; car moi ne autre n'en porte la clef que vous. Si en po6s estre k seur, comma se vous le teniez en vostre main. Mon chier ami je vous pri que vous me veuillez renvoier pas ce message le commencement de vostre livre cellui que je vous renvoiai piece ha, car je n'en retins point de copie et 1 'ai trop grant fain de veoir. Et si les lettres sont mal escriptes si le me pardonn^s, car je ne trouve mie notaire tous jours a ma volenti. Escript le X" jour d'octembre. Vostre tr^s loiale amie. " [P. Tarbe, CEuvres de Guilaume de Machault (Paris, 1849), p. 151; hlan is probably a misreading for hleu in some form.] 82Kittredge in Nation, 1895, p. 240. W. W. Skeat, Chaucer Canon (Oxford, 1900), p. 147. Koch, Englische Studien, XXVII, p. 60; XXX, p. 450. 83 w. W. Skeat, Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1900), Vol. IV, p. XXV. 84 J. Koch, Englische Studien, XXVII, p. 60, says: " ' Balade that Chancier made' . . . metrisch (z. b. v. 5 und 25) und inhaltlich zu diirf tig ist, als dass wir der iiberschrift glauben schenken konnten. ' * THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 247 The two verses that Koch selects for special reprobation are rough specimens : 1. 5, * * So wel me lyketh your womanly contenaunce"; 1. 24, **In ful rebating of my hevinesse." But better evidence of the spuriousness of the poem, to my mind, is the fact that in his other ballades Chaucer shows a stronger artistic consciousness of the restrictions of the French type. In the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women^^ occurs what is probably the best known of Chaucer's ballades. The version in the A Text differs in some minor ways from that in the B Text, but the two differ radically in the refrain. Both versions of the ballade are made up of three seven-line stanzas riming a b a b b c c. There is no en- voy. In the A version, the refrain runs, '^Alceste is here, that al that may desteyne"; in the B version, '*My Lady Cometh, that al this may disteyne." The most striking feature of the poem is its use of proper names. The French ballade writers conventionally introduced these lists, which were in reality a medieval device for throwing a glamour of romance about the subject. The following lines in a ballade printed among Les Pieces Attribuahles a De- schamps^^ will illustrate the convention: " Hester, Judith, Penelope, Helaine, Sarra, Tisbe, Rebeque et Sarry, Lucresce, Yseult, Genevre, chastellaine. La tres loyal nominee de Vergy, Rachel aussi, la dame de Fayel One ne furent sy precieux jouel D'onneur, bonte, senz, beaute et valour Con est ma tres doulce dame d'onnour. Se d'Absalon la grant beaute humaine," etc. 85 W. W. Skeat, Complete Worlcs of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. Ill, p. 83. 86 G. Eaynaud, CEuvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps (Paris, 1901), Vol. X, p. xlix. 248 THE BALLADE The resemblance between these nine lines of a ballade attributed to Deschamps and Chaucer's ballade in the Legend of Good Women has been noted by Skeat.^^ He does not pretend to say whether the French writer or Chaucer originated this particular catalogue of famous beauties who were, according to both poets, inferior to the particular lady of their praise. In innumerable other poems of the period, chiefly French, but occasionally Eng- lish, the author enumerates individuals whom the subject of the poem either equals or surpasses. For purposes of illus- tration take Deschamps 's Rondel :^^ "Dame a Judith et Hester comparee, A Eccuba et Rebecque autrecy, De loyaulte a Sarre equipolee, Dame a Judith et Hester comparee, De bonne meurs a Seneque paree, Mon cuer vous donne; aiez de moy mercy, Dame a Judith et Hester comparee, A Eccuba et Rebecque autrecy;" or the ballade of Deschamps in which a lady praises her ami: "A Salomon puet estre comparez Pour son savoir; de beaute ensement A Absalon; et de force parez Au roy Hector et Sanson proprement; A Seneques de meurs, d'enseignement ; Et a Paris, qui bien d' amours joy; Mais d^eulz trestous est nul le parlement, Aux grans vertus de mon loyal amy."^^ 87 W. W. Skeat, Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford, 1894), Vol. Ill, p. 298. 88 G. Eaynaud, (Euvres Computes de Mustache Deschamps (Paris, 1884), Vol. IV, p. 110. 89 Le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, (Euvres Computes de Eustache Deschamps (Paris, 1882), vol. Ill, p. 239. THE MIDDLE ENGIJSH BALLADE 249 Far more striking than any of these resemblances, how- ever, is the similarity between this ballade of Chaucer's and that one of Machaut's which begins with a reference to Ab- salon. Even the refrains suggest each other: " Ne quier veoir la biaute d^Absalon Ne d'Ulixes le sens et la faconde, Ne esprouver la force de Sanson, Ne regarder que Dalida le tonde, Ne cure n^ay par nul tour Des yeux Argus, ne de joie gringnour. Car pour plaisance et sans ayde d'ame Je voy assez, puis que je voy ma dame. De Tymage que fist Pymalion Elle n'avoit pareille ne seconde; Mais la belle qui m'a en sa prison Cent mille f ois est plus bele et plus monde : C'est uns drois fluns de dou§our Qui puet et scet garir toute dolour; Dont cilz a tort que de dire me blame: Je voy assez, puis que je voy ma dame. Si ne me chaut dou sens de Salemon, Ne que Phebus en termine ou responde, Ne que Venus s'en mesle ne Mennon Que Jupiter fist muer en aronde, Car je di, quant je Paour, Aim et desir, ser et crieng et honnour, Et que s' amour seur toute rien m^enflame, Je voy assez, puis que je voy ma dame."^° Moreover, as J. L. Lowes has brilliantly demonstrated,®^ 90 Chiehmaref, Opus Cit, Vol. II, p. 560. 91 J. L. Lowes, The Prologue to the Legend of Good Women as Belated to the French Marguerite Poems, Publications of Modern Language Association, XIX, pp. 655-6: "That \})allade'\ of the Paradys is sung by the poet himself of his lady, whose name is Mar- 260 THE BALLADE the ballade in the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women much resembles in substance, function, and treatment, the ballade that begins at line 1627 of Froissart's Parody s D' Amours, Mr. Lowes considers the ''happy transfer of the ballade in A from the poet to the attendant ladies, by virtue of which it becomes an integral part of the action, ' '^^ evidence for the priority of the B version. The recent possible additions to the Chaucer canon have included only two ballades, "either or both of which may well have been written by the author of some of the Canter- bury Tales. "»3 and 94 Tj^e ^^^^ ^f these^^ has the regula- guerite, and files a bead-roll of the other flowers, which, despite their merits, the marguerite surpasses. . . . The halade in the B. version of the Prologue is also sung, not as in A. by the attendant ladies, but as in the Paradys by the poet himself, though the direct movement of the poem is thereby sharply interrupted and the time changed from past to present/ It is likewise distinctly asserted that it is sung of his lady, who has just been identified with the daisy. Since, however, in the Prologue the praises of the daisy have been already sung — in part in the phraseology of this very halade — the balade of B. instead of keeping the allegory of rival flowers, names directly rather than symbolically the rival bearers of his lady's qualities.'' 82 J. L. Lowes, Opus Cit., p. 681. "If the balade in B was sug- gested by the balade of the Paradys, the setting in the latter, where it is sung by a poet in his own person, would naturally be carried over too. Its looseness of connection would then be quite of a piece with the other instances in B, already pointed out, of rapid and sponta- neous adaptation of French originals. ' ' Its context in A " may once more be readily explained by the absence of the direct suggestion of the original, in whose place was now uppermost the instinct of the maturer artist. ' ' 83 F. J. Furnivall, Tyl of Brentford's Testament, etc. (London, 1871), p. 34. 9* E. P. Hammond, Omissions from the Editions of Chaucer, Med. Lang. Notes, Vol. XIX, pp. 35-38. Both are found in a Shirley Manuscript, British Museum MS. Additional 16165. »5E. P. Hammond, Opus Cit., p. 37: ''Fol. 244'' is headed 'Balade by Chaucer' in the hand of Shirley. This page contains the second THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 251 tion seven-line stanza, riming a b a b b c c, the last two lines of each stanza serving as a refrain : " Ageyns \>e hill Tpruk in Tpruk out I calle ffor of my ploughe ]fe best stott is balle." This poem is probably an example of the hallade's occa- sional use for purposes of double entendre.^^ The second of these ballades has three seven-line stanzas, riming a b a b b c c, with a constant refrain in all three stanzas and no envoy. The poem is as coarse as several of the Canterbury Tales, but unlike them has nothing in it but its coarseness. There are thus only sixteen ballades that may be attrib- uted to Chaucer with any degree of certainty. These we must still assume to be the earliest English examples of that verse form, although the temptation is strong to suspect the genial members of the English puy of having composed bal- lades antedating Chaucer's. As has been stated, he knew the poetic practice of his famous French contemporaries. This familiarity is evidenced not only by his own use of the form, but more often by his imitation of French ballades in his other poems.^^ He wrote his ballades with conscious and third stanzas of a poem, which began on folio 244'' and was there marked simply 'Balade '; below this on 244'' is another 'Balade' also thus marked, which runs over on to leaf 245*. The running title of 244" might therefore be interpreted as belonging to either of the short poems, parts of which appear on that page ; but as it is Shirley 's usual custom to make his running title fit the poem which begins on the page below, I have considered that the ballad meant is probably the second." The ballade copied on fol. 244"^ and 245'" has only two stanzas, but there is space enough for another stanza before the next number follows and there is no explicit. 96 The French musical ballade on fol. 258 of British Museum MS. Lansdowne 380 is an illustration of the same perversion. 97 See also note at end of this chapter. 262 THE BALLADE artifice, although he heeded the form of the French models with infinitely less care than a later generation of English- men who followed the prescriptions of the Pleiade. English, indeed, does not lend itself to the word-tricks and rime- juggling that the French poets and poetasters practiced in the ballade. Chaucer plainly was not sufficiently at- tracted to the form to do more than trifle with it. Bal- lades by the thousand were not for him. His bent was quite obviously toward narrative rather than lyric poetry, and his predilection may have helped to cut short the English career of the ballade. ^^ III. Lydgate The ballade in the hands of Chaucer's successors never rose above mediocrity. The most telling influence of the French ballade, indeed, from the time of Chaucer, was on the structure of the English stanza. The popularity of the seven-line stanza, riming a b a b b c c, and of the eight- line stanza, riming ababbcbc, in both England and Scotland is due to the repeated use of these stanzaic forms by the French ballade writers, to Chaucer's interest in these stanzas, to his metrical experiments, and to the fidelity of his imitators. Lydgate 's ballades^^ outnumber Chaucer's, 98 In recent years, some notable work has been done by scholars in investigating the literary relations between Chaucer and contempo- rary writers in French. Cf. E. Kocppel, Gower's Franz, Balladen u. Cha/ucer, Eng. Studien XX ; G. L. Kittredge, Chaucer and Some of his Friends, Modern Philology, I; J. L. Lowes, The Prologue to the Legend of Good Women As Belated to the French Marguerite Poems and the Filostrato, Publications of Modern Language Association, XIX; J, L. Lowes, The Chaucerian 'Merdles Beaute' and Three Poems of Deschamps, Modern Language Beview, V. 89 In Lydgate ascriptions, I follow the Lydgate Canon given in H. N. MacCracken, The Minor Poems of John Lydgate, Early English Text Socieiy, Extra Series, 107 (London, 1911), p. v. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 253 but he is even less bound than Chaucer by the French for- mulas. Lydgate used the ballade, as Chaucer is not known to have done, as the conclusion or envoy of longer poems. Ballades appear thus in the Fall of Princes, and are found fulfilling the same function at the conclusion of the Flour of Courtesye, at the end of the Serpent of Division, and again after the Legend of St. Margarete. In the Temple of Glas the ballade is a part of the story as in the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women. The ballade beginning, "Who will been holle and kepe him fro sekenesse," is differently placed in different MSS. Lydgate 's other ballades occur as separate lyrics. A typical ballade in the French form is that found at the close of the Flour of Courtesye, a poem devoted to the de- scription of an ideal woman of the same general character- istics as the Alcestis of Chaucer. The poem as a whole is reprinted because of its evident conformity, unusual in English, to the ballade type. It has three seven-line stanzas, riming ababbcc, a refrain repeated with some modi- fications at the end of the stanzas, and an envoy riming a c a c, beginning with the familiar "Princesse.'' Balade simple " ' With al my mighte and my beste entente, With al the faith that mighty God of kynde Me yaf, sith he me soule and knowing sente, I chese, and to this bonde ever I me bynde, To love you best, whyl I have lyf and mynde ' : — Thus herde I foules in the daweninge Upon the day of saint Valentyne singe. ' Yet chese I, at the ginning, in this entente, To love you, though I no mercy f ynde ; And if you list I dyed, I wolde assente, As ever twinne I quik out of this lynde ! 254 THE BALLADE Suffyseth me to seen your fetheres ynde*: Thus herde I f oules in the morweninge Upon the day of saint Valentyne singe. ' And over this myn hertes luste to-bente, In honour only of the wodebynde, Hoolly I yeve, never to repente In joye or wo, wher so that I wynde Tofore Cupyde, with his eyen blynde^: — The foules alle, when Tytan did springe, With devout herte, me thoughte I herde singe ! Lenvoy Princesse of beautee, to you I represente This simple dyte, rude as in makinge. Of herte and wel faithful in myn entente, Lyk as, this day [the] foules herde I singe."^®^ The reference to Saint Valentine's day may very easily be an echo of the significance of that feast in the Parlement of Foules, Or Lydgate may simply be drawing from the large fund of St. Valentine lore then current. After 1449, Charles d 'Orleans had retired to Blois, where he celebrated annually the day of Saint Valentine in connection with his cour d'amour. Almost every year a ballade, changon, or rondeau was composed for this festival by this poet and patron of letters. His interest in the day has been attrib- uted to the fact that his mother's name was Valentine.^^^ The envoy that closes Lydgate 's Seynt Margarete has, itself, no envoy, but is composed of three seven-line stanzas riming a b a b b c c. The refrain, like that in the Flour of Courtesye hdlade, is, as may be seen, practically double 100 w. W. Skeat, Chaucerian and Other Pieces (Oxford, 1897), Vol. VII, p. 273. ioiAim6 Champollion-Figeac, Louis et Charles dues d'OrUans (Paris, 1844), p. 355. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 265 in the first two stanzas, but in the third stanza is curiously inverted. The address to * * Noble princesses ' ' comes, as it frequently does in Lydgate, in the first line of a stanza other than the envoy: "Noble princesses and ladyes of estate, And gentilwomen louer of degre, Lefte vp your hertes, calle to your aduocate Seynt Margarete, gemme of chastite; And alle wymmen that haue neccessite, Praye this mayde ageyn syknesse and dissese, In trayvalynge for to do yow ese! And f olkes alle that be disconsolat, In your myschief and grete aduersite, And alle that stonde of helpe desolate, With devout hert and with humylite Of ful trust, knelyng on your kne, Pray this mayde in trouble and all dissese You to releue and to do yow ese! Now, blissed virgyne, in heuene hy exaltat, With other martirs in the celestialle se, Styntith werre, the dreadfuUe fel debat That vs assaileth of oure enemyes thre, From whos assaute impossible is to fle ; But, chaste gemme, thi servauntes sette at ese And be her shelde in myschief and dissese ! "^^^ The ballade envoy of the Serpent of^Division has three eight-line stanzas riming ababbcbc, with an identical refrain in all three. Like the envoy of St. Margarete and the envoys in the Fall of Princes, it merely tediously re- peats the theme of what has preceded: 102 H. N. MacCracken, The Minor Poems of John Lydgate, Early English Text Society (London, 1911), Extra Series, 107, p. 192. 256 THE BALLADE " This litill prose declarith in figure The grete damage and distruccion, That whilome fill, bi fatell auenture, Vnto Rome, ]>e mySti riall towne, Caused only bi false devision Amonge hem selfe, ]>e storie tellith )?is. Thorowe covetise and veyne Ambicion Of Pompey and Cesar lulius. Criste hymselfe recordith in scripture That euery londe and euery region Whiche is divided may no while endure. But turne in haste to desolaeion; For whiche 3e lords and prynces of renowne. So wyse, so manly, and so vertuous, Maketh a merowre tof ome in youre resoun Of Pompey and Cesar lulius. Harme don bi dej?e no man may recure, A 3eins whose stroke is no redempcion, Hit is full hard in fortune to assure. Here whele so ofte turnth vp and downe. And for teseheue stryf and dissencion Within yowreself beth not contrarious, Remembring ay in yowre discrecion Of Pompey and Cesar lulius."^*^^ Here again it is much more probable that the reference to the familiar wheel of fortune^*** occurred independently to Lydgate than that he had in mind Chaucerian passages of a similar character. To Humphrey of Gloucester's taste we owe the envoys that occur at the end of nearly all the chapters in the Fall of Princes. Among these tail-pieces are found thirty-one 103 H. N. MacCracken, The Serpent of Division by John Lydgate (Oxford, 1910), p. 66. 10* See p. 258 below, and p. 236 above. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 257 ballades, whose purpose is to enforce the lesson of the har- rowing narratives that they conclude. Their sledge-ham- mer morality does not harmonize with the peculiarity viva- cious art-form of the ballade, so that the result in every case is depressing. There are ten three-stanza ballades and twenty-one with three stanzas and an envoy. In the former class, we find five with an address to "noble princes" at the beginning of the third stanza and five without that characteristic. The stanza in all these is the seven-line stanza riming a b a b b c c. Of course, it must be said that, in view of the subject matter of this translation from Boccaccio, an appeal to royalty in the "envoys" is to be expected. So, in the ballade here quoted, we see the appeal made at the beginning of the second stanza : " f olkes al that this tragedies rede, Haueth to mekenes amonge youre aduertence Of proude Nembroth also taketh hede, How that he fel from his magnificence, Onely for he by sturdy violence, List of malice the mighty lorde assayle. But in such case what myght his pride auayle. Noble princes which this world do possede, Ye that be famous of wysdome and science. And haue so many subiectes that you drede. In gouemaunce vnder your excellence : Let your power with mekenes so dispence, That false pride oppresse not the poreyle. Which to your nobles so much may auayle. Pride of Nembroth dyd the brydel lede, Which him conuayed with great insolence: Pride apertayneth nothynge to manhede, Saue in armes to she we this presence: Wherefore honour, laude, and reuerence 18 258 THE BALLADE ] Be to mekenes, that hath the gouemaile ; Of al vertues, which man may most auayle."^'*'* j The next hallade, a second illustration of the three-stanza j type in the Fall of Princes, both because of its form, and incidentally" to call attention to a statement of the cus- i tomary medieval conception of tragedy, is quoted : | 1 " what estate may him self e assure, ! For to conserue his life in sikemes? I What worldly ioy may here long endure? Or where shall men finde now stablenes, Sithe kinges & princes fro their high nobles j (Record of Cadmus) been sodely brought low \ And from the whele of fortune ouerthrow? Who may susteyne the pyteous aduenture Of this tragedy, by writyng to expresse? It is like to the chaunteplure \ All worldly blisse is meinte with bittemes : Beginning with ioy, endyng in wretehednes. \ The sodayn chaug thereof may no man know { For who sytteth highest is sonest ouerthrow. ! Was in this world yet neuer creature, (Reken by princes for all their hygh noblesse) \ But fortune coulde enclyne them to her lure; And them enperishe through her frowardnes. | Wherefore ye lordes w^ all your great riches, j Beware afore or ye daunce in the rowe, j Of such as fortune hath fro her whele throw." ^^® j 105 A Treatise Excellent and Compendious Shewing and Declaring in Maner of Tragedy e the Falles of Sondry Most Notable Princes, etc., \ hy Ban John Lidgate MonTce of Burye, Bk. 1, Lenuoye of Chap. III. (This copy is in the Columbia Library. A note in pencil on the fly leaf reads, ''See Lowndes — this appears to be the edition printed by John Wayland 1558.^0 ■■ IOC Book I, Lenuoye of Ch. VII. See p. 256 above. \ THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 259 The three-stanza form with the appeal to ** noble princes" is shown in Lydgate's fling at ''surquedy" and the bloody tragedies growing out of that vice common to all ages but censured with special effectiveness in Middle English : " Whan surquedy oppressed hath pitie, And mekenes is w*^ tyranny bore doun Agayne all ryght, then hasty crueltie To be vengeable maketh no delation, What foloweth thereof by good aspection, Se an example how Pyrus in his tene Of hateful yre slough yong Pollicene. Kynge Eolus to outragious was parde, And to vengeable in his intencion: Agaynst his children, Machaire, & Canace, So importable was his punicion. Of haste proceadyng their destruction. Worse in his eyre as it was well sene, Than cruell Pyrus whiche slewe Policene. Noble princes, prudent and attempre, Deferre vengeaunce of high discrecion: Tyll your yre sumwhat aswaged be, Do neuer of doome none execusion. For hate and rancour perturben the reason Of hasty iudges, more of entent vnclene. Than cruell Pyrrus whych slewe Policene."^®^ Lydgate, in the ballades in the Fall of Princes, did not adhere to the common practice of making the envoy of fewer lines than the stanzas. In fact, he himself does not use the word ** envoy" at all to describe the fourth stanza with its direct appeal. All the envoy stanzas in these ballades are of exactly the same number of lines as the other stanzas, as witness the following : 107 Book I, Lenuoye of Ch. XXV. 260 THE BALLADE "Prynces, pricesses cosider how in euery age Folkes ben diuers of their condicion : To ply & turne and chaunge in their courage, Yet there is none to mine opinion, So dreadfull chaunge ne transmutation, As chaunge of prynces, to geue iugement, Or hasty credence without auisement. It is well founde a passyng great domage, Knowen and expert in euery region. Though a tale haue a fayre vysage, It may enclude full great deception, Hide vnder sugar galle and fell poyson. With a f reshe face of double entendement. Yet geue no credence without suisement. Let folkes beware of their langage, Kepe their tonges from oblocution: To hynder or hurte by no maner outrage, Preserue their lyppes fron all detraction, From champarty and contradiction, Lest that fraude were found in their entent, Ne geue no credence without auisement. Prynces, princesses of noble and high parage, Whiche haue lordshyp and domination, Voyde them asyde that can flatter and fage: Fro tonges that haue a terrage of treason Stoppe your eares, from their bitter soun. Be circumspect, not hastye but prudent. And geue no credence without auisement." ^^^ Five of the ballades in the Fall of Princes are written in octaves. The sententious commentary on the sad life of Charles of Jerusalem is one of these. The rime-scheme in the three stanzas and envoy is the usual ababbcbc: 108 Bk. I, Lenuoy of Ch. XIII. The last three stanzas of this envoy are found by themselves in British Museum MS. Arundel 26, fol. SI'. I THE MroDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 261 I \ Lyke as Phebus in some freshe mominge ! After Aurora the day doth clarifye, j Falleth oft that his bryght shining ] Is derked with some cloudy skye, j A lykenes shewed in this tragedye: 1 Expert in Charles the story doth well preue ^ Youth and age rekened truely The fayre day men do prayse at eue. i The noble fame of his fresh gynning j To Saint Lowes he was nygh of alye, \ Ryght wyse, manly, & vertuous of liuyng, ] Called of knighthod flour of chiualry. \ Tyll maintenaunce of anoutry Came in to hys courte to hurte hys name and greue His life, his deth, put in ieoparty The fayre day men do prayse at eue. j i Lyke desertes me haue theyr guerdoning, Vertuous lyfe doth princes magnify, The contrary to them is great hyndring \ Folke experte the trouth may not denye, 1 Serche out the rewarde of cursed lechery Where it is vsed the household may not preue, : In this matter to Charles haue an eye The fayre day to prayse towarde eue. ] Noble princes al vyces eschewing ! Your hyghe corage let reason gye, j With draw your hand fro riotous watchyng, ] Flye fleshly lustes and vicious companye: < Oppresse no man, do no tiranny i Socour the nedy, pore folke do releue, • Let men report the prudent policye. Of your last age whan it draweth to eue."^**® The envoys mentioned in the Fall of Princes conform, with the exception noted, to the French laws for the hal- 109 Bk. IX, Lenuoye of Ch. XXVin. 262 THE BALLADE lade; but Lydgate, like Chaucer, modified the type. Two of Lydgate 's religious poems are written in a loose ballade form. The first of these, *' My fader above beholdyng thy mekenesse, ' ' is the most poetic piece ascribed to the Monk of Bury.^^^ It is a ballade in the sense that it has three seven- line stanzas with a refrain, varying in the last stanza, but the rimes in all three stanzas differ. In the second of these religious poems, ' ' Heyl hooly Sitha, Maide of gret vertu, ' ' the rimes differ in all three of the eight-line stanzas and the refrain is modified in three different ways.^^^ Both are certainly poor specimens of the ballade kind, but writ- ten, I believe, with reference, however remote, to the French fashion. The comparison of the Virgin, in the first of the poems, to a flower, and the homage paid her in this character, illustrate a custom, frequent with medieval writers of religious lyrics, of borrowing the apparatus of the secular courtly poem and converting it to the uses of piety. A third short religious poem, called a Prayer to Mary, attributed to Lydgate, is in the restricted form of the ballade, with three eight-line stanzas riming a b a b b c b c, the same rimes occurring in all stanzas, with an identical refrain.^^2 Another three-stanza poem of Lydgate *s is prefixed to a Dietary in one of the manuscripts.^^^ Although these three stanzas are found in a great variety of combinations in the 110 British Museum MS. Barley 2S51, fol. 79. Also printed in H. N. MacCracken, The Minor Poems of John Lydgate, Early English Text Society (London, 1911), Extra Series, 107, p. 235. iiiH. N. MaeCracken, Opus Cit., p. 137. 112 H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit., p. 296. Lydgate 's A Prayer Upon the Cross (MacCracken, Opus Cit., p. 252), in spite of its five stanzas, may well be classified as a haUade. The same rimes and refrain persist in all the stanzas and the last two constitute a kind of double envoy. 113 British Museum MS. Lansdoivne 699. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 203 manuscripts,^^* I venture to think that they were originally conceived as a ballade, and were translated very possibly from the French ballade^^^ one stanza of which is given below in connection with an English version : " Who will been holle / & kepe hym fro sekenesse And resiste/the strok of pestilence lat hy be glad / & voide al hevynesse flflee wikkyd heires / eschew the presence Off infect placys / causyng the violence Diyk a good wyne / and holsom meetis take Smelle swote thyng/& for his deffence Walk in cleene heire/ eschew mystis blake. With voide stomak / outward the nat dresse Risyng erly / with f yre have assistence Delite in gardeyns/for ther gret swetnesse to be weele clad /do thy dilygence Keep welle thi silf/from incontynence In stawes Battis / no soiour that thou make. Opnyng of humours / this doth gret offence Walk in clene heire / eschew mystis blake. Ete nat gret flesshe/for no greedynesse And fro fruties/hold thyn abstynence Poletys & chekenys/for ther tendirnesse Ete he with sauce / &\ spare not for dispence Various / vynegre / & thynfluence Of holsom spices /dare undirtake the morwe sleep / callid gyldene in sentence Gretly helpith / ayeen the mystis blake."^^^ 11* E. P. Hammond, Two British Museum MSS., Anglia, XXVIII, p. 7; p. 143. See also Sir Egerton Brjdge, Censura Literaria (Lon- don, 1815), pp. 137-138; and F. N. Robinson, On Two MMS. of Lydgate's Guy of Warwick, Harvard Studies, V (Boston, 1896). 115 Trinity College, Cambridge MS. B. 3. 20. lie British Museum MS. Lansdoivne 699, fol. 85^^. 264 THE BALLADE " Vesty vn hounourable balade franeoys du regymente du corps. Qui veult son corps en sante maintenir Et resister contre lespidemie Doit joye anoie et tristesse fouir Laisser lieu ou est la maladie Et frequanter joyeuse compayngnye Boir bone vin nette viande vsser Port bone odour contre la punnesie Et ne va hors si ne fait bel & cler"^^^ The well-known hallade^'^^ in the same poet's Temple of Glas presents no unusual features. It is made up of the three seven-line stanzas riming a b a b b c c, and has a re- frain that is substantially the same in all three places where it occurs. It is sung by the choirs of Venus to cele- brate the understanding between the two lovers, and its pleasant noise arouses the poet from his vision. Lydgate's ballades add nothing to his reputation as a poet. In only one of them, as we have seen, does he follow the form with comparative fidelity, namely, in the envoy of the Flour of Curtesye, and in only one of them, the ballade to the Virgin, have we verse of any beauty. The ballades that serve as envoys are merely dull and repetitious ; while that in the Temple of Glas is smooth but conventional. A study of Lydgate's ballades merely emphasizes the conclu- sion before stated that the ballade never ceased to be an exotic in middle English literature, and that it owes its chief importance to its effect on the English stanza. IV. QUIXLEY Probably the earliest ballade sequence in Middle English is the northern translation of Gower's Un Traitie selonc les 117 Trinity College, Cambridge MS. B. S. SO, fol. 52. ■i^i» Lydgate's Temple of Glas, ed. by J. Schick, Early English Text Society (London, 1891), Extra Series, 40, p. 55. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 266 auctours pour essampler Us amantz marietz}'^^ Gower's eighteen ballades are in this version^^o expanded by means of an introductory stanza of the translator, who says, among other things, " Grower it made in f renshe with gret studie In halades ryal whos sentence here Translated hath Quixley in his manere;" and they are also expanded by two stanzas at the end pre- fixed to Gower's little envoy addressed to the, ''universite de tout le monde. ' ' Quixley 's collection thus contains nine- teen of the halades ryale. This use of this latter term antedates, of course, its use in connection with the Kingis Quair. It may be well to repeat at this point that the combination in English of royal with ballade is likely to have been due to the influence of the English puy en- forced by contemporaneous French usage in the phrase chant royal. Professor MacCracken conjectures that the translation was made by a certain John Quixley of Quixley (modern Whixley) as a present to his daughter Alice, prep- arations for whose wedding were in progress in 1402. His hypothesis is based on external evidence afforded by the manuscript and by contemporary records, and on the in- ternal evidence of certain northern forms. He accounts for the presence of the Gower Traitie in York by the supposi- tion that the neighboring family of Gowers situated at Stitenham procured from London the latest work of John Gower, who is not known to have been related to them. Gower's ballades in the Tradtie are made up, as we re- member, of three seven-line stanzas, riming a b a b b c c, 119 See Chapter I. 120 Found in British Museum MS. Stowe 451 and printed by H. N. MacCracken, Quixley *s Ballades Boyal, YorTcshire Archaeological Journal, XX, pp. 33-50, 1908. 266 THE BALLADE with refrains and no envoy save the general one at the end. His translator follows the form of the original exactly; in the matter of line structure, however, ten-syllable lines are occasionally represented by lines of nine syllables.^^^ Mac- Cracken calls attention to the fact that ' ' Quixley was totally ignorant of the syllabic value of the final -e, as it appears, for example, in Gower's English poetry." The French rimes are closely followed. As a matter of fact, only in the eighteenth ballade is there an absolute departure from the rimes of the original. The translation is very close; in many instances the sense is transferred line by line. The Middle English version is considerably rougher in line structure than the French, as a result, probably, of the translator's occasional following of the laws of French metrics. The translation, like the original ballades on adultery, is an uninspired performance. This Middle Eng- lish rendering of the ballades on so promising a theme as, That all her lyfe stant, without departing,"^22 " Trewe loue is betwix twoo )?e holy bonde is, to tell the truth, a tedious affair. V. Anonymous Ballades The authorship of the Middle English ballades that re- main to be considered has in no case been surely determined. This last group includes the translated ballades printed by G. Watson Taylor in 1827, four in Volume VII of Skeat's Oxford edition of Chaucer, those in the He of Ladies and the Court of Sapience, some recently printed,^^^ and certain others still in manuscript. The ascription of almost all of 121 H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit., pp. 35-36. MacCracken gives a complete analysis of the metrical structure of the poems. 122 H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit., p. 49. 123 From Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 267 these ballades to some fifteenth century poet or other has from time to time been attempted, but these attributions, while occasionally ingenious, are nevertheless conjectural. The most imposing collection of Middle English ballades is the series of translations of the poems of Charles d 'Orleans and of certain other French poets^^* that were printed for the Roxburghe Club in 1827 under the editor- ship of Watson Taylor, as the English Poems of Charles d' Orleans. The editor declared that these English ver- sions of Charles d 'Orleans were by the great Frenchman himself, and, further, showed himself to be ignorant of the fact that a number of the translations were of poems not by Charles d 'Orleans at all. In the same year, an anonymous critic, reviewing the Roxburghe Club publication in the Retrospective Review, '^^^ amicably remarked: "We have done what we do not believe that gentleman [Watson Tay- lor] or the person he employed ever took the trouble to do — carefully examined a MS. of selections from Orleans's work in the British Museum [MS. Reg. 16. F. ij], among which are three original 'Roundels' in English; but they are so decidedly inferior to the translations in the manu- script printed by Mr. Watson Taylor that it is scarcely possible the duke could have been the translator of his own writings." Critical opinion on the subject of the author- ship of these ballades had not advanced beyond the critic of the Retrospective Review until quite recently, when MacCracken assigned these translations to William de la Pole, first Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450). MacCracken has put his conclusions^^® in regard to the authorship of these translations and of a group of poems in an Oxford manu- 124 In British Museum MS. Barley 682. 125 Second Series, Vol. I, p. 148. 126 An English Friend of Charles of Orleans, Publications of Modern Language Association, XXVI, pp. 142-180. 268 THE BALLADE script"^ at the disposal of scholars to be tested and eon- firmed. And Pierre Champion, the eminent French author- ity on the manuscripts of Charles d 'Orleans, is known to be studying the evidences offered by French manuscripts that contain English poems ascribed to the Duke. In Watson Taylor's volume there are seventy-nine bal- lades translated from the French of Charles d 'Orleans. As translations, they are less literal than the Quixley ballades; as poetry they are incomparably superior. It is only fair, however, to remember the dull muse of Gower's Traitie and the lyric inspiration of the original from which the Harley translator worked. A critical edition of these poems must shortly be forthcoming.^^^ The line of eight syllables common to the ballades in French is represented in English by the ten-beat line, but in stanza form and in rime-scheme, the translated ballades follow the French closely, varying from seven-line to eleven- line stanzas with refrains. Characteristic stanza forms used in the Middle English versions rime thus : Bl. Stanza, Envoy Taylor C. F. IV. ababbcc bcbc (none in Fr.) p. 12 p. 18 XXIII. ababbcbc bbcbc p. 37 p. 71 XXVII. ababbccb bbccb p. 41 p. 75 XVIII. ababbcded cdcd p. 30 p. 66 V. ababbbcbc bcbc (none in Fr.) p. 13 p. 19 XXI. ababbccdcd cdcd (none in Fr.) p. 34 p. 69 XXII. ababbccbcb cbcb p. 36 p. 70 III. ababbaacac aacac p. 11 p. 17 XXIX. ababbccdedeccdede p. 45 p. 77 127 Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16. 128 As I have had only limited opportunity of comparing MS. Harley 682 with the 1827 print, my references will be to the imperfect text furnished by Watson Taylor; but the ballades are printed direct from the MS. The references to the French versions are to the text in A. Champollion-Figeac, Poesies du Due Charles d'OrUans (Paris, 1842). THE MroDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 269 But such variations of rime-scheme occur as in Balade III, where the English envoy rimes a a c a c and the French one, ceded, and the stanzas of the French form of the Balade rime ababbcccdcd. In Balade XXII also the French stanza differs from the English in riming ababbccdcd, and the two envoys rime thus, the English c b c b, the French c d c d. The two envoys in the case of Balade XXVI (p. 44 in Taylor; p. 74 in C. F.) differ too, the English riming b b c a a c, the French b b c d d c. The second stanza of Balade XIII (p. 24 in Taylor; p. 61 in C. F.), unlike the original, rimes a b a b b b b c, and the first stanza rimes a b a b b c b c. The rime words in general, however, correspond closely. ^^® 129 Examples passim: Balade IV p. IS E. 1. 6 alljaunce 1. 7 pusshaunce 1. 13 Gouvenaunce 1. 20 vttraunce p.fSd 1. 4 curtsey 1. 5 company 1. 13 cry 1. 20 foly 1. 28 party Balade XIII p.S7 1. 5 1. 7 1. 8 Balade XXIII plesaunce frauce parte 1. 10 penauee 1. 12 esperaunce 1. 15 reken aunce p. 18 F. aliance puissance gouvernance oultrance p. 61 courtoisie eompagnie crye folie partie p. 71 Plaisance France party penance Esperaunce recouvrance 270 THE BALLADE It will be seen that certain words like France, plaisance, aliance, maistresse, esperance, in the original appear inevi- 1. 18 puysshaunce puissance 1. 20 allyaunce aliance 1. 21 grevaunce grevance 1. 23 vttraunce oultrance 1. 26 fyaunce Balade XXV france v. 40 p. 73 1. 6 mastres maistresse 1. 14 promes promesse 1. 22 humbles * humblesse Balade XXVII V.41 p. 75 L 1 baner banniSre 1. 3 fronter ■ frontiere 1. 6 prisonere prisonnidre I. 7 straungere estrangiere 1. 9 chere chiSre 1. 10 company compaignie 1. 11 manere maniere 1. 20 party partie 1. 23 counselere conseillidre 1. 25 maystre maistrie 1. 29 bere biSre 1. 28 prayere pri^re Balade XIX p.SS p. 67 1. 3 distres destresse 1. 11 maystres maistresse 1. 17 rewdenes Balade XVIII rudesse p. SO p. 66 1. 4 plesaunce plaisance 1. 5 recoueraunce recouvrance 1. 6 conquere conquester THE MIDDLE ENGIJSH BALLADE 271 tably in the translation. But, it is also true that Balades II, XXIV, XVI, XVII, XI, VIII, VI, XXI, III and XXII have no rimes in common with their originals.^^^ Rimes like the following find place in the Harley trans- lation: pressen and seson (in Balade II, p. 10 of Taylor) ; mastres and promys (in Balade XV, p. 26 of Taylor) ; dye 1. 11 fraunce 1. 14 esperaunce 1. 20 penaunce 1. 22 affyaunce 1. 1 maystres 1. 2 ay 1. 8 esperaunce 1. 10 displesaunce 1. 12 assay 1. 13 larges 1. 14 say 1. 18 penaunce 1. 21 princesse Balade XII France esp6rance penance fiance p. 60 maistresse ay Esperance desplaisance essay largesse SQay penance princesse Balade XXIX p. 45 1. 2 1. 5 1. 8 1. 9 1. 13 1. 19 1. 20 1. 30 1. 31 1. 36 1. 37 reconfort port fraunce maystres report plesaunce fortres aqueyntaunce pryncesse allyaunce rewdenes p. 77 Eeconfort port France maistresse report plaisance fotresse acointance princesse aliance rudesse 130 See pp. 16, 72, 64, 65, 59, 22, 20, 21, 69, 17 and 70 in Champol- lion-Figeac, and pp. 10, 38, 28, 29, 21, 27, 15, 16, 34, 11 and 36 in Taylor. 272 THE BALLADE and foly (in Balade III, p. 11 of Taylor) ; hahound and stounde, se and mercy (in Balade XXII. p. 36 of Taylor). In envoys, the English ballades are better supplied than the French. At least ten of the English versions show envoys not in the text of the corresponding French poems.^^^ It may be, of course, that the translations were mad« from a French text different from the one we now possess. My own impression of these envoys is that they harmonize per- fectly, in every case, with the ballade to which they are attached and that they are on the same poetic level with the other stanzas of the poem. Three of the ballades bear on Chaucer. The first of these (Balade XXXII, p. 49 of Taylor; p. 80 of C. F.) refers in its third stanza to the popular idea exploited in Newfangle- nesse of connecting the color blue with constancy. This reference, it will be seen, is inserted by the translator : " come to me sum gladsum tidyng newe My faynty hert to comfort in distres Say me how farith the goodly fayre and trewe Herdist thou hir speke of me oft moch or lesse Me callyng loue of hir gret gentilesse Hath she forgete nay hi God aboue I trust as that she made me of promys When she me gafe this name as loo my loue. Balade Taylor C.F. Balade XVI p. 28 p. 64 Balade IV p. 12 p. 18 Balade I p. 9 p. 15 Balade XX p. 33 p. 68 Balade XI p. 21 p. 59 Balade V p. 13 p. 19 Balade XXVIII p. 42 p. 76 Balade VI p. 15 p. 20 Balade XII p. 22 p. 60 Balade XXI p. 34 p. 69 THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 273 Though absence hold me fro my service dewe ■ And dowte of daunger doth me heuynes 1 So moche goodnes knowe y hir doth pursewe ] That y kan neuyr this bithynke dowtles But she will holde the verry trewe prynces i The promys which was made to my bihoue j Knyttyng so oure hondis to witnes I When she me gafe this name as loo my loue. Me thynkith gret pite were hit by ihu If that a lady of so gret nobles i Shulde do hir silf refuse the coloure blew I Which he we in loue is called stedfastnes i She may perceyue bi good avisynes J Whi y so rudely out my wordis shoue j And als what loue vs causid swere y gesse I When she me gafe this name as lo my loue. ^ Go belle for trouthe ensewre ]?ou my maystres That y am hiris in all maner prove j As she comaundid me to my gladnes i When she me gafe this name as lo my loue/'^^^ j The second of these ballades (Balade VIII, p. 17 in Taylor; p. 22 in C. F.) refers directly to Chaucer, and this direct reference, too, is inserted by the translator: " When y am leyd to slepe as for a stound To haue my rest y kan in no manere 182 British Museum MS. Barley 682 f. 22. The third stanza in French is (p. 81 of C. F.) : "Pitie seroit se dame telle Qui doit tout houneur desirer, Failloit de tenir la querelle De bieu et loyaument amer, Son pens lui scet bien remonstrer Toutes les choses que je dy, Et ce qu 'Amour nous fist jurer Quant me donna le nom d 'amy. ' ' 19 274 THE BALLADE ffor all the nyght myn hert aredith round As in the romaunce of plesaunt pancer Me praiyng so as him to hark and here And y ne dar his love disobay In dowtyng so to do him displesere This is my slepe y falle into decay. In this book which he redde is write & bound As alle dedis of my lady dere Which doth myn hert in laughter oft abound When he hit rett or tellith the matere Which gretly is to prayse without were For y mysilf delite it here mafay Which if thei hered so wolde esche straungers This is my slepe y falle into decay. As with myn eyen a respit to be found As for an howre y axe not for a yere ffor which dispite wehnygh he doth confoude That they ne kan fulfille my desere For which to rage and sighe as in a gere He farith so that even as well y may As make him stynt likke out a cole of fyre This is my slepe y falle as in decay. Thus may y loo more sonner wyn my here Then make my froward hert to me obay ffor wt myn hurt he doth him silf achere This is my slepe y falle into decay."^^^ 183 British Museum MS. Harley 682, f. 8. This hallade was tran- scribed from MS. after the rest of the chapter was completed. The last word of line four is found to be pancer and not chancer. Watson Taylor or his scribe was in error. Stanza 1 of the French is: '* Quant je suy couchi6 en mon lit, Je ne puis en pais reposer: Car, toute la nuit mon cueur lit On roumant de Plaisant-penser Et me prie de I'escouter. Si ne I'ose d^sobeir, Pour doubte de le courroucer: Ainsi je laisse le dormir. ' ' THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 276 In a third ballade there is a stanza written in the ''ubi sunt" vein. In this stanza of Balade LXII (p. 97 in Taylor; Barley 682, f. 42; p. 120 in C. F.), there occurs a list of ladies, splendid in their day, whom death laid low : " In tyme a past ther ran gret " On vieil temps, quant renom renomaunce Of dido cresseid Alcest and Eleyne And many moo as fynde we in romaunee That were of bewte huge and welbesayne But in the ende alias to thynke agayne How deth hem slew and sleth moo day bi day Hit doth me wel aduert this may y say That this world nys but even a thyng in vayne." couroit De Criseis, de Yseud et Elaine Et maintes autres qu'on nom- moit Parfaites en beaulte haul- taine Mais au derrain, en son dom- aine La Mort les prist piteuse- ment Par quoy puis veoir clere- ment: Ce monde n'est que chose vaine." It is worth noting that the translator, remembering, per- haps, the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women, has sub- stituted Alcest for Yseud, and has added Dido, the heroine of one of the Legends. True, Isoude appears in the ballade of the Prologue, but certainly Alcest is more especially Chaucerian in association than the Irish princess. There are some forty other ballades in Watson Taylor's volume, translations, too, presumably, but not of poems by Orleans.^^^ One of these is a translation of a poem by Christine de Pisan and illustrates in English a device, over frequent in France, of repeating the same word at the 134 Cf. Georg Bullricli, Tiber Charles d'Orleans und die ihm Zuge- schriehene Englische tJbersetzungen seiner Gedichte (Berlin, 1893), pp. 18-20. 276 THE BALLADE beginning of every line.^^'^ The translation is here given for purposes of comparison.^^^ "Alone am y and wille to be alone Alone withouten plesere or gladnes Alone in care to sighe and grone Alone to wayle the deth of my maystres Alone which sorow will me neuyr cesse Alone y curse the lyf y do endure Alone this fayntith me my gret distres Alone y lyue an ofcast creature. Alone am y most wofuUest bigoon Alone forlost in paynful wildimes Alone withouten whom to make my mone Alone my wrechid case forto redresse Alone thus wandir y in heuynes Alone so wo worth myn aventure Alone to rage this thynkith me swetnes Alone y lyue an ofcast creature. Alone deth com take me here anoon Alone that dost me dure so moche distres Alone y lyue, my frendis alle ad foon Alone to die thus in my lustynes Alone most welcome deth to thi rudenes Alone that worst kan pete lo mesure Alone come on, y bide but thee dowtles Alone y lyue an ofcast creature. Alone of woo y haue take such excesse Alone that phisik nys ther me to cure Alone y lyue that willith it were lesse Alone y lyue an of cast creature." [^7. S. Harley 682, f. 40] X36 On p. 261 of the same collection is another ballade that employs the same device. 136 K. Bartsch, Chrestomathie de I'Ancien Frangais (Leipzig, 1884), p. 439. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 277 In Skeat's collection of pseudo-Chaucerian pieces, there are four orthodox ballades, not counting the Lydgate Flour of Courtesye example. They are a triple hallade^^'' and the Envoy to Alison.^^^ The latter has three seven-line stanzas riming a b a b b c c, and a six-line envoy riming a b a b c c. The acrostic in the envoy was first pointed out by Lidell."® The refrain is the same in all three stanzas : "For of al goode she is the best livinge," And this refrain is substantially the same in the envoy, where **Now" is substituted, for obvious reasons, for the initial ' ' For. ' ' Poetically it is very poor stuff ."^ In 1801, Words- worth modernized this ballade, first called the Envoy to Alison by Skeat, in connection with his rendering of the Cuckoo and the Nightingale. Part of it is as follows : " Unlearned Book and rude, as well I know, For beauty thou hast none, nor eloquence, Who did on thee the hardinesse bestow 137 W. W. Skeat, Chaucerian and Other Pieces (Oxford, 1897), Vol. VII, p. 405. Printed by Thynne as '*A goodly balade of Chaucer." 138 w. W. Skeat, Opus Cit., Vol. VI, p. 358. In Bodleian MS. Fair- fax 16, the Envoy to Alison follows the BooJc of the Duchess without a break; in Bodleian MS. Tanner 346, the Alison follows the Cuckoo and the Nightingale. 139 <'A urore of gladnesse, and day of lustinesse, L ucerne a-night, with hevenly influence I llumined, rote of beautee and goodnesse, S uspiries which I effunde in silence, O f grace I beseche, alegge let your wrytinge, N ow of al goode sith ye be best livinge. " Cf. Academy, 1896, II, p. 116. 140 w. W. Skeat, Opus Cit., Vol. VII, p. Ixii: "My chief object in reprinting it is to shew how unworthy it is of Clanvowe, not to men- tion Chaucer. We have no right even to assign it to Lydgate. And its date may be later than 1450." 278 THE BALLADE To appear before my Lady? but a sense Thou surely hast of her benevolence, Whereof her hourly bearing proof doth give; For of all good she is the best alive." L'Envoy "Pleasure's Aurora, Day of gladsomeness ! Luna by night, with heavenly influence Illumined! root of beauty and goodness, Write, and allay, by your beneficence. My sighs breathed forth in silence, — comfort give ! Since of all good, you are the best alive."^*^ Wordsworth's rendering of the envoy is certainly an im- provement on the original, but the poem, whether in fif- teenth century or nineteenth century guise, is wordy and lacks the grace characteristic of the ballade at its best. Skeat prints as ''manifestly Lydgate's" the triple bal- lade which Professor MacCracken does not include in the latest Lydgate Canon. This ''goodly balade" resembles Chaucer's Fortune and his Compleynt of Venus in form. The first poem of the trio is made up of three seven-line stanzas riming a b a b b c c, with a refrain at the end of the stanzas. The second obviously is short one stanza, as it must have been in the manuscript from which Thynne printed. The two seven-line stanzas rime a b a b b c c. The refrain of the first stanza is, "Than closen ye, my lyves lady dere!"; of the secand stanza, "Disclose and sprede my lyves lady dere!" The third ballade has three seven-line stanzas riming a b a b b c c, with a refrain. Each of the three has its own system of rimes and at the end there is an envoy of eight lines, riming bdbddede, that serves as general envoy. "1 Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth (London, 1899), p. 165. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 279 This triple ballade addresses itself to a Margaret, and exhibits characteristics of that daisy cult practised first in France and later in England. To quote Lounsbury: ''It reads like a translation from the French."^*- Skeat be- lieves that the sixth stanza probably began with the letter D; in this case the initial letters of the stanzas would be M, M, M; D, D, D; J, C, Q. "And as it was evidently addressed to a lady named Margaret, we seem to see here, Margaret, Dame Jacques. "^*^ The poem called by Speght in his 1598 edition Chaucer's Dreame and in his 1602 print The He of Ladies^^* has for its envoy four stanzas, the first of which is unconnected with what follows. The last three are seven-line stanzas riming a b a b b c c, with different rimes in every stanza and with a refrain. The poet of the He of Ladies must have been familiar with the French and the Middle English custom of using the ballade as an envoy to a longer poem, but he is following the custom here without adhering to the strict form of the ballade. In subject matter, as may be seen, this envoy departs in no way from the conventional presentation of the period. "Ffayrest of fayer, and goodleste on lyve, all my secre to you I playne and shreve, requiringe grace and of all my complainte, to be heled or martered as a saynt, Ffor by my trothe I swere, and by this booke, Ye may bothe hele and slaye me with a looke. 142 T. E. Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer (New York, 1892), Vol. I, p. 479. 143 W. W. Skeat, Chaucerian and Other Pieces (Oxford, 1894), Vol. VII, p. xxi. 144 The He of Ladies is found in two MSS. : in British Museum MS. Additional 10303 and in MS. Longleat 256, the latter in the library of the Marquis of Bath. In the reprint of the envoy ballade, I repro- duce the text given in J. B. Sherzer's The lie of Ladies (Berlin, 1903), p. 116. 280 THE BALLADE j Go forthe myn owne trew harte innocent, ] and withe humblesse do thine obseruaunce, ] 2215 And to thi lady on thi knes present | thi seruice new, and thinke how great pleasaunce ; hit is to lyve vnder the obeysaunce \ of her that may withe her[e] lookes softe 1 geve the the blisse that thou desyers ofte. i 2220 Be diligent, awacke, obye, and dread, and not to wilde of thi countenaunce, but meke and glade, and thi nature fead, ; to do eche thinge that may here plesaunce, ; when you shall slepe, haue ay in remembraunce j 2225 the image of her whiche may withe lookes softe ] geve the the the blysse that thou desyers ofte. I And yf so be that thou her name fynde ' writton in booke, or else vppon a wall, ; looke that thou do, as servaunte trew and kynde, ] 2230 thyne obeysaunce, as she were there withe all. j ffayninge in love is breading of a fall • j from the grace of her, whose lookes softe j may geve the the blisse that thou desyers ofte. ' Finis Ye that this balad red shall, I pray you kepe you from the fall." j The following envoy at the end of the Court of Sapience, j spoken by Dame Clennesse and her friends, is like that ' in the He of Ladies in being a loose form of the ballade i which performs a function usually fulfilled by the stricter j form. Here too the rimes differ in every stanza. The | lines at the close of each stanza are close enough in sense I and in diction to be regarded as refrains. " It better is to trowe in god aboue j Than in mankynde or in many other thynge j THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 281 Who troweth in hym / for he can kepe and loue Theyr lust f ulf yll / & ^aunt them theyr askynge And in his gospell eke a worthy kynge He sayd hymself e in me / who lust byleue Though he be deed ywys yet shall he leue. cursed folke with your ydolatrye Whiche in false goddes setten your delyte Blynde dome / and deef is all your mametrye Of stocke and stone / men may suche karue & thwyte Leue them for false with sour and despyte In our one god cast anker and byleue Though ye were deed / he can make you leue. He is all lyfe* whan your goddes be dede They haue a tyme/and he is sempyteme They are but erthe /and brought lowe as lede He regneth god aboue the heuen supeme Blyssed be he / for he no grace wyll werne To them that wyll in him beset theyr byleue And though they dye ywys yet shall they lyue."^*^ A three-stanza poem with envoy occurs in the manuscript with the Pricke of Conscience.^^^ The stanzas have a re- frain, ''Mesure is best of alle thynge," but no rimes in common. The envoy does not show the refrain. The poem as it stands here, however, seems to have been written with some reference, at least, to the hallade form. The stanzas rime a b a b b c b c, and the four-line envoy rimes across, * The top line of the page has been partly cut off. 145 The Courte of Sapyence (printed by Winkyn de Worde in 1510), p. giii. i*« Printed in W. H. Huhne, The Middle English Harrowing of Hell and Gospel of Nicodemus, Early English Text Society (London, 1907), Extra Series 100, pp. xxx-xxxi. The editor says of MS. Addit. S2578: *' There is no valid reason why we should not accept 1405 as the date of the Tricke of Conscience part of the MS. and the other portion cannot be much later. ' ' The poem in question closes the MS. 282 THE BALLADE This poem, with the addition of the envoy, resembles the ballade as practised by the writers of the He of Ladies and the Court of Sapience, and all three show the gradations by which the ballade as a fixed form passed out of the artistic consciousness of the Middle English poet. Side by side in the same manuscripts*^ we have the bal- lade with refrain (and in two cases no common rimes run- ning through the stanza), and the three-stanza poem with no token of the ballade about it except its three stanzas and the presence of certain ideas usually associated with the ballade. This group of poems^*^ has recently been con- jecturally identified as the work of the Duke of Suffolk, and a corollary to this identification has been the attribution of a little group of eleven English poems, hitherto unquestion- ably assigned to Charles d 'Orleans, also to the Duke of Suffolk. This second identification came about through the presence in both the Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16 and the Bibliotheque Nationale MS. fr. 25485 of a ballade heginmng, *'0 thou Fortune, whyche hast the gouernaunce. " This ballade has a refrain and a fourth stanza of equal length (seven lines) with others, that serves as an envoy. The rimes are different in all four stanzas, and each one rimes a b a b b c c. The refrain reads, "Why wyltow not wythstand myn heuynesse ? ' ' Two other ballades occur in the same portion of the Oxford manuscript. The first of these has three seven-line stanzas, each with a separate system of rimes (a b a b b c c), and a refrain.^*^ The second of these ballades, ^'^^ called in the MS. "A Com- pleynt,'' resembles in form the one just mentioned in hav- 147 Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16, ft. 318-329. 148 H. N, MacCracken, An English Friend of Charles of Orleans, Publications of Modern Language Association, XXVI, p. 142. 149 H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit., p. 155. 150 H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit, p. 166. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 283 ing three stanzas, a refrain, and no envoy, but conforms to the strict hallade form in maintaining throughout its three eight-line stanzas a common rime-scheme (ababbcbc). The refrain, ''Thus to endure yt is a wondir thyng," is repeated without modifications. The most significant fea- ture of this halade compleynt is the reference in the third stanza to the color blue as the color of steadfastness, an association of ideas that we have found in ballades by Machaut, by Chaucer, and by the translator of the Charles d 'Orleans poems. The stanza tells how after having con- sorted in "a goodly playn" with ''othir fair peple," in an effort to gain relief from love, the lover gives up the quest and returns home : " And vpon thys I twrnyd hom agayn, Vn-to myn hert wyth visage pale of hewe. ' I trow,' qwod he, ' thy labour ys in vayn :' And I answerd that I non othir knewe, — ' Lo, yit/ * quod he, * my colour shal be blewe, That folke may know of my stedfast lyuying.* But for to thynke how my sorous renewe, Thus to endure yt is a wondir thyng."^^^ In the same series of poems attributed to the Duke of Suffolk are seven three-stanza and three four-stanza poems that were plainly written as modified hallades.^^^ The three four-stanza poems have no rime-scheme common to their stanzas and no refrain, and their fourth stanza is in the nature of an envoy. In one of them the fourth stanza quoted below gives confirmation to our theory that the im- plied (or as in this case expressed) intention of the poet 151 H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit., p. 166. 152 Two of these loose ballades are cast in the letter form used by Gower occasionallj in his Cinkante Balades and by numerous French writers. They are printed by H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit., p. 165; p. 167. 284 THE BALLADE guides us in the classification of the Middle English Ivric •^^^' 154 and 155 " Go forth, balade, and I shall give yow wage; To her that ys my lady and maistresse Be not a-f erde, but sey her thy message, Me recomaundyng to her hye noblesse, Lettyng her wyt, in verey sothfastnesse, I wyl be truly hers in euery place Besechyng her accept me to her grace." MacCracken also printed as a poem "in Suffolk's man- ner, ' ' a hallade^^^ presenting a new system of rimes in every stanza (a b a b b c c), but running a two-line refrain through all three stanzas : " Then tome thy whele, and be my frend agayn, And sende me loy where I am now in payn." It is thus one of the many prayers to Fortune entrusted to the ballade form and contains one of the countless refer- ences to the Lady's indispensable wheel.^*^^ As a prefix to the Chaunce of the Dyse, there occurs a three-stanza poem which the rubrics pronounce a halade. Here again the intention of the author is to be taken into consideration, for the poem is hallade-\ike only in the num- ber of stanzas, the metrical scheme of each individual stanza, and in being used where the regular form would be em- ployed. Earlier bibliographies^^® gave the Chaunce of the 153, 154 and 155 H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit., p. 162. 156 H. N. MacCracken, Opus Cit., p. 180. 167 A Fortune poem in British Museum MS. Harley 682, printed in Watson Taylor's edition on pp. 208 ff., contains another such refer- ence. Cf. notes above on Chaucer's Fortune. 158 Tanner, Bihliotheca (ed. 1748), pp. 489-493. The Chaunce of the Dyse is found in Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16; the three stanza poem referred to is on fol. 148'. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 285 Dyse to Lydgate, but its authorship still remains uncertain. This little prologue is printed as another telling piece of evidence of how easily the Middle English poet slipped out of the fixed form : Balade vpon the chaunse of the dyse. " First myn vnkunnynge and my rudenesse Vnto yow alle that lysten knowe her chaunce By caste of dyse in your hertys inpresse And by goods wille to doon folles plesaunce All be I haue of wytte no suffisaunce This worldes course I haue herd sey f ul ryve Ys that alle folle shal not at ones thryve. I pray to god that euery wight may caste Vpon three dyse ryght as is in hys herte Whether he be rechlesse or stedfaste So moote he laughen outher elles smerte He that is gilty his lyf e to converte They that in trouthe haue suffred many a throwe Moote ther chaunce f al as they moote be knowe. Syth fortune of alle thynge gouemaunce How euer ys happe excused holdeth me ffor neyther am I worthy to here penaunce Ne thanke truly in no maner degre But natheles this wol I say for me She that yow beste may helpen in this node Ryght wel to caste I pre fortune yow spede " Explicit Balade vpon the chaunce of the dyse.^^^ In a sixteenth century manuscript occurs a ballade of the early fifteenth century.^^° The inclusion of a hallade 159 Bodleian MS. Fairfax 16, fol. 148^ 160 In British Museum MS. Arundel 26. Printed also by H. N. MacCraeken in An English Friend of Charles of Orleans, and referred by him also to the Duke of Suffolk. 286 THE BALLADE \ J in a sixteenth century manuscript testifies to the fact that, i although ballades had ceased to be written, their kind was still of a sufficient interest to be included in a miscellaneous \ volume^^^ belonging to that antiquary of Henry VIII 's time, Sir William Dethek. This ballade, with three eight- : line stanzas riming ababbcbc, a refrain, and an i envoy riming b c b c, is a satisfactory fifteenth century j specimen of the form. Its honor roll of great ladies recalls ' inevitably similar poems by Deschamps, by Chaucer, and 1 by their followers. j Balade ^oulourd and Reuersid " hounour and beaute vertue and gentilnesse j noblesse and bounte of grete valure ■ ffygure playsant wt coulour and fresshenesse i witnesse prudent wt conyng and norture ; humblesse wt contynance demure '' plente of this haue ye lo souuerayn 1 expresse soo youe formyd hath nature ] pyte savyng ye want no thyng certayne i Creature noon hath more goodlynesse j goodenesse grete so wred yow hath vre ] ffeture and shap of faire lucresse ' mekenesse of Tesbe as wide of all rigure ffrendelynesse of mede port of geynure 1 pennolope of hestis true and playne ] Alcesse of Bounte lo thus ar ye sure | pile savyng ye want no thyng eertayn. j I Endure me dothe lo payne and hevynesse ; distresse and thought wt trouble and langour j vnsure stondyng of socour or relesse i maistres and lady trustyng you of cure i«i British Museum MS. Arundel S6. Transcribed by me before the appearance of MacCracken 's version. i THE MIDDLE ENGIJSH BALLADE 287 witnesse of God I gre myn auenture parde is fall me what joy or payne gladnesse or woo thus I you ensure pyte savyng ye want no thyng certeyn Prince I you beseche this rude meture ye not disdayne behold wt them tweyn witnesse thowe I doo in this scripture pite savyng ye want no thyng certeyne."^^^ In two fifteenth century manuscripts/^^ is found what seems to be a triple ballade, with, in the case of the Cam- bridge MS., two stanzas lost, and in the case of the Oxford MS., only one gone. The seven stanzas in the Cambridge MS. were numbered from one to seven by Henry Brad- shawe, who considered them one poem. The first three stanzas and the last four and envoy from the Cambridge MS. with the fifth stanza supplied from the Oxford MS., are given below. The stanza omitted in both MSS. should end with the refrain, "Of my desire that I may se ryghte noghte. ' ' In what seems to have been a triple ballade, the first two stanzas are bound together by a refrain ; the next three are grouped together by a common refrain, and so are the last three. The other structural features are plain : " for lac of sight grete cause I haue to pleyn longe absense so sore me werieyth The thinge to se I may nought attayn Which that myn hert most inwardely obeyth And thus my spirite in my body dyeth So am I dulleth by constreynt of my thoght ffortunes whele so felly wyth me pleyt Of my desires that I may se ryghte noghte 162 British Museum MS. Arundel S6, fol. 32^ 163 Cambridge University Library MS. Ff. 1. 6, fol. ISa-lS", and Bodleian MS. Tanner 346, fol. 74^-75'. 288 , THE BALLADE I se castels I se eke high towres Walles of stone crestyd and bataylled Medes welles river sote flourys And many paleys fressh aparayled De vises new vn couthly entayled Butte whyle I haue loked long and soghte Disdeyn so thik his haburion hath mayled Of my desires that I may se ryghte^^* noghte^®^ I see huntynge I se homes blow Houndes renne the dere drawe a doun And atte her triste bowes set a row Now in August this lusti fressh seson The hert I chasyd the here and the lion Butte all this myrth vnto myn entent May do non ese vnto myn opynyon ffor cause onely my lady is absent I here also the attricable sownes of instrumentis in her armone lusty trumpetes and lyght clarionne harpes lutes make melody flBeytes shalle that so loude crye Almoste atteynynge to the firmament But to my ese all this no remedye Be cause onely my lady is absent I here folkis talke of stories Of princes noble and worthy conquerowrs, Of cheualrye of conquest of victories Songes dites y made of paramowrs Som of somer som of wintrie showres Som of Cupide how his bow hath bent Butte to my sore all doth no socoures By cause my lady is absente 104 MS. ryth. 165 MS. nowthe. THE MroDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 289 I taste sugar I taste hony sote I drynke wynes of Gascoyne and fraunee I take my parts of many holsom rote Of fine spices full gret habundaunce butte in all this I fynde no pleasaunce like as I wold to myn herte Jyghte ffor cause onely hertely suffisaunce My souereyn lady so fer ys owte of sighte I se some lagh for gladnesse And also some joy and myrthe mak And some sighen and weppen in distresse Euen and morow for her lady sake And all the nyght in compleynynge wake Venus on hem hath made so f elle a feyghte Amonges which I am caght and take My lady is so fer oute of my sight And somme I se wounded to the hert Wt loues darte and dar not be a knowe And othir eke felyn ful grete smerte Cupike eke hem hath so merked wt his bow That for distresse they courve wondir low They be so feble for to stand uprighte Amonge whiche I may goon on the row My soueryn lady is so fer oute of my sighte Princes of beaute myrrour of godely hede When so be fall this dite that ye se Disdeyneth not but of godeley hede Haueth ther on mercy and pite." A ballade, interesting because of its remotely possible reference to Katherine of Valois, wife of Henry V, is found in a fifteenth century manuscript. It is headed, ''Balade f et de la Reygne Katerine Russell. ^ * On the last fly-leaf of the manuscript is a large drawing of a circular horse-mill 20 290 THE BALLADE and below it in very large letters the name Russell. It seems, therefore, quite likely that in one of the two places the scribe interchanged ''R'' and "B." I can see no reason for attaching the name ''Russell" to Katherine of Valois; it seems more likely that the "Russell" or "Bus- sell" is the name either of the owner of the manuscript or of the author of the ballade. Some flourishes show faintly between "Katerine" and "Russell" which may stand for "par." Queen Katherine died in 1437; John Russell, author of the Book of Nurture, usher in chamber and mar- shal in hall to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who flour- ished about 1450, may conceivably have written the hal- lade.^^^' ^^^ "^^ ^^^ The only other queen Katherine to whom the ballade might refer is Katherine of Aragon, but she could hardly be designated as of French descent. Henry VIII 's first Katherine was an auburn haired Spaniard, however, to whom the adjective "russel," referring to coloring, might be appropriate.^^^ There is a third possi- bility ; it is not wholly improbable that a lady is here ad- dressed who was a temporary queen on the occasion of some festival. Balade fet de la Reygne Katerine Russell Slombrying ryhgt ehoncefull ful of vnykyndenes That now ha]?e reyne &| dominacyun Me thought y saw bunte & gentillesse Ordene solempnely a eonuocacion Of the most noble of al ther nacion Causys rygt notable to avyse & se Weche lamantyng sayde in ther coneluoon Adew the curt rygt gentyl large & fre 1C6, iC7 and 108 Dictionary of National Biography. 169 Godefroy does not g^ve the word in this sense. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 291 Ryhgt gentyl we may wel sey and expresse ffor theyr strangers hadde consolacyun ffurst of here that wasse sovereyn maystresse And after of here everyche in comune Wurchyp gode rule trowthe prudense & renoun Supportyt thys curt weche sey now asse we Euer sey & wiht whi owht afeccyon Adew the cort ryhgt large gentyl & f re Large in exspense hytt wasse dowhteles for ther wasse neuer yet desolacyon Scheuyd to astat neper more ne lasse But al the gentylnese that myhgt be don Al so largely they hedde ther gerdoun That thedur senyd for answere or decre Adew the curt ryhgt gentyl large gentyl & f re ffre to turper euery man with fayrenes Euer wasse thys curt the weche by owre reson We calle Katheryne the exelent pryncesse Queue of Engelond by generacyon Of kyngys of fraunse dyssendyt down Whos hey nobeles in euery cuntrey Adew the curt right gentyl large & fre.^^** Two other manuscripts have been noted by former writers as being rich in ballades. Gleeson White in a popular in- troduction to his delightful collection of Ballades and Ron- deaus, stated that ''John Shirley, who lived about 1440, made a collection of Ballades, Roundels, Virelais and Tragedies in MSS., which are still extant in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. "^^^ There is only one Ashmole MS. written by Shirley, and in it occurs : 170 Trinity College, Cambridge MS. B. 14. 51, fol. 95. Note the French trick of having some word in the last line of a stanza appear in the first line of the following stanza. 171 Gleeson White, Ballades and Bondeaiis (London, 1887), p. xxiv. 292 THE BALLADE "Here begynne Ipe []?e] boke cleped J?e Abstracte Brevyayre compyled of divers balades, roundels, virilayes, tragedyes, en- voyes, compleynts, moralities, storyes, practysed and eke devysed and ymagyned, as it shewe ]>e here folowyig."^^^ This heading was plainly responsible for Gleeson White's belief that this Ashmole MS. is full of ballades. There are in reality no ballades at all in it.^^^ Of the nineteen items called balades or spoken of as being written in ^balade wyse/ one shows a six-line stanza, nine a seven-line stanza, and nine an eight-line stanza. Another exaggeration of the wealth of ballade material still in manuscript is found in the Cambridge History of English Literature, where Padelford, who has just been discussing the use of this French verse form in Middle English, remarks in a footnote, ^^MS. Bawlinson C 813 contains a large number of the ballades.*' But Padel- ford's own work on this manuscripts"^* confirmed the results of my examination, which revealed no ballades. A later student of the same manuscript says : " Die Form der Ballade findet sich nirgends streng bef olgt ; bei manchen (44, 45, 48), die der Gebrauch des Refrains noch deutlich hierherstellt, ist nur ein teil der Strophen durch die Wiederan- nahme des Reims verbunden."^'^'* The life of the ballade in Middle English is probably less than one hundred years, extending as it does from the last twenty years of the fourteenth century, when Chaucer was 172 Fol. 13. 178 E. P. Hammond, Ashmole 59 and Other Shirley Manuscripts, Anglia, XXX, p. 320. 174 F. M. Padelford, The Songs in MS. Bawlinson, C 81S, Anglia, XXXI, p. 309. iTsWilhelm Bolle, Zu Lyrik der Bawlinson MS. C 813, Anglia, XXXrV, p. 281. THE MroDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 293 making first trials, to not later than the seventies of the fol- lowing century. The courtly makers of the reigns of the Early Tudors were not ballade writers. Wyatt had the rondeaxi}''^ to his credit but not a ballade. The following poem of his by virtue of its three-stanza form and its refrain suggests what is most natural, however, that he was familiar with the ballade form : " The restfuU place, revyver of my smarte; the labor's salve, ineressyng my sorrow; the body's ese, and trobler off my hart; quieter of mynd, and my vnquyet foe ; fforgetter of payn, remembryng my woo; the place of slepe, wherein I do but wake; be sprent wit/t teres, my bed, I the forsake. The frost, the snow, may not redresse my bete, nor yet no heate abate my fervent cold; I know nothyng to ese my paynes mete. Eche care cawsythe increse by XXty fold, revyvyng carys vpon my sorrows old. Suche overthwart affectes they do me make, by sprent vjith terys, my bed for to forsake. Yet helpythe yt not: I fynd no better ese in bed, or owt. Thys moste cawsythe my payn : where most I seke how beste that I may plese, my lost labor, alas! ys all in vayn; yet that I gave, I cannot call a gayn. No place fro me my greffe away can take ; Wher for wit/t terys, my bed, I the forsake.''^'"^ Probably the last vestige of specific ballade influence is seen in the work of Gascoigne who professes, " Yn barreyne verse, to doe the best I can Lyke Chancers boye, and Petrarks journeyman," 176 F. M. Padelford, Early Sixteenth Century Lyrics (New York, 1907), p. xliv. 177 F. M. Padelford, Opus Cit., p. 19. 294 THE BALLADE and further proclaims, " But is some Englische woorde herein seme sweet, Let Chancers name exalted be therefore."^^^ As a preface to the Grief of Joy (1576) Gascoigne uses the following poem that certainly is reminiscent of the ballade form. Its stanza is constructed in conformity to the formula given in the same author's Notes of Instruction: The Preface. " Mount mynd & muze, you come before a Queene before a Queene, whose Bewtye skome^ compare/ for yett on earth hath selde (or nott) bene seene, A Queene so fraught with gyfts & graces rare then (that your words her worthy wyll may pearce) mount mynd and muze, the Queene shall reade y^ verse. And in your verse, be bolld to tell her playne, that in my lyfe (one onely Joye except) I never fownd delight that could remayne, styll permanent / nor free from dole be kept A thousand Joyes, my Jollye youth hath tryed Yett none but one, could styll with me abyde. One sweete ther ys, which never yett seemd sowre one Joye of Joyes, whom never gryef disgraste, one worlde of myrth, withowt one mowmfull howre one happy thoughte, which (yett) no dowbt defast what is ytt? speake! (my mynde & muze) be bolld ytt is butt this : my Queene for to behold. UEnvoie Queene by your leave, hath bene (yn olden dayes) A pretye playe / whereyn the prynce gave chardge, (So that the pale, were styll kept hole allwayes) to take the best, and leave the rest att large. / 178 F. M. Padelford, Opus Cit., p. 19. THE MroDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 295 Queene by your leave : my muze the best hath fownde, And yett I hope, the pale ys safe and sownde. / "^"^^ Two other poems of Gascoigne's show his consciousness of the ballade form. In Hearbes we find, *'In that other endie of his sayde close walks were written these toyes in ryme." The "toyes in ryme" are three six-line stanzas with refrain (but no rimes in common) .^^^ The third of the five six-line stanzas of The SMeld of Love^^^ (each one riming a b a b c c), suggests certainly the ballade stock of ideas. " In colder cares are my conceipts consumd, Than Dido felt when false ^neas fled ; In farre more heat, than trusty Troylus fumde, When craftie Cressyde dwelt with Diomed: My hope such frost, my hot desire such flame That I both fryse and smoulder in the same." VI. The Ballade in Scotland That there were a number of ballades composed in Middle Scots seems likely,^^^ although only three examples of the form in that dialect seem to have been printed. And of the three, only one, The Ballad of Good Counsel, exhibits the conventional structure. Skeat has devised this title because the Scots poem ''is an obvious imitation of the 'Ballad of Good Counser by Chaucer which begins, 'Fie fro the presse and dwel with sothf astnesse. ' ' '^^^ Both of these consist of three seven-line stanzas. i"9j. W. Cunliffe, The Glasse of Government and Other Works (Cambridge, 1910), p. 516. 180 J, w. Cunliffe, Gascoigne's The Posies (Cambridge, 1907), p. 353. 181 J. W. Cunliffe, Opus Cit., p. 340. 182 The present author looks forward to investigating the manu- script collections in the various Scottish libraries. 183 W. W. Skeat, Kingis Quair (London, 1884), p. 94. 296 THE BALLADE " Sen throw Vertew incressis dignitie, , And vertew is flour and rute of Noblesse ay, I Of ony wit, or quhat estait thow be. His steppis follow, and dreid for none effray : ; Eject vice, and follow treuth alway : i Lufe maist thy God that first thy lufe began, * And for ilk inche he will the quyte ane span. Be not ouir proude in thy prosperitie, j For as it cummis, sa will it pas away; j The tyme to compt is schort, thow may weill se, For of grene gress sone cummis wallowit hay. Labour in treuth, quhilk suith is of thy fay; \ Traist maist in God, for he best gyde the can, ^ And for ilk inche he will the quyte ane span. Sen word is thrall, and thocht is only fre, ! Thou dant thy toung, that power hes and may, i Thou steik thy ene fra warldis vanitie: Ref raine thy lust and harkin quhat I say : \ Graip or thow slyde, and keip furth the hie way, Thow hald the fast upon thy God and man, i And for ilk inche he will the quyte ane span,"!^* \ The three stanza poem in the Police of Hotwur was, as j its refrain implies, probably intended by Douglas for a I ballade. The is rime appears in both the second and third i stanzaj, " And not but cans my spreitis wer abaisit All solitair in that desert arraisit. Allace I said in name vther remeid. Cruell Fortoun quhy hes thow me betraisit? j Quhy hes thow thus my fatall end compassit? < Allace, allace sail I thus sone be deid I In this desert, and wait nane vther reid. Bot be deuoirit with sum beest Rauenous , I weip, I waill, I plene, I cry, I pleid I Inconstant world and quheill contrarious. j I 184 W. W. Skeat, Opus Cit., p. 54. ' THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 297 Thy transitorie plesance quhat auaillis? ' Now thair, now heir, now hie and now deuaillis Now to, now fra, now law, now Magnifyis j Now hait, now cald, now lauchis, now beuaillis i Now seik, now haill, now werie, now not aillis, ! Now gude, now euill, now weitis, and now dryis Now thow promittis, and richt now thow denyis | Now wo, now Weill, now firme, now friuolous, : Now gam, now gram, now lowis, now defyis, Inconstant world and quheill contrarious Ha quha suld have affyance in thy blis? j Ha quha suld have firme esperance in this? j Quhilk is allace se freuch and variant. \ Certes nane, sum hes, no wicht? surelie 3is \ Than hes my self bene gyltie : 3e : I wis i Thairfoir allace sail danger thus me dant? • Quhidder is becum sa sone this duillie hant? f And Ver translait in winter furious? | Thus I beuaill my faites repugnant. Inconstant world and quheill contrarious."^®^ | Another poem, the author of which is unknown, suggests j by reason of its three stanzas and refrain the French fixed j verse form: i " When Flora had o'erfret the firth, j In May of every moneth queen; When merle and mavis sings with mirth, j Sweet melling in the schawes sheen; ') When all lovers rejoiced been | And most desirous of their prey; j I heard a lusty lover mene: — ' ^I love but I dare nocht assay.' * Strong are the pains I daily prove, But yet with patience I sustene i85Gawyn Douglas, The Police of Honour (Edinburgh, 1827), ; pp. 2-3. 298 THE BALLADE I am so fettered with the love Only of my lady sheen, Whilk for her beauty might be queen Nature so craftily alway Has done depaint that sweet serene ! — Whom I love I dare nocht assay. ' She is so bright of hyd and hue I love but her alone, I ween; Is none her love that may eschew, That blinkis of that dulce amene; So comely clear are her twa een, That she mae lovers does affrae Than ever of Greece did fair Helene ! — Whom I love I dare nocht assay/ "^®® Conclusion The chronology of the ballade in Middle English litera- ture is difficult to determine. There were probably experi- ments with the form before Chaucer. And it may well have been in use also at the very end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century. There are few names connected with its history: with Chaucer, Lydgate, and Quixley the tale is told. Chaucer's hallades stand out as superior to all in poetic quality, though even their merit is uneven. Lydgate 's adaptation of the form to the purposes of religion did not produce a ballade worthy to be compared to Villon's prayer. As for the translations from the French of Charles d 'Orleans, they retain only in a measure what- ever glamour is possessed by the originals. That a student of fifteenth century writers finds much 186 W. E. Henley, English Lyrics (London, 1897), p. 25. Henley said of the poem (Opus Cit., p. 376) : ** Preserved in the Bannatyne Ms. (Pt. V. no. exeii in the Hunterian Club's impression), it was transcribed by Ramsay for The Ever Green and there may well have given Burns a hint for the metrical structure of Mary Morrison.'* THE MIDDLE ENGLISH BALLADE 299 that is curious rather than beautiful has long been a com- monplace of literary criticism. The ballade of that cen- tury is no exception; it, too, is for the most part curious rather than beautiful. The discursiveness of the age, the tendency then prevalent to compose prolonged verse nar- ratives, the scarcity of rime words in Middle English, — all these circumstances were obstacles to the further develop- ment of the ballade. Though it is probably true that the stanzaic structure of both English and Scottish poetry was modified by the various types of French ballade stanzas, the form itself languished in England for about three hun- dred years. After Chaucer, for that matter, the ballade was not conspicuously successful until the days of Swin- burne, Andrew Lang, Austin Dobson, and Edmund Gosse. CHAPTER V THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY The hallade, neglected in France for a hundred and fifty years or more, was revived there in the late fifties of the last century. Shortly afterward, in England and in America, the same verse form was widely adopted both by poets and by poetasters. Its reappearance in English liter- ature, after the lapse of four centuries, was due obviously to the close intellectual relations existing between France and England during the past century. At its second com- ing to England, it found a much more general recognition than it had in the age of Chaucer. In fact, a group of mid- Victorian poets produced such successful examples of the form that their contemporaries were also moved to write ballades. And in this way English letters came again into this charming legacy from medieval France. The revival of the hallade is a phase of the so-called Romanticism which expressed itself variously in nine- teenth century French literature.^ The poetic sons of Vic- tor Hugo, far from slavishly following his tj^pe of revolt, appear to have prided themselves generally on the "dis- sidence of their dissent.'' Sainte-Beuve is generally cred- ited with having reintroduced the hallade into France.^ 1 Th6ophilc Gautier, in Les Grotesques, devotes some pg^es to Villon ; Villon's place in Les Grotesques undoubtedly foreshadows the revival of the hallade. (In the article in the Enci/clop(edia Britannica on Gautier, the date of the first edition of Les Grotesques is given as 1844.) 2 E. Gosse, A Plea for Certain Exotic Forms of Verse, Cornhill Magazine (1877), p. 67. 300 THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 301 Two stanzas indeed of a Ballade du Vieux Temps are in- cluded in his collected poems: " A qui mettait tout dans Famour, Quand Famour lui-meme decline, II est une lente mine, Un deuil amer et sans retour, L'automne trainant s'achemine; Chaque hiver s'allonge d'un tour; En vain le printemps s'illumine; Sa lumiere n'est plus divine A qui mettait tout dans Tamour! En vain la Beaute sur sa tour, Ou fleurit en bas I'aubepine, Moulte avec I'aurore et fascine Le regard qui rode a Fentour. En vain sur I'ecume marine De jour encore sourit Cyprine: Ah! quand ce n'est plus que de jour, Sa grace elle-meme est chagrine A qui mettait tout dans I'amour ! "^ It was, in particular, Theodore de Banville (1820-1891), who, in his conscious desire to introduce unusual and in- tricate rime combinations into French poetry once more, returned to the native fixed forms and especially to the ballade. A survey of the generation which revived the ballade leads to the conclusion that Banville is by far the most significant figure so far as this form goes. Glatigny, Coppee, Rollinat, Jean Richepin, Rostand, Bergerat, Tail- hade, and others,* followed his direction ; but his work was admittedly the most influential. 3C. Sainte-Beuve, PoSsies Completes (Paris, 1879), p. 350. •* Other nineteenth century Frenchmen who have used the ballade are Raoul Ponchon, Paul Verlaine, Maurice Boucher. It is not, of course, the purpose of the present writer to discuss all the ballades written at any given time in either France or England. 302 THE BALLADE In the dizain, addressed to the reader, which is prefixed to Banville's Trente-six Ballades Joyeuses, he refers to Villon: " Comme Villon qui polit sa Ballade Au temps jadis, pour charmer ton souei J'ai f aQonne la mienne, et la voici '^ ; and again, at the close of the same collection, there occurs an enthusiastic defense of the poet vagabond. If, ingeni- ously writes Banville, Villon is to be classed with thieves, he must rank at least, because of the nature of his theft, with Prometheus, who filched divine fire. As this pro- logue and epilogue indicate, it was clearly Villon from whom Banville learned the gracious art of the ballade. Similarly, the English poets, once they became interested in the old French form, studied Villon. Whatever the source of Banville 's inspiration, his tech- nique became remarkably effective. It is his technique to which critics call our attention with favorable or unfavor- able comment. Dowden said of him, some years ago, that he ''taught modern poets to unite lyrical impulse with the most delicate technical skill. "^ On the other hand, one of the latest historians of French literature takes pleasure in recalling the epithet by which a French critic distinguished Banville, ''cuisinier poetique,"® and adds that Banville was the author of "poetry in which the Romanticist's fondness for rhyme has become the writer's chief cult, so that he is always endeavoring to surmount some obstacle of verse, and the effect is often that produced by an acrobat who has 5 E. Dowden, On Some French Writers of Verse, Cornhill Magazine (1877), p. 294. «C. H. C. Wright, A History of French Literature (New York and London, 1912), p. 791. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 303 just performed a difficult task."^ Andrew Lang, less severe, said of him in general, '*he is careful of form rather than abundant in manner."® But of the Trente-six Bal- lades Joyetises,^ Lang wrote, ** There is scarcely a more delightful little volume in the French language than this collection of verses in the most difficult of forms, which pour forth with absolute ease and fluency, notes of mirth, banter, joy in the spring, in letters, art, and good fellowship. 'L'oiselet retoume aux forets; Je suis un poete lyrique, — ^ he cries with a note like a bird's song."^° And Stevenson, with equal enthusiasm, declared, * * When De Banville revives a forgotten form of verse — ^^and he has already had the honor of reviving the ballade — he does it in the spirit of the workman choosing a good tool wherever he can find one, and not at all in that of the dilettante, who seeks to renew bygone forms of thought and make historic forgeries. . . . De Banville 's poems are full of color; they smack racily of modern life."" Banville 's ballades justify these generous appreciations, whatever charge of poetic trickery may be lodged against his other verse. His early Ballade des Celebrites du Temps "^ Ibid. Cf. also Jules Lemaitre, Les Contemporains (Paris, 1890), p. 7 : * ' M. Theodore de Banville est un poete lyrique hypnotist par la rime, le dernier venu, le plus amuse et dans ses bon jours le plus amusant des romantiques, un clown en po6sie qui a eu dans sa vie plusieurs idees, dont la plus persistante a et6 de n'exprimer aucune idee dans ses vers. ' ' 8 Andrew Lang, Theodore de Banville, Essays in Little (New York, 1891), p. 65. » Composed between 1861 and 1869. 10 Andrew Lang, Opus Cit., p. 65. 11 R. L. Stevenson, Charles of Orleans, Familiar Studies of Men and Books (New York, 1900), p. 273. 304 THE BALLADE Jadis,^^ a parody of Villon's masterpiece, is a satire con- cerned with the literati of the day. Banville says in his notes, *'J'ai conserve tel qu'il est le celebre refrain de Villon: Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan! et j'ai tache de mettre mon art a amener ce refrain par un jeu de rimes tout different de celui que le maitre avait employe. "^^ Of the same year, and included, too, in the Odes Funambu- lesques, is the Ballade des Travers de ce Tempsj^^ which deals, also in a satirical vein, with the literary notables of the day. His Ballade de la Vraie Sagesse^^ begins thus : "Mon bon ami, poete aux longs cheveux, Joueur de flute a I'humeur vagabonde, Pour Fan qui vient je t'addresse mes voeux : Enivre-toi, dans une paix profonde, Du vin sanglant et de la beaute blonde. Comme a Noel, pour faire reyeillon Pres du foyer en flamme, ou le grillon Chant a mi-voix pour charmer ta paresse, Toi, vieux Gaulois et fils du bon Villon, Vide ton verre et baise ta maitresse." Of the Trente-six Ballades Joyeuses,'^^ at least twelve are similar in tone. These seem for the most part to have been undertaken to show how certain conventional themes might be shaped in the newly revived form. There is, for example, a Ballade des Belles Chdlonnaises, the first stanza of which runs: " Pour boire j'aime un compagnon, J'aime une franche gaillardise, 12 Theodore de Banville, Odes Funambulesqucs (Paris, no date), p. 254. The ballades in this collection are dated 1856. i8 76td., p. 380. I* Ibid., p. 260. ^5 Ibid., p. 284. 16 Cf. A. T. Strong, The Ballades of ThSodore de Banville (Lon- don, 1913). THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 305 J'aime un broc de vin bourguignon, J'aime de I'or dans ma valise, Jaime un verre fait a Venise, J'aime parfois les violons, Et sourtout, pour faire a ma guise, J'aime les filles de Chalons."^^ Then, there is the Ballade pour les Parisiennes, in which throughout **la femme" is confidently stated to be *'un article de Paris. "^® A more formal style is indicated by the refrain, *'Le plus subtil ouvrier, c'est Amour. "^® Pour la Servante du Cabaret ^^^ with its refrain, "Vive Margot, avec sa jupe rouge, ' ' is reminiscent in its abandon of several of the more reckless of Villon's ballades. Six of the collection refer to Banville's notions about poets and poetry. He expresses regret for the men of 1830,-^ and addresses ''Victor Hugo, pere de tons les rimeurs."^- He says in one of this group, ''Pourquoi je vis? Pour I'amour du laurier. "23 In still another fta^^o^e, he apostrophizes himself: " Assembleur de rimes, Banville, C'est bien que les chardonnerets Chantent dans les bois de Chaville; Mais veux-tu ehez les Turcarets Emplir ton coffre et tes coffrets? Plante la ton reve feerique 1' Theodore de Banville, Trente-six Ballades Joyeuses (Paris, 1890), p. 199. i»Ibid., p. 238. Cf. Villon's refrain, ^'11 n'est bon bee que de Paris. ' ' 19 Ibid., p. 251, 20 Ibid., p. 221. 21 Ibid., p. 197. 22 Ibid., p. 255. 2slbid., p. 207. 21 306 THE BALLADE I C'est bien dit, mais je ne saurais, Je suis un poete lyrique."^* , And the envoy of the same poem is an interesting example \ of literary self -portraiture : j " Prince, voila tous mes secrets, ] Je ne m'intends qu'a la metrique; ] Fils du dieu qui lance des traits, j Je suis un poete lyrique/'^s \ The Ballade a la Sainte Vierge is confessedly an echo of Villon, as the first stanza testifies : " Vierge Marie ! Apres ce bon rimeur , Francois Villon, qui sut prier et croire, i Et qui jadis, malgre sa folle humeur, 1 Fit sa ballade immortelle a ta gloire, ] Je chanterai ton regne et ta victoire. j Ton diademe eclate avec fierte 1 Et sur ton front il rayonne, enchante. ] Milles astres d'or frissonnent sur tes voiles. ^ Tu resplendis, 6 Lys de purete, Dame des Cieux, dans Fazur plein d^etoiles."^^ j Banville's little play Gringoire^'' introduces two hal- lades. The hero, Pierre Gringoire,^^ is plainly modeled on ; the lines of Banville's predecessor, Villon. Banville makes his poet hero compose for King Louis a Ballade des Pendus , as well as a Ballade des Pauvres Gens. The title of the j former suggests Villon's well known epitaph, but is in ' reality very different, as the third stanza and envoy de- monstrate : 2* Ibid., p. 249. , 26 Ibid., p. 250. 26 76i^., p. 267. 27 Written 1866. \ 28 The spelling Gringore seems now to be preferred. j THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 307 " Ces pendus, au diable entendus, Appellent des pendus encore. Tandis qu'aux cieux, d'azur tendus, Ou semble luire meteore, La rosee en I'air s'evapore, Un essaim d'oiseaux rejouis Par-dessus leur tete picore, C'est le verger du roi Louis. Envoi Prince, il est un bois que decore Un tas de pendus enfouis Dans le doux feuillage sonore, C'est le verger du roi Louis."^^ Indeed, the spirit of Villon is more evident in the first stanza of the ''ballade des pauvres gens"; " Rois, qui serez juges a votre tour, Songez a eeux qui n'ont ni sou ni maille, Ayez pitie du peuple tout amour, Bon pour fouiller le sol, bon pour la taille Et la charrue, et bon pour la bataille. Les malheureux sont damnes — c'est ainsi! — Et leur fardeau n'est jamais adouei, Les moins meurtris n'ont pas le necessaire. Le froid, la pluie et le soleil aussi, Aux pauvres gens tout est peine et misere."^® As earlier writers of ballades had done, Banville pub- lished a treatise on poetics. In his Petit Traitie de Poesie Frangaise,^^ he gives a whole chapter to ' ' les poemes tradi- tionnels a forme fixe. ' ' According to his rules for the haU lade, the line unit must consist invariably either of eight or 29 Theodore de Banville, Gringoire (Paris, 1877), p. 53. 30 Theodore de Banville, Opus Cit., p. 53. 31 First published in 1872. 308 THE BALLADE of ten syllables and may be either a masculine or a feminine line. Banville decrees that the three stanzas must be com- posed of ten ten-syllable lines or of eight eight-syllable lines.^ He makes no attempt to codify the numerous de- partures from this procedure in earlier French literature. Banville also describes the double hallade^^ with its six stanzas, a form which he used twice in his own Trente-six Ballades Joyeuses. In all his theoretical talk he makes it plain that it was interest in form that led to his revival of the ballade and similar pieces. It must have been his fond- ness for elaborate rime-schemes that made him see poetic possibilities in these types of old French verse.^* A pleasant interchange of ballades took place between FrauQois Coppee (1843-1908) and Banville. The Ballade de Frangois Coppee a son Maitre Theodore de Banville sur leur Commun Amour de la Poesie, is in the vein of a dis- ciple, as the envoy testifies : " maitre ! 6 toi que la Muse eternelle Sur le Parnasse a mis en sentinelle Et pour son preux entre tous sut ehoisir, Notre oeuvre est bonne et nous croyons en elle : Faisons des vers pour rien, pour le plaisir I "^^ And Banville responded cordially : " Aimons la Muse, en depit des revers, Comme Rubens les deesses d'Anvers 32 Theodore de Banville, Petit Traiti de Podsie Frangaise (Paris, 1909), pp. 188-192. S3 Theodore de Banville, Opus Cit., pp. 193-194. 3* .Jules Lemaitre, Les Contemporains (Paris, 1890), p. 16: **Du moment qu'il 6tait ne ou qu'il 8*6tait fait servant de la rime et son homme-lige, il 6tait inevitable qu 'il nous rendit ces bagatelles com- pliqu6es d'une sym^trie difficile, minutieuse et quelque peu enfantine et barbare, oil la rime est en effet reine, maitresse et g6n6trice. ' ' 85 Francois Coppee, Poesies, 1864-1887 (Paris, no date), p. 406. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 309 Ou bien Neron sa maitresse Popple. Pour elle encore j'ai la tete a I'envers, Car tu dis bien, maitre Francois Coppee ! "^® Coppee's other ballade, Pour Deux Dames Qui Sont Amies,^'^ is dedicated to two ladies whose charms bewildered the poet. It expresses in ballade form the amatory senti- ment so characteristic of Coppee 's other verse. Albert Glatigny (1839-1873), Laurent Tailhade (1857-), and Emile Bergerat (1845-) have followed Banville. Gla- tigny has been described as "a travelling actor and extra- ordinary improvisor in the moods of Theodore de Ban- ville, *'^^ Tailhade as ''a poet with some of the virtuosity of Banville combined with Gascon exuberance,*'^® and Ber- gerat labelled as " Banvillesque. ' '^^ Both in France and in England Banville was beyond doubt the one man respon- sible for the renewed vogue of the ballade. Glatigny, the vagabond poet of the nineteenth century, contributed to Le Parnasse Contemporain,^^ a Ballade des Enfants Sans Souci,*^ which is conceived in the same pathetic spirit in which Villon wrote of the life he led : "lis vont pieds nus, le plus souvent, I'hiver Met a leurs doigts des mitaines d'onglee. Le soir, helas! ils soupent de grand air, Et sur leurs fronts la bise eehevelee Gronde, pareille au bruit d'une melee. A peine un peu leur sort est adouei 36 Francois Coppee, Opus Cit., p. 407. 37 Francois Coppee, Opus Cit., p. 421. 38 C. H. C. Wright, A History of French Literature (New Tork and Londoii, 1912), p. 796. i^Ilid., p. 879. ^olhid., p. 848. 41 1866. 42 Job-Lazare, Albert Glatigny Sa Vie Son (Euvre (Paris, 1878), p. 147. 310 THE BALLADE Quand Avril fait la terre consolee. Ayez pitie des Enfants sans souci. lis n'ont sur eux que le manteau du ver, Quand les frissons de la voute etoilee, Font tressaillir et briller leur ceil clair. Par la montagne abrupte et la vallee, lis vont, ils vont ! a leur troupe affolee Chacun repond : ^ Vous n'etes pas d'ici, Prenez ailleurs, oiseaux, votre volee/ Ayez pitie des Enfants sans souci. Un froid de mort fait dans leur pauvre chair Glacer le sang, et leur veine est gelee. Les eoeurs pour eux se cuirassent de fer. Le trepas vient. lis vont sans mausolee Pourrir au coin d'un champ ou d^une allee, Et les corbeaux mangent leur corps transi Que lavera la froide giboulee. Ayez pitie des Enfants sans souci. Envoi Pour cette vie effroyable, filee De mal, de peine, ils te disent: merei! Muse, comme eux, avec eux exilee, Ayez pitie des Enfants sans souci." Laurent Tailhade*s Douze Ballades Familieres pour Ex- asperer le Mufle^^ employ the form for ferocious satire.** ♦3 Laurent Tailhade, Au Pays du Mufle, Preface d'Armand Sil- vestre (Paris, 1891). **Cf. Silvestre (ibid., p. 11): ''les ballades . . . sont parmi les plus parfaites que j'aie vues Sorites, et dans le sentiment le plus raffine d'un rythme, essentiellement frangaise. EUes sont d 'ailleurs d'une gaiety egalement f^roce avec le cinglement en plus, k I'oreille, des assonances repet^s. . . . Dans toutes le rire d^^chire la 16vre. On n'a jamais rien 6crit de moins bon enfant. Autant de sang que de fiel, cependant, dans ces indignations, — il semble que, de ce stylet sans pitie qui d^chire un peu k I'aventure peut-etre, le po^te se soit lui-meme souvent 6gratign6.'' THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 311 Because of their coarseness, Rabelaisian in quality, they are unsuitable for quotation. Such titles as De la Generation Artificielle,*^ Touchant L*Ignominie de la Classe Moyenne,*^ Confraternelle pour Servir a L'Histoire des Lettres Fran- gaises,^"^ suggest, too mildly perhaps, some victims of the ** stylet sans pitie." The last-named ballade contains a series of vicious attacks on contemporary French writers; happily Banville is not named. A more urbane follower of Banville, Emile Bergerat, acknowledges his master in his Ballade a Banville: " Je te le dis, tel le pecheur au pretre : Si j'etais riche, — et je sais pourquoi Point ne le suis, tant j'en vois d'autres Petre Qui ne Font point merite plus que moi, — • De tout le jour je ne ferais emploi, Habile ou non, bien portant ou malade, Qu'au jeu charmant dont tu fixes la loi; II n'est plaisir qu^a bailer la ballade. Travail frangais, dont Villon est le maitre, Fait a la main en ces siecles de foi Ou Ton prenait ou mot, voire h la lettre, L'honneur du verbe et la faveur du roi. Y triompher c'etait vaincre au tournoi: Mais aujourd'hui quelle degringolade ! Ouvrer les vers c'est se parer pour soi; II n'est plaisir qu'a bailer la ballade. Dans notre etat, heroique peut-etre, Rien ne se paie au prix de bon aloi; L'argent comptant est en boutons de guetre Et nul, vivant, n'y gagne son convoi. Pour la critique, 6 muses, c'est Foctroi 45 L. Tailhade, Opus Cit., p. 17. *eL. Tailhade, Opus Cit., p. 19. 47 L. Tailhade, Opus Cit., p. 37. 312 THE BALLADE Qui juge au poids et juge a I'accolade Et la sagesse est de se tenir coi. II n'est plaisir qu'a bailer la ballade. Envoi Prince, et chez nous, Theodore, c'est toi, Nous buvons tous I'encre a la regalade, Le mal d'ecrire en a tue Peffroi, II n'est plaisir qu'a bailer la ballade."*^ Bergerat is one of the most prolific of modern hallade writers. His themes are chiefly those of familiar verse. Possibly the most interesting from the standpoint of liter- ary history is the Ballade Camhogienne, printed anony- mously by Comoedia, which challenged its readers to guess the author. The first stanza reads thus : "D'un gave — ^j'emprunte a Nisard Ses periphrases gangrenees De lieux communs — en saut d'isard. Un bruit de rimes egrenees Qui semblent du zephyre nees Sur le vent de I'arc qu'Eros tend Nous arrive des Pyrenees: C'est Tatelier d'Edmond Rostand."*^ On the following day, Rostand himself sent to the same journal his solution. Ballade sur une Ballade Anonyme, the second stanza of which proclaims: " Aussi vrai que d'Hermes naquit Sa lyre, et de Pan la syringe, Que le Hongrois boit du raki, *8Emile Bergerat, Ballades et Sonnets (Paris, 1910), p. 11. This hallade is one of three ' ' en honneur de la bonne ballade f ran^aise. ' ' This volume contains in all forty-four hallades. <»EiniIe Bergerat, Opus Cit., p. 141. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 313 Que le Chinois tresse la ginge, Qu'il etait en ecus de singe Le tresor qu'une Humbert gera, Et que Mergy tua Comminge, La ballade est de Bergerat."**^ Another member of this second generation of Romanticists followed Banville in writing ballades. The decadent author of Les Nevroses, Maurice RoUinat (1846-1903), includes twelve among this ' ' wild collection of poems on disease and corruption." These twelve are in truth not unwholesome in tone. Only the Ballade du Cadavre, with its refrain, *'La pourriture lente et Tennui du squelette, "^^ is strik- ingly unpleasant. The Ballade de VArc-en-ciel has for its ingenious refrain the line, "Bleu, rouge, indigo, vert, violet, jaune, orange. "^^ De la Beine des Fourmis et du Roi des Cigales^^ is a kind of allegory, not indeed as Des- champs used the ballade for conveying a fable, but in the same spirit as Brieux used the title Hannetons for a play in which the lovers treat each other with a cruelty com- parable to that of their insect prototypes. The relations between the queen of the ants and the king of the grass- hoppers are described by Rollinat in such a way as to sug- gest an idyllic human love. De la Petite Rose et die Petit Bluef^* is a similarly conceived symbol of idyllic senti- ment. In several of the other ballades, notably Pes Lezards Verts, with its refrain, ''Leurs petits flancs peureux qui tremblent au soleil,"^^ and Du Chataignier Bond, with its refrain, ''Sous le chataignier rond dresse comme un fan- 50Emile Bergerat, Opus Cit., p. 144. 52lhid., p. 128. 51 Maurice Eollinat, Les Nevroses (Paris, 1907), p. 377. 53 Ibid., p. 156. • 5^ Hid., p. 178. 55lMd., p. 198. 314 THE BALLADE tome,"^*' RoUinat shows a less generalized and more inti- mate observation of nature. Wholly unlike his other bal- lades is La Dame en Cire, a distressing cry to a lay figure in wax to come to life: " toi qui m'as si souvent visite, Satan! vieux roi de la perversite, Fais-moi la grace, 6 sulfureux Messire, Par un minuit lugubrement tinte, De voir entrer chez moi la dame en cire ! "^^ RoUinat generally used the ballade to express a reflective mood and once or twice to convey queer trifling. His bal- lades, if considered apart from his other poetry, would never impress one as the products of decadence. In form, they follow Banville's models closely. RoUinat could not, however, from his very nature, have made his ballades the delicious lighthearted lyrics that Banville's were. Rostand's (1868-) three ballades, included in Les Musar- diseSj^^ are the lightest of poetic trifles. There is the guile- less Ballade au Petit Bebe, one stanza of which will show that the art of the author of Cyrano is not adapted, as was that of Blake and Christina Rossetti, to the interpretation of child life : " Apr^s quoi, longuement, il have. Et comme un objet inconnu II contemple, reveur et grave, Son pied dans ses deux mains tenu. Et, pris du desir saugrenu De sucer son bout de chausette Auquel il n'est pas parvenu, Le petit bebe fait risette."*^® 58J6id., p. 226. 6T Ihid., p. 329. 88 Written 1887-1893. 59Edmond Rostand, Les Musardises (Paris, 1911), p. 85. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 316 The Ballade de la Nouvelle Annee is a half -serious ap- peal to the New Year to endow everyone with his particular heart's desire: "Donne un papillon aux touffes de thym Et des goelands au cap de la Heve; Le touriste Anglais au Napolitain; Au due de Nemours Madame de Cleve; Au vieillard un songe, au jeune homme un reve; Donne un livre au sage, un tambour au fou, Un eleve au maitre, un maitre a I'eleve . . . II faut a chaeun donner son joujou."^* The Ballade des Vers Qu'on ne Finit Jamais is delicately expressed but perfectly superficial in emotion. The senti- ment of the whole poem is plain from the envoy: " Lecteur, je suis navre. Ces vers que je te livre I — Dont, peut-etre on vendre le papier a la livre, — ' Ne sont pas, il s'en faut, helas ! ceux que j'aimais. j Car les meilleurs, comment les mettre dans un livre? | Les meilleurs, sont les vers qu'on ne finit jamais."®^ \ Jean Richepin's (1849-) Ballade de Bonne Recompense \ recalls the more sordid of Villon's genius: \ " A qui, civil ou militaire, i A pied, meme en aerostat, ' Trouverait le mot du mystere \ Par ou mon etre s'enchanta, ^ A qui m'appellerait beta ] De pleurer encor quand j'y pense, A celui-la j'offre recta Quarante sous de recompense. j A qui de Montmatre a Cythere, j Trouverait, pour qu'il Tattestat, ^ 60 E. Rostand, O-pus Cit., p. 96. «i E. Rostand, Opus Cit., p. 121. 316 THE BALLADE Fille de gueux ou de iiotaire Plus belle d'un seul iota Que la maitresse qui fit a Mon coeur le grand trou que je pause, A qui de ses yeux s'abrita, Quarante sous de recompense. A qui rapporterait de terre Ou du ciel que mon vol tenta, Mon dernier espoir, solitaire Loin de celle qui me quitta, Las ! dans n'importe quel etat, Je lui gamirais bien la pause, Pourvu qu'il me le rapportat. Quarante sous de recompense. Envoi toi qui commis 1' attentat, Femme, voici pour la depense De la croix de mon Golgotha, Quarante soux de recompense/'®^ In the last part of the decade between 1870 and 1880, about twenty years after Banville's beginnings, the revival of the English ballade took place. In England, the form was in favor with Dobson, Gosse, Lang, Swinburne, and Henley. In America it has recommended itself to Brander Matthews, Frank Dempster Sherman, Clinton Scollard, and others. In both countries, the ballade continues to be written for the daily papers and for the magazines. This return of the ballade to English literature was effected by a revival of interest in such older poets as Charles d 'Orleans and Frangois Villon, and by the impression made in England by the work of Theodore de Banville. Very significant, too, in the history of the ballade, are «2 Jean Eichepin, Les Caresses (Paris, 1898), p. 240. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 317 the articles published in the Cornhill Magazine in 1876 and in ISll.^^ In the first of these years appeared Steven- son's sympathetic study of Charles of Orleans, and in the following year, the same author's brilliant Frangois Villon, Student, Poet and Housebreaker, Dowden's On Some French Verse Writers, 1830-1877, and Gosse's A Plea for Certain Exotic Forms of Verse. In this last essay, Gosse advocated a poetic policy which he has since constantly followed in his criticism. He wrote then: '*We acknowledge that the severity of the plan and the rich and copious recurrence of the rhyme serve the double end of repelling the incompetent workman and stimulating the competent. This being so, why should we not proceed to the cultivation of other [than the sonnet] fixed forms of verse, which flourished in the earliest days of modern poetic literature, and of which the sonnet, if the finest, is at least but one ? ' ' In point of fact, the movement I advocate has begun on all sides, with the spontaneity of an idea obviously ready to be born. I myself, without suggestion from any acquaint- ance, but merely in consequence of reading the early French poets, determined to attempt the introduction of the hal- ade and the rondeau. But, to my surprise, I found that I had no right to claim the first invention of the idea. First on one hand, then on another, I discovered that several young writers, previously unknown to me and to one an- other, had determined on the same innovation. For some time the idea was confined to conversation and private dis- cussion. But these forms are now being adopted by a still wider circle, and the movement seems so general that the 63 In 1868 had been published Walter Besant's Studies in Early French Poetry. This work, among other things, contained an ac- count of Villon, quotations from his work, and a prose translation of his Epitaph in the Form of a Ballad. 318 THE BALLADE time has come to define a little more exactly what seems to be desirable in this matter and what not."^* In 1911, in a letter to the present writer, Mr. Gosse said in answer to some inquiries about the revival of the bal- lade: ''But you should note that 1876 is the date of the re- introduction of the ballade into English literature, Ros- setti's translation from Villon being accidental, in the sense that he was attracted to the beauty of the old French poem without having perceived, or having attempted to retain, the character of the form. The reason for the simultaneous adoption of this beautiful form by a number of poets is difficult to trace. But I think it was connected with the circulation in London of certain copies of Banville's 'Trente-six ballades joyeuses.' This was certainly the case with Swinburne, Lang and myself, and I believe with Dobson and Henley. But a desire for the support of a more rigid and disciplined metre was in the air, and we all independently and simultaneously seized upon the French forms of which Banville gave the precise rules in his ' Petit Traite.' I cannot find the book, but I believe that a new edition of the Petit Traite was issued in 1876. I know that I wrote at that time a letter of adoring inquiry, and re- ceived in return a long letter of sympathy and advice from Theodore de Banville. But do not suppose that any of this interest in the ' forms, ' as we used to call them, dates back earlier than 1870 in England. Rossetti never sympathized with it all.'' Andrew Lang, replying to a question similar to that ad- dressed to Mr. Gosse, answered thus: '*I happened to try to translate a ballade of Villon in 1870 and later found Austin Dobson and Gosse sporting with these toys. Prob- «* E. Gosse, A Plea for Certain Exotic Forms of Verse, Cornhill Magazine (1877), p. 56. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 319 ably Rossetti and Swinburne first drew my attention to Villon & Co." Mr. Austin Dobson, explaining his preoccupation with the ballade, wrote me as follows : * ' I was attracted to the French forms because I was seeking to give a novel turn to the lighter kinds of verse which I had then been writing. Some time between 1873 and 1877, I chanced on the Odes Funam- hulesques of Theodore de Banville, whose essays in this kind gave me the hint I wanted. I tried most of the forms in the Proverbs in Porcelain of 1877." It was not until 1876, then, that the first pure ballades appeared in modern English. In May of that year was printed Austin Dobson 's Ballad of tJie Prodigals, and Swin- burne's Ballad of Dreamland came out in September. There had, it is true, been translations of ballades of Alain Chartier, of Charles d 'Orleans, and of Villon, in Louisa Costello's Specimens of Early Poetry of France, published in 1835; but Miss Costello showed no consciousness at all of the rime features of the old French form. Four years before (1831), Longfellow had incorporated in his paper on the Origin and Progress of the French Language^^ his version of Clement Marot's Le Frere Lubin.^^ Longfellow, like Miss Costello, ignored the peculiar rime system of the original. Rossetti 's rendering of Villon's greatest ballade, also earlier than Mr. Dobson 's Ballad of the Prodigals, was, as Gosse wrote, ''accidental"; Rossetti did not attempt to preserve the character of the form and never syrapathized, to quote Grosse again, with the group who were experiment- 65 T. W. Higginson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Boston & New York, 1902), p. 58. 66 H. W. Longfellow, Complete Poetical WorTcs (Boston & New York, 1893), p. 632. Bryant is also said to have made an early trans- lation of this poem. Andrew Lang was the first to translate Frere Lubin into the original measure of hallad d double refrain. See Ballades and Verses Vain (New York, 1884), p. 23. 320 THE BALLADE ing with it. Austin Dobson, the genius of familiar verse, and the first to print his experiment, found in the ballade one of many metrical expedients for varying the treatment of light and tender themes.^' The latest collection of his poetry contains fourteen ballades. Their range of subject is not wide. There is The Prodigals, the first in point of time, with its touching burden, ' ' Give us — ah ! give us — ^but yesterday."®^ Then there is a rollicking historical Ballad to Queen Elizabeth, ending thus: " Gloriana ! the Don may attack us Whenever his stomach be fain; He must reach us before he can rack us, And where are the galleons of Spain? "^^ The Horation imitation, Navis,''^ is a new use for the form. The Ballad of the Bore,''^ too, is reminiscent of Horace. Austin Dobson 's other ballades are in the quaint lively vein of his familiar verse. There is a special fillip of humor in the Ballad of Imitation, with its fling at all critics who charge plagiarism, in the words, * ' the man who plants cabbages imitates, too!"^- A chamt royal on the Dance of Death'^^ {after Holbein) is this poet's only adap- tation of a French verse form to the grim aspects of life. 67 Cf. G. Rabache, Austin Dobson, PoHe, Bevue Germanique (1913), p. 523: "Toujours apparait son d^sir de supplier k I'unite coordinatrice d'une pen«6e forte par 1 'enchaTneTnent ingenieux des rimes. A un tel souei repondaient admirablement les vielles formes fran^aises. . . . Dobson revendique I'honneur de les avoir, le premier k notre epoque, employees en Angleterre. C'est sa reussite, en eflfet, qui lui suscita de nombreux imitateurs. ' ' «8 Austin Dobson, Collected Poems (London, 1909), p. 486. o^Ihid., p. 491. to Ibid., p. 502. ^iIbid., p. 524. -t^Ibid., p. 498. 73 76id., p. 504. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY 321 In 1878, Austin Dobson contributed to a volume'^* con- taining ballades of his own, of Edmund Gosse^s and of John Payne's, a preface on Some Foreign Forms of Verse, in which he gave rules for the making of a ballade. His conception of the restrictions imposed by a fixed rime- scheme are interesting: "The rhymes play so important a part in the foregoing rules, that a few words on this head may not unfitly close these notes, especially as those who write the forms do not appear to be wholly agreed in the matter. On the one hand, it is advanced that the forms are sufficiently difficult in French, and that to transfer them to our tongue without at the same time adopting the French system of rhyming is to hamper them with superfluous diffi- culties. By the French system of rhyming is meant the license used by French writers to rhyme words of exactly similar sound and spelling so long as they have different meanings. This is not held to be admissible in English, although cases might be cited. Milton, for example, has 'Ruth' and 'ruth' in one of his sonnets. On the other hand, it is contended that if we import these forms, we must, to make them really English, adopt them with all their native difficulties, and add our own as well."^^ In the same preface, Dobson set down what may serve as a final word on his own use of the ballade: "What is mod- estly advanced for some of them (by the present writer at least), is that they may add a new charm of buoyancy, — a lyric freshness, — to amatory and familiar verse already too much condemned to faded measures and outworn cadences. Further, upon assumption that merely graceful or tuneful trifles may be sometimes written (and even read), that they are admirable vehicles for the expression of trifles or jeux d'espriV^ 74 W. Davenport Adams, Latter Day Lyrics (London, 1878). 75 W. D. Adams, Opus Cit., p. 348. 76 W. D. Adams, Opus Cit., p. 335. 22 322 THE BALLADE Whatever of Andrew Lang's lives or dies, it is safe to say that his ballades will not be forgotten. He is the author of at least thirty-six. The translations from Villon, Frois- sart, Marot, La Fontaine, and from Banville, together with his own words in the letter sent to the present writer in 1911, point to the influences that lead to his adoption of the poem. Lang's translations from Villon include Of Good Counsel,'^'' Arbor AmoriSy^ Ballad of the Gibbet,''^ and the Ballade of Dead Ladies, which follows^/ ^v>-^ ^xh»-o*t-'~-^ "Nay, tell me now in what strange air The Roman Flora dwells to-day. Where Archippiada hides, and where Beautiful Thais has passed away? Whence answers Echo, afield, astray, By mere or stream, — around, below? Lovelier she than a woman of clay; Nay, but where is the last year's snow? Where is wise Heloi'se, that care Brought on Abeilard, and dismay? All for her love he found a snare, A maimed poor monk in orders grey; And Where's the Queen who willed to slay Buridan, that in a sack must go Afloat down Seine, — a perilous way — Nay, but where is the last year's snow? Where's that White Queen, a lily rare. With her sweet song, the Siren's lay? Where's Bertha Broadfoot, Beatrice fair? Alys and Ermengarde, where are they? Good Joan, whom English did betray, 77 A. Lang, Ballades and Verses Vain (New York, 1884), pp. 65-66. 78 A. Lang, Ballades and Lyrics of Old France (Portland, 1898), pp. 4-5; not included in either of Longnon's editions of Villon. 70 A. Lang, Oyus Cit., pp. 11-13; also translated by Payne and Swinburne. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 323 In Rouen town, and burned her? No, Maiden and Queen, no man may say; Nay, but where is the last year's snow? Envoy Prince, all this week thou needst not pray, Nor yet this year the thing to know. One burden answers, ever and aye, ' Nay, but where is the last year's snow? ' "®° For purposes of comparison, four other translations of the same poem are given, first, an anonymous version, pos- sibly by Gary : " Tell me where, or in what clime, Is that mistress of the prime, Roman Flora? she of Greece, Thais? or that maid so fond. That, an ye shout o'er stream or pond. Answering holdeth not her peace? — Where are they? — Tell me, if ye know; What is become of last year's snow? Where is Heloise the wise. For whom Abelard was fain. Mangled in such cruel wise, To turn monk instead of man? Where the Queen, who into Seine Bade them cast poor Buridan? — Where are they? — Tell me, if ye know; What is come of last year's snow? The Queen that was as lily fair. Whose songs were sweet as linnets' are. Bertha, or she who govem'd Maine? Alice, Beatrix, or Joan, That good damsel of Lorraine, 80 A. Lang, Ballades in Blue China (London, 1888), p. 57. 324 THE BALLADE Whom the English burnt at Roan? — Where are they? — Tell me, if ye know; What is come of last year's snow? Prince, question by the month or year; The burden of my song is here: — ^Where are they ? — Tell me, if ye know ; What is come of last year's snow? "®^ Miss Costello's simple and incomplete version is as follows : " Tell me to what region flown Is Flora the fair Roman gone? Where lovely Thais' hiding-place, Her sister in each charm and grace? Echo — let thy voice awake. Over river, stream, and lake: Answer, where does beauty go? Where is fled the south wind's snow? 'Where is Eloi'se the wise. For whose two bewitching eyes Hapless Abeillard was doom'd. In his cell to live entomb'd? Where the Queen, her love who gave. Cast in Seine a watery grave? Where each lovely cause of woe? Where is fled the south wind's snow? Where thy voice, oh regal fair, Sweet as is the lark's in air? »i London Magazine (October, 1823), p. 437. My attention was first called to this version by Frangois Villon en Angleterre par H. Vigier (Revue Germanique, Paris, July-August, 1913), in which this translation is given to Gary of Dante fame. I am, therefore, in- debted to Vigier for my knowledge of the ballade printed above, although the present chapter had been completed in every other respect before his article appeared. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 325 Where is Bertha? Alix?— she Who le Mayne held gallantly? Where is Joan, whom English flame Gave, at Rouen, death and fame? Where are all? — does any know? Where is fled the south wind's snow ? "^^ Here is Payne 's labored and literal translation : " Tell me where, in what land of shade. Bides fair Flora of Rome, and where Are Thai's and Archipiade, Cousins-german of beauty rare. And Echo, more than mortal fair, That, when one calls by river-flow Or marish, answers out of the air? But what is become of last year's snow? Where did the leam'd Heloisa vade, For whose sake Abelard might not spare (Such dole for love on him was laid) Manhood to lose and a cowl to wear? And where is the queen who willed whilere That Buridan, tied in a sack should go Floating down Seine from the turret-stair? But what is become of last year's snow? Blanche, too, the lily-white queen, that made Sweet music as if she a siren were; Broad-foot Bertha; and Joan the maid. The good Lorrainer, the English bare Captive to Rouen and burned her there ; Beatrix, Eremburge, Alys — lo! Where are they, Virgin debonair? But what is become of last year's snow? 82 Louisa S. Costello, Specimens of the Early Poetry of France (London, 1835), p. 161. 326 THE BALLADE Envoi Prince, you may question how they fare This week, or liefer this year, I trow; Still shall the answer this burden bear, But what is become of last year's snow? "^^ Finally there is the inspired poem by Rossetti, which, albeit at the expense of the form, makes the spirit of the original live again: " Tell me now in what hidden way is Lady Flora the lovely Roman? Where's Hipparchia, and where is Thais, Neither of them the fairer woman? Where is Echo, beheld of no man, Only heard on river and mere, — She whose beauty was more than human? . . . But where are the snows of yester-year? Where's Heloi'se, the learned nun. For whose sake Abeillard, I ween, Lost manhood and put priesthood on? (From love he won such dule and teen!) And where, I pray you, is the Queen Who willed that Buridan should steer Sewed in a sack's mouth down the Seine? . . . But where are the snows of yester-year? White Queen Blanche, like a queen of lilies, With a voice like any mermaiden, — Bertha Broadfoot, Beatrice, Alice, And Erraengarde the Lady of Maine, — And that good Joan whom Englishmen At Rouen doomed and burnt her there, — Mother of God, where are they then? . . . But where are the snows of yester-year? 83 John Payne, The Poems of Master Frangois Villon of Paris (Lon- don, 1892), p. 33. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 327 Nay, never ask this week, fair lord, Where they are gone, nor yet this year, Except with this for an overword, — But where are the snows of yester-year?"^* Lang translated, also, Villon's Ballad of the Gibbet, as did both Swinburne and Payne too. The third stanza of Villon's ballade, the hardest of the three to translate and therefore the best test of the poeti<* quality of the transla- tor, is here given, reprinted from all these versions : " We are whiles scoured and soddened of the rain And whiles burnt up and blackened of the sun : Corbies and pyets have our eyes out-ta'en And plucked our beards and hair out, one by one. Whether by night or day, rest have we none : Now here, now there, as the wind shifts its stead. We swing and creak and rattle overhead. No thimble dented like our bird-pecked face. Brothers, have heed and shun the life we led : The rather pray, God grant us of His s^race ! "^^ " The rain has washed and laundered us all five, And the sun dried and blackened; yea, perdie. Ravens and pies with beaks that rend and rive Have dug our eyes out, and plucked off for fee Our beards and eyebrows ; never are we free. Not once, to rest ; but here and there still speed, Drive at its wild will by the wind^s change led. More pecked of birds than fruits on garden-wall ; Men, for God's love, let no gibe here be said. But pray to God that he forgive us all."^® 84 D. G. Eossetti, Poetical WorTc (Boston, 1899), Vol. I, p. 237. Cf. The Poems of Frangois Villon. Translated by H. De Vera Stac- poole (London, 1913), p. 20. 85 John Payne, The Poems of Master Frangois Villon of Paris (London, 1892), p. 115. 86 A. C. Swinburne, Poems (Philadelphia, no date), p. 266. Bes- ant's prose version of this same ballade has been referred to earlier in this chapter. 328 THE BALLADE " The rain out of heaven has washed us clean, The sun has scorched us black and bare, Ravens and rooks have pecked at our eyne, And feathered their nests with our beards and hair. Round are we tossed and here and there. This way and that, at the wild wind^s will. Never a moment my body is still; Birds they are busy about my face. Live not as we, nor fare as we fare; Pray God pardon us out of His grace."®^ Payne's lines are marked by archaisms, by difficult figures, and by a very perceptible roughness of metre. Swinburne's rendering lacks force. But Lang's comes nearest to the despair and sweetness, to the grim music of the French. Lang, to make no further mention of his other translations, chose to translate three of Banville's ballades: Sur les Hotes Mysterieux de la Foret,^^ Aux Enfants Per- dus^^ and Ballade des Pendus from Gringoire.^^ His essay on Theodore de Banville sums up the case for French fixed forms in English poetry : " It may be worth while to quote his [Banville's] testimony as to the merit of these modes of expression. * This cluster of forms is one of our most prec- ious treasures, for each of them forms a rhythmic whole, complete and perfect, while at the same time they all possess the fresh and unconscious grace which marks the produc- tions of primitive times.' Now there is some truth in his criticism; for it is a mark of man's early ingenuity, in many arts, to seek complexity (when you would expect simplicity), and yet to lend to that complexity an infantine naturalness. One can see this phenomenon in early decora- 87 A. Lang, Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (Portland, 1898), p. 6. Cf. H. De Vera Stacpoole, Opus Cit., p. 18. 88 A. Lang, Ballades in Blue China (London, 1888), p. 24. 89 A. Lang, Opus Cit., p. 31. »o Gleeson White, Ballades and Eondeaus (London, 1887), p. 24. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 329 tive art, and in early law and custom, and even in the com- plicated structure of primitive languages. Now, just as early, and even savage, races are our masters in the decora- tive use of color and of carving, so the nameless master- singers of ancient France may be our teachers in decorative poetry, the poetry some call vers de societe. Whether it is possible to go beyond this, and adapt the old French forms to serious modern poetry, it is not for anyone but time to decide. In this matter, as in greater affairs, securus judical orhis terrarum! For my own part I scarcely believe that the revival would serve the nobler ends of English poetry. "^^ Lang's ballades f the untranslated, original ones, are, as his theories would lead one to suppose, light in theme and conventional. There is a Valentine in Form of Ballade,^ like so many of the fifteenth century French poems ; there is the Ballade of Queen Anne,^^ a strange mingling of medieval verse form and Augustan manners. More up-to-date is the subject matter of the gay Ballade of the Girt on Girl.^* In the Ballade of Old Plays,^^ dedicated appropriately to Brander Matthews, the first of the three stanzas represents Le Cour, the second, La Comedie, and the third. La Ville; this ballade was called forth by an edition of Moliere pub- lished in Paris in 1667. The ''ubi sunt" motif appears in the Ballade of Literary Fame^^ and also in the Ballade of Dead Cities. This last, dedicated to E. W. Gosse, was an answer to that writer's Ballad of Dead Cities written the year before (1879). Both ballades show clever manipula- tion of proper names and ingenuity of rime-scheme. The first stanzas and envoys of both are quoted. Andrew Lang's is: 91 A. Lang, Essays in Little (New York, 1891), p. 74. 92 A. Lang, Ballades in Blue China (London, 1888), p. 63. 93 A. Lang, Opus Cit., p. 77. 9* A. Lang, Ehymes a La Mode (London, 1887), p. 43. 95 A. Lang, Ballades and Verses Vain (New York, 1884), p. 19. 96 A. Lang, Ehymes a La Mode (London, 1887), p. 85. 330 THE BALLADE "The dust of Carthage and the dust Of Babel on the desert wold, The loves of Corinth, and the lust, Orchomenos increased with gold; The tower of Jason, over-bold. And Cherson, smitten in her prime — What are they but a dream half -told? Where are the cities of old time ? Envoy Prince, all thy towns and cities must Decay as these, till all their crime, And mirth, and wealth, and toil, are thrust Where are the cities of old time " f^ and Gosse's, that apparently provoked the contest: " Where are the cities of the plain ? And where the shrines of rapt Bethel? And Calah built of Tubal-Cain? And Shinar whence King Amraphel Came out in arms, and fought, and fell, Decoyed into the pits of slime By Sidim, and sent sheer to hell ; Where are the cities of old time? Envoy Prince, with a dolorous, ceaseless knell Above their wasted toil and crime The waters of oblivion swell: Where are the cities of old time?"®® Edmund Gosse, in the article on the Ballade in the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, says of 97 A. Lang, Ballades in Blue China (London, 1888), p. 40. 98 E. W. Gosse, New Poems (London, 1879), p. 164. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 331 the possibilities of the form: ''With the exception of the sonnet, the ballade is the noblest of the artificial forms of verse cultivated in English literature. It lends itself equally well to pathos and to mockery, and in the hands of a competent poet produces an effect which is rich in melody without seeming fantastic or artificial. ' ' Alfred Noyes, writing recently^^ of Gosse's own poetry, says that the school to which Gosse belongs, which experi- mented with the French forms, ''permanently raised the standard of technique in English verse.'' Of the influences that moulded this school Gosse himself has written : "It is in Theophile Gautier and Theodore de Banville that our English Parnassians found something of the same aesthetic stimulus that their predecessors of the fourteenth century found in Guillaume de Machault and Eustache Des- champs."^^^ Gosse 's beautiful ballade tribute "for the funeral of the last of the Joyous Poets," contains much valid literary criticism, as the first stanza and envoy show : " One ballade more before we say good-night, dying Muse, one mournful ballade more ! Then let the new men fall to their delight, The Impressionist, the Decadent, a score Of other fresh fanatics, who adore Quaint demons, and disdain thy golden shrine; Ah! faded goddess, thou wert held divine When we were young I But now each laurelled head Has fallen, and fallen the ancient glorious line; The last is gone, since Banville too is dead. 99 Alfred Noyes, The Poems of Edmund Gosse, Fortnightly Beview, August, 1912. 100 E. Gosse, French Profiles (New York, 1905), p. 362. 332 THE BALLADE Envoi Prince-Jeweller, whose facet-rhymes combine All hues that glow, all rays that shift and shine, Farewell ! thy song is sung, thy splendour fled ! No bards to Aganippe's wave incline; The last is gone, since Banville too is dead."^*^^ Swinburne also wrote two poems in memory of the genius of the nineteenth century ballade, Theodore de Banville. In the French lines Au Tombeau de Banville occurs the phrase, ^*poete a la bouche de miel,"^^^ by which the Eng- lish poet described the author of the Trente-six Ballades Joyeuses, Banville is celebrated again by Swinburne in the Ballad of Melicertes, where he is addressed as, " Prince of song more sweet than honey, lyric lord. Not thy France here only mourns a light adored, One whose love-lit fame the world inheriteth. Strangers, too, now brethren, hail with heart's accord Life so sweet as this that dies and casts off death.''^^' The same poet has a ballade to Villon, also with a refrain, ** Villon, our sad bad glad mad brother's name,''^®* sug- gestive of Browning's familiar combination of adjectives. Swinburne turned eight of Villon's ballades into English.^"^ The same luscious quality that characterizes Swinburne's 101 E. W. Gosse, In Busset and Silver (London, 1894), p. 93. 102 A. C. Swinburne, Poems (Philadelphia, no date), p. 623. 103 A. C. Swinburne, Opus Cit., p. 623. 104 A. C. Swinburne, Opus Cit., p. 245. 105 One has been mentioned above. The other seven, found on the following pages of the edition noted above, 261, 262, 262, 263, 263, 264, 265, are: A Double Ballad of Good Counsel, Ballad of the Lords of Old Time, Ballad of the Women of Paris, Ballad Written for a Bridegroom, Ballad Against the Enemies of France, The Dispute of the Heart and Body of Frangois Villon, and Epistle in Form of a Ballad to his Friends. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 333 other poetry likewise pervades his ballades. The music of the first stanza and envoy of A Ballad of Dreamland is unique in English ballade literature: " I hid my heart in a nest of roses, Out of the sun's way, hidden apart; In a softer bed than the soft white snow's is, Under the roses I hid my heart. Why would it sleep not, why should it start. When never a leaf of the rose-tree stirred"? What made sleep flutter his wings and part? Only the song of a secret bird. Envoi In the world of dreams I have chosen my part. To sleep for a season and have no word Of true love's truth or of light love's art, Only the song of a secret bird."^*^^ The use of anapaests is especially fine in these verses; but in the Ballad at Parting, in which the line is much longer, there is that sterner kind of music which the two- syllable foot alone is capable of producing in English : " Sea to sea that clasps and fosters England, uttering evermore Song eteme and praise immortal of the indomitable shore. Lifts aloud her constant heart up, south to north and east to west. Here in speech that shames all music, there in thunder-throated roar. Chiming concord out of discord, waking rapture out of rest. All her ways are lovely, all her works and symbols are divine, Yet shall man love best what first bade leap his heart and bend his knee; Yet where first his whole soul worshipped shall his soul set up his shrine: 106 A. C. Swinburne, Opus Cit., p. 245. 334: THE BALLADE Nor may love not know the lovelier, fair as both beheld may be, Here the limitless north-eastern, there the strait south-western sea."io^ Another ballade contains Swinburne's appeal to Chris- tina Rossetti to continue her writing: " Blithe verse made all the dim sense clear That smiles of babbling babes conceal : Prayer's perfect heart spake here : and here Rose notes of blameless woe and weal, More soft than this poor song's appeal. Where orchards bask, where cornfields wave. They dropped like rains that cleanse and lave, And scattered all the year along. Like dewfall on an April grave. Sweet water from the well of song. Ballad, go bear our prayer, and crave Pardon, because thy lowlier stave Can do this plea no right but wrong. Ask naught beside thy pardon, save Sweet water from the well of song."^^^ Henley belongs with Dobson, Gosse, Lang, and Swinburne in the history of the hallade. He, too, believed in the form, and experimented not only with the simple hallade, but with the double hallade and with the hallade of two re- frains. His Ballade of Truisms is comparable to the old French type of sententious hallade: " Gold or silver every day, Dies to grey. There are knots in every skein. Hours of work and hours of play Fade away 107 A. C. Swinburne, Opus Cit., p. 570. 108 A. C. Swinburne, Opus Cit., p. 558. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 335 , Into one immense Inane. j Shadow and substance, chaff and grain, j Are as vain j As the foam or as the spray. ' Life goes crooning, faint and fair — j One refrain — | 'If it could be always May.'"^*'® He has also tried his hand at the *'ubi sunt" theme in the Ballade of Dead Actors: ' " Where are the passions they essayed, ^ And where the tears they made to flow? Where the wild humours they portrayed i For laughing worlds to see and know? i Othello's wrath and Juliet's woe? \ Sir Peter's whims and Timon's gall? \ And Millamant and Romeo? ! Into the night go one and all. i Envoy Prince, in one common overthrow The Hero tumbles with the Thrall : As dust that drives, as straws that blow, Into the night go one and all."^^^ 109 W. E. Henley, London Voluntaries and Other Poems (Portland, 1910), p. 45. 110 W. E. Henley, Opus Cit., p. 37. As A. M. Moore's burlesque has it: **In Ballades things always contrive to get lost, And Echo is constantly asking where Are last year's roses and last year's frost? And where are the fashions we used to wear? And what is a * gentleman, ' what is a 'player?' Irrelevant questions I like to ask: Can you reap the tret as well as the tare? And who was the Man in the Iron Mask? 336 THE BALLADE In America, Brander Matthews, both by his writings on I the theory of versification and by his own experiments, has ] done much to develop the ballade and to cultivate a taste for this special form. In his best vein is the Ballade of \ Adaptation: i " The native drama's sick and dying, ^ So say the cynic critic crew: ] The native dramatist is crying — i * Bring me the paste ! Bring me the glue ! ] Bring me the pen, and scissors, too! ' Bring me the works of E. Augier! . Bring me the works of V. Sardou! I I am the man to write a play ! ' ) ] What has became of the ring I tossed | In the lap of my mistress, false and fair? ^ Her grave is green and her tombstone mossed; j But who is to be the next Lord Mayor, ' And where is King William of Leicester Square? And who has emptied my hunting flask? i And who is possessed of Stella's hair? i And who was the Man in the Iron Mask? ^ i And what has become of the knee I crossed, And the rod, and the child they would not spare! And what will a dozen herring cost When herring are sold at threehalfpence a pair — j And what in the world is the Golden Stair? ] Did Diogenes die in a tub or a cask, ' Like Clarence for love of liquor there? And who was the Man in the Iron Mask? I Envoy Poets, your readers have much to bear, ■ For Ballade-makiug is no great task. If you do not remember, I don't much care Who was the Man in the Iron Mask. ' ' (Qleeson White, Ballades and Boundeaus, London, 1887, p. 289.) i THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 337 For want of plays the stage is sighing, Such is the song the wide world through: The native dramatist is crying — 'Behold the comedies I brew! Behold my dramas not a few ! On German farces I can prey, And English novels I can hew: 1 am the man to write a play ! ' There is, indeed, no use denying That fashion's turned from old to new: The native dramatist is crying — 'Moliere, good-bye! Shakespeare adieu! I do not think so much of you. Although not bad, you've had your day, And for the present you won't do. I am the man to write a play ! ' Envoi Prince of the stage, don't miss the cue, A native dramatist, I say To every cynic critic, * Pooh ! I am the man to write a play ! ' "^^^ Frank Dempster Sherman's To Austin Dohson shows a charmingly facile use of the form : "From the sunny climes of France, Flying to the west, Came a flock of birds by chance, There to sing and rest: Of some secrets deep in quest, — Justice for their wrongs, — Seeking one to shield their heart, One to write their songs. iiiGleeson White, Ballades and Bondeaus (London, 1887), p. 38. 23 338 THE BALLADE Melodies of old romance, Joy and gentle jest, Note that made the dull heart dance With a merry zest; — Maids in matchless beauty drest, Youths in happy throngs; — There they sang to tempt and test One to write their songs. In old London's wide expanse Built each feathered guest, — Man's small pleasure to enhance, Singing him to rest, — Came, and tenderly confessed, Perched on leafy prongs, Life were sweet if they possessed One to write their songs. Envoy Austin, it was you they blest : Fame to you belongs! Time has proven you're the best One to write their songs ! ""2 Scarcely a week passes without the publication of hal- lades in both English and American newspapers. These journalistic ballades, often topical in character, are usually of no real poetic value. The bad sonnets that are written are likely to be either sentimental or lugubrious in tone; the inferior hallade, on the other hand, is frequently either clownish or banal, though, of course, there are still pub- lished occasionally in magazines and collections new bal- lades of genuine poetic worth. If Villon were to revisit Paris for the purpose of scan- ning the literature produced by the French in the century 112 F. D. Sherman, Madrigals and Catches (New York, 1887), p. 138. THE BALLADE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 339 just past, he would find comparatively few specimens of his favorite form, and these only after the year 1856. Not only would he perceive that the custom of writing ballades had decayed, but he would, if he were sufficiently interested in the matter, discover that contemporary French writers on poetic theory give no more than passing mention to the ballade. He would, doubtless, recognize in Albert Glatigny a boon companion, and he would commend Theodore de Banville for reviving a golden tradition. Should Villon, drawn by the homage given him in England and in America, turn his attention to the ballade among English speaking peoples, he might admire the intellectual subtlety and the grace of form of the ballade written in English in the nine- teenth century, but he would be likely to display some in- dignation at its lack of sincerity and its indifference to the very substance of great poetry, deep human emotion. APPENDIX I POETRY COMPOSED IN THE PUT A. MS. DOUCE 379 Manuscript Douce 379 contains a collection of poems pre- sented to **Maistre Guillaume Challenge, chanoyne de Rouen, prince du Puy, ' ' upon the celebration of the festival of the Conception of the Virgin Mary at Rouen, 14 Decem- ber, 1511. The prologue begins : *'Le dimenche quatoriesme jour de decembre, Ian mil cinq eens et unz a Rouen, en leglise paroisialle de sainct Jehan, maistre Guillaume Chal- lenge, chanoyne de Rouen et conseiller du roy en sa cour de le Sehignier comme prince tint le puy." Beside champs royaux and rondeaulz, the MS. contains ''les ballades damours pretendans au prix du disner du lendemain dudit Puy, sus ce reffrain. 'Vielx amoureux faictes ung Sault.* Christien a eu le prix (fol. 86)." From the collection the following are given: f . iser Gentilz gallans faictes armee Pour assailir tous faulx viellars Lesquelz ont obtins mainte annee Le prix damours par leurs vieulx ars Dietes hardiment qu'ilz sont ars Et leur liurez cruel assault Escrivez en voz estandars Vieulx amoureux faictes vng sault. IIz ont la braye(?) toute vsee Et nont espieu lance ne dardz Ilz ne sauvront prendre visee 340 POETRY COMPOSED IN THE PUY 341 Ne tyrer vng bon coup droit de arcz Ilz sont cassez, lis sont couardz Chacun le cognoit sans deffault Tant quon leur dit en toutes pars Vieulx amoureux faictes vng sault. Ilz ont bien en mainte assemblee Aucune ffois de bons hazardz Mais quoy cest de myct et demble Et si font bien souvent des ars Puis il me souvient de buzars Quant ilz lievent ces veulx en hault Et quon crye apres telz musars Vieulx amoureux faictes vng sault. Gentilz amoureux et gaillardz A quy jamais le cueur ne fault Criez tons apres ces paillars Vieulx amoureux faictes vng sault.^ fol. 92' Les dames ont veu la Requeste Quont faict sur lamoureuse enqueste Puis vng peu noz mygnons de court En tant que touche la conqueste En bien du proces Tenqueste II est dist par arrest de court Bref tons ceulx que viellesse oppresse Plus n'auront dame ne maistresse Quy damours les prengne en sursault Ce que deffend la loy expresse Vieulx amoureux faictes vng sault. 1 For help in deciphering this ballade and the one following, I am indebted to Professor Eaymond Weeks of Columbia University, and through him to Professor John M. Burnam of the University of Cincinnati. 342 THE BALLADE Or se vng viellard a blanche teste ^ Enfant les groingz ou sen tempeste ; II en sera tenu plus lourd Et quy pys est pour vne beste Raison car soubz grise barbeste i En amours peu de plaisir sourd ' Pour tant luy fault faire le sourd ] Car vng jeune homme a hardiesse | Cueur joyaux passe temps lyesse j Dont en amours tremble et tressault j Vng corquis plein de jeunesse | Et toutesfoys qua vous jeunesse \ Vieulx amonreux faictes un sault. j A une dame ou femme honneste \ Par droit vraye amour admonneste i Damour en chambre salle ou court ] Vng Rustre quy du tout sappreste Puis que ses biens luy donne ou preste i Destre a son gre tenu de court 1 Et viel quy viel art en court I Soubz bourgoisie et gentillesse j Desormais fault quun gentil laisse Faire le petit soubressault Dont homme caduc na laddresse Veu done le mestier quon vous dresse Vieulx amoureux faictes vng sault. Prince pourtant que le has blesse A tel quy croUe de foiblesse Et veult prendre femme dassaut Quy est a luy trop grant simplesse Pour monstrer vng tour de soupplesse Vieulx amoureux faictes vng sault. B. BALADE LATINE Tota pulchra es amica Per trinum numen celicum POETRY COMPOSED IN THE PUY 848 Virgo mater & unica / Virus non gerens antiquum/ Hoc sacrum refert canticum/ Quod macula non est in te Dicta per os angelicum Flos producens fructum vite. Virga f ortis mosaica / Fontem donans salutificum Regna celebrant celiea/ Cuum conceptum pudicum; Per quem agmen propheticum Jucunda cecinit mente Tu das rorem vivisicum. Flos producens fructum vite. flos stirpe Judaica Per spiritum davidicum Arte conteris bellica Aspidem et basilicum / Tu leonem inimieum Et drachonem unicis tute Morsum tegis veneficum/ Flos producens fructum vite. levamen deificum Confer opem cum salute/ Serva horum monasticum Flos producens fructum vite.* Dom NicoUe Lescarre^ ^Palinods Presentes au Puy de Bouen, Becueil de Pierre Vidoue (Precede d'une Introduction par E. de Eobillard de Beaurepaire), Eouen, 1897, feuillet LXVI-LXVII of reprint of Vidoue. 5 Opus at., p. xix : " La reputation de Nicolle Lescarre ^tait d 'ail- leurs si bien etablie que Pierre Fabri a tenu lui-meme k la reconnaitre en citant dans son Grand Art de Rhetorique, a titre d 'exemple deux de ses compositions: un chant royal et une ballade.^' 344 THE BALLADE C. BALLADE Donee au Prince L'argument est pris de Valerius Fla«eus en ses Argonautes livre second. Quittons, divine Uranie, Le chant doux et melodieux De nostre charmante harmonie II faut d'un ton plus furieux Estonner les moins curieux, En leur representant I'outrage Dont fut enfin victorieux Le Roy seul exempt du carnage. Quelle horreur, quelle boucherie Dans Lemnos arreste mes yeux! Les f emmes pleins de furie Portent le massacre en tons lieux : Leurs fils, leurs maris, leurs ayeux Ne peuvent adoucir leur rage, Dont I'excez rendit glorieux Le Roy seul exempt du carnage. Hypsipile en cette turie, (furie?) ' Par un dessein oflScieux Envers son pere et sa patrie. Dedans le temple de ses Dieux L'enferme, et d^un oeil gracieux Tasche de luy donner courage, Pour conserver au gre des Cieux Le Roy seul exempt du carnage. Envoy Ce massacre prodigieux Peint le pech6 oontagieux : La Vierge en ce commun dommage, POETRY COMPOSED IN THE PUY 346 Estant parmy les vicieux Le Roy seul exempt du carnage.® G. de Belleville. « Becueil des ceuvres qui ont remporte les prix sur le puy de I ^Im- maculee Conception de la Vierge, en Van 1644, PresentSs d Mon- sieur de la Place sieur de Saint Etienne AbhS d*Eu, Prince du Puy annee present (Rouen, 1644), pp. 18-19. APPENDIX II THE SEHVENTOIS Stengel writes in Groeber's Grundriss, Vol. II, p. 87: *'Das franz. Serventois des 14. u. 15. Jhs. hat nur den Namen mit der provenz. Dietungsart gemeinsam; denn es ist im wesentlichen nichts als ein ref rainloser C/mn^ royal.* ^ Stengel might further have added that the Serventois of this period was designed to exalt the Virgin. At the outset of its career the French serventois was not asso- ciated with religion; it was merely one of the poesies d'agrement.^ A passage in Eustebeuf, who died about 1286, has been cited^ as containing the earliest mention of the word serventois as applied to religious poetry. " Et mes sires Phelipes et li bons cuens d'Artois, Et li cuens de Nevers, qui sont preu et eortois, Refont en lor venue a Dieu biau serventois/'^ The serventois, like the ballade^ copied its system of rimes from the secular lyric of the trouvere. The serventois had no refrain, however, and had always, even in the earliest specimens that we know, an envoy. Thirteenth century 1 From the twelfth and thirteenth centuries a few French serventois have survived that are like the Provencal serventes in that they are satirical and political in tone (See A. Scheler, Trouveres Beiges, Vol. II, p. 74), but the French serventois of the later Middle Ages are wholly unlike the ProveuQal poems of like sounding name. 2 See L. E. Kastner, History of French Versification (Oxford, 1903), p. 74. 3 See A. Kressner, Eustebeufs Gedichte (Wolfenbiittel, 1885), p. 43. 346 THE SERVENTOIS 347 lyrics other than serventois display the envoy, which was addressed to the judges of the puy, or to a brother poet, or to the deity, or to a mistress.* The envoy of the ser- ventois was, we may suppose, one of the circumstances that led to the attachment of the envoy to both ballade and chant royal. In view of the conceivable relation of the serventois to the ballade, it will be interesting to note its characteris- tic features, and some of the poetic theories that circulated in regard to it. An example of the serventois is the fol- lowing : " Quiconques veult en haute hounour monter, Mettre se doit a la Dame servir En qui diex voult pour le monde sauver D^umainne char sa deite couvrir Et vint chaiiis aparoir com horns morteuz. Che doit chacuns savoir Car en es flans de le Vierge Marie De dens nuef mois prist char et sane et vie. Car pour ses biens a tous les bons moustrer Voult diex son cors en la vierge nourrir; Vierge au conchoivre et Vierge au delivrer, Et ce ne pot ne savoir ne veir Aucuns pour son pooir Que femme ensi peust fruit conchevoir Ki ains n'eust d'omme eu compagnie Mais Diex por ee I'avoir edefiie. Dont doit chascuns si loiaument ouvrer K'il puist I'amour la Vierge deservir, Qui tous nouz puet vei*s celui racorder Ki pour nous voult son cors en trols partir, * H. Guy, Essai sur la Vie et les (Euvres du Trouvdre Adan de la Bale (Paris, 1898), pp. xliii-xlviii ; and A. Jeanroy, Les Chan- sons Frangaises Inedites du Manuscrit de Moddne, Supplement to the Bevue des Langues Bomanes, 1896. 348 THE BALLADE Sen fist en chiex remanoir la Deite. ] Et ehaiiis recevoir I'umanite. \ Mort en crois a haschie, ! Li Saint Espire fut la tierche partie. j 1 Tant vaut amours, che puet — on esprouver i Ke par amouts veut diex en crois morir; S'il nous ama nous le devons amer, i Ne nous devons point de li retolir I Quant de si tres chier avoir nous racheta, Quant il nous voult ravoir Ke de son cors fut la debte paYe Per aquiter tout humaine lignie. j Cors pour les cuers en tons bien doctriner Ki de vous ont vierge, le souvenir Bien deust avoir le cuer amer . Quant vo chier fil veistes mort souffrir 1 Pour nous et par son vouloir. j Or consentez que chascuns son devoir 1 Fache si bien, Vierge mere et amie, ; A vos douch fil k^ame ne soit ne soit perie. Vierge a vous pri main et soir ] Ke nouv veilliez m^ame ramentevoir ! Au destroit jour ou elle iert mal baillie i Se de vous n^a anvers vo fil aie."'' *°^ ® ' I The Miracles de Notre Dame abound in serventois cou- ' ronnes. The remarks of the poetic theorists in regard to these are worth noting. Desehamps in L'Art de Dictier (1392) says:^ i ^^ Serventois sont faiz de cinq couples comme les chansons | 5 and 6 G. A. T. H6cart, Serventois et Sottes Chansons Couronnes d ■ Valenciennes au Xlle et XIII^ Siecles (Paris, 1834), p. 55. This serventois can hardly be a thirteenth century product. ] 7 Gaston Paris and Ulysse Robert, Les Miracles de Notre Dame, j SociStS des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1899). 1 THE SERVENTOIS 349 royaulx; et sont communement de la Vierge Marie, sur la Divinite ; et nV souloit on point faire de refrain, mais a present on les y fait, servens comme en une halade; et pour ce que c'est ouvrage qui se porte au Puis d'amours, et que nobles hommes n^ont pas aeoustume de ce faire, n'en faiz cy aucun autre exemple."® Other poetic treatises either ignore the refrain, or mention it as unnecessary. LeGrand in Des Eimes (before 1405) declares : " Apres, en franeoys nous trouvons acuns ditz qui sont nommez serventois, lesquelz, come dient aucuns, se font a plaisir, excepte que I'en doit prendre ung certain nombre de vers tel come Fen veult, mais qu'ilz soyent d'une longueur, et que lung ver responde a I'autre en bonne ryme; et lors on doit proceder en faisant autant de vers [come Fen veult], et de semblable ryme. Et ainsi tousjours."® Les Regies de la Seconde Bhetorique (1411-1432) reads: " Ou temps du dit Machault fut Brisbarre, de Douay, qui fist le livre de I'escolle de foy et le Tresor Nostre Dame, et si fist le serventoys de S 'Amours n'estoit plus poissant, que Nature, No foy seroit legiere a condempner/'^° Apropos of these lines, Langlois says in a footnote: **Ce serventois se retrouve, sans nom d'auteur, sous la rubrique Serventois de Nostre Dame, dans le manuscrit de la Bibl. Nat. fr. 1543, f. 99, qui est de la premiere partie du XIV* siecle ; une autre piece de meme taille, sur les memes rimes 8 G. Raynaud, (Euvres Completes de Eustache Deschamps, Societe des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1891), Vol. VII, p. 281. 9 E. Langlois, Becueil d'Arts de Seconde Eh4torique, Collection de Documents Inedits sur VHistoire de France (Paris, 1902), p. 9. 10 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 12. 350 THE BALLADE commencant par le meme vers, se trouve dans le manuscrit de la Bibl. Nat., fr. 2095, f. 80 elle €st intitulee Balade. Le 2® vers est: Dont nos venroit la cause d'esperer. Enfin le Jardin de Plaisanee, ed. Verard, en donne une troisieme, ton jours snr les memes rimes, dont voici les deux premiers vers : Si argent n'estoit plus puissant que Nature, Ne tout le sens qu'elle peut doctriner. Ces trois pieces ont du etre ecrites pour le meme con- cours.''^^ . . . ''La taille des serventoys est ainsi comme il s'enssuit, excepte qu'il convient que la derraine ligne soit ^feminine et de 11 silabes, et la penultime ligne doit estre 'delO/'^ Baudet Herenc wrote in Le Doctrinal de la Seconde Rheto- rique (1432) : " Et se font ces serventois, a Lisle en Flandres, le premier dimanche devant 1' Assumption Nostre Dame ; et doibvent parler de ^Assumption Nostre Dame et de Passion Nostre Seigneur."^^ Jean Molinet: L'Art de Bhetorique (1493) : " Les serventois sei^ent pareillement aux puis royaulx, ausquelz il y a certaines regies que les princes desdid puis y mettent, affin de constraindre le f acteur sans trop ouvrer a sa plaisance. Et avient 11 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 12, note 5. 12 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 26: In Note 1 on this page, Langlois says in regard to the definition of serventois: "La rSgle peut etre ■speciale k quelque pui. ' ' The serventois given consists of five stanzas riming ababccddede and an envoy e d e that begins with the word Princes. 13 E. Langlois, Opus Cit, p. 170. Ilerenc gives an example of the serventois a five-stanza poem; the rimes of each stanza are a b a b c c d d e d e, and the rimes of the envoy are d e d e. THE SERVENTOIS 351 souvent qu'il prent les terminations et premieres lignes d'une amoureuse, laquele amoureuse traitte de matiere d'amours, et con- tient. .V. couples et I'envoy, sans reffrain, mais lesdis couples de pareille consonance. Et les dis serventois le plus sont fais a Fonneur de la vierge Marie et par figure de la Bible."^* The serventois was, then, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, commonly composed in the puys where ballades and chants royaux were also being offered. All three forms are concluded with envoys. At an earlier period than the other two forms, the serventois, as is shown by the Valen- ciennes collection, was being presented in the puys. For this reason, its envoy may have furnished a model to a later generation of puy poets composing ballades and chants royaux. 1* E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 245. The example that follows is com- posed of five stanzas and envoy, riming ababceddede; dede. Envoy begins with ' * Prince. ' ' APPENDIX III THE CHANT ROYAL A form closely related to the ballade also developed in the puy, — the chant royal, a refrain poem, composed of five stanzas and an envoy, in Which the same rimes are continued, as in the hallade. It is, in fact, a hallade in every respect but in the number of stanzas. The word royal in this con- nection seems to refer to the fact that the poem was com- posed for rendering before a prince of the puy. In the statutes of the English puy, the phrase chancon reale occurs five times. Whether what was later known as a chant royal was referred to in these statutes is more than doubtful. But the statutes go to show, at any rate, that a song composed for a puy presided over by a prince, might well be described as *' royal." The passage in the Liber Custumarum is plain. " E porceoque la f este roiale du pui est maintenue e etablie principaument pur un chaunsoune reale coronner de ci cum ele est par chaunsoun honore et enhaunsier sont tint luy gentil com- paignoun du pui par dreite raisoun tenuz des chauncons roiaus auancer a lur pouir et especiaument cele qe est coronne par assent des compaignouns le jour de la graunt feste du pui : par quei il est ici puruu en droit de celes chauncons qe chascun prince nouel le jour qil portera la coronne et gouemera la feste du pui. E si tost com il auera fait prendre son blasoun de ces armes en la sale ou la feste du pui serra tenue qe maintenaunt face atachee de souz son blazon de chauncoun de estoit coronnee le jour qil fur estu nouel prince, apertement et droitement escrite e saunz de- faute. Kar nul chantour par droit ne doit chauncoun reale chaun- ter ne proffrir a la feste du puy desques a taunt qil veit la chaun- 352 THE CHANT ROYAL 353 coun coronnee dreinement en Ian prochainement passe devaunt honoure a son droit en la manere auaundite."^ Unfortunately none of the lyrics honored in the English puy seem to have been preserved to settle the question. Perhaps some day they may come to light. The following diverse explanations are given of the term chant royal. L'lnfortune in L'Instructif de la Seconde Rhetorique (1500) explained: " Item il est diet champ royal, pource que de toutes especes de rithme c'est la plus royalle, noble, ou magistralle : et on I'en couche les plus graves substances. Parquoy c^est voluntiers I'espece pratiquee en puy la, ou en pleine audience, comme en chant de bataille Fen juge, le meilleur est qui est le plus digne d'avoir le prix apres que Pen a bieu batu de Tune part et d'aultre." Sibilet (1548) wrote: " Car le chant royal n'est autre chose qu'une balade surmontant la balade comme en nombre de coupletz et en gravite de matiere. Aussi s'appelle il chant royal de nom plus grave ou a cause de sa grandeur et majeste qu'il n^appartient estre chante que devant les roys, ou par ce que veritablement la fin du chant royal n'est autre que de chanter les louanges, preeminences et dignities des doys tant immortelz que mort^lz." An early use of the exact term chant royal is to be found in Le Bit de la Panther e d' Amours, where the lover says: " Car certes moult grant joie avroie. Douce dame, se je pooie Faire chose qui vous pleiist, Combien que couster me deiist. Fust ce du corps, fust de I'avoir; Ne pour mal que je puisse avoir Ne ferai plainte ne clamour; 1 Folio 176. See also f. 175' and f. 177\ 24 354 THE BALLADE Ains en merci vous et Amour, Quant il li plest et li agree De vrai cuer entier et loial, S'en dirai en cest chant royal i^ Then there follows a five stanza poem of Adan de la Hale which is not a cJiant royal in the later sense of the word,^ for although the same rimes occur in every stanza, there is no refrain and no envoy. Here again the significance of the adjective royal, taken in connection with the fact that Adan was a member of the puy of Arras, is clear.* The chant royal without refrain, which, was exactly like the fourteenth century serventois,^ in fact, is described in Les Regies de la Seconde Rhetorique (1411-1432) : " Chans royaux pour porter aux puis de Nostre Dame en la ville de Dieppe sur la mer, et non ailleurs, sont de 5 couples et le Prince, qui est appellez FEnvoy. Et est de 11 lignes, chascune ligne de 10 silabes ou masculin et de 11 ou feminin."^ Then follows the example, a chant royal of ^ve strophes and envoy; the strophe eleven lines in length, the envoy, five. The rime-scheme of the strophe isababccddede; the envoy rimes d d e d e. The chant royal given shows no 2 H. A. Todd, Le Bit de la PantMre d' Amours, par Nicole de Margival (Paris, 1883), p. 96. 8 See XII in Table of Adan de la Hale 's Chansons in H. Guy, Adan de la Hale (Paris, 1898), p. 580. * Cf . also H. A. Todd, Opus Cit., 11. 24^6 ff. ' V' **Si com dist Adam de la Halle, V ^\ Qui onques n'ot pensee male 5 Vers Amour, ne cuer desloial, En ce ver d 'un sien chant royal. ' ' 6 See Appendix II. «E. Langlois, Eecueil d'Aris de Seconde Eh^orique, Collection de Vocuments InSdits sur VHistoire de France (Paris, 1902), p. 21. THE CHANT ROYAL 356 refrain. Its subject matter is religious, dealing with the redemption. I quote one stanza to show how proper names had become a stylistic feature of such verse : " Vierge royaux, turtre delicieuse, Nous devons bien vostre venue amer, Car vostre nativite glorieuse Fist aux humains paradis recouvrer. De vous parloit le prophete Ysaye, David, Amos, Abdias, Jheremie, En affermant, sainte vierge prudente, Qu'Adam et sa compaignie dolente Raroit des cieux par vous le luminaire Ainsi que c'est vraie chose evidente, Deffendez nous du sathan deputaire.''"^ Another description and definition of the Chant royal which differentiates it not all from the serventois is that given by Baudet Herenc in Le Doctrinal de la Seconde Bhetorique (1432) : " Cy s'ensuit la forme et taille d'ung chant royal, qui se font a Dieppe en Normandie; et s'appelle chant royal pour ce que I'on commence et fine en telle maniere que I'on veult [absurd notion] ; et doibt parler de la Nativite Nostre Dame et de la Passion Nostre Seigneur et de FAssomption Nostre Dame."^ The example given has ^\e stanzas riming a b a b c c d d e d e and an envoy riming d d e d e. An earlier authority, however, Deschamps, in his L'Art de Dictier (1392), gives the chant royal a refrain. He says: "Item en ladictet ballade a Envoy. Et ne les soloit on point faire anciennement fors es Chancons royauLx, qui estoient de cinq 7 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 23. 8 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 173. 356 THE BAL.LADE ! 1 couples, chascune couple de .x., .xi. or .xij. vers; et de tant se puelent bien faire, et non pas de plus, par droicte regie. Et | doivent les envois d'icelles chancons, qui se commencent par ' Princes, estre de cinq vers entez par eulx aux rimes de la chancon ' sans rebrique; c'est assavoir .ij. vers premiers, et puis un pareil ! de la rebriche, et les .ij. autres suyans les premier deux, concluans j en substance I'effect de ladicte chancon et servens a la rebriche."* | Molinet in the L'Art de Bhetorique cites a chant royal \ with a refrain that was crowned at Amiens in 1470.i<^ ' L'Infortune in L'lnstructif de Seconde Bhetorique ex- \ emplifies the form in the same way : I De vndecimo colore rethorice gallicane sciz de campis realibus. Souefue manne de distilation '• Rassasiant substancieusement Diffuse par fructification \ De minerue scientifiquement * Est ou verger de dame rethoricque En souefue odeur flaugrante aromatique \ Sur pluseurs fleurs receuans influence i De fronesis de tresnoble science ^ Espanissant mainte fleur necte et pure ' Mais sur toutes de tresnoble assistence \ Le champ royal est de noble faicture. j Promotheus par constellation I Souuent transmet delicieusement Dyaphanon par illustracion J Pour esclarcir substancieusement j Dong transparant ray fulgent & celique \ Procedant sus maint support auctentique \ Qui au verger predict fait residence i Duquel souuent par noble prouidence j » G. Raynaud, CEuvres Computes de Eustache Deschamps, SociStS \ des Anciens Textes Frangais (Paris, 1891), Vol. VII, p. 278. \ 10 E. Langlois, Opus Cit., p. 242. j 1 THE CHANT ROYAL 357 ! ] Mainte fleur est prodiucte clere & pure j Entre quelles de plaisance euidence • Le champ royal est de noble f aicture. \ \ Qui nous aprent melodieusement Par sa franche descrete instruction i A bien traieter tragedieusement ^ Nous peult noter que pour faiz de cronique Ou pour autre digne forme heroique j Ou doraison de bonne conuenance ] Ceste forme a et grant coincidence i Pource dis ie que pour ceulx qui ont cure ' De faire ditz qui aient bonne essence ^ Le champ royal est de noble faicture. j Du champ royal la compilation j Est en ce dit rethoricalement Si est aussi la postillation \ Et en tout dit pareil egalement j Qui cinq coupletz a dune forme vnique \ Bien pareille semblable & politique ' Terminaison selon ce que commence La premiere couple sans difference j Auec aussi prince de leur figure i Ou a motie des coupletz : ainsi en ce ;■ Le champ roval est de noble faicture. << j Pluseurs gens font reduplication ; De la ligne croissant seeondement ; Luy redoublant sa termination ,i Mail il souffist faire sortablement .' De la sorte de ceste que iapplique * Item aueuns par forme manifique i Font en telz ditz de leur forme sequence j Double refrain par forme deloquence ] Item pluseurs en mentrificature \ Dyalogue sont: et en leur sentence I Le champ royal est de noble faicture. \ 358 THE BALLADE Prince royaulx retrogradaeion Belle et noble est quant bien on le figure Et en telz ditz fait decoration Ainsi qui tient telle proportion Le champ royal est de noble faicture.^^ At least as late as Colletet, the author of L'Escole des Muses (1652), the theorists repeated the same formula, or approximately the same one that L'Infortune and Molinet prescribed. The chant royal and the ballade became the favorite forms of the poets of the puy. Whereas the bal- lade originated outside the puy, and was adapted to the circumstances under which poetic contests were held, the chant royal seems to have been the wholly sophisticated artifice of poetic contrivers who were familiar with the chansons of the trouveres, with the balletes, and with the early ballades. Both the chant royal and the serventois, as we get them in the fourteenth century, are the product of conditions in the puy. 11 f . biiii*. BIBLIOGRAPHIES CHAPTER I The Origins of the Ballade Works, General Authorities, etc. AuBRY, Pierre. La Chanson Populaire dans les Textes Musicaux du Moyen Age. Paris, 1905. Le Roman de Fauvel {Reproduction photographique du manuscrit de la Bihliotheque Nationale, avec un index des interpolations lyriques). Paris, 1907. Trouveres et Troubadours. Paris, 1909. Bahlsen, L. Adam de la Hale^s Dramen und das 'Jus du Pelerin.' Ausgaben U7id Ahhandlungen aus dem Ge- hiete der Romanischen Philologie, XXVII. Marburg, 1885. Bartsch, K. Chrestomathie Provengale. Marburg, 1903. Denkmdler der Provenzalischen Literatur. Stuttgart, 1856. Grundriss zur Geschichte der Provenzalischen Litera- tur. Elberfeld, 1872. Die Provenzalisclve Liederhandschrift Q. Zeitschrift filr Romanische Philologie, IV (1880). Beck, J. La Musique des Troubadours. Paris, 1910. Bedier, J. Vn Feuillet Recemment Retrouve d^un Chan- sonnier Frangais du XIIP Siecle. Melanges de Philo- logie Romane et d' Hist aire Litter aire Offerts a M. Wilmotte. Paris, 1910. Les Plus Anciennes Dances Frangaises. Revue de Deux Mondes, XXX, 15 Janvier, 1906. 359 360 THE BALLADE BiADEi^, L. La Forma Metrica de Commiato nelle Can- zone Italiana dei Secoli XIII e XIV. Memoria di N, Cadx e A. Canello. Firenze, 1886. Leggende dello Sclavo Dalmasino. 1894. CoussEMAKER, E. DE. (Euvves Completes du Trouvere Adam de la Halle. Paris, 1872. CrescinIjV. Manualetto Provenzale. Verona-Padua, 1905. Davidson, F. J. A. tJher den TJr sprung und die Geschichte der Franzosischen Ballade. Halle, 1900. Dreves, G. M., and Blum, C. Analecta Hymnica Medii ^vi. 52 vols. Leipzig, 1886, ff. EcKERT, G. tJher die hei Alt franzosischen Dichtern Vor- kommenden Bezeichnungen der Einzelnen Dictungs- arten. Heidelberg, 1895. Faral, Edmond. Les Jongleurs en France au Moyen Age. Paris, 1910. Flamini, Francesco. Per la Storia d'Alcune Antiche Forme Poetiche Italiene e Romanze. Studi di Storia Letteraria. Livorno, 1895. Studi di Storia Letteraria Italiene e Portoghese. Wien, 1895. Gatien-Arnoult, a. F. Monumens de la Litterature Romane. 4 vols. Paris-Toulouse, 1841-1849. Gennrich, Friederich. Le Romans de La Dame a La Lycorne et du Biau Chevalier au Lyon. Gesellschaft fiir Romanische Literatur, Band XVIII. Dresden, 1908. Le Romans de la Dame a la Lycorne et du Biau Cheva- lier. Strassburg, 1908. Groeber, G. Grundriss der Romanischen Philologie. 4 vols. Strassburg, 1888, 1902. Zu den Liederhilchern von Cortona. Zeitschrift fiir Romanische Philologie XI (1887), pp. 371-394. Guy, H. Le Trouvere Adan de la Hale. Paris, 1898. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 361 H^CART, G. A. T. Serventois et Sottes Chansons Couron- nes a Valenciennes aux XIW et XIV^ Siecles. Paris, 1834. Hecq, G. La Ballade et Ses Derives. Bruxelles, 1891. Hess, R. Der Roman de FauveL Romanische Forsch- ungen, XXVII. Erlangen, 1910. Histaire Litteraire de la France. Ouvrage commence par des Religieux Benedictins de la Congregation de S. Maur. Continues par des membres de I'lnstitut (Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres). Paris, 1733 ff. HoEPPPNEB, E. Jehan Acart de Hesdin, La Prise Amou- reuse. Gesellschaft fiir Romanische Literatur, Bd. 22. Dresden, 1910. Jarnstbom, E. Recueil de Chansons Pieuses du XIII^ Siecle. Helsinki, 1910. Jeanboy, a. Les Chansons Frangaises Inedites du Manu- scrit de Modene. Special issue of Revue des Langues Romanes. 1896. Les Chansons Pieuses du Ms. fr. 12483 de la Biblio- theque Nationale. Melanges de Philologie Romane et d'Histoire Litteraire Offerts a M. Maurice Wilmotte. Paris, 1910. Modeles Profanes de Chansons Pieuses. Romania, XL (1911), p. 84. Les Origines de la Poesie Lyrique en France au Moyen- Age. Paris, 1904. Review of Recueil de ChansoTis Pieuses du XIII Siecle. Romania, XL (1911), pp. 124-127. Jeanroy, a., and Guy, H. Chansons et Bits Artesiens du XIIP Siecle. Bordeaux, 1898. Junker, H. P. Grundriss zur Geschichte der Franzosischen Literatur. Miinster i. W., 1905. Langlois, Ch. V. La Vie en France au Moyen Age. Paris, 1908. 362 THE BALLADE Langlois, E. Les Manuscrits du Roman de la Rose. Les Travaux et Memoires de L'Uriiversite de Lille. 1910. Menage, G. Dictionnadre Etymologique. 2 vols. Paris, 1750. Meyer, P. Les Derniers Troubadours de la Provence. Paris, 1871. Documents Manuscrits de VAncienne Litterature de la France, conserves dans les Bihliotheques de la Grande Bretagne. Paris, 1871. Des Rapports de la Poesie des Trouveres avec celle des Troubadours. Romania, XIX (1890), p. 1-62. Meyer, P., and Raynaud, G. Le Chansonnier Frangais de Saint-Germain-des-Pres. {Bibl. Nat. 200 50), Repro- duction Photo graphique. Tome I. Paris, 1872. Meyer, Rudolph Adelbert. Franzosische Lieder aus der Florentiner Handschrift Strozzi-Magliabecchiana cl. VII, 1040. Halle, 1906. Montaiglon, a. de. Jehannot de Lescurel. Chansons, Ballades et Rondeaux. Paris, 1855. NoACK, Fritz. Ber Strophenausgang in seinem Verhalt- niss zum Refrain u. Strophengrundstock in der Re- frainhdltigen Altfranzosischen Lyrik. Marburg, 1899. NovATi, Francesco. La Canzone Popolare in Francia e in Italia nel Piu Alto Medio Evo. Melanges de Philo- logie Romane et d'Histoire Litteraire Offerts a M, Wilmotte. Paris, 1910. Le Roman de Fauvel. Histoire Litt. XXXII. Paris, 1898. Review of Jeanroy^s ^Les Origines de la Poesie Lyrique en France au Moyen Age.* Journal des Savants (1891). pp. 674^688; 729-742. Petit de Julleville, L. Histoire de la Langue et de la Litterature Frangaise des Origines a 1900. 8 vols. Paris 1896-1899. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 863 Pey, a. Le Roman de Fauvel. Jahrhuch fur Romanische und Englische Literatur. Bd. VII. Leipzig, 1886. PiAGET, A. Un Manuscrit de la Cour Amoureuse de Charles VI. Romania, XXXI (1902), pp. 597^602. La Cour Amoureuse, Bite de Charles YI. Romania, XX (1890), p. 415. Raynaud, G. Review of Hoepffner's La Prise Amoureuse. Romania, XL (1911), pp. 129-131. RoMER, LuDWiG. Die Volkstilmlichen Dichtungsarten der Altprovenzalischen Lyrik. Ausgaben u. Ahhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Romanischen Philologie, pt. 26. Marburg, 1884. ScHELER, A. Le Regret Guillaume par Jehan de la Mote, Louvain, 1882. Steffens, Georg. Die Altfranzosischen Lieder Ms. der Bodleiana in Oxford Douce 308. Ahdruck aus Her- rig's Archiv. Bd. 97, pp. 283-308; Bd. 98, pp. 343- 382;5d99, pp. 77-100. Stengel, E. Ahleitung der Provenzalisch-franzosischen Dansa und der Franzosischen Virelay-Formen. Zeit- schnft fiir Franzosische Sprache, XVI (1894), pp. 94-101. Die Refrains der Oxforder Ballettes. Zeitschrift fdlr Franzosische Sprache, XXVIII (1905), pp. 72-78. Der Strophenausgang in den Altesten Franzosischen Bal- laden und sein Verhdltniss zum Refrain u. Strophen- grundstock. Zeitschrift fiir Franzosische Sprache, XVII (1896), pp. 85-114. Todd, H. A. Le Dit de la Panther e d^ Amours par Nicole de Margival. Paris, 1883. Ulrix, E. Les Chansons Inedites de Guillaume le Vinier, Melanges Wilmotte. Paris, 1910. Vollmoller, K. Kritischer Jahreshericht iiher die Fort- schritte der Romanischen Philologie. 11 vols. Miin- chen, 1892-1910. (Vol 2 pub. in Leipzig.) 364 THE BALLADE Warren, F. M. The Romance Lyric from the Standpoint of Antecedent Latin Documents. Publications Modern Language Association, XIX (1904). ZiNGERLE, W. VON Zu Roman de la Dame a la Lycorne et du Beau Chevalier. Philologische und Y olkskundliche Arbeit en Ka/rl Vollmollers. 1908. The Puy Manuscripts Bodleian Library. Ms. Douce 379. Bibliotheque de Rouen. Ms. Y 80. Bibliotheque de Rouen. Ms. Y 18. Bibliotheque de Rouen. Ms. Y 48. General Authorities, etc. Aymard. Notice Relatif a VAncienne Confrerie de Notre Dame du Puy. Congres Scientifique de France. 22^ Session, tome 2. Paris, 1856. BeauvHjLE, V. DE. Recueil de Documents Inedits Concern- ant la Picardie. 3 vols. Paris, 1860-1882. Beaurepairb, E. de E. de. ttude sur la Poesie Populaire en Normandie. Paris, 1856. Les Puys de Palinod de Rouen et de Caen. Caen, 1907. B^dier, J. Richard de Normandie. Romanic Review, I (1910). Breuil. La Confrerie de Notre-Dame-du-Puy d' Amiens. Amiens, 1854. Memoires de la Societe des Antiquaires de Picardie III, p. 489. Amiens, 1838 et ann. suiv. Bourgueville, C. de. Les Recherches et Antiquitez de la Province de Neustrie, a present Duche de Normandie, comme des Villes remarquable d'icelles, mats plus speciallement des ville et universite de Caen. Caen, 1588. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 366 Caseneuve, p. de. Origine des Jeux Fleureux de Toulouse. Toulouse, 1659. DuRiLLET, L. Le Poete. See below. GissEY, P. 0. DE. Discoiirs Historiques de la Tresancienne Deuotion de Nostre Dame du Fuy ou du Puy Nostre Dame. Toulouse, 1627. (This is a second edition.) GuiOT, J. A. Les Trois Siecles Palinodiques ou Histoire Generate des Palinods de Bouen, Dieppe, etc. Puhlie par la Societe de I'Histoire de Normandie- Gardin, L. du. Premieres Addresses du Chemin de Par- masse, pour Monstrer la Prosodie Frangoise par les Menutez des Vers Francois Minutees en Cent Beigles. Douay, 1610. Grimm, J. Deutsche Bechtsalterthilmer. Bd. II, 800-802. Leipzig, 1899. La Rue, G. de. Essais Historiques sur les Bardes les Jong- leurs et les Trouveres Normands et Anglo-Normands. 3 Tom. Caen, 1834. Le Roux de Lincy, A. J. V. Essai Historique et Litteraire sur VAbhaye de Fecamp. Rouen, 1840. Medicis, E. Le Livre de Podio, Becueil des Chroniqueurs du Puy-en-Velay, Ed. by A. Chassaing. Le-Puy-en- Velay, 1869. Meyer, P. Chanson de la Croisade contre les Albigeois. Societe de V Histoire de France. 2 vols. Paris, 1875, 1879. Palinods Presentes au Puy de Bouen. Becueil de Pierre Vidoue. (1525) Precede par un Introduction par E. de Robillard de Beaurepaire. Rouen, 1897. Passy, L. Bihliotheque de VJScole, des Chart es, 4^ Serie, V (1859), 491 et suiv. PicoT, E. Une Querelle Litteraire aux Palinods de Dieppe au XV^ Siecle. Melanges de Philologie Bo- mane et d' Histoire Litteraire Offerts d M. Maurice Wilmotte. Paris, 1910. 366 THE BALLADE Le Poete, Ode qui a remporte un prix aux Jeux Floraux, le 3 max 1808, par M. L. Durillet (de Dole), membre de I'Academie de BesanQon. Moniteur, Mardi, 7 juin, 1808. Recueil des (Euvres qui ont remporte les prix sur le puy de VImmaculee Conception de la Yierge, en Van 1655. Presentees a M. de la Place sieur de Saint Estienne, Ahhe d^Eu, Prince du Puy annee presente, Rouen, 1643? Riley, H. T. Memorials of London and London Life, in the XllltJi, XlVth and XVth centuries. Being a series of extracts, local, social, and political, from the early archives of the City of London. A. D. 1270- 1412. London, 1868. Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis ; Liher Alhus; Liber Custuarum, and Liher Horn. Vol. II, part II. Lon- don, 1859. (Vol. II, pt. I; xlviii; Vol. II, pt. II, p. 579; 708. Roquefort, J. B. B. de. De Vl^tat de la Poesie Frangaise dans les XIP et XIIP Siecles. Paris, 1815. CHAPTER II The Ballade in France from the Middle of the Four- teenth TO THE End of the Seventeenth Century. Manuscripts Bihliotheque Nationale* Ms. Frangais 1707. Bibliotheque Nationale. Ms. Frangais 2306. Bihliotheque Nationale. Ms. Frangais 19369. Bihliotheque Nationale. Ms. Frangais 24408. British Museum Manuscript Additional 15224. British Museum Ms. Barley 4397. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 367 Works, General AutJiorities, etc. Bartsch, K. Chrestomathie de VAncien Franga/is. Leip- zig, 1884. Blaise d'Auriol. Depart Damours. Paris, 1509. Blanchemain, p. CEuvres Completes de Melin de Sainct- Gelays. 3 vols. Paris, 1873-4. Borderie, a de la. Jean Meschinot, sa Vie et ses CEuvres, Bihl. de Vtcole des Chartes. t. IV' (Paris, 1895. Vol. 56, pp. 99-140; 27^317; 601-638). Bouchet, J. Opuscelles du Trauerseur des Voyes Peril- leuses. Nouvellement par lui reueuz, etc. Poitiers, 1526. Le CJiappellet des Princes en Cinquente Bodeaulx, et Cinq Ballades Faict et Compose par le Trauerseur des Voyes Perilleuses. Paris, 1517. XIII Bondeaulx Di-fferens. Avec XXV Balades Differ- entes. Paris, 1536. Champion, P. Charles d'Orleans, Joueur d'J^cJiecs. Paris, 1908. Le Ms. Autographe des Poesies de Charles d' Orleans. Paris, 1907. Champollion-Figeac, a. Louis et Charles Dues d'Orleans Leur Influence sur les Arts, la Litterature et V Es- prit de Leur Siecle. Paris, 1844. Les Poesies du Due Charles d' Orleans. Ed. by A. Champollion-Figeac. Paris, 1842. Chickmarep, V. Guillaume de Machaut, Poesies Lyriques. 2 Vols. Paris, 1909. CoLLERYE, R. DE. Les CEuvres de Maistre Boger de Col- lerye. Paris, 1536. CoQUiLiART, G. Les (Euvres. Paris, 1532. Deshoulieres, Mme ET Mlle. CEuvres. 2 vols. Paris, 1803. 368 THE BALLADE Duchesne, A. Les (Euvres de Alain Chartier. Paris, 1617. Ehrlich, a. Jean Marot's Lehen u. Werke. Leipzig, 1902. Fehse, E. Sprichwort u. Sentenz hei Eustache Deschamps u. Dichtern seiner Zeit, Berlin, 1905. HoEPFFNER, E. Anagramma u. Rdtselgedichte hei Guil- laume de Machaut. Zeitschrift fur Romanische Phi- lologie, XXX (1906), pp. 401-413. Eustache Deschamps, Lehen u. Werke. Strassburg, 1904. Frage- und Antwortspiele in der Franzosischen Litera- tur des 14. Jahrhunderts. Zeitschrift fUr Romanische Philologie, XXXIII (1909), pp. 695-710. d'Hericault, C. Guillaume Coquillart: (Euvres. Paris, 1857. Les (Euvres de Roger de Collerye. Paris, 1855. Jannet, p. (Euvres Completes de Clement Marot. 4 vols. Paris, 1873-1876. Klein^ert, G. TJeher den Streit zwischen Leih u. Seele. Halle, 1880. Knobloch, H. Die Streit gedichte im Provenzalischen und Altfranzosischen. Breslau, 1886. La FONTAINE, J. DE. (Euvrcs Completes. 18 vols. Paris, 1819-21. L'Englet-Dufresnoy, N, (Euvres cfe Clement Marot . . . avec (t. v.) les Ouvrages de Jean Marot son Pere. 4 vols. La Haye, 1731. Le Roux de Lincy, a. J. V. Le Livre des Proverhes Fran- gais. 2 vols. Paris, 1859. Recueil de Chants Historiques Franqais. Paris, 1841- 1842. '^La Bihliotheque de Charles d' Orleans a son Chateau de Blois {en 1427).^^ Bihliotheque deVl^cole des Chartes. Paris, 1843/4, tome V, pp. 59-82. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 369 Lettenhove, K. de. (Euvres de Clmstellain. 8 vols. Brussels, 1863-66. LoNGNON, A. H. Frangois Villon: (Euvres Completes. Paris, 1892. ^tude Biographique sur Frangois Villon, d'apres les Documents Inedits Conserves aux Archives Nationales. Paris, 1877. Les Deux Coquillart. Romania, XXIX (1900), pp. 564- 569. Marot, Clement. See (Euvres below. Mennung, a. Jean-Frangois Sarasin^s Lehen und Werke, Seine Zeit und Gesellschaft. 2 vols. Halle, 1902-04. Meschinot, J. Les Lunettes des Princes, Paris, 1539. Meyer, P. Documents Manuscrits de L'Ancienne Littera- ture de la France Conserves dans les Bihliotheques de la Grande-Bret agne. Extrait des Archives des Mis- sions Scientifiques et Litteraires. 2® serie. Paris, 1871. MoNOD, M. B. Guillaume de Machault, Quinze Poesies Inedits. Versailles, 1913. Montaiglon, a. de. Jehannot de Leseurel: Chansons, Ballades et Rondeaux. Paris, 1855. Recueil de Poesies Frangaises des XV^ et XVP Siecles. 13 vols. Paris, 1855-78. Nefp, T. L. La Satire des Femmes dans la Poesie Lyrique Frangaise du Moyen-Age. Paris, 1900. (Euvres de Clement Marot . . . avec les Ouvrages de Jean Marot son pere ceux de Michel Marot son Fits & les Pieces du Different de Clement avec Frangois Sagon. 4 vols. A la Haye, 1731. OuLMONT, C. Pierre Gringore. Paris, 1911. Paris, G. Francois Villon. Paris, 1911. Patterson, F. A. The Middle English Penitential Lyric. New York, 1911. PiAGET, A. Tine Edition Gothique de Charles d* Orleans. 25 370 THE BALLADE Romania, XXI (1892), pp. 581-596; XXII (1893), pp. 254-260. PicoT, E. Supercherie d'Antoine Yerard. Romania, XXII (1893), pp. 244-260. QuEux DE Saint-Hilaire, Marquis de, and Raynaud, G. Eustache Deschamps: CEuvres Completes. 11 vols. Paris, 1878^1903. Quicherat, J. Les Vers de MaJitre Henri Baude. Paris, 1856. Henri Baude. Bihl. de Vtcole des Chartes. X (1848- 49), pp. 93-133. Raynaud, G. Les Cent Ballades. Paris, 1905. Regnier, H. CEuvres de J. de la Fontaine. 11 vols. Paris, 1883-1892. Ruutz-Rees, C. Charles de Sainte-Marthe {1512-55). New York, 1910. Roy, M. Christine de Pisan: CEuvres Poetiques. 3 vols. Paris, 1886-91. Les CEuvres de M^. Sarasin. Amsterdam, 1694. Scheler, a. Poesies de Froissart. 3 vols. Bruxelles, 1870-72. Stecher, J. CEuvres Completes de Jean Lemaire. 4 vols. Louvain, 1882-91. Tarbe, p. Guillaume de Maehault: CEuvres. Reims and Paris, 1849. Ubicini, a. CEuvres de Voiture. Paris, 1855. Vol. II. VoLLMOLLER, K. Kritischer Jahreshericht ilher die Fort- schritte der Romanischen Philologie. 11 vols. Miin- chen, 1892-1910. (Vol. 2 pub. in Leipzig.) Villon, P. CEuvres. Editees par un Ancien Archiviste. Paris, 1911. The Drama Brandenburg, M. Die Festen Strophengehilde u. Einige Kunstleien des Mystere de Saint Barhe. Greifswald, 1907. BIBUOGRAPHIES 371 Carnandet, J. La Vie et Passion de Monseigneur Sainct Didier, Martir et Evesque de Lengres p. Maistre Guil- laume Flamang. Paris, 1855. Carnahan, D. H. The Prologue in the Old French and Provengal Mystery. New Haven, 1905. Cledat, L. Le Theatre en France au Moyen Age. Paris, 1896. Erler, C. Mystere de Saint Denis. Marburg, 1896. GuESSARD, F., ET DE CERTAIN, E. Le Mist'cre du Siege d'Orleans. Paris, 1862. Langlois, E. Jean Molinet Auteur du Mystere S. Quentin. Romania, XXII (1893), pp. 552-553. LoHMANN, W. Untersuchungen iiher Jean Louvets 12 Mysterien zu Ehren von Notre Dame de Liesse. Greifswald, 1900. IVIiCHEL, F. Le Mystere de Saint Loys, roi de France. Westminster, 1895. MiJLLER, L. Das Rondel in den Franzosischen Mirakel- spielen und Mysterien des 15 u. 16 Jahrhunderts. Ausgdhen u. Ahhandlungen, XXIV. Marburg, 1884. Paris, G., et Raynaud, G. Le Mystere de la Passion d'Arnoul Grehan. Paris, 1878. Paris, G., et Robert, U. Miracles de Nostre Dame. So- ciete des Ancien Textes Frangaises. Paris, 1876, '77, 78, '79, '80, '81, '83, '93. Petit de Julleville, L. Histoire du Theatre en France; les Mysteres. 2 vols. Paris, 1880. PicOT, E. Le Livre et Mystere du Glorieux Seigneur et Martir Saint Adrien. Macon, 1895. Recueil General des Sotties. 3 vols. Paris, 1902, 1904, 1912. Quedenfeldt, G. Die Mysterien des Heiligen Sehastien, Ihre Quelle wnd Ihr Abhdngigkeitsverhdltniss. Mar- burg, 1895. 372 THE BALLADE Rothschild, J. de. Le Mistere du Viel Testament. So- ciete des Anciens Textes Frangaises. 3 vols. Paris, 1878, 79, '81. Seepeldt, p. Mystere Frangais de Saint Barhe en Deux Journees. Greifswald, 1900. Soderhjelm, "W., et Wallenskold, a. Le Mystere de Saint Laurent. Helsingfors, 1890. Stengel, E. L'Istoire de la Destruction de Troye la Grant p. Maistre Jacques Milet. Marburg u. Leipzig, 1883. ToBLEB, A. Wechsel der Versarten in Mysterien. Zeit- schrift filr Bomanischen Philologie, XIX (1895). CHAPTER III The Theory op the Ballade from Deschamps to BOILEAU. Works, General Authorities,^ etc. AssELiNEAU, C. Le Livre des Ballades. Paris, 1876. Becker, P. A. Autohiographisches von Jehan Molinet' Zeitscrift filr Romanische Philologie, XXVI (1902). Brunet, J. C. Manuel du Lihraire. 9 vols. Paris, 1860- 1880. Chamard, Henri. Le Date et VAuteur du '^Quintil Hora- tion.'^ Revue d'Histoire Litter aire de la France- 15 Janvier, 1898. Chatelain, a. Recherches sur le Vers Frangais au XV^ Siecle. Paris, 1908. Grasserie, M. de la. De la Strophe et du Poeme dans la Versification Frangaise Specialement en Vieux Fran- gais. Paris, 1893. 1 A suflBcient bibliography of the various rhetorical treatises on versification, dealing with the Ballade, is given in Chapter III itself. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 878 GoujET, C. P. Bihliotheque Frangoise ou Histoire de la Litterature Frangoise, 18 vols. Paris, 1740-1756. HuET, G. Langlois, Becueil, etc. Le Moyen Age, XVI (1903), pp. 377-81. Kastner, L. E. History of French Versification. Oxford, 1903. Langlois, E. De Artibus Rhetoricae Rhythmicae. Paris, 1890. Recueil d'Arts de Second Rhetorique, Paris, 1902. Macfarlane, J. Antoine Verard. Illustrated Monographs Issued by the Bibliographical Society, VII. London, 1900. MoRF, H. Langlois, Recueil, etc. Archiv fiir das Studium der Neueren Sprachen u. Literaturen CXII (1904), pp. 229, 230. Pasquier, E. Les Recherches de la France. Paris, 1633. Pellechet, M. Catalogue des Incunables des Bibliotheques Puhliques de France. Paris, 1897. Pellissier, G. De Sexti Decimi Saeculi in Francia Artihus Poeticis. Paris, 1883. PicoT, E. Langlois, Recueil, etc. Romania, XXXIII (1904), pp. 111-114. RiCHELET, P. Versification Frangaise. Paris, 1677. Rigoley de Juvigny, J. A. Les BihliotJteques Frangoises de la Croix du Maine et Du Verdier Sieur de Vaupiras. Paris, 1772. Stengel, E. Langlois, Recueil^ etc. Zeitschrift fiir Ro- manische Philologie, XXVII (1903). RucKTASCHEL, T. Einige Arts Poetiques aus der Zeit Ron- sard's u. Malherhes. London, 1889. ToBLER, A. Vom Franzosischen Vershau Alter und Neuer Zeit. Leipzig, 1903. ViLLEY, P. Les Sources Italiennes de la Deffense et Illus- tration de la Langue Frangaise. Paris, 1909. 374 THE BALLADE Viollet-Le-Duc, E. L. N. Catalogue des Livres Composant sa Bihliotheque Poeiique. 2 vols. Paris, 1843-47. Wenderoth, G. Estienne Pasquier's Poetische Theorien und Seine Tdtigkeit als Literarhistoriker. Bomanische Forschungen, XIX, pp. 1-75. Erlangen, 1905. ZscHALiG, H. Die Verslehren von Fdbri, Du Pont und Sihilet. Leipzig, 1884. CHAPTEE rV The Middle English Ballade Manuscripts Bodleian Ms. Fairfax 16, Bodleian Ms. Tanner 346. Bodleian Ms. 648. British Museum Ms. Arundel 26. British Museum Ms. Lansdowne 380. British Museum Ms. Lansdowne 699. British Museum Ms. Barley 7333, British Museum Ms. 16165. Cambridge University Library Ms. Ff. 1. 6. Trinity College Cambridge Ms. R. 14. 5. Trinity College Cambridge Ms. R. 3. 20. Works, General Authorities, etc. Bateson, M. George Ashhy^s Poems. Early English Text Society. Extra Series 76. London, 1899. Bock, F. Metrische Studien zu Thomas Hoccleves Werken. Miinchen, 1900. Bolle, W. Zu Lyrik der Rawlinsmi Ms. C. 813. Anglia, XXII, Neue Folge (1911), p. 273. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 875 BuLLBiCH, G. Uber Charles d'Orleans und die ihm Zuge- schiebenen Englischen Vhersetzungen seiner Dichtun- gen, Berlin, 1893. Chambers, E. K., and Sidgwick, E. Early English Lyrics y Amourous, Divine, Moral and Trivial. London, 1897. Champollion-Figeac, a. Poesies du Due Charles d^ Or- leans. Paris, 1842. Louis et Cliarles Dues d'Orleans. Paris, 1844. Cotgrave, R. a Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues. London, 1611. CuNLiFPE, J. W. Gascoigne's The Glasse of Governement and Other Works. Cambridge, 1910. Gascoigne's The Posies. Cambridge, 1907. Douglas, G. The Palice of Honour. Edinburgh, 1827. Flugel, E. Chaucer ^s Kleinere Gedichte. Anglia, IX, X, XI, Neue Folge (1899, 1901). FuRNivALL, F. J. Hoccleve's Begement of Princes. Early English Text Society. Extra Series 72. London, 1897. Hoccleve's Minor Poems. Early English Text Society, Extra Series 61. London, 1892. A Balade or Two hy Chaucer, in Tyl of Brentford's Testament, etc. Printed for Private Circulation. London, 1871. Political, Religious and Love Poems. Early English Text Society, 15. London, 1866. Parallel Text Edition of Chaucer's Minor Poems. 3 pts. in 2 vols. London, 1871-79. Minor Poems of the Vernon Ms. Pt. II. Early English Text Society. 107. Trial Forewords. London, 1871. Galpin, S. L. *^ Fortune's Wheel in the Roman de la Rose." Publications of the Modern Language Associ- ation, XXIV (1909), p. 332. Lydgate, J. Minor Poems. The Two Nightingale Poems. 376 / THE BALLADE Ed. 0. Glauning. Early English Text Society. Extra Series 80. London, 1900. Hammond, E. P. Omissions from the Selections of Chaucer. Modern Language Notes, XIX (1904), 35-38. Two British Museum Manuscripts. A Contribution to the Bibliography of John Lydgate. Anglia, Neue Folge, XVI (1905). Chaucer: A Bibliographical Manual. New York, 1908. Ashmole 59 and Other Shirley Manuscripts. Anglia XXX Neue Folge (1907), pp. 320-348. Lydgate and the Duchess of Gloucester. Anglia, XXYll ' Neue Folge (1904), pp. 381-398. Henley, W. E. English Lyrics. London, 1897. Horstmann, C. Sammlung Altenglischer Legenden, Heil- bronn, 1881. Hulme, W. a. The Middle English Harrowing of Hell and Gospel of Nicodemus. Early English Text So- ciety. Extra Series 100. London, 1907. James, M. R. The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. 4 vols. Cambridge, 1911. James VI of Scotland, I of Engl/Ustd. Essayes of a Pren- tice, in the Divine Art of Poesie. London, 1569. Kittredge, G. L. Chaucer and Some of His Friends. Modern Philology, I (1903-1904), pp. 1-18. Chauceriania. Modern Philology, VII (1910). Eng- lische Studden, XIII (1889), 24 f. Koch, J. Chronology of Chaucer's Writings. London, 1890. Koppel, E. Gowers Franzosischen Balladen und Chaucer. Englische StudienXX (1895), p. 154. Chaucer ania: Jehan de Meung. 1. Le Roman de la Rose. Anglia, XIV Neue Folge (1891), pp. 238-267. Lowes, J. L. The Chaucerian *Merciles Beaut e* and Three Poems of Deschamps. Modern Language Review, V (1910), p. 33. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 377 The Prologue to the Legend of Good Women Considered in its Chronological Relations. Publications of the Modern Language Association, XX (1905), p. 749. The Prologue to the Legend of Good Women as Related to the French Marguerite Poems and the Filostrato. Publications of the Modem Language Association, XIX (1904), p. 593. Illustrations of Chaucer. Drawn chiefly from Deschamps. Romanic Review, II (1911), p. 113. Macaulay, G. C. John Gower, Complete Works. 4 vols. Oxford, 1899-02. Froissart. Macmillan's Magazine, LXXI (1895). MacCracken, H. N. The Minor Poems of John Lydgate. Early English Text Society. Extra Series 107. Lon- don, 1911. A New Poem by Lydgate. Anglia, XXII, Neue Folge (1910), pp. 283-286. Quixley's Ballades Royal. Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, XX, pp. 33-50. Earl of Warwick's Virelai. Publications of the Modern Language Associations, XXII, p. 597. Baltimore, 1907. Additional Light on the Temple of Glas. Publications of the Modern Language Association, XXIII (1908), p. 128. King James' Claim to Rhyme Royal. Modern Language Notes, XXIV, p. 31. January, 1909. Hoccleve and the Poems from De Guileville. The Nation, LXXXV (1907), p. 280. An English Friend of Charles of Orleans. Publications of the Modern Language Association, XXVI (1911). Lydgate' s Serpent of Division. Oxford, 1910. Marsh, G. L. The Flower and the Leaf. Modern Phi- lology, IV (1906-07). 378 THE balla.de Padelford, F. M. Early Sixteenth Century Lyrics, New York, 1907. The Songs in Manuscript Rawlinson C 813. Anglia, XVIII, Neue Folge (1908), pp. 309-397. Ms. Rawlinson 813 Again. Anglia, XXIII, Neue Folge (1912). PiAGET, A. Oton de Granson. Romania, XIX (1882), pp. 237-259 ; 403^08. Prothero, G. W. a Memoir of Henry Bradshaw. Lon- don, 1888. Retrospective Revieiu. Second Series, London, 1827, p. 147. Article: Early English Poetry. Robinson, F. N. Two Mss. of Lydgate^s Guy of Warwick. Harvard Studies, V. Boston, 1896. Sandras, E. C. JStude sur Chaucer Considers comme Imi- tateur de Trouveres. Paris, 1859. ScHELER, A. Hits et Contes de Baudouin de Conde et de son Fits Jean de Conde. 3 vols. Bruxelles, 1867. Schick, J. Lydgate's Temple of Glas. Early English Text Society, Extra Series, 40. London, 1891. ScHiPPER, J. Englische Metrik. 2 vols. Bonn, 1881-88. Sherzer, J. B. Isle of Ladies. Berlin, 1903. Skeat, W. W. An Unknown Poem by Chaucer. Athen- aeum, 1891, No. 3310, pp. 440, 472 ff. James I of Scotland. London, 1884. Chaucer *s Virelays. Athenaeum, 1893, No. 3410, p. 281. The Complete Works oj Geoffrey Chaucer. 7 vols. Ox- ford, 1894. A Complaint, Possibly by Chaucer. Athenaeum, 1894, No. 3482, p. 98; No. 3484, p. 162. Chaucer's ^^Balade" in the Legend of Good Women. Academy, 1891, II, No. 1022, p. 504. Skeat, W. W., and Pollard, A. W. An Unknown Balade by Chaucer. Athenaeum, 1894, No. 3476, p. 742 ; No. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 379 3477, pp. 773 ff.; No. 3478, p. 805 ff.; No. 3479, p. 837 ff. Smith, G. G. Elizabethan Critical Essays: Vol. I: Gas- coigne, pp. 46-57 ; Webbe, pp. 226-302. 2 vols. Ox- ford, 1902. Stengel, E. Gower's Minnesang und Ehezucht Biichlein, p. 28. Marburg, 1886. Tanner, T. Bibliotheca Britannico-Hihernica, sive de scriptoribus, Qui in Anglia, Scotia, et Hibernia ad sacculi XVII. initium floruerunt literarum ordine juxta familiarum nomina dispositis comment arius. London, 1748. Tatlock, J. S. P. CJmucer and Dante. Modern Philology, III (1904-05), p. 369. Development and Chronology of Chaucer's Works. Chaucer Society. London, 1907. Tarbe, p. CEuvres de Guillaume de Machault. Rheims, 1849. Taylor, G. W. Poems Written m English by diaries Duke of Orleans. Roxburghe Club, 1827. A Treatise excellent and compendious, shewing and declar- ing, in maner of Tragedye, the falles of sondry most notable Princes and Princesses, etc. Translated by Don John Lidgate, etc. Triggs, 0. L. The Assembly of Gods by John Lydgate. Early English Text Society. Extra Series 69. Lon- don, 1896. Ward, A. W., and Waller, A. R. The Cambridge History of English Literature, Vol. II. The End of the Middle Ages. Cambridge, 1908. Warner, G. F. Illuminated Manuscripts in the British Museum. London, 1903. Warton, T. History of English Poetry. 4 vols. London, 1871. 380 , THE BALLADE CHAPTER V j The Ballade in the Nineteenth Century Works, General AutJwrities, etc. \ Adams, W. D. Latter Day Lyrics. London, 1898. i BanvIlle, T. de. Gringoire. Paris, 1877. j Petit Traits de Poesie Frangaise. Paris, 1909. j Odes Funambulesques. Paris, 1859. ^ Poesies Occidentales, Rimes Dorees, Rondels. Paris, 1875. I Poesies, Odes Funambulesques. Paris, 1880. ; Bergerat, Emile. Ballades et Sonnets. Paris, 1910. i Besant, Walter. Studies in Early French Poetry. Lon- ' don, 1868. :! COPPEE, FRANgois. Poesies, 1864-1887. Paris, no date. i CosTELLO, Louisa S. Specimens of the Early Poetry of ' France, from the Time of the Troubadours and Trou- veres to the Reign of Henri Quatre. London, 1835. i DoBSON, A. Collected Poems. London, 1909. ' Dowden, E. On Some French Writers of Verse. Cornhill Magazine, XXXVI, 1877. | GossE, E. A Plea for Certain Exotic Forms of Verse. \ Cornhill Magazine, XXXVI, 1877. j French Profiles. New York, 1905. In Russet & Silver, London, 1894. New Poems. London, 1879. i Henley, W. E. London Voluntaries and Other Poems. Portland, 1910. I Lazare, Job. Albert Glatigny Sa Vie, Son (Euvre. Paris, ] 1870. Lang, Andrew. Essays in Little. New York, 1891. I Books and Bookmen. London, 1887. I Ban and Arriere Ban. London, 1894. i Ballads and Lyrics of Old France. Portland, 1898. i XXXII Ballades in Blue China, London, 1888. * BIBLIOGRAPHIES 381 Rhymes d, la Mode. London, 1887. Lemaitre, Jules. Les Contemporains. 4 vols. Paris, 1890. Matthews, Brander. A Study of Versification. New York, 1911. Murray, F. E. A Bibliography of Austin Dohson. Derby, 1900. Noyes, Alfred. The Poems of Edmund Gosse. Fort- nightly Review, XCII. August, 1912. Payne, John. The Poems of Master Frangois Villon of Paris. London, 1892. Prothero, R. E. Theodore de Banville. Nineteenth Cen- tury, XXX. 1891. Rabache, G. 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INDEX Abstractions personified, 103 Acart de Ilesdin, Jehan, Nine bal- lades in La Prise Amoureuse of, 32 ; he serves as a link between the early trouv^res and the bal- lade writers, 33 ; Balade I of, 34- 35 Acknowledgments, xii Acrostic ballades, 55 Adan de la Hale, Chanson of, like a ballade, 4, 28-29; active at the Puys d' Arras, 42 ; five stanza poem of, not a chant royal, 354 Against Women Inconstant (Chau- cer), 245 Alcestis on lyrics of Chaucer, 233 Amour, Jehan Meschinot's four bal- lades on, 53-54 Aneau, Barth^lemy, Le Quintil Ho- ratian, 198-201 ; strangely reac- tionary, 219 Arras, see Puys d'Arras Art, L', et Science de Rhetorique Vulgaire, 187-92; rules for bal- ades and chants royaux, 188-189 ; based largely on Molinet, gives seven varieties, 216 Ashby, George, Use of term balade, 228 Ashmole MS. contains no ballades, 291-92 Auton, Jean d'. Ballade, Les Tre- soriers, on Louis XII's campaign in Naples, 133 Balada, Provencal, origin of balade and cognate forms, 1, 3, 45 ; and dansa analogues of the ballade, 8-9 ; forms of the, 9-11 ; date of specimens examined imcertain, 13; the ballette the French analogue of the, 16-17 ; the re- frain in the, points to a popular origin in the dance song, 45 Balada per dyalogum, described in verse in kind, 181-82 Balada retrogada, described in verse in kind. 180-81 Balade, first used in English by Chaucer, 1 ; associated with songs or lyric poetry in England, 2 ; earliest French use of as barade, 3 ; next use in Jeu du P^lerin, 3-4 ; and baladele applied to three-stanza poems with common rimes and refrains, 4, 29 ; term ballette used in Northern France, 4-5; ballette the Old French analogue of the, 15 ; stanza of the, recalls the structure of a ballette stanza, 29-30; in late 13th century, 46; the term, in Middle English, 225-32; a syno- nym for the ballet, 232; balade ryale and chant royal, 265 " Balade bien substancieuse," sen- tentious in purpose and in ex- pression, 100-1 " Balade coulourd and Reuersid," 286-87 Balade de Bon Conseyl (Chaucer) see Truth Balade fet de la Reygne Katerine Russell, 289-91 Balade ryal. Use of term, 226; 19 in Quixley's collection, 265 Baladele, term used with balade by Nicole de Margival, for three- stanza poem, 4 ; very primitive monorimes in, 29 Ballad and ballade have two fea- tures in common, xiii-xiv ; tech- nical terms, 1 ; use of terms in England in 19th century, 2 Ballad of Oood Counsel exhibits the conventional structure, 295-96 Ballade, Fixed verse form of, xiil ; defined in Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, xiv-xvl ; popularity of, in France, 14th to 16th century, xvii-xviii ; technique of, the poet's problem, xix ; origin, definition and use of the term, 1-3 ; present use, in France, 2 ; primitive dance song theory of A. Jeanroy, 5-8 ; Stengel on the ballade stanza, 9 ; Jeanroy on the ballette stanza, 10-12 ; Stengel postulates 383 384 INDEX archetypal ballade, 12 ; the dansa connected with the, 13-15 ; de- scended probably from the bal- lette, 23-24; final stages In evo- lution of, accomplished in the puy, 39; envoy attached to the, in the puys, 38, 44-45 ; summary of the origins and development of the, 45^6 ; metrical form of, conditioned by popular dance airs, 50; Middle English use of term, 226-32 ; no longer In cur- rent use, 231-32 ; used as envoy of longer poems by Lydgate, 253 ; and chant royal favorite forms with poets of the puy, 358 Ballade ialladant, 3. Molinet on the, 176, 214 ; FabrI on the, 186 ; 191 "Ballade contre les Anglais," 92n72 ; belongs in category of historical ballades, 93 Ballade couronnee defined, 217 Ballade equivoque and retrograde, Deschamps on the, 162-63, 210 '^ Ballade fatris^e," a double ballade found In Sainct Didier, 149-50 ; J. Molinet on the, 177-78 ; 191-92 Ballade In England, vanished with generation after Chaucer, xviil ; not so popular as In France, 222 ; reappearance after lapse of four centuries, 300; In 1876-77, 316- 18 Ballade In France, 14th to 17th century, 47-153 : Fund of ballade ideas accumulated, 47-49 ; fav- ored in the drama and by poets, 48 ; variety in form, 49-50 ; freak forms, 50-54 ; acrostic, 55 ; In dialogue, 56-63 ; more and more diversified in form, 63; the Re- ligious ballade, 63-81 ; tricks of the ballade writers, 152 ; equally appropriate for expression of sacred or profane emotions, 153; of to-day a poetic trifle, 153 ; vogue of the, reflected In the rhetorico-poetical treatises of the 15th and 16th centuries, 154 ; Bolleau shows verdict of French classical age on, 155, 220; Bib- liography of theory of, 155-59, 372-74 Ballade In France in 19th century ace Ballade in the 19th century Ballade, The, in Scotland, 295-98; three examples of, 295 : The Bal- lad of Good Counsel, imitated from Chaucer, 295-96 ; ballade In Douglas's Police of Honour, 296-97 ; by unknown author, 297- 98 Ballade, The, In the Nineteenth Century, 300-39: Revived In France and In England, 300 ; re- introduced in France by Sainte- Beuve, 300-1 ; Theodore de Ban- ville the most significant figure, 301 ; the ballades of, 302-8 ; Francois Copp^e, 308-9; Albert Glatlgny, the vagabond poet, 309- 10 ; Laurent Tallhade's ferocious satire, 310-11 ; Emile Bergerat. most prolific of modern ballade writers, 311-13 ; the decadent Maurice Rollinat, 313-14; Ed- mond Rostand, three ballades, 314-15 ; Jean Richepin's Ballade de Bonne Recompense, 315-16 ; the revival In England, 316-17 ; poetic policy of E. Gosse, 317-18 ; the first pure ballades in modern English, 319 ; Austin Dobson, 319- 21 ; Andrew Lang, 322-30 ; Trans- lations of Villon's Ballade of Dead Ladies, 322-27; Ballad of the Gibbet, 327-28 ; ballades, 329- 30 ; Edmund Gosse, 330-31 ; Al- fred Noyes on Gosse, 331 ; bal- lades to Banville, 331-32; bal- lades by Swinburne, 332-34; Henley, 334-35 ; Brander Mat- thews, 336-37; F. D. Sherman's To Austin Dobson, 337-38 ; fall of the ballade, 338-39; Bibliog- raphy, 380-81 Ballade Latine of Nicolle Lescarre, 342^3 Ballade of farewell, at Louis's de- parture for Egypt, in Le Mystdre de Saint Louis Roi de France, 146-47 " Ballade pour le seconde Terme," Lafontaine's, xvin2 Ballade prayer In Myst^rc de Sainte Barbe, 137-39 Ballade Sequences, 109-17 ; Poems containing series of ballades, 109 ; three sequences of one hundred ballades and one group- of fifty, 109 ; Cinkante Balades, by John Gower, 109-10, 114; two cen- turies by Christine de Pisnn, 110; the Cent Ballades, 110-12; her INDEX 385 Cent Baladea d'Amant et de Dame, 112-14 ; Les Cent Ballades of Jean le Seneschal, 110, 114- 17 ; stanza of reply by Guy VI de la Tremollle, 117 ; the earliest in Middle English, 264-65 Ballade spoken by Vesca in Du Jugement de Salomon has dra- matic power, 145-46 Ballade tantogramme, discovered by Paul Meyer, 52 Ballade without envoy In Le Mys- tdre de la Passion d'Amoul Ore- han, 139-40 Ballades, The earliest, were three- stanza refrain poems with the same rime-scheme throughout, 28 ; found often with music to which they were sung, 29 ; In Le Roman de la Dame a la Lycome et du Biau Chevalier au Lyon, 30-32 ; transitional types of, 33-38 ; writ- ten to be sung, 50 ; eccentricities of rime in, 54-55 ; used as adorn- ments of the text in the drama, 137 ; found in groups in several mysteries, 150 ; sung, or declaimed to the accompaniment of music, 151 ; range from 14th to 17th century, 152 ; Villon alone pro- duced, 152 ; have a social rather than a literary interest, 152-53 ; Du Pont on Qu^st ce que Bal- lades, 192-94 ; varieties of. In Du Pont's Controverses, 195-96 Ballades, Anonymous, 266-95 : Eng- lish Poems of Charles d'OrUans, 267-68; 79 in Watson Taylor's collection, 268 ; stanza forms and rime-scheme, 268-72 ; three on Chaucer, 272-75 ; forty others, 275-76; Skeat's collection, 277- 79; The He of Ladies, 279-80; Court of Sapience, 280-81 ; Pricke of Conscience, 281-82 ; poems at- tributed to Duke of Suffolk, 282- 84 ; Chaunce of the Dyse, 284-85 ; " Balade coulourd and Reuersid," 286-87; triple balade, 287-89; ballade to Queen Katherine, 289-91 ; John Shirley's collection, 291-92; Wyatt and Gascoigne, 293-95 Ballades brought together for the first time, ix, 161-92, 205-7 Ballades printed for the first time, List of, x-xi 26 Ballat Royal, Use of term, 231-32 Ballettc, The ballade so called, 4-5, 7-8 ; Jeanroy's theory of the bal- lette stanza, 10-12 ; Stengel's, 12 ; Old French analogue of the bal- ade, 15 ; Bodleian Ms, contains 108, 15 ; chansons d danser or ballettes were sung, 15 ; aristo- cratic and not popular, 16 ; old refrains imbedded In the, 16-17 ; the place of the refrain, 17-18 ; one of the earliest, 18-19; re- frains of the Douce Ms. grouped In six classes by Stengel, 19 ; older, in a Florentine Ms., 19-20 ; B. A. Meyer traces, to early Latin hymns, 20-23 ; two from the Florentine Ms., 21-23; bal- lade may be descended from the, 23, 45 ; other poems than, show uniform rime-scheme throughout, 24-28 ; of the 13th century were artistic dance songs, 45 Ballettes, progenitors of the bal- lade, xiv Banville, Theodore de, and his fol- lowers, cultivated the ballade, xviil, xix ; most significant figure In the revival of the ballade in France, 301, 309; technique of, 302 ; Trente-six Ballades Joyeuses, 302-7 ; Lang and Stevenson on, 303 ; twelve satirical In tone, 304- 5 ; six on poets and poetry ; 305 ; self-portraiture, 305-6 ; two bal- lades In play Gringoire modelled on Villon, 306-7 ; Petit Traiti6 de Poesie Frangaise, 307-8, 318; in- terchange of ballades between Frangois Coppfie and, 308-9; im- pression made by work of, in England, 316 ; letter from, to Gosse, 318 ; Dobson and the Odes Fumambulesques of, 319 ; Gosse's ballade tribute to, 331-32; Swin- burne wrote two poems in mem- ory of, 332 Barclay, Alexander, Use of term balade, 229-30 Bartsch, K., on the balada and dansa, 8 Baude, Henri, Stanza of dialogue- ballade by, 125 ; attacked the Court in another ballade, 125-26 Baudry, Nicolas, " Ballade en la personne de la Vierge," 69 386 INDEX Bellenger, Robert, addresses the Virgin as a substitute for the Muse, 72-73 Belleville, G. de, Ballade by, with refrain " Le Roy seul exempt du carnage," 344-45 Bergerat, Emile, a follower of Ban- ville, 301; " Banvillesque," 309; Ballade d Banville, 311-12 ; most prolific of modern ballade writers, 312 ; anonymous ballade answered by Rostand, 912-13 Bevard, Pierre, Ballade to the Vir- gin Mary, 74-75 Bibliography of the ballade in France from 14th to 17th cen- tury, 366-70 Bibliography of the ballade in the 19th century, 380-81 Bibliography of the drama, 370-72 Bibliography of the Middle English ballade, 374-79 Bibliography of the origins of the ballade, 359-64 Bibliography of the puy, 364-66 Bibliography of the theory of the ballade, 155-59, 372-74 Boethius, source of Chaucer's bal- lades, 240 Boileau-Despr6aux, Nicolas, L'Art Po6tique, 208 ; the ballade owes its popularity to tricks of rime, 220 Bouchet, Jehan, Balade de la Mort, 83-84 ; Balade cotre folles Amours, 120-21 CaiUau, Jean, wrote ballade on a refrain, 49 Caillau, Simonet, wrote ballade on a refrain, 49 Cangon in Li Regret Guilaume, 37- 38 Cary, H. P., Translation of Villon's Ballad of Dead Ladles, 323-24 Challenge, Gulllaume, Two ballades of, 340-42 Champion, Pierre, authority on Charles d'0rl6ans, 268 Chanson picuse of Gulllaume le Vinler, with a uniform rime- scheme throughout, 24-25 Chanson picuse with a refrain and two stanzas with the same rimes, composed to a ballctte air, 20-27 Chanson savante. The ballette stanza borrowed its form from the, 10 Chant royal. The, developed in the puys, 38, 352; in statutes of the English puy. Liber Custumarwn, 352-53 ; explanation of by L'ln- fortun6, 353; Sibilet on, 353; exact term in Le Dit de la Panth^re d' Amours, 353-54 ; with- out a refrain described in Les Ragles de la Seconde Rhetorique, 354-55; Herenc on, 355; De- schamps gives it a refrain, 355- 56; Molinet cites one with a re- frain, 356; example from L'ln- fortune, 356-58 ; and the ballade favorite forms with the poets of the puy, 358 Charles d'Orl6ans, Paradox an- nounced by, as refrain for bal- lade competition, 48-49 ; musical notation in a Ms. of, 50; per- sonifies abstractions, Dangler, Ennuieuse-pensee, 103-4 : love poem of, in La Chasse et le De- part d' Amours, 104-5; revival of interest in, in England, 316; Stevenson's study of, 317 ; trans- lated by Miss Costello, 319 Charles of Jerusalem, Ballade on, 260-61 Chartier, Alain, Ballade " f oy la premiere vertu " addressed to the Deity, 78-79 ; translated by Miss Costello, 319 Chasse, La, et le Depart d'Amours, Love poem in, 104-5 Chastellain, Georges, Three poems of, have to do with death, 84-86 Ballade on the rivalry between Louis XI and Charles the Bold, 132-33 Chaucer found successful means of expression in the ballade, xlx ; six- teen ballades attributed to, 222, 223, 251 ; ballade form and terms used by, 225 ; ballades of, 233-52 ; Fortune, 234-36; Compleynt of Venus, 236-39; To Rosemounde, 239 ; Truth, 240-41 ; Qentilesse, 241-42 ; Lak of Btedfastnesse, 242-43 ; Compleynt of Chaucer to his Empty Purse, 243-45 ; Against Women Inconstant, 245 ; Womanly Noblesse, 246-47 ; Prologue to Legend of Good Women, 247-50; other ballades and criticism, 250- INDEX 387 52 ; references to, in poems of Charles d'Orl^ans, 272-74 Chaunce of the Dyse, 284-85 Collerye, Roger de, Proverb ballade of, 98-99 ; restraints of decency not felt In his " Contre les clercs de chastellet," 118-19; ballade "contre les flatteurs de Court," 126 Colletet, Prangols, L'Eacole dea Muses, 207-8; lost sight of the connection of the puy with the origin of the ballade, 219; re- peats Mollnet's formula of the chant royal, 358 Compleynt of Chaucer to his Empty Purse, The (Chaucer), 243^5; the envoy the last piece of writ- ing done by Chaucer, 243 ; Skeat on, 243-^4 Compleynt of Venus, The (Chaucer), 236-39 ; form of ballades In, 237 ; translated from three ballades by Granson, 237-38; Piaget on, 238 Confr^rie de Notre-Dame des Ar- dents at Arras, 41-43 Confrerie of Jongleurs at the Sainte- Trinlte de Fecamp In Normandy, 40-41 Confr6ries de la Passion succeeded the puys, 152 Coppge, Frangois, a follower of Banville, 301 ; interchange of ballades between Banville and. 308-9 ; amatory sentiment of verse of, 309 Coetello, Louisa S., showed no con- sciousness of the rime system, 319; translation of Villon's Bal- lad of Dead Ladies, 324-25 Cotgrave, Handle, Definition of balade in, 232 Couppel, Jehan, Ballade In which praise of the Virgin Is spoken by her son, 71-72 Court and King dealt tenderly with by satirist, 123 ; attacked in bal- lade by Baude, 125-26 Court Love, Ballades of, 102-8 ; love ballades in the Courts of Love, 103 ; abstractions personified, 103 ; Charles d'Orl^ans accuses Dan- gier, 103 ; his Ennuieuse-pens^c, 104 ; love poem In his La Chassc et le Depart d'Amours, 104-5 ; love ballade of Michaut, 105 ; John Gower's Cinkante Balades, 105-6 ; Deschamps' letter bal- lades, 106-7 ; Letra d'Amours of P. de Jasulhac, 107-8 Court of Sapience, Envoy to, 280-81 Courtly love, the diversion of aris- tocratic society, 102-3 Courts of Love gave occasion for love ballades, 103 Croce, Benedetto, Conception of criticism of, xlli Cyrano de Bergerac, Rostand's Defi- nition and example of the ballade in, xiv-xvi Dance song. Hypothesis of an arch- etypal, 23 Dance songs, Fragments of, left, not older than 13th century, 15- 16 ; the primitive, survive only in refrains, 45 Dangier, personified by Charles d'- Orl6ans, 103 Dansa, The, an analogue of the ballade, of three stanzas preceded by a verse unit, 8 ; example of, 13-15 Dansa d'Amors am Refranh, 13-14 Death, Ballades on, 81-87; Balade de la Mort by Jehan Bouchet, 83- 84; three by Chastellain, 84-86; a pagan reference in ballade by P. de la Vacherie, 86 ; parley be- tween Death and Man in ballade by Meschinot, 86-87 Debat, The, of earlier French poetry, 56 Debat du Cuer et du Corps by Vil- lon, 61-63 Deimler, Le Sieur de, L'Acaddmie de I'Art Poetique, 207 ; names thirty-two kinds of poems In French poesy, 207 ; only names the ballade not to praise It, 219 Deity, The, speaks In an Oraison by Molinet, 77-78; ballade by A. Chartier addressed to, 78-79 Delaudun Dalgaliers, Frangois de Pierre, L'Art Poetique, 204-6; writes of the ballade as a curi- osity, 219 Des Autelz, Guillaume, Repliques aux Furieuses Defenses de Louis Meigret, 201-2; indignant at In- trusion of the antique form, 219 Des Ormes, Gilles, wrote ballade on a refrain, 49 388 INDEX Deschamps, Eustache, Number of l)anade8 written by, xviii ; the 'ballades of, 33 ; two, may be read in eiglit different ways, 50-51 ; ballade of, on the books of the Bible, 52-53 ; Dialogue entre la Ute et le corps, 60 ; Balade and Autre balade de Nostre Dame, 66- 67 ; Allegorie Satirique des Sept Piches Capitaux, 80-81 ; three poems of, on " ubi sunt " theme, 89-90 ; proverbs in ballades of, 95 ; titles of some fable ballades of, 101-2 ; formulas of courtly love in ballades of, 103 ; used the bal- lade as letter, 106-7 ; balade con- tre les femmes, 119 ; titles of historical ballades by, 129 ; L'Art de Dictier contains earliest dis- cussion of the ballade, 154 ; poet recited did not sing before the Prince du puys, 160, 209 ; speaks of nine varieties of ballade, 161, 209 ; explains leonine and sonant, 161, 162, 209; ballade equivoque and retrograde, 162-63, 210 ; on the envoy, 163-64, 209 ; poems of, a source for Chaucer, 244, 247- 48 ; use of proper names in poems of, 247-48 ; on the serventois, 348- 49 ; gives the chant royal a re- frain, 355-56 Deshouli^res, Madame de, D6bat in ballade form between, and M. le Due de Saint Aignan, 58-59 Dethek, Sir William, Ballade in miscellaneous collection of, 286- 87 Dialogue, The ballade in, popular, 56 ; closely resembles the tense, 56; varieties of, 57-63; divides or fills the line, 57 ; each speaker has a group of lines, a whole ballade, or a stanza, 57-59 ; 170, 213 Dialogue entre la tHe et le corps by Deschamps, 60 Dobson, Austin, Ballade in favor with, 316 ; on his first attraction to the ballade, 319 ; Ballad of the Prodigals, in May, 1876, 319; fourteen ballades of, 320 ; pref- ace on Some Foreign Forms of Verse, 321 ; F. D. Sherman's bal- lade to, 337-38 Doleson, Claude, Ballade prologue to Notre Dame de Puy of, spoken j by an actor, 143-45 1 Douglas, Gawyn, Three stanza poem j in Police of Honour, 296-97 Dowden, Edward, on Banville's tech- i nique, 302 ; On Some French Verse WHters, 317 \ Drama, The ballade in early re- ] ligious and secular, 48 | Drama, The Ballade in the, 137-52 ; 1 in the 15th and 16th century ] mysteries, 137 ; ballade prayer in Mysttre de Sainte Barbe, 137-39 ; without envoy in Le Mystere de i la Passion d'Arnoul Greban, 139- j 40 ; addressed to the Virgin as ] intercessor, in Mystere d'une j Jeune Fille, 140-42 ; occasionally ' figured as prologue, 142 ; spoken ' by a priest in Le Martire de Saint j Adrien, 142-43 ; spoken by an actor in Claude Doleson's Notre I Dame de Puy, 143-45 ; seventeen { ballades in the Mistere de Viel j Testament, 145 ; spoken by Vesca in Du Jugement de Salomon, j 145-46 ; ballade of farewell in Le I Mystere de Saint Louis Roi de j France, 146-47 ; letter ballade to \ Marguerite from Louis, 147-49 ; j " ballade fatris6e " in Sainct Di- \ dier, 149-50 ; groups in several mysteries, 150 ; Miracles de Nostre I Dame acted at some puy, 151 ; \ the religious drama owes to its \ connection with the puy the in- i terpolation of the ballade, 152, | 153; Bibliography, 370-72 j Du Bellay, Joachim, La Deffence \ et Illustration de Langue Fran- | Qoyse, 198 ; inveighs against the | ballade, 218; marks a boundary line between the old and the new French poets, 219 ; Du Pont, Graclen, Les Controverses ! des Sexes Masculin et Feminin, 1 121-23, 217-18; Art et Science de Rhetorique Metrifl^e, 192-96; bases his rules on Fabri, and names eight varieties, 192-94, 216-17 ; varieties in the Contro- verses, 195-96 EiUglish does not lend itself to the ' rime-Juggling of the French bal- \ lade, 252 INDEX 389 English Poems of Charles d'OrUans, edited by Watson Taylor, 267-76 Ennui€use-pens6e, personified by Charles d'Orl^ans, 104 Envoy, The, attached to and Identi- fied with the iallade In the puj/a d'amouVj 38, 44-45, 46; frequently addressed to the " Prince," presi- dent of the puy, 42, 46 ; ad- dressed to trouvdreSj judges and others, 46 ; Deschamps on, 163- 64, 209 ; In English hallade, 224 ; as long as stanza In Lydgate's ballades, 259-60; in Taylor's poems of Charles d'Orl^ans, 272 Envoy to Alison, 277 ; modernized by Wordsworth, 277-78. " Etat, L', de la France apr&s la bataille d'Aglncourt," 130 Fable ballades, 101-2 Fabri, Pierre, Le Orand et Vrai Art de Pleine Rhetorique, 184-86 ; quotes from L'Infortun6 and Molinet, 215 ; embraces three varieties, 185-86, 215-16 Fall of Princes (Lydgate), Envoys at end of chapters in, 256-62 ; due to taste of Humphrey of Gloucester, 256 ; thirty-one are ballades, 256-57; the envoy stanzas in, 359-60 ; ballade on Charles of Jerusalem, 260-61 ; conform to French laws for bal- lade, 261-62 Field of the Cloth of Gold, Ballade on the, by Clement Marot. 134-35 " Flos producens fructum vite," re- frain of Ballade Latine by N. Lescarre, 342-43 Flour of Courtesy e (Lydgate), Bal- lade at close of, 253-54 Form, Great variety within the, 49 Fortune (Chaucer), 234-36; bal- lades In, 234; Fumlvall on, 235- 36 ; query If autobiographical, 236 Fortune's wheel. Figurative use of, 236 ; reference to, in Truth, 240 Francis I and Henry VIII, Ballade of the meeting of, on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, by C. Marot, 134-35 French history finds expression in ballades, 128 "Frere Oliuler Maillart," ballade, 185 Froissart, Jean, The ballades of, 33 ; proverbs In ballade of, in M6Ua- dor, 96 ; expressions of formulas of courtly love, 103 ; one hun- dred and twenty-eight ballades in his Le Livre du Tr6sor Amou- reuw, 109 ; similarity of ballade in Chaucer's Prologue to Legend of Good Women to ballade in Paradys d'Amours, 250 Fumlvall, F. J. on Chaucer's For- tune, 235-36; on Lak of 8ted- fastnesse, 242 Gascolgne, George, on Ballades, 231 ; influence of ballade on work of, 293-94 ; ballade preface to the GHef of Joy, 294-95 Gentilesse (Chaucer), 241-42 Glatigny, Albert, a follower of Dan- ville, 301, 309; vagabond poet of the 19th century, 309; Ballade des Enfants Sans Souci, 309-10 Gosse, Edmund, Ballade in favor with, 316 ; on the introduction of the ballade, 317-18; Ballad of Dead Cities, 330; on the ballade in the EncycIopjBdia Brittanica, 330-31 ; ballade tribute to Ban- ville, 331-32; Alfred Noyes on, 331 Gower, John, shows familiarity with courtly love in his Cinkante Balades, 105-6, 109 ; cites famous precedents, 106 ; love letter bal- lades of, 106 ; love the chief topic of the Cinkante Balades, 114 ; Traiti6 pour Essempler les Amants Marietz translated into Ehiglish, 223, 264-66; use of term balade, 225; used fixed form, 228, 265- 66; eighteen ballades of, in Qulx- ley's collection, 265 Granson, Oton de. Ballades of, originals of Chaucer's Compleynt of Venus, 237-38 Grief of Joy, Ballade preface to, 294-95 Gringoire, Pierre, Pious question- ing of death by, 93-94 Guillaume le Vinier, Chanson pieuse de, 24-25 Gummere, F. B., on Villon's refrain, 90 Guy VI de la Tremollle, Stanza from reply of, to Jean le Sene- schal, 117 Guy, H., on the puy, 39-40, 42 390 INDEX Hales, Thomas de, The Luve Ron of, 90-91 Hardyng, John, Use of halade in Chronicle of, 227 Hawes, Stephen, on Lydgate in Pastime of Pleasure, 229 Henley, W. E., Ballade in favor with, 316; ballades by, 334-35 Henry VIII, Ballade of the meeting of, with Francis I on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, by C. Marot, 134-35 Herenc, Baudet, Le Doctrinal de la Seconde Rhetorique, shows the relationship between the number of lines in stanza and of syllables in the refrain, in eight varieties, 168-72, 212-13 ; on the serventois, 350 ; on the chant royal, 355 Historical Ballade, The, 128-37; several by Deschamps, 129; bal- lade on '• L'Etat de la France aprfes la batallle d'Agincourt," 130; ballade with refrain "Quy? — Voire quy? — Les trois estats de France," 131-32; by Chastelain on the rivalry between Louis XI and Charles the Bold, 132-33; Les Tresoriers by Jean d'Auton, 133 ; on the meeting on the Field of the Cloth of Gold of Francis I and Henry VIII, by Clement Marot, 134-35; ballades on Car- dinal Mazarin, 135, 136-37 Hoccleve and the ballade form, 222 Hugo, Victor, " p^re de tons les rlmeurs," 305 Humphrey of Gloucester, Envoys in Fall of Princes due to taste of, 256 Ideas, Fund of ballade, accumulated, 47-49 ; number of very different, In 15th century, 49 lie of Ladies, The, Envoy to, 279-80 Immaculate Conception, Idea of, touched on by R. Bellenger, 72- 73 ; ballade on, 73-74 Infortune, L', L'Instructif de Se- conde Rhctoricque, in verse gives three types, 179-82, 214-15; de- fines the chant royal, 353 ; ex- ample of a chant royal with a re- frain, 356-58 James VI of Scotland on use of Ballat Royal, 231-32 Jardin de Plaisance, 350 Jasulhac, P. de, Letra d' Amours of, 107-8 " Je meurs de soif aupr&s de la fontaine," theme for a ballade competition, 48-49 Jean le Seneschal, Les Cent Bal- lades of, 110; have considerable plot, 114-17; sixteenth Ballade, 116-17 ; stanza from answer of Guy VI de la Tremoille, 117 Jeanroy, A., on the development of the ballette stanza, 10-12 Jeu du Pdlerin, Use of balade in the, 3^ Jongleurs, Confririe of, at the Sainte-Trinit6 in Normandy, 40- 41 Katherine, Ballade possibly to a queen, 289-91 Kaukesel, Hubert, trouv^re, first used balade, as barade, 3 Koch, J„ on authenticity of Woman- ly Noblesse, 246-47 La Vigne, Andr6 de, A ballade pro- logue introduces the St. Martin of, 145 Lafontaine, J. de, " Ballade pour le second Terme," xvi, n2 Lak of Stedfastnesse (Chaucer) 242^3; Furnivall on, 242 Lang, Andrew, on Banville, 303; ballade in favor with,' 316 ; on his first attempt at the ballade, 318-19 ; translations of ballades, 322 ; of Villon's Ballade of Dead Ladies, 322-23 ; third stanza of Ballad of the Gibbet, 328 ; trans- lated three of Banville's ballades, 328 ; the case for fixed French forms In English poetry, 328-29; original ballades, 329-30 Langlois, E., on the serventois, 349- 50 Latin hymns, Early, responsible for form of Romance songs with re- frain, 20-23 Legend of Oood Women (Chaucer) Ballade In Prologue to, 247-50; use of proper names In, 247-48 ; compared with ballades by De- schamps and Machaut, 248-49 ; J. L. Lowes on, 249-50 Legrand, Jacques, Des Rimes, on the interior structure of the ballade INDEX 391 stanza, 164-65, 210; on the «er- ventois, 349 Lemaire, Jean, Second stanza of a double ballade of, 187 Lescarre, Nicolle, Ballade Latinc with refrain " Flos producens fructum vite," 342-43 Lescurel, Jehannot de. Ballades of, are transitional types, 33 ; eleven of, survive, one given, 35-36 Letra d'Amoura of P. de Jasulhac, 107-8 Letter ballade from Louis to Mar- guerite in Le MysUre de Saint Louis Roi de France, 147-49 Letters in ballade form, 106-8 Liber Custumarum on the chant royal, 352-53 Longfellow, H. W., translated C. Marot's Le Fr^re Lubin, ignoring the rime system, 319 Louis XI, the object of satire, 123- 25 ; ballade, by Chastelain, on the rivalry between, and Charles the Bold, 132-33 Louis XII, Ballade, Les Tresoriers, on failure of campaign of, in Naples, 133 Lounsbury, T. R., on the triple bal- lade, 279 Love ballades of Machaut, De- schamps, Froissart and Charles d'Orl^ans, expressions of the formulas of courtly love, 103 Lowes, J. L., on relation of Chau- cer's Legend to Froissart's Para^ dys, 249-50 Luve Ron, The, of Thomas de Hales, 90-91 Lydgate, Ballades by, 222; form of Flour of Courtesye, 223 ; ballade form and terms used by, 225-26, 227, 252-53 ; commendation of, by Hawes, 229 ; on Chaucer, 233 ; use of envoy ballades. Flour of Cour- tesye, 253-54 ; Seynt Margarete, 254-55 ; Serpent of Division, 255- 56 ; Fall of Princes, 256-62 ; modi- fied the form of the ballade, 262 ; religious poems, 262 ; ballade pre- fixed to a Dietary, 262-64 ; Tem- ple of Olas, 264 ; criticism of bal- lades, 264; triple ballade attrib- uted to, 278-9 MacCracken, H. N,, on use of term ballade, 226; on John Quixley, 265, 266; on authorship of Eng- lish poems attributed to Charles d'0rl<5ans, 267-68 Machaut, Guillaume de, The bal- lades of, 33 ; expressions of formulas of courtly love, 103 ; love ballade of, 105 ; a series of ballades in his Le Livre du Voir- Dit, 109 ; a source for Chaucer, 243, 244-45, 249 Ms. Douce 379, Ballades from, 340- 45 Margival, Nicole de, in his Dit de la Panth^re has a balade and a baladele, 4 ; among the earliest ballades, 29 ; ballette structure of the balade, 29-30 ; changonete by, really a ballade, 30 ; uses chant royal in his Dit de la Pan- th^re, 353-54 Marot, C16ment, Eccentric rime baU lade of, 54-55 ; acrostic by, 55- 56 ; ballade by, introducing paral- lel between Mary's Son and the pelican, 75-76 ; ballade on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, 134- 35 ; Longfellow translated his Le Frdre Lubin ignoring the rime system, 319 Marot, Jean, Monologue ballade, in which the Virgin Mary speaks, 67-68 Martire, Le, de Saint Adrian, Bal- lade prologue to, spoken by a priest, 142-43 Mary, The Virgin, chief subject of the Religious ballade, 63; Vil- lon's ballade prayer to, 64-65 ; 15th century ballade to, 65-66; ballades to, by Deschamps, 66-67 ; herself speaks in a monologue by Jean Marot, 67-68 ; in an anon- ymous ballade, 68-69 ; Molinet'a Oraison to, 70-71 ; praise of, spoken by her son, 71-72 ; idea of the Immaculate Conception touched on by R. Bellenger, 72- 73 ; ballade " sur I'lmmacul^e Conception," 73-74 ; ballade by Pierre Beuard, 74-75 ; parallel between the pelican and Mary's Son in ballade by C. Marot, 75- 76 ; ballade addressed to, as in- tercessor, in Myst^re d'une Jeune Fille, 140-42; Lydgate's ballade to, 262, 264 Matthews, Brander, Ballade in 392 INDEX favor with, 316; has done much to develop the ballade, 336; Bal- lade of Adaptation, 336-37 Mazarin, Cardinal, Ballade in praise of, by Voiture, 135 ; bitter attack on in Balade du Mazarin Grand Jouer de Hoc, 135-37 Meschinot, Jehan, Four ballades of, on love, 53-54 ; La mort parle a I'homme hiimaine by, 86-87 ; Les Lunettes de Princes, 123 Meyer, Paul, on the puj/, 39; 6a?- lade tantogramme discovered by, 52 Meyer, R. A., believes Latin hymns influenced form of the hallette stanza, 20-23 Middle English ballade. The, 222- 99 : Form not so popular in Eng- land as in France, 222-23; two collections, 223 ; rigor of French form relaxed in, 223-24; the en- voy in, 224; nomenclature, 225- 32; Chaucer's, 233-52; Lydgate, 252-64; Quixley, 264-66; Anon- ymous, 266-95; Ballade in Scot- land, 295-98 ; chronology of, diffi- cult to determine, 298 ; curious rather than beautiful, 299 ; Bibli- ography, 374-79 Middle English ballades. Earliest, 264 ; anonymous, 266-91 ; life of, 292-93 Middle Scots, Ballades composed in, 295 Miracles de Nostre Dame acted at some puy, 151 ; abound in ser- ventois couronn6s, 348-51 Mistere de Viel Testament contains seventeen ballades, 145 ; the De Hestre contains two ballades in succession, 150-51 Moll^re, gives verdict of the 17th century on the ballade, 220-21 Molinet, Jehan, Oraison a la Vierge Marie, 70-71 ; Oraison par Ma- niere de Ballade In which the Deity speaks, 77-78; L'Art de Rh6torique Vulgaire, distinguishes six kinds of ballades, 174-75, 213- 14 ; examples from his own writ- ings, 175-78, 213; ballade bal- ladant, 176-77, 214; on the ser- ventois, 350-51 ; cites a chant royal with a refrain, 356 Monlot d'Arras, Poem by, showing same rimes in all stanzas, 27-28 Montbeton, wrote ballade on a re- frain, 49 Mote, Jehan de le, Thirty ballades in Li Regret Ouilaume Comte de Hainault by, 36-37; text of the first given, 37-38 Musical accompaniment for first stanza in a ms. of Lescurel's, 50 Mystdre, Le, de la Passion d'Arnoul Greban, 139-40 Newfanglenesse (Chaucer) see Against Women Inconstant, 245 Nomenclature in Middle English, 225-32 Notre Dame de Puy by Claude Dole- son, Ballade prologue to, spoken by an actor, 143-45 Noyes, Alfred, on Gosse's poetry, 331 Octaves, Ballades written in, 260 Origins of the ballade, 1-46 : Origin, definition and use of the term, 1-3 ; the ballete, 4-5 ; has no mark of a popular origin, 5 ; primitive dance song theory of A. Jeanroy, 5-8 ; the balada and dansa, 8-9; Stengel on the bal- lade stanza, 9, 12 ; Jeanroy on the ballette stanza, 10-12 ; the dansa connected with the, 13-15 ; the ballette, 16-23 ; probably de- scended from the ballette, 23-24 ; the chanson pieuse, 24-29 ; the earliest ballades, 29-38 ; envoy at- tached to the, in the puys, 38, 44-45 ; final stages in evolution of the, accomplished in the puy, 39; the puys, 39-43; the con- frdries, 43-44 ; summary, 45-46 ; Bibliography of, 359-64 Orleans, Charles d'. Middle English collection of ballades, 223, 267- 68 ; interest of, in St. Valentine's Day, 254 ; 79 ballades translated from, 268 ; stanza form and rime scheme of, 268-72 ; envoys in, 272 ; three bear on Chaucer, 272- 74 Padelford, F. M., on ballade ma- terial, 292 Police of Honour (Douglas), Three stanza poem in, intended for a ballade, 296-97 Pasquier, Etienne, Becherchea de la INDEX 393 France^ 202-4 ; derives the bal- lade from the chant royal, 219 Payne, John, Translation of Villon's Ballad of Dead Ladies, 325-26; of third stanza of Ballad of the Gibbet, 327 Pelican, Parallel between Mary's Son and the, In ballade by C. Marot, 75-76 Pelletier, Jacques, L'Art Podtique, 202; a follower of Du Bellay, treats the ballade with contempt, 219 Petit de Jullevllle, L., on music in the mystery plays, 151 Piaget, A., on origin of Chaucer's Complepnt of Venus, 237-38 Pierekins de la Coupele, trouv^re. Stanza of poem by, with refrain and identical rimes, 27 Pisan, Christine de, Balades d'- Estrange FaQon, 50-52 ; Balade a responses and Balade a vers a re- sponses of, 57 ; ballade in Le Livre du Due des Vrais Amans, 57-58 ; used a proverb as refrain, 96; a series of ballades in her Le Livre du Due des Vrais-Amans, 109 ; the Cent Ballades of, on a variety of subjects, 110-12 ; the Cent Balades d'Amant et de Dame, 112-14 ; wrote an his- torical ballade on the death of Philippe Le Hardi, 129-30 ; poem by, in Taylor's collection, 275-76 Pieiade, Members of the, contemned the ballade, xvlii ; Englishmen followed the prescriptions of the, 252 Poetry composed in the Pup, 340- 45 ; Ms. Douce 379, two ballades by Guillaume Challenge, 340-42 ; Ballade Latine by NIcolle Les- carre, 342-43; Ballade by G. de Belleville, 344-45 Poets' Court at Toulouse, 1451-71, Examples of dansa presented at the, 13 Pricke of Conscience, 281-82 " Prince," title of president of the Puy at Arras, to whom the en- voy of poems was addressed, 42- 46 Prise Amoureuse, La, by Jehan Acart de Hesdin, Ballades in, 32- 34; Balade I., 34-35 Prisonnier, Le, Desconfort6, Bal- lade of proverbs in, 97-98 ; a series of ballades in, 109 Prologue, The ballade as a, 142-45 Proper names, Lists of, in ballades, 247, 248 Proverbs and the Ballade, 94-102: Reasons for their Introduction, 94 ; common in ballades of De- schamps, Christine de Pisan and Frolssart, 95-96 ; used as the re- frain, 95-96 ; Frolssart used the ready made wisdom of, 96-97 ; balade in Le Prisonnier Descon- fort6, 97-98 ; a ballade of Col- lerye, 98-99; Melin de Saint Ge- lais in two ballades availed him- self of proverbs, 99-100 ; Balade bien substancieuse thoroughly sen- tentious, 100-1 ; fable literature and animal allegory, 101-2 Pui or puy. History of the word, uncertain, 39-40 ; adaptation of ballade to religious themes in the, 63; Bibliography of the, 364-66 Purpose of the work, ix Puy d' Arras, a " confr^rie de Notre- Dame des Argents," 41-43 ; the president called " Prince," to whom the envoy of poems was ad- dressed, 42 ; took up the ballade after middle of 14th century, 43 Puy, Le, town in Velay, A confrerie at, 39, 43 Puy, The Miracles de Nostre Dame were acted at some, 151 Puy in London, Brotherhood of the, 43-44 ; Statutes of, in Liber Cus- tumarum, 43-44 Puy, Poetry composed in the, 840- 45 Puys, The, succeeded the church in the exhibition of religious drama, 151 Puys d'amour. Development of bal- lade, serventois, and chant royal in the, 38 ; origin of the word and institution, 39-41 ; originally religious in character, established in many places, 41 ; ballade favored by poets in the, 48 Quixley, John, translated Gower's Trains pour Essempler les Amants Marietz, 223, 228; bal- lade form used by, 229, 265-66; translation of Gower's Traitie earliest Middle English ballade 394 INDEX sequence, 264-65; Gower's 18 hallades in Quixley's collection, 265 ; MacCracken's conjectures, 265 "Quy? — Voire quy? — Les trois es- tats de France," 131-32 Refrains, Some, descended from those of popular poetry, 23; for hallades to be written in compe- tition, 48 Ragles, Les, de la Seconde Rh6- torique, mention six varieties of the tallade, 165-68, 211-12; on the serventois, 349 ; the chant royal described in, 354-55 Regret, Li, Guilaume Gomte de Hainault, by Jehan de la Mote, Thirty tallades in, 36; text of the first given, 37-38 ; the trou- vdre hero of, hastening to a pup d'amour, 38 Reigles, Les, de Balades et Chantst Royaux, 188-89 Religious Ballade, The, 63-81; chiefly concerned with the wor- ship of Mary, 63; Villon's bal- lade prayer to the holy Mother, 64-65 ; prayers to the Virgin, 65-67, 70-71 ; in which the Vir- gin speaks, 67-69 ; Virgin praised by her Son, 71-72; touching on the Immaculate Conception, 72- 75; on the Deity, 77-79; on the seven sins, 79-81 Richepin, Jean, a follower of Ban- vllle, 301 ; Ballade de Bonne Re- compense recalls the more sordid side of Villon's genius, 315-16 Rime, Eccentricities of, in ballades, 54 ; Deschamps on leonine and sonant, 161-62, 209-10 Rime-scheme, A uniform, in other poems than "ballettes, 24-28 Rimes in Taylor's collections of poems of d'Orl^ans, 271-72 Robertet, wrote ballade on a re- frain, 49 Rollinat, Maurice, a follower of Banville, 301 ; decadent author of Lcs Nf^vroses, 313; generally used ballade to express a reflect- ive mood, 314 Roman, Le, de la Dame a la Ly- corme et dn Biau Chevalier au Lyon, contains 14 ballades, 30-32 Ros, Sir Richard, Use of term balade, 227-28 Rossetti, Christina, Swinburne's ballade to, 334 Rossetti, D. G., Translation of Vil- lon's greatest ballade accidental, 318, 319, 326-27; never sympa- thized with the ballade move- ment, 318, 319 Rostand, Edmond, a follower of Banville, 301 ; solution of anon- ymous ballade by Bergerat, 312- 13 ; three ballades in Les Mu- sardises are the lightest of poetic trifles, 314-15 Roxburghe Club, publication of poems of Charles d'Orl^ans, 267 " Roy, Le seul exempt du carnage," refrain of ballade by G. de Belle- ville, 344-45 Rustebeuf first applies serventois to religious poetry, 346 Saint Aignan, Le Due de, D4bat in ballade form between, and Mme. de Deshouli&res, 58-59 St. Bernard's " Die ubi Salomon," 88 Saint Gelais, Melin de, Autre bal- lade of, contains several familiar sayings, 99-100; used the fable- ballade, 102 Saint Valentine lore, 254 St. Valentine's Day, Courts of Love held on, 103 ; love poems written on, 104, 105-6 Sainte-Beuve on Villon's poignant refrain, 90 ; reintroduced the ballade Into France, 300 ; Ballade du Yieux Temps, 301 Sarasin, Balade du Pays de Cocagne of, mildly satirical, 126-27; bal- lade in his Pompe Funebre de Voiture, 127-28 Satirical Ballade, The, 117-28 : The " sotte " ballade of unspeakable indecency, 118; satire of Roger de Collerye, 118-19 ; viciousness of the satires against women, 117, 119; of Bouchet against consuming loves, 3 20-121; Les Controverscs dcs Sexes Masculin et Feminin, 121-123; Louis XI the object of satire, 123-25; stanza of ballade by Henri Baude against a favorite of Louis XI, 125 ; the Court attacked by same INDEX 395 author, 125-26 ; Collerye " centre les flatteurs de Court," 126 ; Sarasin's Balade du Pays de Cocagne, 126-27; ballade In his Pompe Funehre de Voiture, 127- 28; of Tallhade, 310-11 Scollard, Clinton, Ballade commends itself to, 316 Serpent of Division (Lydgate), Bal- lade envoy to, 255-56 Serventois, The, developed in the puys, 38 ; 346-51 : Stengel on, 346 ; first mention of, in Ruste- beuf, 346 ; always has an envoy, 346-47, 351 ; example of, 347-48 ; Les Miracles de Notre Dame abound in, 348 ; Deschamps on, in L'Art de Dictier, 348-49; Le Grand on, in Des Rimes, 349 ; Les Ragles de la Seconde Rh^- torique on, 349-50 ; Herenc on, 350 ; Jean Mollnet on, 350-51 ; in 14th and 15th centuries com- posed in the puys, 351 Sex, The masculine, calls for aid against the " grande follie " of the ladies, 121 Seynt Margarete (Lydgate), Bal- lade envoy to, 254-55 Sherman, P. D., Ballade commends itself to, 316 ; ballade '* To Aus- tin Dobson," 337-38 Shirley, James, use of term balade, 226 ; note of, on Compleynt of Venus, 237-38 Shirley, John, Collection of Middle English poems, 291-92 Sibilet, Thomas, wrote that ballades and rondeaux were found in the drama " comme morceaux en fricassee," 137 ; Art Poetique Francois, 196-98 ; L'enuoy or epilogue, 196-97, 218 ; indebted to his predecessors, 209 ; first to show humanistic tendencies, 218 ; on the chant royal, 353 Sins, Seven, Ballades on the, 79-81, 169, 213 Skeat, W. W., on reference in Chau- cer's Fortune, 235 ; on source of Chaucer's Compleynt to his Emp- ty Purse, 243-44 ; on resemblance to Deschamps in Chaucer, 248 ; ballades in his collection of pseudo-Chaucerian pieces, 277- 79 ; the triple balade " manifestly Lydgate's," 278-79 Sonnet, successor to ballade, xviii Sonnet sequences. The, of the Elizabethans, 110 " Sotte " ballade J Gross indecency of the, 118 Spenser, Edmund, Use of term bal- lads in Faerie Queene, 230-31 Stanza forms in Taylor's edition poems of d'Orl^ans, 268-71 Stanza nucleus and conclusion, 9, 12 Stanzas, Distribution of, between two speakers, 31-32 ; metrical units, 49 ; most common, of 8 or 10 lines, 49 Stengel, E., on the ballade stanza, 9-11 ; postulates the archetypal ballade, 12; groups the refrains of the Douce Ms. in six classes, 19 ; on the serventois, 346 Stevenson, Robert Louis, on Ban- ville, 303 Suffolk, Duke of. Poems attributed to, 282-84 Swinburne, A. C, found sucessful means of expression in the bal- lade, xix ; ballade in favor with, 316 ; Ballad of Dreamland, Sept. 1876, 319; translation of third stanza of Villon's Ballad of the Gibbet, 327 ; ballades to Banville and Villon, 332 ; other ballades of, 332-34 Tailhade, Laurent, a follower of Banville, 301 ; combined some of the virtuosity of Banville with Gascon exuberance, 309 ; ferocious satire and coarseness in ballades of, 310-11 Taylor, Watson, edited English Poems of Charles d'0rl6ans, 267 ; criticism of work, 268; 79 bal- lades translated from d'Orl^ans, 268-74 ; forty others, one from Christine de Pisan, 275-76 Technique, the poet's problem, xix; remarkable, of Banville, 302 Tenso, The ballade dialogue re- sembles the, 56 Theory of the Ballade from De- schamps to Boileau, 154-221 : The rhetorico-poetical treatises, 154 ; Deschamps' L'Art de Die- tier, the earliest theoretical dis- cussion, 154 ; Boileau's passing reference to the ballade, 155 ; 396 INDEX Bibliography, 155-59 ; Illustrative extracts, 160-208; E. Deschamps L'Art de Dictier, 160-64, 209-10 ; J. Legrand, Des Rimes, 164-65, 210 ; Les Ragles de la Seconde RMtorique, 165-68, 211-12 ; Bau- det Herenc, Le Doctrinal de la Seconde Rhetorique, 168-72, 212- 13; TraiU de L'Art de Rh6- torique, 173-74, 213; Jean Moli- net, L'Art de Rhetorique Vul- gaire, 174-78, 213-14; L'lnfor- tun6, L'lnstructif de Seconde RMtorique, 179-82, 214-15 ; Traits de RhStorique, 182-83, 215 ; P. Fabri, Le Grand et Vrai Art de Pleine Rhetorique, 184- 86, 215-16; L'Art et Science de Rhetorique Vulgaire, 186-92, 216 ; G. Du Pont, Art et Science de RMtoHque Metrifiee, 192-96, 216- 18 ; T. Sibilet, Art Poetique Fran- cois, 196-98, 218; J. du Bellay, La Deffence et Illustration de Langue FranQoyse, 198, 218 ; B. Aneau, Le Quintil Horatian, 198- 201, 219; G. des Autelz, Re- pliques aux Furieuses Defenses de Louis Meigret, 201-2, 219; Jacques Pelletier, L'Art Poetique, 202, 219 ; E. Pasquier, Recherches de la France, 202-4, 219; F. de P. D. Daigaliers, L'Art Poetique, 204-6 ; V. de la Fresnaye, L'Art Poetique Francois, 200-7, 219; Le Sieur de Deimier, L'Acade- mie de L'Art Poetique, 207, F. Colletet, L'Escole des Muses, 207-8, 219; Boileau, L'Art Po- etique, 208, 219; Summary, 208- 21 ; Bibliography, 372-74 To Rosemounde (Chaucer), 239 Traits de L'Art de Rhetorique gives rules for the ballade and rondeau only, 173-74, 213 Traitd de Rhetorique, defines three forms in kind, 182-83, 215 Trente-six Ballades Joyeuses of Banville, 303-6; circulation of copies of, in London, 318 Tresoriers, Les, Ballade on failure of Louis XII's campaign In Naples, 133 Triple ballades, 234, 236, 278-79, 287-89 Truth (Chaucer), 240-41 " Ubi sunt " Ballade, The, 88-94 ; first used in sermons, didactic poems, hymns and songs in Latin, 88; Latin of St. Bernard, 88; three poems by Deschamps on theme, 89-90 ; Thomas de Hales's Luve Ron, 90-91 ; Villon's " Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan," 91- 93 " Ubi sunt " motif in Andrew Lang and Gosse, 329-30 Vacherie, Pierre de la, A pagan association in ballade on death by, 86 Vauquellin de la Fresnaye, L'Art Poetique Francois, 206-7 ; only names the ballade not to praise it, 219 " Veris ad imperia," Latin hymn cited by R. A. Meyer, 20-21 Versification, increasingly complex, 47 " Vieulx amoureux faictes vng sault," refrain of two ballades by G. Challenge, 340-42 Villebresme, Bertaut de, wrote bal- lade on a refrain, 49 Villon, Francois, found harmonious expression in the ballade, xix ; wrote on theme " Je meurs de soif aupr^s de la fontaine," 49 ; acrostics by, 55 ; Debat du Ouer et du Corps, 61-63; ballade prayer to the Virgin Mary, with acrostic envoy, 64-65 ; " Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan " most perfect of ballades, 91-93 ; Sainte- Beuve and Gummere on Its re- frain, 90 ; wrote two other bal- lades of this type, 93; "Bal- lades des Proverbes " of, tempted other poets, 96-97 ; gross Inde- cency of, 117, 119-20; produced the most beautiful ballades in literature, 154; Banville on, 302; studied by the English poets, 302; Banville's parody of Vil- lon's masterpiece, 304 ; the spirit of, in Banville's " ballade des pauvres gens," 307 ; revival of in- terest in, in England, 316; Stev- enson on, 317 ; translations from, by Miss Costello, 319; Ballade INDEX 397 of Dead Ladies translated by Lang, 322-23; by Cary, 323-24; by Miss Costello, 324-25; by John Payne, 325-26; by Rossettl, 326-27; third stanza of Ballad of the Oibbet, translated by Payne, Swinburne, Lang, 327-28; Swinburne wrote a ballade to, 332 ; translated eight ballades of, 332; what V. would find to-day in Paris, England and America, 339 White, Gleeson, on ballade material, 291, 292 Womanly Noblesse (Chaucer), 246- 47; Koch's doubts on, 246-47 Women, Satire directed most often against, in lowest Jargon, 117-19 Wordsworth, W., modernized En- voy to Alison, 277-78 Wright, C. H. C, Criticism of, on Banville, 302-3 Wyatt, Thomas, Poem of showing ballade influence, 293 VITA Helen Louise Cohen was born 17 March, 1882, in New York. After private instruction for two years, she became a pupil in Dr. Julius Sachs's School for Girls, where she remained from 1891 to 1899. She then entered Barnard College, graduating with the degree of A.B. in 1903. At Columbia University, she proceeded to the degree of A.M. in 1905. From 1903 to 1914, she was a teacher of English in the Washington Irving High School in New York, and alternate to the principal there from 1910 to 1913. In 1914 she was made First Assistant in English in the same school and chairman of the Department of English. During her years of graduate work she studied in the department of Political Science under Professor James H. Robinson and Professor James T. Shotwell; and in the department of English and Comparative Literature under Professor Ash- ley H. Thorndike, Professor William P. Trent, Professor William W. Lawrence, Professor Jefferson B. Fletcher, Professor Brander Matthews, Professor William A. Neil- son, and Professor George P. Krapp. 398