Modern French Literature

Outside of scholastic and professional circles, men who turn to French for enjoyment or as a subsidiary means of culture read almost wholly the works of this century; yet, so far as I know, the English attempts to trace the lines of the century's literary development in France are arid and perfunctory, while the French critics, admirable as they are, naturally assume much to be familiar for which a foreigner may grope in vain. No one can be more keenly aware than I how parlous a task it is to attempt systematic criticism of the present or near past in literature; but if we are to wait until the world has made up its mind about what it is reading to-day, it will then be reading something else, and our criticism will always lag superfluous in the development of taste; it will be useful to students, but caviare to the public. Is it not, then, worth while to take Grimm's words to heart, and to "have the courage to fail" rather than to leave the task unattempted? If the critic can be more helpful, he may be content to be less profound, original, or mature.

Three introductory chapters sketch the evolution of French literature till the close of the eighteenth century, that the reader may be reminded of those authors whose influence is still felt and of whom it belongs to the humane life to know. In the more detailed studies that follow, no mention is made of imitators or hack writers, however ephemerally popular, nor of any work that has not literary imagination and artistic form, in order that attention may be concentrated on those writers who stand for something, who mark progress

or change. In estimating their place and function, I have used freely the critical apparatus cited in the foot-notes, but I have never expressed a literary opinion that is not based on examination of the original work, though doubtless my position has been modified by the masters of French criticism, and, as I have used at times, notes made long since and for another purpose, it is possible that I have still unacknowledged debts, to avoid the possibility of which would involve what seems to me an undue sacrifice. Indeed, I should be willing in any case to forego the honor of an anxious originality, if by uniting the prismatic beams of French criticism into a white ray I could assist my readers to a clearer vision of the greatest epoch of one of the greatest literatures of the world.

It remains for me to express my grateful thanks to all who have aided me in this work, especially to my colleague, Professor William P. Trent, and to the officers of the Boston Public Library, whose generous aid and unfailing courtesy helped to make my book a possibility and my labor a pleasure.

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