Occitan literature

Vernacular compositions seem to have been at first produced for the amusement, or in the case of religious poetry, for the edification, of that part of lay society which had leisure and lands, and reckoned intellectual pastime among the good things of life.

[citation needed] The first known troubadour was William IX, Duke of Aquitaine whose works gave the movement a position of honor, and indirectly contributed in a very powerful degree to ensure its development and preservation.

In the former province lived Ebolus cantator (a singer named Eble), who during the second part of William of Poitiers' life seems to have been brought into relation with him, and according to a contemporary historian, Geoffroy, prior of Vigeois, erat valde gratiosus in cantilenis ("gave a great deal of pleasure by his songs").

[6] This article cannot do more than enumerate the leading troubadours and briefly indicate in what conditions their poetry was developed and through what circumstances it fell into decay and finally disappeared: Peire d'Alvernha, who in certain respects must be classed with Marcabru; Arnaut Daniel, remarkable for his complicated versification, the inventor of the sestina, a poetic form for which Dante and Petrarch express an admiration difficult for us to understand; Arnaut de Mareuil; Bertran de Born, now the most generally known of all the troubadours on account of the part he is said to have played both by his sword and his sirveniescs in the struggle between Henry II of England and his rebel sons, though the importance of his part in the events of the time seems to have been greatly exaggerated; Peire Vidal of Toulouse, a poet of varied inspiration who grew rich with gifts bestowed on him by the greatest nobles of his time; Guiraut de Borneil, lo macsire dels trobadors, and at any rate master in the art of the so-called close style (trebar clus), though he has also left us some songs of charming simplicity; Gaucelm Faidit, from whom we have a touching lament (plaint) on the death of Richard Cœur de Lion; Folquet of Marseille, the most powerful thinker among the poets of the south, who from being a merchant and troubadour became an abbot, and finally bishop of Toulouse (died 1231).

When about the beginning of the 13th century the Albigensian Crusade led by the French king had decimated and ruined the nobility and reduced to lasting poverty a part of the Occitan territories, the profession of troubadour ceased to be lucrative.

Following their example, other poets who were not natives of the south of France began to compose in Occitan, and this fashion continued till, about the middle of the 13th century, they gradually abandoned the foreign tongue in northern Italy, and somewhat later in Catalonia, and took to singing the same airs in the local dialects.

[10] Like the chanson de geste, the romance of adventure is but slightly represented in the south; but it is to be remembered that many works of this class must have perished, as evidenced by the fact that, with few exceptions, the narrative poems which survived are known by a single manuscript only.

Mention may also be made of Las novas del papagay by Arnaut de Carcassès, in which the principal character is a parrot of great eloquence and ability, who succeeds marvellously in securing the success of the amorous enterprises of his master.

No analysis can be given here of a work the action of which is highly complicated; suffice it to remark that there is no book in medieval literature which betokens so much quickness of intellect and is so instructive in regard to the manners and usages of polite society in the 13th century.

Literary value was not of course excluded by the lack of originality, but by an unfortunate chance the greater part of those who sought to instruct or edify, and attempted to substitute moral works for secular productions in favor with the people, were, with a few exceptions, persons of limited ability.

[10] Dramatic literature in Occitan consists of mysteries and miracle plays seldom exceeding two or three thousand lines, which never developed into the enormous dramas of northern France, whose acting required several consecutive days.

Specimens which we possess of Occitan drama are, comparatively few; but researches in local archives, especially in old account books, have brought to light a considerable number of entries concerning the acting, at public expense, of religious plays, called, in Latin documents, historia or moralitas, most of which seem to be irretrievably lost.

This unfair arrangement, by which some of the leading poets of northern France profited, held good till 1893, when the town very properly transferred its patronage to a new Escolo moundino, but very soon restored its support to the older institution, on learning that Occitan poetry was again to be encouraged.

[15] In the two centuries that followed the medieval there was a succession of works, chiefly of a didactic and edifying character, which scarcely belong to the realm of literature proper, but at least served to keep alive some kind of literary tradition.

This dreary interval was relieved by a number of religious mystery plays, which, though dull by modern tastes, probably gave keen enjoyment to the people, and represent a more popular genre; the latest that have been preserved may be placed between the years 1450 and 1515.

More in the spirit of Garros is the charming trilingual Salut composed by the famous du Bartas in honor of a visit of Marguerite de Valois to Nérac (1579): three nymphs dispute as to whether she should be welcomed in Latin, French, or Gascon, and the last, of course, wins the day.

[15] Provence proper gave birth to a poet of considerable importance in Louis Bellaud de la Bellaudire (1532–1588), of Grasse, who, after studying at Aix, enlisted in the royal armies, and was made a prisoner at Moulins in 1572.

[15] A writer very popular in Provence for the light-hearted productions of his youth was Claude Brueys [fr] (1570–1650), remarkable chiefly for comedies that deal largely with duped husbands (Jardin deys musos provensalos, not published till 1628).

Oelsner states that there is a certain charm, too, in the comedies of Claude's disciple, Gaspard Zerbin [fr] (La Perlo deys niusos et coumedies prouvensalos, 1655); and those critics who have read the plays of Joan de Cabanas (1653–1712) and of Seguin (of Tarascon, c. 1640), still in manuscript in 1911, speak highly of them.

Goudelin essayed and was successful in almost every short genre (Lou Ramelet Moundi, 1617, republished with additions till 1678), the piece of his which is most generally admired being the stanzas to Henry IV of France, though others will prefer him in his gayer moods.

A number of Toulouse poets, mostly laureats of the Academy, may be termed followers of Goudelin: of these François Boudet deserves mention, who composed an ode, Le Trinfe del Moundi (1678), in honor of his native dialect.

The greatest of the pastoral poets was Frariois de Cortete (1571–1655), of Prades, whose comedies, Ramounet and Mircimoundo (published, unfortunately with alterations, by his son in 1684), are written with such true feeling and in so pure a style that they can be read with real pleasure.

[15] In the opinion of Oelsner the two genuine poets are the brothers Rigaud of Montpellier: Augustes (1760–1835) description of a vintage is deservedly famous; and Cyrille (1750—1820s) produced an equally delightful poem in the Amours de Mounpeïé.

Coye's 1711–1777) comedy, the Fiaucé paré, is bright and still popular, while Germain's description of a visit paid by the ancient gods to Marseille (La Bourrido del Dious, 1760) has considerable humour; and that in Gascony the greatest poet was Cyprien Despourrins (1698–1755), whose pastoral idylls and mournful chansons, which he himself set to music, are imbued with tenderness and charm.

We shall not go far wrong if we include in the list Hyacinthe Morel (1756–1829), of Avignon, whose collection of poems, Lou Saboulet, has been republished by Frédéric Mistral; Louis Aubanel (178~-1842), of Nîmes, the successful translator of Anacreon's Odes; Auguste Tandon, the troubadour of Montpellier, who wrote Fables, contes et autres pièces en vers (1800); Fabre d'Olivet, the versatile littérateur who in 1803 published Le Troubadour: Poésies occitaniques, which, in order to secure their success, he gave out as the work of some medieval poet Diou-loufet (1771–1840), who wrote a didactic poem, in the manner of Virgil, relating to silkworm-breeding (Leis magnans); Jacques Azais (1778–1856), author of satires, fables, etc.

[17] While these writers were all more or less academic, and appealed to the cultured few, four poets of the people addressed a far wider public: Verdi (1779–1820), of Bordeaux, who wrote comic and satirical pieces; Jean Reboul (1796–1864), the baker of Nîmes, who never surpassed his first effort, L'Ange et l'enfant (1828); Victor Gelu (1806–1885), relentless and brutal, but undeniably powerful of his kind (Fenian é Grouman; dix chansons provençales, 1840); and, greatest of them all, the true and acknowledged forerunner of the felibres, Jacques Jasmin, whose poems, both lyrical and narrative, continue to find favour with men of the highest culture and literary attainments, as with the villagers for whom they were primarily intended.

[17] Zani, the girl of his youthful and passionate love, took the veil; and this event cast a shadow over his whole life, and determined the character of all his poetry (La miougrano entre-duberto, 1860; Li Fiho d'Avignoun, 1883).

His powerful love drama Lou pau dou peccat was received with enthusiasm at Montpellier in 1878, and successfully produced (some years later in Arnes version) by Antoine at his Theatre Libreno mean criterion.

[22] Despite two hundred years of suppression by successive French centralist governments and the official prohibition of the language at school, in the administration and in the media, Occitan and Occitania have never ceased to inspire poets and authors.

And though the use of the latter has been greatly affected by what is known as la Vergonha — which is the physical, legal, artistic and moral repression of the tongue in all areas of society aiming at making children feel ashamed of their parents' language to the benefit of French, — every region of the country of Òc gave birth to literary geniuses: Joan Bodon in Guyenne, Marcela Delpastre in Limousin, Robèrt Lafont in Provence, Bernat Manciet in Gascony and Max Roqueta in Languedoc.